Aishiteru, Takah!
Chapter 5's
As soon as Taka converted, I prepared the necessary documents for marriage. Before, I had reported this to my family in Indonesia. Mama and papa who have promised to free all the decisions I take make the steps I do easier. Not to forget, I invited them all to come to Japan. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, my family couldn't make it to the wedding day I had arranged with Taka. They promised they would come to visit after their business was over.
I asked my mom to take care of some of the documents I needed to get married in Japan. The document includes marriage licenses from parents, certificates of never been married and certificates of origin from the village, as well as certificates about parents who are also from the village.
***
Taka and I were drinking coffee and staring at the lights of Tokyo from the balcony of my apartment when I asked a question that embarrassed me in the end.
"Do you know if a Muslim man is required to be circumcised? Are you gonna do that? In which hospital? Can I drive you? To be honest, I was curious to see a grown man do the process. Don't misunderstand me. I mean, I want to know if you can get through that process."
The endless questions from me made Taka roll his eyes lazily. "I've been circumcised before. So, do I have to do it again?"
"really?" I just don't believe it.
"Rinai bo*doh," she laughed back and ruffled my hair. "The medical world suggests it is for health, and the Japanese have a good understanding for health problems. No wonder so many do this. People in Tokyo Camii asked me the same thing, whether I was circumcised or not. And the explanation they give regarding the order of circumcision for Muslims is in fact also recommended by the medical world."
I nodded in understanding. Taka who saw my behavior getting tighter ruffled my hair.
***
While Taka, it is mandatory to bring the original Koseki Tohon (family card) and a photocopy of the front page passport. All of that is a condition to get Kon In Yoken Gubi Shoumeisho or a Cover Letter Will Get Married.
After getting the Cover Letter to Get Married, we then visited Kuyakusho or Shiyakusho (civil records office) with a passport as a condition. There we fill out the Marriage Registration form or Kon In Todoke. We were required to come with two adults as witnesses to sign a statement that our marriage was right. In this case, we asked Toru as well as the manager of the band.
It was not until one hour, our Marriage Certificate (Kekkon Juri Shoumeisho) was successfully issued, and this means that our marriage has been officially recorded in the Japanese government.
Not only that, I accompanied by Taka sent two more copies of the Marriage Certificate to the KBRI along with a photocopy of the passport to get a document called the Marriage Acceptance Letter. This document will be required to apply for a visa to Japanese Immigration and to report our marriage in Indonesia. For both of these processes we had to wait for more than a week.
In time to wait for the visa change process and also our marriage reporting process in Indonesia. We re-applied for an Islamic marriage certificate and contacted the head of the KBRI to apply for a wedding date. The wedding date cannot be chosen at will due to the density of the schedule of the people who will also do the marriage contract. We get a date, two weeks from filing a wedding date In this process, the forerunner requests a marriage guardian's power of attorney if the father of the bride is unable to attend. However, because my status is an adopted child (see my origin letter sent by my mother) then no such power of attorney is required and I will use a guardian judge.
By my agreement with Taka, we will hold a marriage contract in Tokyo Camii with the head of the KBRI. The process from starting to take care of documents in Indonesia to preparing a marriage contract took almost three months.
