September 16th 2003
I phoned my bank again last night and this morning, chasing up the funds transfer, which didn't appear to be happening. After all, the money was all still in my account, so I was fairly sure it hadn't been transferred.
After a long wait while the foreign currency people checked their records, phone banking got back to me. Apparently, the money had been transferred to Japan, but somehow the bank had missed debiting it from my account. So if I'd kept quiet, I might have got it free! (Well, not really...) They have no idea how it happened, and it caused considerable confusion, because all their records said that the transfer had been made last week, while my records showed that no money had been moved.
Still, the money is on the way, and may already have arrived in Japan. If it hasn't, it should do so any day. That still gives me over a week to get the documents sorted out with the consulate here.
I've also ordered some Japanese currency for when I arrive, so I think I've sorted out just about everything but the visa. Now I just need to pack, which will be fun.
Still in California, just in case you hadn't realised.