<declan_murphy@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I'd like to see a scanned copy of the front of Hendrik's ARC

In lieu of a copy, here is a description: i have two passports, one
showing my two middle names, one not. The one without the middle names
is the one i used when entering Japan. My first ARC therefore just
showed the name as written in that passport, meaning, in the Latin
alphabet. When i got my second ARC i asked for the Japanese name that i
had adopted to be written just below the name that was already there.
And there it has been since (i am not sure, but i think i have card
number 4 now, since in the meanitme i also needed to get a new passport,
and the number was therefore changed). I am guessing that the legal term
for the Japanese name i have been using is "alias", and i am also
guessing that this alias would suddenly be my "real name" if i got
Japanese citizenship. There is no entry for a name or alias on the back
of my ARC, as i mentioned before.

Incidentally, at the time i got my first work visa, i knew i would
eventually want to be self-employed, and i could foresee that having an
occupation registered on my ARC would possibly require me to frequently
update my card. So i applied for a new card and requested to have a
designation for "self-employed" entered in the appropriate field. The
clerk suggested instead that we put asterisks in that field, which i
thought was as good idea and went along with. The same entry has been
carried through to my current card.

Al (enjoying the second rainy season of this summer)

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