Small islands in the Seto Inland Sea such as mine are visited periodically by health care boats with doctors, nurses and medical equipment on board to offer health exams for islanders. The boat makes the rounds of all the small islands that belong to Okayama Prefecture, making it possible for even the elderly and bed-ridden to take advantage of certain medical services.
As I walked onto the medical boat, the girl at the reception handed me a form to fill out. Forms are always problematic for Westerners because there are so many choices to make when filling in your name. Do I write my name in English (romaji), or katakana? If it's katakana, what do I write in the space that says "furigana?"
These questions are not easily answered if you're asking a receptionist who has never dealt with a foreign name before. It will likely perplex her even more than you. She will need a "time out" to ask her coworker, who also won't know the answer. She'll have to ask her superior who, as soon as he comes out of the toilet, will make this major decision.