![\"revenuestamp.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mikegerhardt.com\/blog\/archives\/blogpics\/revenuestamp.jpg?resize=350%2C225\")
\nI went to the local immigration office this morning to get my re-entry permit, required with my visa if I leave the country and plan to return.
\nThe office was staffed by your run-of-the-mill, grumpy, low-level bureaucrats. No additional information is given unless specifically asked for, including the fact that you have to pay for the permit with a special revenue stamp (seen above) that must be purchased at a building across the street — a major thoroughfare with no convenient crosswalks, meaning a game of live Frogger is necessary.
\nIt was refreshing to see some diversity at the immigration office. There was a huge family from China, some Brazilians, and assorted other foreigners, creating a buzz of languages other than Japanese. Although Tokyo has a decent mix of people, finding ethnic diversity in the outlying areas of Japan is largely limited to the handful of Thai, Filipino and Russian bar hostesses and to the western English teachers. A melting pot it’s not. I’m looking forward to getting back to a more multi-cultural society. And I’m so looking forward to a break from the sticking-out-like-a-sore-thumb syndrome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"