One of the Japanese Kanji character I like most is the one for Child. The Kanji character for child is 子. By simply writing 子 we can understand it stands for ‘child’, ‘children’ etc. Pronounce as ‘ko’ in kun’yomi and ‘shi’ in on’yomi 子 is one of the simplest Kanji very easy to write and remember. But in Japanese language, child is Kodomo. Then the first sound ko is written as 子 and the remaining ‘domo’ is written in hiragana. There are some occasions where the kodomo is written as 子供.
Thus the Otoko no ko becomes boy child and onna no ko is girl child. When I approached the health insurance section of ward office, they inquired me about number of children. I replied in my broken confused Japanese ‘onna no ko wa futari desu’. I am not sure about the grammar, but they could have understood.
子 is a widely used Kanji helpful in many life situations in day to day life in Japan. Combined with other kanji characters 子 forms different meanings like the one in ‘suki’ which means ‘like’, ‘loving’ etc. Interestingly when I learned the kanji for suki, it is a combination of a child and woman. Woman loves child naturally and that love is considered from the heart which Japanese people think will convey the best meaning for love and like. This has prompted me to think the complex mind process involved in the past years to derive the Kanji characters. 子 is used in Choushi which means ‘tune’ or ‘condition’ and in ‘yousu’ means ‘state of affairs’. I can not proceed further with my meager knowledge on Japanese Kanji.
Coming to the subject of living with children in Japan, it is a fun and different As I wrote in the previous post, the alien card for children will be issued on the same day by the ward office. Once the alien card is received, we have to apply for National health insurance or other health insurance schemes. This will provide 70% free treatment in hospitals and medical stores. We need to produce the health insurance card to the hospitals and medical stores. The first time the hospitals and medical stores will register the card details in the system and subsequent visits will be easier by just giving the card to them.
70% free medical insurance is a great help, the Japan Government provide to Japanese people and for foreigners who intends to live in Japan for one year or more. Generally speaking, people who have alien card will be covered under one of the national health insurance schemes. So, they can avail 70% free medical treatment. The health insurance card is a green colored card with the same size of the alien registration card.
For children under the age of 15, ward office will issue another health insurance card. The green health insurance card is required to apply for this special card for children. If we produce both the cards in hospital and medical stores, 100% of the medical expenses will be free. This was something new information for me on the conveniences the Japan Government provides to the citizens including temporary foreign residents. How can we say Japan discriminates foreigners! I wonder. Temporary foreign residents are also covered under the national health insurance scheme and national pension scheme and their family members are also entitled to the facilities provided by the Japan Government.
I am not sure whether the child’s medical expenses card for 100% free treatment is available in other ward offices as well. Edogawa ward office had issued these medical expenses cards for my children. The diagnosis and treatment for which the medical expenses become free are slightly different. For example, child’s vaccination fee, health examination fee and the charges for using rooms are not covered by health insurance plan in Japan.
This free medical treatment for children is available even in case we travel out of Tokyo and fall sick in other part of Japan. In such cases, we need to get the receipt or expenses, health insurance card, child’s medical expense card issued by the ward office, and the guardian’s bank pass book to the ward office’s respective sections.
Children will get infected with the seasonal diseases and common cold easily and every time parents has to take them to the hospital. Thanks to the Japanese Government, due to the free medical treatment schemes, the life in Japan with kids will not be an additional financial burden for parents.
Thus the Otoko no ko becomes boy child and onna no ko is girl child. When I approached the health insurance section of ward office, they inquired me about number of children. I replied in my broken confused Japanese ‘onna no ko wa futari desu’. I am not sure about the grammar, but they could have understood.
子 is a widely used Kanji helpful in many life situations in day to day life in Japan. Combined with other kanji characters 子 forms different meanings like the one in ‘suki’ which means ‘like’, ‘loving’ etc. Interestingly when I learned the kanji for suki, it is a combination of a child and woman. Woman loves child naturally and that love is considered from the heart which Japanese people think will convey the best meaning for love and like. This has prompted me to think the complex mind process involved in the past years to derive the Kanji characters. 子 is used in Choushi which means ‘tune’ or ‘condition’ and in ‘yousu’ means ‘state of affairs’. I can not proceed further with my meager knowledge on Japanese Kanji.
Coming to the subject of living with children in Japan, it is a fun and different As I wrote in the previous post, the alien card for children will be issued on the same day by the ward office. Once the alien card is received, we have to apply for National health insurance or other health insurance schemes. This will provide 70% free treatment in hospitals and medical stores. We need to produce the health insurance card to the hospitals and medical stores. The first time the hospitals and medical stores will register the card details in the system and subsequent visits will be easier by just giving the card to them.
70% free medical insurance is a great help, the Japan Government provide to Japanese people and for foreigners who intends to live in Japan for one year or more. Generally speaking, people who have alien card will be covered under one of the national health insurance schemes. So, they can avail 70% free medical treatment. The health insurance card is a green colored card with the same size of the alien registration card.
For children under the age of 15, ward office will issue another health insurance card. The green health insurance card is required to apply for this special card for children. If we produce both the cards in hospital and medical stores, 100% of the medical expenses will be free. This was something new information for me on the conveniences the Japan Government provides to the citizens including temporary foreign residents. How can we say Japan discriminates foreigners! I wonder. Temporary foreign residents are also covered under the national health insurance scheme and national pension scheme and their family members are also entitled to the facilities provided by the Japan Government.
I am not sure whether the child’s medical expenses card for 100% free treatment is available in other ward offices as well. Edogawa ward office had issued these medical expenses cards for my children. The diagnosis and treatment for which the medical expenses become free are slightly different. For example, child’s vaccination fee, health examination fee and the charges for using rooms are not covered by health insurance plan in Japan.
This free medical treatment for children is available even in case we travel out of Tokyo and fall sick in other part of Japan. In such cases, we need to get the receipt or expenses, health insurance card, child’s medical expense card issued by the ward office, and the guardian’s bank pass book to the ward office’s respective sections.
Children will get infected with the seasonal diseases and common cold easily and every time parents has to take them to the hospital. Thanks to the Japanese Government, due to the free medical treatment schemes, the life in Japan with kids will not be an additional financial burden for parents.
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