[kashitta]

thanks for the information.

so the crucial step remains the tourist visa issue...
does anybody know anything about the cultural studies visa? my husband is planning on continuing his karate studies...but it's not like he has a 1st dan already...does it make sense to try and go on this visa? and would this visa give me (wife) and our son a visa to stay there next to him?

I saw somewhere that the tourist visa given to Germans (and another 30 countries) is for "UP TO 6 MONTHS". Do they give normally the 6 months? Or less? And does it matter that I am not a German citizen? Would I get the same visa he gets since we go as a family?

hate visa issues.

will check the Nagoya area. we were thinking about Okinawa (karate, the weather) - but we are afraid it has too much of the "american military" style people...? No offends, but it's not what we want.

kashitta