#youarenthelping

So about 6 weeks before I came to Japan I got a message from CIRfromhell asking what my name was in Japanese, or what I preferred my name to be, or something such.

Since I don’t have a Japanese name, I said to her that [so-and-so] was how I pronounce my name, and could they try and write it to match as closely as possible, but I was happy for them to make the decision.

It was for my Hanko (or Inkan) which is the stamp thing that Japanese people use instead of a signature.

Now, because paperwork in this country is a nightmare, having a weird Hanko is basically a guarantee that no paperwork will ever be accepted. I only learnt this yesterday, after trip number htree ot SoftBank...

So, after asking the BoE to make the decision on Hank for me, via CIRfromhell, what I ended up getting was an oval stamp with my last name as it is in English. Which also arrived three weeks after I did, well after I needed it to set-up everything required for life...

Apparently she deliberately advised my supervisor to get me an Inkan that would never work.