Becoming Japanese

+Hiko Saemon and +Victor Boggio interview me on YouTube Live (Google+ Hangouts), talking about naturalization and this blog site. It's a little personal, and a little silly, but they did a great job introducing their viewers to this blog and becoming legally Japanese. Anyway, this is something different for this site. Don't take it too seriously. For those from Google+ or Youtube: if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. (not the best screen-cap of me. I think they went a little overboard with the flags)

One of the forms that will be part of a full naturalization application for Japan will be your 履歴書 { rirekisho } (Personal History form). Normally, this word in Japanese is used in the context of a résumé/CV, and the structured format of it is similar to a standard form. Unlike a western curriculum vitae which is loosely free formed, Japanese style forms are structured with lined off sections, and there's an industry standard (JIS) for the form that you can buy in bookstores and stationary stores in Japan. The naturalization application has two forms, labeled その１ { sono ichi } (Part 1) and その２ { sono ni } (Part 2): その１ { sono ichi } (Part 1): Where you were born, where you went to school (from primary school to higher education), who you married and divorced, births and deaths within the immediate family, all places of residence, and all places worked and positions. It is divided into three columns: the first column for residence related events, the second column fo...