Slim Novel 16 - http://adventuresofkimi.blogspot.com - See Homepage
31. Getting Around
Eddie does not just stay sitting in Ryo's shack; he learns getting around in Tokyo. And the main meeting place for expats is The International House in Roppongi.
Tokyo/Yokohama is on the east coast. The metropolitan area is around Tokyo Bay with Yokohama south and Tokyo on the west side of the bay and and more north. Eddie lives at Ryo's in a famous section, Shinagawa, by the Bay in southeast Tokyo.
Getting around Tokyo the cheapest and oldest way is the circle-route surface trains on the Yamanote Line. For less than 100 yen, or U.S.30 cents, Eddie got on in Shinagawa and, clockwise, makes the big circle first to the south and west, around Shibuya Station, then more north and west to Shinjuku Station, then most north to Ikebukuro & Ueno Stations and then curving around the circle in the north to the east through central Tokyo, the main Tokyo Station and the nearby Shimbashi Station. Or one could take the slightly more expensive subways that shortcut the circle. These are are the main commercial parts of Tokyo where many live, like Eddie in the shacks, or in new homes or apahtos
Roppongi, the Japanese for Six-Trees, is the foreign section near central Tokyo, centered on its famous Crossing, where, since the late 1960s, the flower girl statue is on the northwest corner. The International House is a few blocks south and east, it’s being a large ranch style 2-story, ground floor of English library, meeting & study rooms, coffee shop, front lobby with wide area seating, underground restaurant and bar; and upstairs guest rooms for members and guests who wish to overnight.
The expats of Tokyo gather there when they are not at the American Club, which Eddie only rarely goes to, or the Foreign Correspondents' Club in downtown Tokyo, which also has a good library and restaurant & bar, and which he sometimes gets invited to.
Eddie in his first months wants to meet other expats and pick each one's brain for expat wisdom. On first day at The International House, he is sitting in lobby at 10 am, reading its free Japan Times when he hears "Am I right or am I right? Old buddy Steinowitz?" He looks up at his GI friend of 20 years ago, Ivan.
32. Immigration Status for Expat in Japan - Ivan Explains
The two go into the cafe for coffee and Danish pastry. Ivan has been an expatriate since his army separation in 1957, marrying his moose and living now in a Homat (Home Atmosphere luxury apartments in Tokyo) with her and two mixed race children. Eddie asks. "How should I firm up my residence status here? I never want to live in the USA again?"
"Welcome to Expatania, buddy!" Ivan almost shouts, causing nearby guests to glance and some to chuckle. "If you don't mind traveling every 90 days, then stay on a tourist visa, and flying to Hongkong, Korea, or if you like, even Europe every 90 days. But you need to get it renewed every 3 years. Or if you are ready, why don't you marry your moose? Marrying a Japanese gives you good residence visa you renew every 3 years."
Eddie decided he'll at first rely on the tourist visa. He muses, Married, I can always get.
End of Section. To continue next, click 16.(33-34) A Life's Work
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