zlacker

>>thunde+(OP)
Japan is insane on the paperwork front. The amount of stuff my wife has to deal with (because my Japanese is frankly terrible) for basic processes is mind numbing. Things like having to write out your address and contact info on five different forms for one appointment, visiting multiple offices to submit paperwork in for the same process, etc.. Moving apartments (heaven forbid it is to a different city government) involves weeks of straight up administrative work from one person in the household.

>>Tagano+b6
Having just spent many months in Japan, I can confirm this...the paper work was so involved it could have been satire. To change our address on our residence cards we need to do 'move out' paperwork in the old ward and bring that to the new one. Each visit takes the better part of a day. Dozens and dozens of people are working intensely behind the counter to service just a few customers.

Eventually I came to this explanation: their culture is obsessed with perfection, from perfectly paved roads to perfectly preserved temples to perfectly presented food, etc...but this pursuit of perfection in the hands of bureaucrats leads to processes where everything is captured in detail, approved by multiple people, etc. Basically, in the eyes of a bureaucrat, 'perfection' is a rock-solid paper-trail rather than a frictionless experience for the citizens.

>>2cynyk+9f
I have a similar working theory.

This is a problem in many formal, detail-and-rule-obsessed cultures. Germany, like Japan, is lauded for its industrial engineering/manufacturing — but has the exact same hilarious obsession with government paperwork.

Meanwhile, more creative and permissive cultures — like say, Sweden (outsized influence on global fashion/culture/tech given its size), have far less paperwork.