Japan has a registration system for all citizens and foreigners at the local city office. Citizens are registered pen-to-paper on family trees called "koseki". This is the foundation for employment, bank accounts, national health insurance, voting. All of the afore-mentioned activities are cross-checked through the city office.
Separately, foreigners are registered by a photo ID card called "gaikouko-jin-cardo", or in the vernacular, "gaijin card" issued for the duration of their passport stamp. Any changes to a foreigner’s life, for example address, marriage/divorce, job changes are written in ink on the back of the card and pen-to-paper in the city office.
“For Japanese people,” says an American expat living in Japan, “it is impossible to dodge this system. If there is any doubt raised as to your registration, you will find your bank account temporarily inactive, health insurance card not working at the clinic, etc. This happened to me several years ago. I moved and thought I would tell everybody later, as in 30 days or so. I went to the doctor for a check-up and the receptionist asked if I moved recently. I said yes. She wrote down my new address.
"
How did she know? My company’s HR staff called me to say that my bank called to confirm my address before my salary could be deposited. My name didn’t match the address on my salary deposit.
How did they know? Landlords are expected to inform on tenants who come or go!”
Wait, there’s more!
“Japanese don't use checks,” he says. “Instead, they go to any ATM and type in the recipients name or company name, bank name, account number, and insert cash. A record is then sent to all parties. One’s entire financial life is recorded -- how much the telephone bill is, medical clinics visited, religious contributions, debts paid to loan shark consumer finance companies, etc.”
Compare that to the U.S., where—if you move—by following the instructions in
How to Be Invisible you can hide your true home address for the rest of your life. Further, if you follow the instructions in
Invisible Money, you can hide your cash payments as well
Labels: hiding home address, how to be invisible, invisible money, Japan, Lack of privacy, secret home address
Privacy blog post by JJ Luna at 12:30 AM
