I remember, I had to file one paper from the landlord and my ID and that was it. Took 5 minutes.
While not awful, comparing to Portugal, where I just need to register in a website an then wait to get a confirmation code by mail, it feels like going back to the stone age.
I've found that's the question to ask with paperwork.
For instance, France is also extremely bad regarding paperwork and administrative red tape and people are so used to it that many can't imagine that many of it is not actually needed for society to function. I noticed when I moved to the UK: Suddenly all that was absolutely necessary to protect civilisation and the Republic (I only exaggerate a little bit) did not even exist and everything still ran smoothly.
Telling example: During the Covid lockdowns, the French administration decided that people had to fill and sign an official form to keep on them every time they left home. Basically "I swear that I am only doing my daily excercise. Date, signature" to be shown to any police officer who might ask, or "zut alors" you're nicked.
In the US it's just https://moversguide.usps.com/mgo/disclaimer?referral=UMOVE
And this isn't even "required".
It's certainly an interesting phenomenon how simple some things can be.
It does mean that you'll get your old mail delivered to your old place forwarded to your new place while the other folks mailing you get their ducks in a row. And honestly I can't think of all the places that might mail me.
Control.
So the state knows in theory, who is living where.
With the joke being, that those institutions, where that information would actually be useful, don't know anyway. And so you still have to submit your adress everywhere (and then again, and a third time, to be sure).
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.
Even if the move process is frictionless, in most countries, it's just not a thing. You are "tied" to your family house or apartment, passed from generation to generation. Here, real estate is just a commodity.
Since I'm not sure how much paper work you can do to confirm thst you are indeed moving away or loving in.
Also wondering if this could be elevated somewhat by having the form be digitalized as it is in certain European countries.
But, yes, different societies have different approaches there and they are kind of designed around it.
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.
The basic point is that most people in the US will want some permanent address where they can get mail etc. and is where they live from the perspective of official government documents. But they may not actually live there (and aren't required to).
I'm doing taxes for the first time this year, wish me luck!
Well, no.
You already have bills in your name, so there is nothing to do.
On the other hand, regarding ID cards (in France): First there is no obligation to keep the address on it up-to-date (so why is there even an address on it?). Second, if you do want the address to be up-to-date then you need to follow the administrative procedure to get a new ID card, which involves providing... a proof of address in the form of an utility bill!
- so you can vote in local elections and they can send you your ballots
- taxes, as they depend on where you live (some tax rates can differ and more importantly it decides where your taxes go)
- security, so for example when you have an arrest warrant or have committed a crime, etc. the state knows where to send your fines, etc.
- planning of health services or education services requires the state to know where people actually live
> And proof of address is not a utility bill there, but either a form from your landlord or land register.
Because you've decided to do that, not because there is a practical requirement, which is my point.
Edit: because the decision was to have a strong ID system, so when people show an ID with an address the confidence is high in that being correct.
You mean what was formerly known as GEZ?
No worries, nowdays that got easier, they just help themself. In my case they just took the money straight from my bank account without consent or asking first, or without me even giving them my current account. (No idea how that was possible, it was the same account as some years ago, but I was living offroad for some time and never gave them permission, but suing them is a fools errand)
In the US it matters too to some extent, eligibility for elections if you want to hold office, your tax burden for states that tax property and so on. But there's not a super official universal office you need to declare it at with lots of paperwork or validation outside of say the given situation it applies to. If I ran for office I'd provide my address and there you go, no complex validation, or if I wanted to pay lower taxes because it is my primary residence ... I just say that's where I live. Those given processes are left to validate it if they wish.
Bureaucracy is a strange thing. We get comfortable with what we know and we can't think of it any other way and it becomes a bit of a revelation when we realize maybe we don't have to do all that ...
How do you think this impacts the private sector? When delivering to a client, are similarly laborious levels of perfection expected?
It's often one of the main reasons why they ask you to register in other countries.
Compared to what seems like a big mess of telling only the post and hoping everyone will get the memo from them, telling the utility, my employer, family, and a few insurances that I moved (updating the info on the self-service site or sending support an email) seems like the better solution to me
I find some people just love process and bureaucracy for its own sake and will ad it endlessly because they think it is their job, but not out of some effort to keep jobs going. There are countries where government spending is a political issue and a way to satisfy constitutions and keep things afloat, but Japan doesn't strike me as one of those.
For say sales tax like things if you buy something online the address you ship it to usually determines that. So no effort required there. In person if you're in TX you pay the TX sales tax (if they have one), if you are in NY you pay the NY sales tax.
As far as filing taxes for a year goes (income tax, property tax) you file taxes (or maybe you don't) and there you go. Filling taxes is largely a sort of declaration of what you say you did and owe. It's up to the state or feds to validate if they wish.
> ... than a frictionless experience for the citizens.
And this is spot on as well. Most Japanese barely understand the need for that; seeking better experience is, basically, seen as a sign of weakness. Way more attention and cost are spared for preventing what are seen as improper and illegitimate, than seeking paths of least resistances or goals at all. Everyone's process people always.
For anyone else, here are some links:
I've been moving almost once a year for the last few years just to try out new places and cities.