Playing Chicken

If something happened to you tomorrow, would your family know:

• The password to your phone?
• Which banks you use in Japan?
• How to access your overseas investment accounts?
• Where you keep your residence card?
• Who your emergency contact is at work?
• Whether you have life insurance, and if so, with which company?

I’m going to guess the answer is no to at least half of those. And that’s totally normal, because most of us don’t think about these things until we have to. But by procrastinating, you’re playing chicken with fate.

Here’s what makes it important for foreign residents: your family probably doesn’t understand Japanese banking, Japanese bureaucracy, or Japanese anything. Meanwhile, your Japanese friends and coworkers don’t necessarily understand your home country’s legal requirements or tax obligations.

You’re the bridge between these two worlds, and if you’re not around to translate, everyone’s going to be struggling.

The good news is that getting organized isn’t actually that hard. It’s just boring and administrative, which is why most of us avoid it. But once it’s done, it’s done, and you can go back to more interesting things.

Like figuring out why conbini fried chicken is so good.