Trapped in the BANK BOX 卡在銀行隔間裡

After sticking around for 6 months, aliens in Japan are allowed to open a bank account besides Japan Post Bank to access more banking services including online banking. However here's the catch, if you arrive as a group of 7 foreigners, the folks at Mitsubishi UFJ will try to split you up and have a few people apply for the account themselves at isolated "TV rooms".

過了6個月，在日居留的外國人可以申請任何銀行的戶頭來進行網上交易。可是當我們7個外國人到了三菱UFJ銀行時，工作人員竟然要我們幾個分開去“電視房”來自己申請戶頭。

I was persuaded to enter into a "TV room" which was an isolated cubicle with a computer kiosk which could perform webcam functions with a personnel stationed remotely. I talked with her using the attached phone receiver and she'd bow, stay bowed, until the webcam screen went off each time. This marvelous piece of high-tech equipment combined with first-class service was supposed to speed up the application and reduce workload for the bankers. However, they forgot that I am a bloody foreigner with limited Japanese ability, so I was trapped there for an hour while the rest spent only10mins each at the counter.

我被推薦進入一間“電視房”。小隔間裡只有一台可以和別處站崗的銀行人員進行網絡攝影的電腦儀器。每次網絡攝影下線之前她都會鞠躬直到畫面消失為止。這台高科技儀器再加上日本的一流服務應該會讓申請的時間縮短並減少員工的工作量。可是... ...他們竟然失算了！因為我是半桶日語的可惡外國人，所以本來每人在櫃台只需花10分鐘的過程，我竟然一個人在房間裡耗了一個鐘頭。

Bravo to the latest banking technology in Japan! Be sure to use this whenever you don't feel like talking to the people over the counters as they'll be less than happy to help you.

為日本銀行的高科技萬歲吧！因為當你不想在櫃台和銀行員工對話時，他們也不想服務你時，使用這“電腦房”將會是一個很不錯的選擇。