Vol.180／The Pension Claim Process
The other day, I went through what’s called the “pension claim process.”
Unless you do this, you won’t be receiving any living funds from the Japanese government going forward.
Since I was born in March, I was probably the “grand finale” among my classmates.
In response to the summons, I went to the pension office, where I was handed a number ticket at the reception.
I was then called by number and received an explanation from a staff member.
To put it mildly, it was incredibly difficult to understand.
Even after about 45 minutes of explanation, I doubt any pension recipient could fully grasp everything in one go.
I imagine the explanation kept getting more and more complicated, as the staff tried to add clarifications to avoid people later saying, “Nobody told me that!”
The young staff member looked every bit the earnest type.
He must repeat this explanation every day to recipients much older than himself.
With no one to blame for the absurdity of the system, all I could do was wait for time to pass.
These days—especially in democratic societies—many people are buried in endless paperwork and formalities.
Personally, I’m terrible at these sorts of things.
Even if I were to say, “I completely trust you, so feel free to skip the explanation,” that probably wouldn’t fly.
In fact, after the explanation, they even handed me a checklist with each item marked, showing that everything had indeed been explained to me.
I imagine in authoritarian states, much of this procedural formality is skipped entirely.
In that sense, when democracy and dictatorship are in conflict, I can’t help but feel democracy doesn’t stand much of a chance... and that’s a scary thought.
“Diligently going through the procedures that must be followed”—
I’d like to add that as a new requirement for being eligible to receive a pension.
＝ June 10, 2025 / MoTet ＝
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