The school's manager of foreign teachers said I had to open an account with Saitama Resona Bank, in Saitama, "so the school doesn't get charged a fee."
So I had to open an account at Saitama Resona Bank--not to be confused with Resona Bank even though they have the same parent company, colors and logo. And no, this is not something that the manager mentioned. I only know this because it came up in passing during a conversation with a Japanese teacher.
The first time I tried to open an account, I was told I needed a hanko (personal ink seal), even though many banks now accept signatures, especially from foreigners who have never even seen a hanko before in their lives.
Since I was on break at work at Kawaguchi, I only had time to place an order for one, to be picked up the next day.
Second time was after I picked up my hanko the next day (all the way in Kawaguchi). The bank was closed even though I had checked the hours the day before and could have sworn it was going to be open. Then I had to rush to work in Omiya.
The third time, in Ageo, even though the nice lady at the information counter had a chart in English with a list of documents I'd need, the one providing service didn't actually speak English, so she had to get someone else to help. The second person told me I should come in with someone who could read and speak Japanese because all their forms are in Japanese.
I have never asked my (non-teacher) friends to help me because we don't have the same day off. And I wasn't about to ask a colleague to go with me to Saitama on their day off just so I could open a stupid account. And while I'm in Saitama, I'm working, and so are the other teachers and managers, so who could help me, really?
But then, when I went to pick up my paycheck at the main school last time, Mr. Azuma in accounting said I can open the account near my home, and he knows I live in Minato-ku. Why didn't anyone tell me this before?
So today, I decided I'd go to Azabu Juban because it's close to my home and next to Roppongi, which has the highest concentration of foreigners in Tokyo. So they should speak English, right? No. And not only that, they told me to open an account at Mitsubishi Bank next door instead, because they would be able to provide services in English, which would be all well and good for any other person, but my stupid school has to use *this* bank. And this, after I told them I *had* to open an account with their bank, because my school uses it for payroll.
I swear, sometimes I fucking hate Japan.
When I was registering at a cooking school (not even an accredited or degreed program; just an hobbyist program), I had to fill out an application with my employment info, including employer address and phone number, my name and address in English and furigana (and no, my friend couldn't just write it for me; she had to write it separately first for me to copy), and my birth year according to the emperor/era. So much bullshit for an application where the money must be paid in full in three days' time anyway; not like there was credit being issued and a card or account would be charged on a monthly basis, like for a cell phone or Internet account.
Like I said, a lot of bureaucratic bullshit.
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