CL totally sneezed all over fj.life.in-japan with a withering cloud of snot:

[...]

>>>> I never saw those old passbooks. I tend to think of this as a good thing,
>>>> however.
>>> You missed out on much.  I think I still have one around somewhere with 
>>> a big hole punched into the corner.  They were an odd size and fit into 
>>> nothing else you carried.  
>> 
>> Like the international driving permits are? Those things are such pains in the
>> ass that I end up folding them in half.
>
>Smaller than that but thick enough to make it impossible to close your 
>wallet and a different shape than a normal credit card or train teiki. 
>I rented a car in Geneva a few years ago and the rental agency put my 
>International Driving permit in a leather case with their logo on it 
>embossed in gold.  Really nice presentation but, if you're not wearing a 
>sport coat or suit jacket there aren't any pockets that are the right 
>shape.
>
>Probably helped me get out of a ticket in Texas, though.  Flew straight 
>from Tokyo to Brownsville with only a one hour layover in LA.  On my way 
>to my hotel I couldn't remember how to make a left hand turn from a 
>multi-lane road with a turn lane and a center island on to another and 
>there weren't any waiting cars to provide visual clues.  I knew it was 
>all backwards from Japan but my mind wasn't up to the transition after 
>about 27 hours of sleeping in plane seats.  The Texas Ranger who pulled 
>me over was impressed with the holder as well as the fact that he 
>couldn't read my Japanese drivers license.  He decided I was just tired 
>and announced that he'd follow me to make sure I got to my hotel without 
>further incident in lieu of giving me a written warning.

Heh. Just last spring when I was in Los Angeles I made a naughty illegal U-turn
because I missed a freeway entrance, in full view of a CHiP. Once I was on the
freeway he yanked me over. The moment I handed him the international permit
(alas, no leather cover) and my Japanese Martian chicken-scratch driver's
license, he sort of paused while staring at it a second... then handed it back
to me, explained that he'd pulled me over because of the U-turn, told me to
drive carefully, and went on his way. All hail incomprehensible documents!

>>> They were about 16 pages with your photo on 
>>> one page, an index finger print smeared over another, about four pages 
>>> for recording changes, and a lot of advice on the back dozen or so pages 
>>> with stuff like respect you elders, turn off the light when you leave a 
>>> room, don't waste energy, don't pee on carpets, and never dry hump the 
>>> hostesses leg.
>> 
>> I came onto the scene when it was sort of in transition, I guess: the
>> tourokushos were cards by the time I got one, but I still had to put a
>> fingerprint on it, and list my place of employment, etc etc. 
>
>Yeah, I had one of those and they had a clear plastic holder with the 
>Justice Ministry seal to cover up the fingerprint they swore they 
>weren't going to take.

I promptly ditched the holder because it made it impossible to fit the thing
into the credit card slot in my wallet.

At least it's not as bad as the cheesy white vinyl carrying case they give you
for driver's licenses.

>> In light of recent events I'm beginning to wonder if they're not going to
>> eventually roll all that back. 
>
>If you've been listening to the current Justice Minister it's not hard 
>to imagine that they're trying to turn the clock all the way back to the 
>Bakumatsu-jidai.

Yay! Maybe I'll run into Tom Cruise!

>> [...]
>> 
>>> I don't know why, but Dentsu always seems to need one extremely high 
>>> strung and obviously gay New Yorker on its international copywriting 
>>> staff at all times
>> 
>> As opposed to today, when all the high-strung gays are from Canada, and on
>> television, and likely making three times as much dough as I am.
>
>Gay Canadians?  Which ones are they?  

I of course might be mistaken. Living in Japan for this long has permanently
damaged my gaydar antenna to the point where I'm sort of wary of *all* males.
Exhibit A: KAT-TUN.


-- 
The 2-Belo [the2beloATmsdDOTbiglobeDOTneDOTjp]
Emperor, Meow (Retired, on generous military pension)
afk-mn WebCenter: http://www.godhatesjanks.org/webcenter/
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(Upgraded to Diamond in 2005)
aavf3: mhm21x20

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