Category: plans and preparations

As you know, I have received all my things from Europe – 42 boxes – a month ago. Today, I finally finished tidying and putting away and cleaning things! All my rooms are clean again, the things I don’t want out at this point are put away, and I even had some energy left to go through some of the paperwork I brought and which needed to be sorted.

What surprised me was that, with one exception, I will not need any new storage items. Although the apartment is small and the layout seems a bit unpractical, I could put away all of my things somewhere. Especially the kitchen cabinets proved to be quite large, there is even one which is still empty (okay, this one is so high that I can’t reach it anyway, but still). Some of the things I have no use for right now have been stored away in those large closets that are usually used for futons, but everything I need is accessible rightaway.

Interestingly, I have not regretted bringing anything, although I regret throwing so many things away in Germany. I should not have sold all my wine glasses or given away all my vases; and let’s not start talking about my hundreds of books that went to the library please…

The books that remain are the only thing I have not touched yet. They fill six boxes that are piled in one corner of my living room, and I have not yet decided where to put them. I always wanted a large library, but this apartment does not lend itself to it. The only three walls that would be suitable for a room high bookshelf are in my bedroom and in my designated guest room, and just in case there is an earthquake, it’s probably better not to get buried under books. Hence, I have to find another solution. A friend of mine gave me an idea, but I’ll still have to see if this is feasible. In any case, until I become a real rich person who can afford a decent library in a decent place, I shall dream of – or shall I say: drool over – The Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination…

It was a very busy day today, and it’s not yet finished. This morning, at 9 am, the 42 boxes containing all my life so far have been delivered, finally! Everything went smoothly, both guys from the moving crew were very courteous and spoke good English, and although they had a hard time hauling all my books into the 5th floor (remember, no elevator!) all was said and done within two hours, including already unpacking some of the boxes – the large ones in the right hand back corner – you see here:

Since then I have been unpacking with more or less enthusiasm. At first I stood before that mountain and thought: oh my, where to start… but then I remembered that “one box at a time” would be a good approach, and I have been at it ever since. So far, I have already regretted one choice I made when packing two years ago – I could have brought my whole wine collection, the import fee was negligible – and I was already surprised about one or two others – what’s with the cowhide?

However, as I have focused so far on unpacking the boxes with bedding, linens, and clothing, the big surprises and possible disappointments will come once I arrive at the boxes labeled “misc household”… It is very interesting to see all my clothing together on one big pile – all those T-shirts! – and I am actually making a point and an inventory list to curb further shopping sprees, hopefully.

Once my inventory is finished, I may post some of the more interesting numbers here, but for today, only the most important one: 27. That’s the number of boxes still unopened as for now, although I may get to empty one or two more tonight. I’ll update you with the numbers in the next few posts.

After a month-long search, I still have not found an accountant. Although I received an initial reply to my query from one in Osaka, there has been deafening silence ever since I asked for clarification on a few points – and a possible meeting. A friend of mine promised to bring me into contact with his accountant, and we have made an appointment on next Friday. It seems that this accountant only speaks rudimentary English though, so working with him might be difficult.

In any case, I was asked to bring my files and paperwork for the meeting, so he can check the current state of the accounts. And I’m thinking: What accounts – what state? Does this mean the large envelope into which I stuffed all my bills so far? And that single piece of paper on which I scribbled my income until now (and a number of assorted other stuff)? Somehow I have the feeling this will not entice him to work for me…

So, I will have to sort out all the papers and bills and at least make a neat list somehow. Obviously, I am not using any accounting software yet, but I hope that either my spreadsheet version will do for a while, or that the accountant will provide me with some software – and an explanation on how to use it. You can probably guess how much I am looking forward to using Japanese only software to track my money… Well, this is something that needs to be done in any case, so I better get going with it. I love paperwork, I love paperwork, I love… Ommmmmmmm….

Somehow related to this was today’s excursion to my bank: I wanted to know how to transfer money from abroad onto my company account. Yes, I anticipate lots of international clients… and as I know how terribly nitpicky Japanese banks can be, I wanted to make sure I get information that is 100% correct. Interestingly, they already had a paper ready with the necessary information, but then I wanted to double check how my company name transliterates into the Roman alphabet, and whether I can omit anything, which made it a bit more complicated. The clerk I asked did not know for sure herself, and I even saw her making a phone call. Well, given that she could not even read the Kanji correctly, this was probably a good idea…

As I have been very tired and thus very unmotivated the last few days, I could only do a few little things here and there.

One of them was the translation of my so far only English company homepage into German and Japanese. While I am quite confident about the German one, I will have to ask a friend of mine to check the Japanese translation before I put it online. There is nothing more off-putting for a potential client than a homepage riddled with errors – and as I want to appeal to the Japanese in their own language, I better go and make an effort.

Another thing I have been trying to do is to find an accountant to help me with company taxes and related work. Obviously I will need somebody who is capable of speaking English, but it appears to be very difficult to find somebody here in Kyoto. My lawyer has brought me in contact with a company in Tokyo, but I am not sure whether they are a good fit: Although all their accountants are bilingual (their boss is a British expat), this is a rather large company and thus seems to be a bit too inflexible for a tiny one like mine. The sales representative I talked to on the phone was a nice enough guy, but he tried to sell me all sorts of things which I am not sure I’ll need, at least not as long as I am a one-woman show only. Besides, all the paperwork will need to be sent back-and-forth, and if there is ever a problem that needs solving face to face, I will have to go to Tokyo, which is not really optimal.

So, I have now sent inquiries to a company in Osaka and another one in Kyoto; both seem to be smaller in size themselves and may be more happy to work with somebody who promises only a small revenue for the time being. So far, I have not heard anything back from either of them, despite the fact that they state on their homepages that they can deal with English-speaking clients. Maybe they are still trying to gauge how much English they will need when working with me?

I have received word that my boxes containing all my belongings, which have been stored in Hamburg for more than two years now, have left Germany with destination Japan yesterday. The estimated date of arrival in Kobe port will be September 19. Adding another week or so for customs clearance (I hope everything will work out smoothly), I should receive all my belongings by the end of September.

I am quite excited about this, but also a bit worried. Now, my apartment is almost empty, which gives me lots of space, a good feeling – and hardly anything to clean. This will change drastically when I start unpacking. Finally, I will have all my things back, like my winter clothes and thick duvets, all my beloved books that I did not give away, but also a full set of cutlery and dishes, and all my cooking utensils.

But it also means that I will have to deal with all those things, will have to store them somewhere in my apartment which does not have that much storage space. How many new cupboards and shelves and other furniture will I need? How much of that wonderful empty space will be left once I have finally put everything away?

Yet another step to becoming an adult, I guess. Will I ever arrive at that place?

Kyoto has become very hot the last week or so, with temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius during the day and some 25 in the night. It’s not as bad as it seems, I like it hot and although the humidity is unpleasant, I can survive with all my windows open and a light breeze going through the apartment.

So far the theory. Reality is a bit different though: These days I wake up just after 6 am because that’s the time when the cicadas wake up in the large trees outside my building. I have tried measuring their noise – they are almost as loud as a jackhammer! And when it finally becomes too hot even for them – somewhere around 10 in the morning – the real jackhammers that are used in the construction work on our parking lot are starting up. Which means, in my apartment without aircondition, I have the choice between suffocation due to the heat or madness due to the noise.

As I am not planning to succumb to either, I am taking a week off to visit my friend in Korea. Of course, it will be just as hot there, and there are also cicadas that are equally noisy; but at least her apartment in the 18th floor has properly closing windows to keep the noise out and aircondition…

Hence, there will be no posts next week. I mean, not that there can be anything interesting happening in Kyoto without me anyway… 😉 Please tune in again for my next post on Monday, August 10.

Have a nice summer too!

With my new visa in place, I can finally start working for my own company. In order to do this properly, I need a bank account for the company, a place to deposit my capital and my earnings and from which to pay my bills and salary.

I have received a rather extensive list of documents needed to open a company account, and I collected and copied them all on Monday. Yesterday in the early afternoon – hoping that it would be less crowded – I went to my branch of Kyoto Bank around the corner and thought I could open a new account right away.

However, no such luck… After securing the assistance of the only English-speaking clerk, we sat down and filled in a form: Company name and address, company representative name and address, my name and address, purpose of the account, purpose of the company’s business… etc. I also handed over the prepared documents and my Japanese ID card. When everything was in place the clerk told me that

“Screening will take up to two weeks.” What screening? Well, apparently, in the case of business accounts, it’s not the business choosing the bank, but the bank choosing the business. How they do this I cannot say, after all the required documents are minimal: The teikan incorporation papers – a single page stating business name, address, and initial capital as well as business purpose and representative members – a certificate of the registration of the company inkan – not older than 6 months – and a copy of my zairyu card – probably only because I am a foreigner. Because the clerk also wanted to know the main purpose of the 10 business purposes listed on the teikan, which is a bit difficult to explain, I gave him the (English) business plan I prepared for the Immigration Office. But that’s all of the documents from my big stack that Kyoto Bank wanted to have, and I seriously wonder what they are trying to read out of them; it is a brand new start-up business after all…

As I have never before owned a business account, I can only guess as to why there is a screening at all. Probably because there is bound to be more fluctuation on a business account than on a private one? Because it is easier to slip into the reds? Because the bank will feel more obliged to give a line of credit to a business than to a private person? As I said, I can only guess, and be patient. Again.

Sometimes I think the only thing that’s really needed in Japan is an unlimited amount of patience…