Posted on by Kurt

Exactly where AM I going?

As noted on the moblog, yesterday I went to the American Embassy in Tokyo to pick up Kaika’s U.S. passport, which we applied for three weeks ago. Being able to skirt by the ridiculously long line of non-U.S. citizens waiting for visa interviews and the like and getting in and out of the embassy in 10 minutes while they undoubtedly waited hours, I couldn’t help but wonder how I’d feel if our situations had been reversed. How would I view the American that today was me, with the undoubtedly smug expression of someone on the right side of the fence who just waltzed in the gate, through the security check, inside to do his business, and back out again, with me all that while having only moved one or two steps forward in the queue?

I wonder how those people would feel were they to know that I often take the passport I carry for granted, and indeed occassionally find myself wondering if it’s so worth having anymore. Instead of seeing those unseeable things, they see what can only be seen as arrogance and I wonder if there isn’t a bit of dread that creeps into their thoughts, that commingles with admiration, and inflects their anticipation of getting through that gate, past those barricades, through the interviews and forms, and eventually on to American soil, with a question: exactly what kind of place am I going to, and is it really worth all this to get to?

9 Replies to “Exactly where AM I going?”

  1. the people waiting in line should’ve understood that background checks don’t take as long when your background is measured in months.

  3. miguel-
    i think mark was referring to Kaika being only 8 months old….unless your “huh?” is referring to my post (just as likely 🙂

  5. How did you decide which nationality the baby would have? I assume (possibly incorrectly) that you have a choice since the mother is Japanese and you are American? Do you have any resources you could point me to about this process?

  6. Sorry, just read the comments for the moblog post and basically answered my own question. If you have any links though about the whole process I would appreciate it.

  7. Butuki– if it makes you feel any better, it was only in the shower that I figured out what Mark had meant! 🙂

    Adam-
    This US Embassy page explains just about everything you need to know:
    http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwh7115.html

    It looks complicated but it’s all fairly cut and dried. There’s Japanese page that your wife can read, but beware there are a few inconsistencies between the two. When in doubt, we followed the English translation. Also, we used the .pdf forms on the site with no problems, even printing them on A4 paper (the site makes it seem that only 8.5×11 paper is acceptable).

    I took Kaika’s picture myself, and then took the neg to Bic Camera with EXPLICIT instructions as to the size of the photo, and the size of Kaika’s head in the photo. Beware that the size of the Japanese passport photo is different, so you’ll need to get a separate set.

    The site makes it sound like you need to do all of this right away, but in fact we didn’t do it until Kaika was 7 months old.

    Also know that for the “shusshou todoke kisaijiko shomeisho” (Certificate of Acceptance of Birth), my wife had to go to some special place for that. It’s not something you can get at your city office.

    Please email me if you have any other questions.

  9. how can my soon to be wife get a copy of her birth certificate(shusshou todoke kisaijiko shomeisho)
    without traveling back to japan???
    helllllllp me plllllleeeeeeeease!!!???!!!!!!

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