Extend your Japan Visa online, but don't use Gmail!

With having finally the option to extend my Japan visa online, I thought I'd give it a go this year. But I ran into some interesting roadblocks...

First off all, a MyNumber card (マイナンバーカード) is required which I already got last. 

Then you need a card reader for your PC which can read the MyNumber card. In my case I got the 接触型ICカードリーダー from Goppa. 

Once everything's connected you need to install the JPKI利用者ソフト, and also add the browser plugin (such as from Google Chrome).

Some little font issue...

To ensure that the card reader works, I connected my card and opened the JPKI software to check. Interestingly, despite my PC having been set to Japanese language, sometimes letters could not be properly displayed.

Solution: In "Control Panel > Region > Administrative > Change system locale..." the language needs to be set to Japanese with ""Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" to be unchecked.

Following that things like my visa expiration date could be read from the MyNumber card properly. Everything can only be read after entering your PIN(s) of course.

Then it was time to go to that immigration website and create an account (登録).

During that process you fill out basic information such as where you live.
After the final screen (Step 3) the screen displays a message that I should receive an email to continue - and which should also allow me to create a password for the account.

I'd also recommend making a screenshot or writing down the 認証 ID. Especially considering what happened next...

The Mail to Change your Password...

I waited a few days to the next weekend where I still didn't receive an email. So I tried to use the "Change Password" option to trigger the email to be resent. As expected nothing happened.

Following that I emailed the support email address which is mentioned on that site. About 24 hours later I got the answer that it's not recommended using so-called フリーメール (free email services) such as Google, Hotmail or iCloud.

As that Immigration website uses a system which restricts access to overseas IP addresses.

Wow. That wasn't mentioned anywhere on that website.

At that point I wondered which email provider I could actually use. So I started researching online, but since that system is quite new, it was hard to find any information regarding that topic. 

Luckily I found an article on spouse-visa.jp explaining the whole process (which was luckily just posted the day before), where it's mentioned that Yahoo email addresses (assuming ending with co.jp) can actually be used.

Luckily I created a Yahoo address at some point before, so I rechecked whether I could actually log in again.

Following that I called my local immigration office as recommended in the previous email in order to change the email address of my already registered account.

However I got advised to call the number of that other company doing the support of that site. So I called there as well, but they actually cannot change the email address and told me to call the Immigration office again.

So I coincidentally ended up with the same guy as before again, but after explaining the situation I got send to another co-worker.

Here I finally got the chance to change my email address, but that person advised me that it's not recommend to use any free mail service, even Yahoo would not be possible.

Mail services coming from a phone provider such as Softbank should rather be used.
However I insisted on using a Yahoo address for now and in case it still wouldn't work, I could call again. The guy on the other side then kindly changed my email address as requested to my Yahoo one.

He said it could take around 30 minutes to a few hours for the changes to take effect.
I was quite hopeful that it would work, but you never know, so I went for a walk, came back and in fact after a bit more than an hour even a confirmation email for the "email address change" had arrived on my Yahoo address. 

I tried the password reset and even that email arrived immediately.

From here on onwards I could continue to fill out the forms and upload all the documents I had prepared. Also here I kept using my Yahoo address as further mails regarding my visa would go there as well (keep checking there occasionally or forward it).

Such as the final confirmation mail which came the day later.

Now my new residents card should be on its way soon.

Why I cannot download Japanese apps?

If you go to Japan and open the Google PlayStore you'll find out that you are unable to install some local apps. But is there a solution to work around that problem?

Let's take the example of 'Dragon Ball Legends' which was released this summer. And in the Google Play Store there is a 'western' version and a Japanese version.

However, if you search for the Japanese version using katakana the game doesn't appear in result list. Just English suggestions.
But why?

The reason is that your Google Play Store account needs to be associated to the country Japan instead of your local one.

If you currently live in Japan it makes to be able to see all the apps.

Therefore, what's the next step?

Change to the country! I would suggest the following way (via browser):

• Login in Google PlayStore website 
• Go to "Google Account" in the upper right
• Select "Payments and Subscriptions"
• "Manage Payment methods"
• Go to setting to see your "payments profile"
• Change it to the "Japan" and add necessary information
• Confirm and wait (can take maybe a few days)

Once it's completed, check on your phone if your are connect to the correct payment profile associated with the country you are living. Now go to PlayStore and see if you can find local apps.

And that's an example an how it should look.

Tokyo Game Show 2018 - Jump Force, One Piece World Seeker...

This weekend I went for the Tokyo Game Show for the first time and I got the chance to test a few of the new games which caught my interest.

Knowing there would be a long queue I still arrived a bit late which made me wait for almost 2 hours to get in.

But the wait was worth it. Many big halls and so many different stands. After running around for getting a general impression of the event I stopped at Bandai Namco, because one game got me really interested:

It's Jump Force. A game which puts several characters from JUMP magazine together, including Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto and more! The trailer itself gave me this "I wanna play" feeling with showing great stages like Namek, Himeji Castle or New York's Times Square. After a wait for around 30-40 minutes in the queue I got to play a 3 vs 3 battle. I selected Frieza, Luffy and Vegeta to fight on Namek. The demo was for two rounds until the first fighter was knocked out. The game is fun to play and the graphics are running stunning to see. I couldn't get deep into special moves or combos - at the end I just found out how to switch characters during the fight. It generally left a great impression and as there seems to be a story with a few from Akira Toriyama exclusively created characters makes the entire game even more interesting...

Following that I stopped by at the racing game area and some nostalgia put me into the line to test another game: V-Rally 4! Back in PS1 and PS2 days I liked the series. Especially I spent many years in the career of V-Rally 3 in the mid-2000s. I wasn't aware that finally a sequel is coming! The demo was one stage with a GoPro-sponsored car with a big rear wing. I clearly underestimated the cars reaction in the corners causing me a few crashes at the beginning. Plus: Manual shifting was activated! However at the end of the stage everything went more smoothly and I slowly got ready for more. It certainly brought back some nostalgia!

So... Since I was in the area - time for the next racing game: MotoGP 18! To be honest: I haven't played a lot of MotoGP games in the last decade, but there were times of the old MotoGP3 and 4 which I got to play a lot. Therefore, as expected it didn't take me long to get into the flow. Unfortunately the riding helps were activated and the difficulty quite easy. Meaning that despite a crash in lap 1 out of 3 and some general starting difficulties I was able to reach P10 at the end with Valentino Rossi! Was really fun to play again!

As it was getting afternoon, there was one more game I had to try out! Back to the Bandai Namco area and this time in the One Piece World Seeker queue! The game trailers were already promising showing an game-exclusive storyline with many major characters like Aokiji, Fujitora or Lucci involved. Ahead of the demo you get a manual to memorize the important controls. Once you get started you are playing Luffy running up a hill punching some marines. You get used to the attacks, especially the Red Hawk is quite powerful. The whole graphic of the landscape is quite impressive! After a fight with Kuma you are confronted with Sakazuki alias Aka Inu. The fight is a bit more difficult than the previous one, but still no problem. But Sabo comes to help Luffy as the demo ends. At the end you also get some stickers from the characters of the game, nice!

As the time was running out I soon left the place. It was quite interesting how much is offered there to see and play! A fun and inspiring day came to an end. Of course there was so much more to see like many other franchises I'm not that involved in, but I'm sure everyone would have found something interesting! Until another time!

Top 5 Japanese Language Learning Apps for Android

As you may noticed through the topics of my articles about certain anime games or language-related stuff - I am a fan of Japan and their language and this article shows you my Top 5 apps to learn that language.

Some of these apps I'm using for a longer time, some not even a year. But altogether they're quite helpful while being on the run or waiting for someone/something to repeat vocabulary, gain new knowledge or remaining connected with the Japanese language.

1. AnkiDroid

I'm using AnkiDroid for a longer time already, even for other languages. It's an app with large vocabulary lists which you can either download or create yourself. After seeing a new word you can decide if it's easy to memorize or not and thus you decide when you get to see it again - in a few minutes or even in a few months or years (just if you saw it quite often already).

In terms of Japanese you should start to learn hiragana and katakana at the beginning. I can say for me AnkiDroid played a big part in learning these first around 100 characters. And you should also create your own deck with Japanese words you collect through going through books, watching anime or hearing in video games.

2. Jsho
'Jsho' is an app named after the Japanese name for 'dictionary' (じしょ), because IT IS an dictionary. The app is an offline version of the famous Japanese dictionary website 'jisho.org'. 

This application is already quite helpful at the beginning because you can search for words by using our characters as well as Hiragana or Katakana. And this app has also a connection to AnkiDroid: Once you've found a certain word you can send it to your Anki deck.


3. IQQI Japanese

After being able to memorize the first characters it would also be helpful to actually write them. That's why you need IQQI Japanese! It's an alternate keyboard with included Japanese characters. You can easily switch from our Latin letters to both Hiragana and Katakana - even Kanjis can be chosen after putting the right characters together. 

With that you can type new words into your Anki decks by yourself and write messages to someone in Japanese.



4. Memrise

Another great learning app, but even more developed in many ways. There are several decks in any language available, so also in Japanese. The apps even has a points scoring system included where repetition brings you more points than new words. 

You see the word in English and you have several hiragana/katakana/Kanji characters and you have to put them together in the correct way - or the other way around. Or you listen to three Japanese words in order to find the correct meaning. Or putting sentences together in the right order. And everything brings points - as well as knowledge and experience of course.

If you have friends using the same app you can compare who of you did the most points during the last week/month or even in total.


5. LINE

With WhatsApp nowadays being the the messenger with the most users in the world, there are still other similar apps. Like LINE which is really big in Japan and a few other Asian countries. So if you want to communicate with Japanese people in order to improve your language skills it's quite important to have that messenger. 

Like in WhatsApp you can also do calls and video calls - which were introduced way earlier than in WhatsApp. 

And like in Facebook you can post pictures on your timeline and others can comment. And the PC application is way more secure and better than the WhatsApp version. 

Summary
So these were the five free apps which were and still are quite helpful for me improving my Japanese. Of course there are also apps teaching you the grammar better and so on, but this overview is great if you are 'on the run'.

Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below.