We are no longer Aliens!
Beginning in July, the start of a new residency management system!
The aim of the new residency management system is to enable the Ministry of Justice to continuously keep information necessary for managing the residency of foreign nationals residing in Japan for the mid-to long-term with resident status, and ensure greater convenience for those foreign nationals.
The system will issue qualifying foreign nationals a resident card containing a portrait photo of the individual, basic personal information such as his/her name, his/her resident status and his/her currently allowed period of stay.
Moreover, because the new system will allow authorities to more accurately track resident status than with the previous system, it makes it possible to introduce measures that will improve the convenience of foreign nationals who legally reside in Japan, such as a maximum period of stay of five years instead of the previous three years, and a new reentry permit system that waives reentry permit formalities for foreign nationals who leave and reenter Japan within one year of the date of their original departure.
The current alien registration system will be abolished with the start of the new residency management system.
More information can be found at http://bit.ly/pQU51f
Website News
There have been a few small problems with the website recently and we are considering upgrading the site to a new version of Joomla software. We are currently running Joomla 1.5 while the newest version is at 1.7. If we upgrade we could add a lot more functionality and a cooler design. But the conversion over to 1.7 will take some time because we don`t want to lose any of the data in the forums and other documents. So you may seem some strange things while visiting the site. We will keep you up to date on the process. Thank you everyone for using FIA First Hand!
Restaurant Review
By Ryan
Olive Kitchen – The Italian Buffet
If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for a good pizza restaurant in Japan. I found one, and it’s a buffet too. Olive Kitchen – The Italian Buffet. It’s located in Kannami near Mishima. It opened late last year on Route 136 next to BikuriDonkey.
My wife mention that this opened and we went on the winter holidays. It wasn’t so busy although we did go for an early 5:00 dinner. The restaurant was big and very nice inside. After we sat down the server explained their system and took our pasta order. For pasta, you need to order it like a usual restaurant and for then there was a Pizza Bar, Side Menu/salad Bar, Drink Bar and a desert bar. It was all you can eat with a 90min time limit.
The pasta came fast but I felt it was flavorless. We tried 3 different pastas but they were all flavorless. The pizza however was a different story. The pizza was really good. They had about 6 different pizzas to choose from and they kept changing. For the most part they always had fresh pizza out there. The onion rings in the side menu bar were also good. As for the desert bar, it included some cakes, jelly cups and a soft ice cream machine. It looked good but the desert was an extra cost and I knew I would be too full to eat it.
The prices are reasonable at \1380 for lunch and \1580 for dinner. The desert bar is an extra \250. I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5. It would have got a higher ranking if it wasn’t for the pasta. They need a no pasta price.
For more info: http://bit.ly/wojHhs
Monthly Poll/Teaching Tips!
Previous Poll Results!
Latest Poll:
If you could open a Japanese food stand in North America, What kind would you open?
Yakitori
Tebasaki
Takoyaki
Okinomiyaki
Yakisoba
Other
Ask your students!!! Vote by email fiappc@gmail.com or visit http://www.fia-first-hand.com
Teaching Tip
Brian W. and Ryan have started using the Monthly Poll in our class. Turn your PC towards him/her and get them to do the poll. This can lead to a warm up conversation about there choices and other peoples choices. From what we found so far, students are enjoying doing it and like to see what other people say. Try it!
Upcoming Events
Now - Mid Mar
Atami Plum Festival (Atami Plum Garden)
Feb 25th
UFC 144: Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
Mar 22th - Mar 25th
The Tokyo International Anime Fair (Tokyo Big Sight)
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