Fill-out-this-form

 This little apartment meets our needs quite well.  While amenities are basic, it is peaceful, accessible, and easily maintained.  Plus, at a daily rental rate of 710 yen, or $7.10 (U.S.), it is perfect!  (Note:  It is located next to the University of Tokyo's medical school / hospital and is filled with all kinds of researchers and families.)  The instruction booklet that accompanies the apartment is 76 single-spaced pages, complete with diagrams and details about everything from water, trash, and mail service, to instructions for guests and overnight stays elsewhere.   These instructions read:  "You can invite visitors to your room (apartment).  Every visitor needs to fill in the prescribed form at the office.... If you plan to stay overnight outside the lodge, please fill in the form "Notice of Travel / Absence from Lodge" and submit it to the office in advance."  Seemingly everywhere there are "fill-out-this-form" directives. 

For this American couple, reared on large diets of pot roast and liberty, such requirements feel childish.  Why must we tell the "landlord" that we will have a friend for tea, or tell "the management" that we will take a weekend away at, say, a ski resort or hot springs??   In case of an emergency, our cell phones and email work just fine, thanks--unless the BIG one hits and, in such case, we are all toast.  Why this kind of keeping tabs on one another??  

After some reflection, this system appears to be part of the Japanese culture of amae which is an attitude that fosters attachment to one another in small concentric community circles i.e. family members, colleagues, neighbors, etc.  In case of a crisis, we will surely need a community in Japan!  And likewise, in America we rely upon community circles when there is a natural disaster, sickness, financial hardship or other crisis.   Admittedly, what feels like security to the Japanese feels like snooping to the American.  Perhaps I need to tweak my thinking.  Surely I have something valuable to learn.