“They sure do use a lot of paper still” – Rosie
This week, we rejoice in letting you know that the Lord allowed us to get our contract for a house to live in! Thank you so much for your prayers. Our move in date is January 26th (this coming Saturday).
With contract in hand, we went to the city hall to get our move in paperwork started. Japan requires people to notify the town they are leaving when moving away. People also need to notify their new town upon arrival and this is what we set out to do. Since we did not have a physical address until this past week, we held off until we had an official address.
As it turns out, we were missing one piece of paper from the town I (James) previously lived in. Because of this, we made a last-minute trip to see my parents and get the required paperwork.
Along with the Hill family, my parents have been a tremendous help in our move to Japan. From Rosie’s visa to other minute details, they have been instrumental in our arrival going smoothly. We were able to make a brief visit before coming back to Niigata today and complete our move in paper work with the city hall!
While Japan has a reputation for being very high tech, there is still a lot of paper that is used. Not only did we need a form to finalize our move in for this city, but also will be finalizing paperwork to make a vehicle purchase. To buy a regular vehicle in Niigata, you need piece of paper to prove you have space to park the car. Also, you must present a registered stamp (called a hanko) and proof of stamp registration to make the purchase official. To add to the stack of papers, each floor of the city hall made individual copies of all of our documentation today (3 times). That’s a lot of paper!
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Two world wars and the internet era – imagine living to see it all. See the news section for more.
Praises
- House Contract Obtained
- City Hall Paperwork Completed
- Safety visiting parents on the other side of Japan
Prayer Requests
- Move in to go smoothly
- Mr. Sakata – salvation (see this update for details)
- Ten Hundred Thousand Churches (details here)
From the News
The world’s oldest man passed away this past Sunday in Japan. At 113 years old, he held the world record. To read more about where he lived and his life, click here.