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Last week we went to Osaka to visit the American consulate. We had already registered Emma's birth with the Japanese government; she has an alien residency card and national health insurance and everything. But we hadn't yet registered her with the American government: she has no passport or other government documents necessary if she ever goes back to America.



We went by bus. We had planned to go by ferry from Takamatsu, but the typhoon was coming and we were worried that the boats and trains might get cancelled. It was more expensive, but it was nice not having to change trains.

We were prepared to take all day, and even stay over night if necessary. Usually, when you go to a government office - any government office in any country in the world - you have to wait in line a long time, fill out lots of forms, wait some more, be told to go to a different department, wait some more.... We were surprised to get in and out of the consulate quickly. There were no lines, we only had to wait about half an hour, and then we were done. We'll receive the documents by mail in a few weeks, so we don't have to go back.

We spent the afternoon shopping in downtown Osaka. It was kind of disappointing. I expected a big city would offer many different types of shops, but really it just has more shops of the same types I can find in small towns. There was a better variety of restaurants, though.