Reader AM informed us that Japan Post no longer accepts alien registration cards as valid identification. “Even though alien registration certificates are valid until 2015, Japan Post decided effective July 9, 2012, to no longer accept such cards. Please see this website,” he writes. ...

Bob is wondering if the blood donation rules, which we covered in “Less-than-fluent foreigners may have trouble giving blood” (April 3), also apply to organ donors. “I am carrying, and have for years, a donor card to donate my organs in case of my ...

S.E. has been working at the same English school for 16 years but is thinking of leaving her job and moving to another part of Japan. “My visa is ‘Specialist in Humanities’ and will expire in October 2013. I don’t have a job but ...

Reader M.S. is looking for volunteer opportunities in Tokyo that don’t require fluent Japanese ability, as many — if not most — do. In particular, she’d like to work with animals. Though volunteering opportunities in Japan were covered extensively after the March 11, 2011, ...

Some readers may have misunderstood the intent of our May 22 column, “Foreigners disqualified as blood donors for wide range of reasons,” which was meant to illustrate, through readers’ responses, that if a foreigner is turned away from giving blood in Japan, it happens ...

L.P. would like to volunteer at a Catholic orphanage in the Tohoku region, near the March 11 disaster areas, but isn’t sure how to get started. I contacted Living Dreams, a nonprofit organization based in Tokyo that supports children living in orphanages (children’s homes) ...

In last week’s column, several people living in Japan explained that whether they were able to donate blood was primarily determined by health or safety concerns rather than Japanese language ability, which we originally discussed in our April 3 column, “Less-than-fluent foreigners may have ...

From the many responses to our April 3 column, “Less-than-fluent foreigners may have trouble giving blood,” it seems that Japanese language ability is an issue at some centers, but not all. Other factors sometimes took precedence, such as medical conditions and other rules. For ...

Rosie lost her alien registration card while abroad. “How do I re-enter Japan if I lost my alien card in the Philippines, and are there any additional requirements?” she asks. Officially you are required to have your alien registration card with you when re-entering ...

Julian recently visited a Red Cross blood donation center in Kagoshima to donate blood, but was refused because he can’t speak Japanese. They also told him he couldn’t donate blood even if he brought along a native speaker. “I was so surprised, I couldn’t ...

Several residents of Tokyo’s Suginami Ward contacted us in response to C.W.’s experience, which appeared in our March 6 column, “Immigration ‘informers’ call on foreigners in Suginami Ward.” Victoria admits she was also concerned at first: “I live in Suginami Ward and have already ...