Japan Style

Hey!

Don't listen to what the websites tell you about the yakkan shoumei. Turns out it is easier to get one than you think!

Yakkan Shoumei is a paper that allows you to bring more than 1 month's supply of prescription medication with you to Japan. You need the yakkan shoumei form on your person when you go through customs. Websites will tell you that you need to mail it to the bureau

First off, if you can fill out your application digitally (via Photoshop, GIMP, etc) then I recommend you do that so you have a copy for yourself. Also, you will need a digital copy if you are faxing via the internet or computer.

Grab the application from the internet - a search for "yakkan shoumei" will get you started. Fill out the application using the instructions and example pages in the PDF as your guide. I recommend you use information sheets/leaflets for the medications you will be using. These can be substituted for the "explanation of products" page. Make sure you have information for each of your medications.

After your application is filled out, make sure you have the following things (either printed or in PDF format):

Completed Yakkan Shoumei application
Copy of flight itinerary
Copy of prescriptions signed by doctor

Take all of these things and fax them to the Kinki Regional Bureau in Osaka, Japan. Their fax number can be found on the application. If you aren't going the digital route, then you will probably need to scan each document to fax them.

My fax took about 17 minutes to send everything - I had about 18 pages in all. You should receive a return fax with a statement saying your original will be mailed to you. The fax will also have a scan of your yakkan shoumei completed!

No postage stamps, no "Coupon Réponse International", and no 2-week delay for your yakkan shoumei!


Tyler

I went in for the course equivalency part of my study abroad adventure today. I got a lot more than expected...and a little less too.

I took the half-hour before my meeting to determine my classes and print out their course descriptions. I should be taking some fun and easy classes next semester - things like "The Visual Anthropology of Japan," "Religion in Japan," and "Sexuality in Japan," and also my language classes. I'm excited for them.

I got into what appears to be a 10-minute argument with Kat, the coordinator for reciprocal exchange, in the office today. I came in and asked about my expense estimate, and she got upset very quickly. I'll try to lay it out as objectively as possible.

August 31st: I email Anne asking for an expense estimate to help fill out my Bridging and Gilman scholarship forms. She forwards the message to Linda Millis and Kat to "get the process started."

September 22nd: A follow-up email to Kat reveals that she did not start the estimate as asked. She did not think it necessary as the numbers would be more accurate as we came upon the study abroad date. She wanted me to have talked to Linda Millis first.

Later that day: Message from Kat: "This is the first time I hear that you need the expense estimate. You are now on my list, it will be done by the end of the next week."

Fast forward to today, September 30th: She doesn't have the expense estimate because she assumed it was for federal financial aid. She assumed wrong.

She got very terse, very exasperated, and quite upset about the whole thing. She raised her voice at me, too, while I kept my calm. It wasn't fun in the slightest. After that, she produced my course equivalence sheet for me. We ended the meeting on friendly (enough) terms.

From now on, I told her, I will give her every deadline and tell her exactly what to do when, and give no wiggle room or doubt in her mind as to my intentions. That's apparently the only way to get things done.

My next step is to get signatures from my advisors confirming my courses will count for me.


Tyler

Hey!

I've been working on my application for the past week or so. I guess I need to fill you in on that!

Kansai eventually sent us the link to K-GENESYS (it does indeed exist) it's really nice and efficient. About half of it is filled online, and the other half is a series of documents that you print, fill out, and mail to Kansai Gaidai. My study abroad office offered to mail them for me. yay! According to the timeline, My app was supposed to be turned in 2 weeks ago, but we're okay on time I think.

I ordered my plane ticket yesterday morning. I will be flying alone to Japan. It's unfortunate, but it had to be. Megan and Blaine got their airfare paid for with miles which is awesome! But...they must fly through Guam and that flight would have been $2400 for me. That's too much.

I will be flying from Tulsa to Houston, then to Narita, then to Kansai International. The return trip is the same. All in all, the airfare was about $1400. Not bad at all, and cheaper than when I went in 2008 for sure (thank you cheap oil prices).

Should get my paper application completed and turned in Wednesday. Probably will receive the rest of my documents next week to wrap up the process. I go in for course equivalency on tomorrow, too. What classes do I want to take...


Tyler

ps - My computer's been in for repairs for 13 days, so I haven't had access to my photos and such. Sorry for the lack of multimedia in this post.

Hey there,

I got my ISIC card yesterday. It's an international student insurance card, and it will help cover repatriation and other things that my regular health insurance won't. It also has lots of neat discounts for things.

Megan and I are looking for flights to Japan...she has points on Continental, so we're going to fly them most likely. Unfortunately, the layovers and flight stops are really weird; They either take you through Chicago or Denver, or have a 6-hr layover. Megan's best and cheapest actually would take us from Houston to NYC, and then an 11-hour layover to Japan. There's just not a good flight to be had around that time...so we'll just have to make do with what we can get.

I'm hesitant to even book a flight right now, as our application process is unknown at this time. We should already have our deadlines, application forms, and instructions, but we only have the deadline. It's not our Study Abroad Office's fault, either. Here's the lowdown:

The Kansai Gaidai website changed a couple months ago, and the application forms are no longer available on their usual page. Instead, the instructions there say to apply online using K-GENESYS. A google search of that acronym results in nothing relevant whatsoever.

Speaking with our SA Office, they said they should have received the login information already. She emailed them, and their reply was a letter saying to visit another website for the application.

That website doesn't exist anymore. I checked the cached version of Google, and it used to have everything. Now it's a "404" page. That's just great.

Kat, our SA person, is apparently not receiving info from Kansai Gaidai, so her advice was to fill out the forms for last semester and be ready to submit them upon confirmation that they'll even work at all.

That's wonderful news. Go ahead and spend time filling out something that might not even be the real application, in hopes that they'll have pity upon you and accept you anyway. Should we really be looking at flights when we're not even sure we can apply yet?

Argh, I say. This is frustrating. Hopefully some answers will come about soon.


Tyler