Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

Every time the author travels to the immigration office here in Tokyo, he cannot avoid the feeling that the place is almost designed to spite foreigners living in this fair city. Situated in the midst of the city's commercial warehouse area right next to the Port and stacks of shipping containers, the brutalist concrete monstrosity seems to swallow thousands of foreigners living across the city and the surrounding region, away from the preying sight of locals who no doubt would feel unease from seeing such huge congregations of foreigners in one place.

The practicing official was a nervous wreck.  Shaking hard enough that scribbling down his own name on the form was difficult.  His scorers, standing right behind him to watch his every move, kept interrupting the simulation to point out which steps he forgot to take and which fields on the forms he forgot to fill.  Such interruptions only made the official even more nervous.  He stuttered through his scripted lines to the foreign "athlete" and made more mistakes when filling out the "athlete's" personal information.  Correcting those mistakes meant filling out more revision forms, which created more opportunities to make mistakes.

"Now, this job is exclusively for males.  Workers are required to wear all-black suits...there should be no stripes of any kind on the suit.  The shirt underneath should be white, and there should be no color buttons on the shirt...only black or white buttons.  Dress shoes also need to be black.  For people who have hair that is not black, the hair needs to be dyed black before showing up for work.  Also, no facial hair of any kind.  No mustache, no beard.  The face needs to be completely clean-shaven.  No exceptions..."  The lady nonchalantly went on to describe the requirements for the job.

For most people, the image of being a student is probably one of habit.  With a set schedule of classes, seminars, and exams, students know where to go when, and when there are no classes, they spend a significant amount of time in libraries and study rooms completing their assignments and prepare for exams.  The student life is imagined to be a very regimented one, where the student would know exactly where to go and what to do during the course of their semesters.  Their only free time would be during summer and winter vacations when they are free to take up jobs or internships in preparation for full-time jobs.

Theoretically, finding an apartment in Tokyo should not be all that difficult.  Any residential area is full of apartment blocks in all forms and price ranges.  Those who seek a new residence only need to go down to one of many national chains of apartment middlemen for quick inquiries and will be shown several units of preferable size and price in a matter of hours.  The agencies take care of the paperwork and contact with landlords, and the client moves in a matter of days.