Tama Ward Office

Orderly and Helpful

As a foreword, my first experience with ward offices comes from Nakano-ku, Tokyo’s ward office, and I hated that place. Compared to that, Tama-ku is incredibly well-kept and organized, and the majority of the staff is largely helpful even when struggling with Japanese. This place is also quite large, and spacious, compared to the ward offices I’ve been to. The signage is comparatively clear as well, with directories and major signs written in Chinese, English, and Korean alongside the Japanese. MyNumber Card support and address support are located separately, though if you need a new MyNumber card, it is on a different floor from simply renewing the card. Almost none of the staff speak any English, but they will try to help you as best as they can. I can see that most feel a bit bad they can’t speak English so well and I felt a bit of worry from them when they spoke in slow, basic Japanese. Those that didn’t care, well, didn’t care and would at worst give off the air of being stuck at work.