日本大使館への婚姻届提出 Filing Marriage Registration at the Japanese Embassy

在外日本大使館への婚姻届には以下の書類が2通ずつ（日本での本籍地を替える場合はそれぞれ3通ずつ）必要になります。

-婚姻届書
-戸籍謄本
-婚姻証明書（Vjenčani List)の原本とその和文訳 
-婚姻相手の国籍を証明する書面とその和文訳

　婚姻届は在外公館に置いてあるので、申請しに行ったときに記入します。婚姻証明書と婚姻相手の国籍を証明する書面の和文訳は、特に法廷通訳人のものである必要はなく、本人の翻訳で大丈夫でした。だた、和訳文の最後に翻訳者の名前と日付を入れる必要があります。婚姻相手の国籍を証明する書面は、パスポートのコピーやDomovnicaのコピーで大丈夫です。

　よく国際結婚をするのに、海外では婚姻届を提出して日本側には提出しない、という人もいますがクロアチアでは結婚後の苗字を変えたらそれをパスポートに反映させないと一時滞在許可証をもらえないので、婚姻届を日本大使館に提出しざるを得ません。ちなみにパスポートの名前の変更・追加には婚姻届を提出して、婚姻が記載された戸籍謄本が必要です。日本側で婚姻届を出さない人は、たいてい離婚したときに×がつくのがいやだから、というのが理由みたいですが、離婚を前提に結婚するのもどうか、と・・・。

Statue of A.G. Matoš by Ivan Kožarić

For the Japanese citizens, who marry to non-Japanese citizens, need to file the following documents:

-2 of requests for marriage registration
-2 copies of family register
-2 copies of marriage certificate (Vjenčani List) and 2 copies of its Japanese translation
-2 copies of proof of your spouse's nationality and 2 copies of its Japanese translation

  If you wish to change your domicile in Japan, then add extra copy for each document. The request (form) for marriage registration will be obtained at the Japanese embassies and consulates. So, you need to fill the form at the embassy or the consulate when you file the request. The Japanese translation does not necessarily be done by a certified translator, but the applicant can make the translation. In this case, the applicant (Japanese) need to write his/her name and date of translation at the end of the translation. As for the proof of your spouse's nationality, it could be something like a copy of your spouse's passport or a copy of your spouse's Domovnica.

  I often hear that so many Japanese who got married to non-Japanese do not file the request for the marriage registration with the Japanese embassy or consulate, intentionally. Because when they get divorced, that history will be written on their birth certificate and family register, and people want to avoid it, so that when they marry next time his/her new partner would never know.... But for me, it sounds so wrong and ridiculous. Why people marry on the assumption of divorce?

  Anyway, in Croatia, if you change your name after marriage, that new name should be shown on your passport, otherwise you will not able to obtain the temporary residence permit. For us Japanese to amend our name on the passport, we need to file the request for the marriage registration, and bring a copy of new family register, which states a marital status, to the Japanese embassy or the consulate together with the passport. So, there is no way to avoid filing the request for the marriage registration with the Japanese embassy or the consulate, unless you decide not to change your family name after marriage.

一時滞在許可証の取得準備 Documents necesary for Temporary Residence Permit

結婚式が済んだら次にすることは、日本大使館への婚姻届の提出と一時滞在許可証（Dozvola za Privremeni Boravak）の申請です。私は結婚式の後に日本へ一時帰国する予定があったので、一時滞在許可証の申請を先にして、大使館への婚姻届の提出を日本から帰ってからしました。後から分かったことですが、この2つは同時進行で行った方が時間を無駄にしないですむと思います。

パスポートの名前の変更、というか、パスポートの追記部分に名前が変わったことを記載してもらうのに婚姻届の提出と同時にできてしまう、と勘違いしていて、航空券を以前の名前で予約していたので名前を変えてしまうと飛行機に乗れなくなるので婚姻届の提出を遅らせてしまいました。実際には婚姻届を日本大使館に提出して名前の追記をパスポートにしてもらうのに1か月ちょっとかかりました。

結婚後の一時滞在許可証の申請に必要な書類は：

Island Vis (Taken by Daniel Zrno)

-銀行振込用紙（空白のもの。許可証受け取り時に必要）
-申請者の有効なパスポートのコピー
-申請者の出生証明書（クロアチア語）
-婚姻証明書（Vjenčani List)
-配偶者の国籍証明書(Domovnica)
-配偶者の出生証明書(Rodni List)
-配偶者のIDカードのコピー
-配偶者の雇用証明書(Potvrda o Zaposlenju)
-配偶者の収入証明書(Osobnom Primanju Supružnika)
-公証人(Javnog Bilježnika)の元、配偶者が扶養者をサポートする旨の宣言書にサインしたもの
-3.5ｃｍ×4.5ｃｍの写真２つ
-犯罪履歴
-健康保険の証明書
-公証人の元発行された家の賃貸の契約書（オリジナル）、あるいは家の所有権証明書
-住む家の持ち主のIDカードのコピー

それに許可証の受け取り時に支払う５００Knと27.76Knのスタンプです。料金は年度によって変わるかもしれないので、その都度確認してください。婚姻の申請をするときに比べるとずいぶんたくさんの書類が必要になります。

上のリストで「配偶者」はクロアチア国籍所有者です。クロアチア人が外国人と結婚する場合、クロアチア国籍の配偶者は最低月に2,750Kn稼いでいることが条件になります。扶養者に子供1人含まれる場合は最低月に3,250Knで、家族が1人増えるごとに＋500Knです。収入証明書は過去3か月分が必要で、会社に頼めば発行してくれるみたいです。ところで、クロアチアには実際の収入を低く申請して脱税している人が多くいます。脱税のために1か月の収入をこの最低基準より低く申請していて、国際結婚する際に脱税がばれるケースもあるとか・・・。

犯罪履歴は日本大使館であらかじめ、婚姻届をクロアチアの登録所に提出する出生証明書と婚姻要件具備証明書と一緒にお願いしておけば、一時滞在許可証申請時までには大使館で受け取れると思います。届いた犯罪履歴はアポスティーユがついているので、開封しないでそのままもっていきましょう。ちなみに、ケースバイケースみたいですが、私の場合、警察署に一時滞在許可証の申請をしにいったときに犯罪履歴をクロアチア語に翻訳するように言われました。翻訳は法廷通訳人など正式な免許を持った人に頼まなければなりません。

在クロアチア日本大使館で作成してもらった出生証明書(Birth certificate)ですが、婚姻届を提出したときとは異なって、アポスティーユは必要なかったです。

健康保険の証明書は、日本で海外旅行保険に入っている場合は、その証明書を提出します。私は基本的に海外旅行保険に入っていなかったので焦りましたが、クロアチア国内の保険会社Sunceが販売している外国人向けの保険で条件をクリアできました。



After the wedding day, what you need to do next is to amend your name on your passport and to apply the temporary residence permit （Dozvola za Privremeni Boravak） in Croatia. 

  It must depend on each country's policy and law, but in my case, I had to file a marriage registration at the Japanese Embassy in Zagreb. Also, I thought the amendment of my name on the passport could be done at the same time as when I file the marriage registration. So, I filed the marriage registration about a month after the wedding day, because I had to go back to Japan soon after the wedding day to attend my friend's wedding ceremony and reception, and I knew that the passport name should be the same as the name I booked the flight ticket.  So, I delayed the procedure at the Japanese Embassy. But this was a mistake. I should have done filed the marriage registration at the same time when I filed the request for the temporary residence permit.

  When you receive the temporary residence permit, your passport has to show the new family name, if you decided to change it. In my case, because I delayed the filing of the marriage registration, I had to wait to receive the temporary residence permit until my name is amended.

  Anyway, to apply the temporary residence permit in Croatia, you need to prepare the following documents:

Christmas decoration at Zagreb local government office

-An empty bank transfer form (Opća uplatnica)
-A copy of your valid passport
-Your birth certificate in Croatian language
-A copy of marriage certificate (Vjenčani List)
-Proof of your partner's citizenship (Domovnica)
-Your partner's birth certificate (Rodni List)
-A copy of your partner's ID
-A copy of a certificate of your partner's employment (Potvrda o Zaposlenju)
-Proof of past 3 months income of your partner (Osobnom Primanju Supružnika)
-A statement of supporting the dependent in front of the notary public (Javnog Bilježnika)
-2 photos (3.5cm × 4.5 cm) of the applicant
-Criminal record of the applicant
-Proof of health insurance of the applicant
-Proof of residence
                                                                              -A copy of ID of the owner of the residence.

Also, prepare 500 Kn and 27.76Kn stamps, which you need to pay when the you receive the visa. As you can see, you need to prepare more documents than when you file the marriage registration. 

  When a Croatian citizen marries to a foreigner, he/she needs to earn 2.750Kn per month at least. If a non-Croatian family member will depend on him/her, then he/she needs to earn 3.250kn per month at least. If family reunion includes 2 or more dependents (like children), then add 500Kn extra for each dependent.

  As for the criminal records, I guess you will get one with Apostille stamp on it. So, file the criminal record without opening it. The police may accept the criminal record as it is, or the police may order you to bring a translation for it. If the translation is needed, then the translation must be done by a certified translator such as a court translator. But as you know, the document with Apostille will become invalid if you open it. So, bring the sealed criminal documents to the police office and ask for instruction. In my case, I was requested to translate the criminal record into Croatian, so I contacted my court translator and filed the translation about a week later.

  By the way, when I filed the birth certificate for the marriage registration, I needed to attach the Apostille, but when I filed the birth certificate for the temporary residence permit, I was not requested to attach the Apostille with it. It might depend on police officers, so better to check before you file it.

  If you contracted a health insurance, which covers treatments in Croatia, back in your country, then you need to bring a proof of it. If you don't, like I didn't, then you can make a contract with Croatian health insurance company called Sunce, which sells a health insurance for foreigners in Croatia. 

クロアチアの結婚式 Wedding Ceremony in Croatia

クロアチアの田舎での伝統的な結婚式は100人～300人のゲストを呼んで2日間（場合によっては3日間！）にわたって続くらしいです。でもザグレブなどの都会では金曜日の１７：００頃に結婚式をして、夕食を兼ねたパーティーがせいぜい次の朝まで続くという感じ。また、結婚式当日、barjaktarと呼ばれるクロアチアの国旗を持った旗手を先頭に、新郎の家から新婦の家へ新婦を迎えに行きます。そのあと、教会、教会からパーティー会場まで旗手を先頭に列が進んでいきます。歩ける距離ではない場合は、車に国旗を付けて勢いよくクラクションを鳴らしながら走っていきます。そんな結婚式の行列を見かけたら、車のクラクションを鳴らしてお祝いするのがクロアチア風。最初、そんな光景に出くわしたとき、デモかナショナリスト運動か、と警戒してしまったけれど・・・ (^ ^;)。

また、クロアチアには新郎側が新婦の家に到着したときに新婦が家の屋根の向こうに向かってりんごを投げる、という習慣があります。これは新婦が健康で体力があることを示すためらしいです。今ではこの習慣はほとんど行われていなくて、もしやっているとしたら田舎の村くらい。

　私たちの場合は、そういったことを省略してとりあえず街中で写真撮影と式とアフターパーティだけにしました。 ザグレブでプロのカメラマンに写真をお願いする場合、パッケージにもよりますが、写真だけの安いものは2,000Knから、高いものはDVDも含めて18,000Knまであります。

  結婚式は市庁舎の中の小さな部屋で行われました。その部屋の机の向こうにセレブラントと法廷通訳人が座って、クロアチアの法律上での夫婦の義務などを読み上げていました。印象的だったのは、「日常のコミュニケーションを大切にして、健全な家庭を築いてください」と言われたこと。そのあと、指輪交換をして、新郎、新婦、証人の順にmarriage bookにサインをしました。このとき、新しい苗字のサインを決めていなかったというか練習をしておかなかったので、かなり焦りました∑(ﾟДﾟ)　そしてサイン見事に失敗というか変なサインに・・・一生残るのに。新しい苗字でサインすることをすっかり忘れてました・・・　あとはゲスト、セレブラント、法廷通訳人の人たちと写真を撮ったり、あいさつしたり和やかな雰囲気の中終わりました。

そのあとはレストランに移ってみんなで食事をして解散。帰り、アパート近くを歩いていると、トラムの運転手が手を振ってお祝いしてくれた(*^-^)　何となくクロアチアに受け入れられた感じで、うれしかった。 

ところで、クロアチアの結婚祝いですが、日本みたいにお金で渡すことが多いみたい。相場は50ユーロから100ユーロくらい。プレゼントの場合もあるみたいですが、こっちではオーストラリアのようにウェディングギフトリストを作ることはないそうです。

I've heard that the traditional Croatian wedding party and reception continues for 2 to 3 days with 100 to 300 guests in a countryside. But in a big city like Zagreb, usually a wedding ceremony is held around 17:00 to 18:00 on Friday, and then people have a reception afterwords until next morning.

  On wedding day, a groom and his family and friends march to a bride's house with a flagman (barjaktar) in the lead, who holds a big Croatian flag (zastava), to pick up his bride. It is very old custom and may not be practiced apart from in the countryside but, when the groom and his company arrives at the bride's house, the bride throws an apple over the roof of the house to show that she is healthy and strong enough. However, it seems like this custom is kind of dead, and only a small village in the countryside may keep this custom.

  After the groom picks up his brides, then the flagman leads everyone to the church, and then to the reception venue. If the bride's house, the church or the wedding venue is not a walkable distance, then a "flag-car"(a car attached with the flag), instead of the flagman, takes the groom and the bride to the church and to the reception venue.　When you see such procession or the car having the flag and honking on the road while you drive a car, then honk at them. It's a Croatian way of celebrating them :) When I first say such procession, I thought they might have a demonstration or something like nationalistic movement or something, because in Japan, we don't have much occasion to hold a flag with us.

  In Croatia, the groom goes to the bride's house to pick up her, but in Japan, it's opposite. Traditionally, the bride leaves her house and goes to the groom's house to greet his family, and then the bride and the groom go to a wedding venue.  This is because, the marriage in Japan is connecting two different families, but not in an equal manner. I mean, the bride becomes a member of the groom's family, but the bride's parents tend to take a distance from their daughter after marring her husband. So, it is important for the bride to socialise with the husband's family and relatives, because after marrying him, generally, priority goes to his family and not to her parents and family. Hence, visiting and greeting the groom's family is something like, showing that she leaves her family and ready to be a member of the husband's family and asking them to accept her as a member of the family.

  For example, when I talked to my parents over the Skype in front of my husband, they were worried if we talked to long because they thought my husband might get upset or something. Or when I went back to Japan alone after marrying my husband, my parents said that I shouldn't stay with them too long, because I had to go back to Croatia and do some domestic works. They sound a bit over-reacting or too worry about my status as being a wife, but this shows how Japanese parents see marriage: once you get married, you have to take a good care of your husband, and you belong to him (and his family). I told my parents that my husband doesn't care about those and he can do things by himself, but I couldn't change their attitudes. It's a bit sad...

  Anyway, in our case, we omitted all those traditions in Croatia. We had a very small wedding ceremony and a small wedding reception (or just dinner)with my husband's parents, brothers and his girlfriend, our witnesses and a few friends of my husband. Before the wedding ceremony, we took some photos in the city. If you hire professional photographers for a wedding day, it costs 2,000 Kn to 18,000 Kn depends on packages. In our case, we asked my husband's brother for photo-taking in the city and my husband's friend, who is a professional photographer, for photo-taking at the ceremony and the reception. If you need a photographer, I can provide you his and my husband (who is kind of semi-professional) contact number or e-mail address for photos ;)

  The ceremony itself was held at a relatively small room in the local government office starting at 17:45. We had a celebrant and the court translator over the big table in the room. What memorable was that the celebrant told us to have a good communication to understand each other and to create a healthy and good family together. Then, exchange the wedding bands, and signed the wedding book. I forgot that I had to sign with my family name and I didn't decide (practice) the new sign before the wedding day, so I was a bit panicked and made a weird sign :(

  When we crossed the road by foot on the way back to our apartment, a tram driver honked and wave at us to celebrate us. It was a moment when I felt like I was welcomed and accepted into Croatia :)

  By the way, in Croatia, there is no custom to make a wedding gift lists like in Australia. Usually guests give money (50 to 100 euros) to the bride and groom. Some people give a gift, but it seems like money is more preferable. In that sense, Croatia is similar to Japan.

クロアチアでの結婚式の準備 Preparation for the Wedding Day

私たちはクロアチアで旦那の家族と立会人、旦那の数人の友達でものすごく小さな結婚式を市役所で挙げることにしました。クロアチアの伝統的な結婚式だと、100人から300人くらいのゲストを呼んで2日間パーティーが続くらしい。300人ともなると話したことも見たこともない人まで混じっているとか・・・。

結婚式前に私たちが準備したのは結婚指輪とブーケくらいで、レストランの予約とウェディングケーキは旦那の両親が準備してくれました。指輪はザグレブのメインストリート、イリツァ通りに面したアーケードの中にあるZlatarna Kolveshi (Ilica 5, 10000 Zagreb) というお店でオーダー。ここのお店は店頭に置いてある指輪の数は少ないけれど、自分の好きなデザインを持っていくとその通りにつくってくれるみたいです。私たちは細めでシンプルなゴールドの指輪をお願いしました。ペアで2,500Kn。他のお店もそうだったけれど、シンプルな指輪だと重さで値段を決めるみたいです。注文して3日後くらいにサンプルが出来上がったので確認しに行って、刻印を決めて再度数日後に受け取りに行きました。

ブーケはアパートの近くにあるお花屋さんに作ってもらいました。ブーケの場合、一般的に最低でも5日くらい前までには予約が必要みたいです。相場は300Knから400Kn（約4,500円～6,000円）と日本に比べたらものすごい安い！

あとは、法廷通訳人から私の名前の読み方を確認したい、ということで結婚式前に法廷通訳人に1回会って打ち合わせをしました。打ち合わせと言っても世間話8割という感じだったけれど・・・。結婚式の時に名前を読み上げるから、間違えないように、ということでした。ものすごく気さくな人で弾丸トークがすごかった・・・。クロアチア人はおしゃべり好きと聞くけれど、その典型みたいな感じかな。でも、ものすごいフレンドリーでいい人でよかった♪

We planned to have a very small wedding ceremony and a reception with my husband's family, our witnesses and a few friends of my husband, because all my friends and family are in Japan and also because it was difficult to plan a proper wedding reception in a short notice.

 So, we didn't have to prepare much. We just bought a pair of wedding bands and booked a bouquet. And my husband's parents booked a restaurant and prepared a wedding cake for us. We ordered our wedding bands at a shop called Zlatarna Kolveshi (Ilica 5, 10000 Zagreb), which is located at the arcade on the main street of Zagreb, Ilica street. The shop doesn't have much on display, but the jeweller creates whatever you wishes. So, if you have specific design for your rings, bring the design plan to him and he would make it. We asked him to make us very simple and narrow 18k gold rings. Now in Croatia, wide and big wedding bands are more in demand and it was difficult to find a thin and narrow wedding band. The jeweller made us sample rings in 5 days after we ordered our rings. So, we returned to the shop to check the samples and we told us which date we wanted to have inside the rings. The rings cost us 2,500kn in total. When you buy a simple ring like us, usually, price is determined based on weight. 

  As for the bouquet, we ordered it at a flower shop near our apartment. It seems like you need to order a bouquet at least 5 days before the wedding day. The average price for a wedding bouquet here in Zagreb is 300 kn to 400 kn, which is quite cheap comparing to Japan. In Japan, a wedding bouquet costs 20,000 yen to 30,000 yen (200 to 300 euro / 250 to 380 $ in current exchange rate), and could be over 60,000 yen if you have a wedding ceremony and reception at a famous hotel.

  Also before the wedding day, we had a meeting with our court translator because she wanted to check how to read my name, which is not easy to pronounce for non Japanese-speakers, for the wedding ceremony. We also talked a lot about Croatia, Croatian language and other things. She is very friendly, talkative and very cheerful, and I felt very lucky to find her as my court translator :)

クロアチアで婚姻届提出 Filing Documents for Marriage registration

2011年9月22日に結婚届出用の書類をそろえて、住んでいる地域の登録所(Matični Ured)へ2人そろって書類を提出しに行きました。その際に、登録所に置いてある申請書に記載してその他の書類と一緒に提出します。役場で結婚式を挙げる場合は約300Knの支払いと結婚式の時に渡される婚姻証明書(Izvadak is matice vjenčanih)発行手数料20Knの支払いを求められます。

書類を提出するときに、登録所の職員から簡単な質問をされます。質問内容は「これが最初の結婚か」、「結婚後の名前をどうするか」などです。また、外国人がクロアチアで結婚する場合、法廷通訳人を結婚式の時に同伴しなければなりません。書類提出時に法廷通訳人が決まっていたら、その人の情報も一緒に渡します。そうでない場合、後日、法廷通訳人が決まってから登録所に連絡します。登録所でも法廷通訳人を紹介してくれるので、書類提出時に決まっていなくても焦る必要はないです。私たちの場合も登録所で紹介された法廷通訳人に通訳をお願いしました。

登録所に婚姻届出を提出するときに、役場で結婚式を行う場合いつ結婚式を行うか聞かれます。結婚式を執り行ってくれるのは届出書を提出してから1か月後ならいつでも大丈夫なようです。なので、結婚立会人やゲスト、家族とあらかじめスケジュールを合わせておくと良いと思います。それが終わると結婚式のスケジュールを書いた通知書（紙切れというか・・・）をもらいます。

役場で結婚をするときには法廷通訳人が必要なんですが、教会で結婚式を行う場合、教会によっては英語で司祭が結婚式を執り行ってくれるところもあるようです。ただし、キリスト教ではない人が教会で結婚式を挙げることはできないので注意してください。

Filing papers at local registration office

We went to the local registration office (Matični Ured) to file documents (our birth certificates, the certificate of marital status, a copy of my passport, copies of our witnesses) together with a request for marriage registration, which you can obtain at the local registration office. If you plan to have your wedding ceremony at the local government office, you need to pay 300Kn together with an issue fee of an marriage certificate (Izvadak is matice vjenčanih), which will be given to you on the wedding day.

  When we filed the request for marriage registration, the staff at the registration office asked us simple questions such as "Will this be your first marriage?", "How would you like your surname to be after the marriage" and so on.

  If you are non-Croatian and plan to have a wedding ceremony at the local government office, you need to accompany a court translator.  If you have already appointed a court translator by the time you file the documents, then you need to provide information about your court translator. If you haven't found one yet, you need to inform the registration office later about the court translator when you find one. Also, you can ask the registration office about the court translator. In fact, we asked them who to contact.

Notification on marriage day

  Upon filing of the request for marriage registration, the registration office asked us when we wanted to have our wedding ceremony. Usually, it seems like you can pick up any day but a month later after the filing day. So, you need to talk to your witnesses, your guests and and your family beforehand to coordinate schedules. After everything was set with the registration office, we received a notification on marriage day.

  By the way, some churches give you a wedding ceremony in English. So, if you choose to have your wedding ceremony in such church, there is no need to hire the court translator.

クロアチアでの婚姻届提出に必要な書類 Documents for Marriage Registration in Croatia

クロアチアで結婚する場合、以下の書類を住んでいる地域の登録所 Matični Uredに提出する必要があります。

‐新郎新婦の出生証明書(Rodni List)
-婚姻要件具備証明書（独身証明書, Potvrda o Slobodnom Bračnom Statusu）
-結婚立会人（証人, svjedok/svjedoci） のIDカードのコピー

合わせてパートナー（クロアチア人）のIDカード提出と場合によってはパスポート（非クロアチア人）のコピーの提出が求められます。 出生証明書と婚姻要件具備証明書はともにクロアチア語である必要があります。

これらの書類は在クロアチア日本国大使館で作成をお願いすることができます。まず日本の戸籍謄本を1通持って大使館で出生証明書と婚姻要件具備証明書の作成をお願いしに行きました。ちなみに婚姻が済んでから一時滞在許可証の申請をするのですが、このときにも出生証明書と犯罪履歴が必要になります。なので、大使館で出生証明書2通、婚姻要件具備証明書1通、アポスティーユ付犯罪履歴 (criminal record) 1通の作成をお願いしました。犯罪履歴は日本に申請書を送ってから作成、大使館で受け取るので、1か月ほど時間がかかります。大使館では出生証明書と婚姻要件具備証明書をクロアチア語で翌日には作成していただけます。手数料は2011年9月の時点で、1通につき70Knでした。これらの書類をクロアチアの役所に提出する際、作成日から3か月以内である必要があるので注意してください。

余談ですが、婚姻が済んでから大使館に婚姻届を提出しなければならないのですが、そのときに戸籍謄本が2通必要になるので、日本から3通～4通（念のため）持って来た方がよいと思います。

大使館で出生証明書と婚姻要件具備証明書を受け取ったら、今度は婚姻届のための出生証明書と婚姻要件具備証明書にアポスティーユを付ける必要があります。クロアチア外務省（Ministarstvo Vanjskih Poslova)でアポスティーユをお願いできます。場所はVlaška通りにあるPetrova Crkva (St. Peter's Church)とPetrova通りを挟んで向かい合っているオフィスです。料金は2011年9月の時点で1通60Knで、銀行振り込みしか受け付けてくれないので注意が必要です。また、窓口時間は9:00～11:00、13:00～15:00でした。

もし結婚立会人というか証人（ベストマン、ブライズメイト？）がクロアチア人でない場合、その人のパスポートのコピーが必要になります。日本や海外の友人に証人になってもらうときは取り寄せる必要があるので、忘れないでくださいね。




If you plan to get married in Croatia, you need to prepare the following documents:

-Birth certificate of bride and groom (Rodni List)
-Certificate on Marital Status (Potvrda o Slobodnom Bračnom Statusu)
-Copies of ID of witnesses

The birth certificate and the certificate on marital status need to be in Croatian language and need to bear Apostille stamps on them. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia issues Apostille at the office next to St. Peter's Church (Petrova Crkva), which is located on Vlaška street. Issuing an Apostille costed 60Kn per document in September 2011. And the fee needs to be paid to the bank account of the ministry and cannot be paid directly at the office. So, when you visit the office to get an Apostille, consider time in queueing in a bank, too! Also, when I visited there to get the Apostille stamps, their working time is from 9:00 to 11:00 and 13:00 to 15:00.

Apostille

  If you choose a non-Croatian citizen as your witness (svjedok/svjedoci) for your wedding, you need to file a copy of his/her passport.

  When you file those necessary documents at your local Matični Ured (a registration office), your Croatian partner will be required to show his/her ID card. Also, you might be required to file a copy of your non-Croatian partner's passport.

  For Japanese, the Japanese Embassy in Croatia creates the birth certificate and the certificate of the marital status in Croatian language with cost of 70kn per document. If you are Japanese and intend to obtain those documents, bring a copy of family register of yours, which is required upon preparation of the documents. In my case, I asked the Japanese Embassy to prepare 2 copies of the birth certificates, the certificate of the marital status and a criminal record with the Apostille stamp. You need to file another birth certificate when you file a requirement for the temporary residence permit, so I asked another copy of my birth certificate for that. The criminal record is also required to file for the temporary residence permit. I was told that it took about a month to obtain the criminal record because the record is created in Japan and send back to the Embassy from Japan, so better to request the preparation of the criminal record together with other documents. Apart from the criminal record, all the documents will be prepared by the following day after you request. Croatian people were very surprised about the speed the Japanese Embassy prepares documents and even in Croatian language.

Wedding ceremony in Japan (Part 2)

Bridal kimono with Wata-boushi (wedding headpiece)

Now, I'm going to write about our wedding in Japan. We had the Japanese traditional shinto wedding ceremony and reception at a shrine called Toga Jinja (砥鹿神社）in Aichi prefecture. Even if you are not Japanese and not a shintoist, you can still have a wedding ceremony at a shinto shrine and there it no requirement to be a shintoist for that. The reason why I decided to have our wedding at this shrine is because I visit this shrine every new year day.

  When you have a wedding ceremony at a shinto shrine, you are required to wear the traditional Japanese kimono. It doesn't need to be a white bridal kimono, but a coloured kimono is also allowed to wear. The white bridal kimono has 3 layers. We had our wedding ceremony in the middle of summer, August, in Japan. Summer in Japan is terrible, because it's very humid and very hot. So, wearing that kimono in summer was very hard.

 And we usually wear a bridal headpiece  - either the Wata-boushi or "Tsunokakushi". They are something like a wedding veil in the western-style wedding dress. Below the bridal headpiece, we usually wear a wig - a big wig. Normally, we chose either Wata-boushi or Tsunokakushi for the ceremony, but I wore the Tsunokakushi before the ceremony just to try, and wore the Wata-boushi for the ceremony. And recently, many young brides prefer a mixture of the Japanese style and the Western style, so brides may have western style hair instead of wearing a wig. This bridal headpiece is similar to the wedding veil, so after the ceremony, they are removed.

Tsunokakushi (wedding headpiece)

 The wedding ceremony is held inside of the shrine. Some shrines allow only families and relatives of a bride and a groom to be inside of shrine, but Toga-jinja allowed all my guests to be inside of the shrine and witness our wedding ceremony. The ceremony is performed by shinto priests. They give us a chant in front of shinto god. Then the groom reads an oath, saying something like "thank you for leading us to be together, we promise to make a happy and healthy family, promise to help other people and to contribute to the society.". This oath is usually read by a groom, so my husband practiced very hard to read this oath in Japanese, and he did a great job. After the oath, we have a ceremony called "san-san-kudo (三々九度)", in which the bride and groom take three sips of each of three different bowls of sake in turn. After that, many people exchange wedding bands following the Western custom. But, for me, it is very weird to bring the Western custom into the traditional Japanese wedding and also because I wanted to leave the exchange of rings for our wedding in Croatia, we didn't exchange the wedding bands in that time. After that, Miko (female attendants) gives a traditional shinto dance. That's the most of the Japanese style wedding ceremony.

Wedding ceremony

 You may notice, but we actually don't have a celebrant and witnesses for marrying us on paper. Marrying in Japan is very easy. You just need to fill a 1 page form (a marriage registration) and file it with a local government office. If the office is closed because you go there after their working hour, then you can post the form into a post set at the office. So, some people just fill the form at home and file it with the local government office without having the wedding ceremony and the reception. After filing the form, the local government office send you a notice that your marriage is accepted. On the other hand, some people, but not many, sign the marriage registration in front of the guests at the wedding ceremony or at the reception.

 But of course, if you are non-Japanese who is marrying to a Japanese citizen, then you need to prepare extra documents, such as your birth certificate and so on.











After the wedding ceremony, we had the reception, which is tightly scheduled so as to end in 2 to 3 hours. For the reception, I changed to a Iro-uchikake (a coloured kimono with patterns). This also has 3 layers. I could have changed my hair to a western hair style from wig, but because I didn't have much time for that, I decided to keep wearing the wig. Wearing kimono is not easy. Usually, we have 2 assistants who dress us kimono.

Iro-ichikake

 At the reception, we showed our guests a video, which is created by my husband, to introduce ourselves and backgrounds. The video shows, usually, photos of childhood, some memorable events in life or a bit of story about a couple. This is because most of guests don't know the bride and groom well. Actually, it could be the first time that your relatives or friends meet your partner. In fact, only some friends at our wedding reception know my husband at that time and more than half of the guests didn't know him and met him for the first time. Then, usually, bosses of the groom and bride give speeches to tell their story at work (often a bit of commercial of their company and tell how wonderful worker you are). So, the wedding reception is considered as an opportunity to introduce the bride and groom to people.

  After the speeches, people can be more relax and enjoy food. But for the bride and groom, they don't have much time to eat, because the guests visit you to cerebrate you and take photos with you. So, in our cases, we only had a few bites during the reception and ate properly after the reception.

  During the reception, we have "candle service", cake cutting or opening a sake-barrel, mini-games, entertainment by your friends and so on. The candle service is often carried out after you change your close and enter into the reception room again. Before you reach your table, you visit each table and chat with guests while lighting candles on the tables. The cake-cutting is the same as in Western-style wedding. In addition to the cake-cutting, giving "a first bite" to each other became popular in Japan. The first bite in Japanese wedding means, you give a spoon of cake to each other. Opening the sake-barrel is often carried out instead of cake-cutting. When the bride and groom wear the traditional Japanese kimono for the reception, often this alternative is chosen. We had this sake-barrel opening. After you open the sake-barrel, you pour sake to each guest's cup and toast! There seem very much things to do in a tight schedule and you may get panicked or nervous, but don't worry. There are many staff working for you and they keep time and give you instructions what to do next.

 At the end of the reception, often the bride reads a letter to her family. In Japan, the wedding ceremony is connecting two different families. And the bride is considered to leave her family and entre the husband's family (could be vice versa though...). So the family of the bride, it is very sad and very emotional event. Often, when the bride reads the letter, tear accompanies... We also give some gifts to our parents at the end of the reception, usually flowers and a small gifts. This has a purpose of preparing to see off the guests. When we finish the reception, the bride and groom and their families see of the guests at the exit of the room, so this gift giving makes the schedule smoothly move to the end. This is also a good sign for the guests to tell them that the reception is ending and get ready to leave :P When we see off the guests, we also give a small present to them, something like cookies or chocolate.

Wedding ceremony in Japan (Part1)

I'm going to write a bit about Japanese wedding ceremony and wedding reception. I think preparation for the wedding ceremony and the wedding party is almost the same as in Western countries. Usually, we start looking for a wedding venue a year to 6 months before the wedding. The most common wedding venues are hotels, restaurants, shrines, and most interestingly "fake" chapels which are built only for giving the Western-style chapel wedding for couples who are not Christians. Usually, those fake chapels are built next to reception venues. When you chose your wedding ceremony and reception venue, you will start plan your wedding ceremony and reception with your wedding planner. But, almost all the time, they have some wedding package, so you pick up whichever wedding package fits you first. This wedding package includes, usually, rent of the ceremony and reception venue, food, drink, flowers including bouquet, table and chair fabrics, hair dressing, make-up and maybe rent for one wedding dress and tuxedo. But this does not apply if you have a wedding ceremony and reception at a shrine. Tricky things are, those wedding packages are basics, so you can upgrade things like flowers, dress even add another or two more dresses for the reception, but you need to pay extra. So, in the end, the cost of the wedding ceremony and reception increases to 3,000,000 to 3,700,000 yen on average with a number of guests 70 to 80 people. But in a case of a wedding at a shrine, usually it's much cheaper, but less choices and options for decorations and food for the reception. Much more simple, I would say. Oh, and one things you should do when you get engaged is to book a nice restaurant and a set a meeting for each others family to get to know each other.

 In Japan, mostly we rent a wedding dress for a bride and a tuxedo for groom. In a case of chapel wedding or restaurant wedding, a bride usually chooses a western-style white wedding dress. On the other hand, in a case of a wedding at a shrine, a bride chooses a traditional Japanese style wedding kimono. Often, bride and groom change their dress and tuxedo a few times during the wedding reception. For example, a bride may have a wedding ceremony in a western-style white wedding dress, and changes her dress to a coloured kimono and then a colour dress, something like that.

 Around 6 months before the wedding, a bride starts choosing her dress or dresses for the wedding ceremony and the reception. And some brides start going to an aesthetic salon regularly to have beauty treatment. Then start discussing with the wedding planner how you want your wedding ceremony and the reception to be like. For example, choosing fabric colour, flowers (colours and what kinds of flowers you want), invitation cards from various patterns and so on.

  Around 3 months before the wedding, bride and groom to be start sending invitations to their relatives, friends and co-workers. In Japan, usually we invite bosses at work for the wedding ceremony and reception and ask them to give us a speech and a toast. So, in total, a couple invites around 60 to 80 people on average, but most of them are relatives and bosses and co-workers. The wedding ceremony and the reception is more "official" things. So, we usually after party with friends only. This after party is called "Niji kai" (a second party). But often "sanji kai" (a third party) and "Yoji kai" (a fourth party) follows until early in the morning.

 Around the same time, we start looking for welcome gifts (thank-you-for-coming gifts) for guests. Those gifts are given to the guest in the end of the wedding reception. We spend around 5,000 yen to 8,000 yen per guest on average. You may think you are going to bankrupt if you spend such amount of money for each guest, but don't worry! Guests bring you wedding gift, money. The average amount of money to give may vary depending on regions, but in my area, if

you are a friend of a bride or a groom, 30,000 yen. If you are relative, 50,000 yen or 100,000 yen. If you are a co-worker of a boss of a bride or a groom, 30,000 yen. For siblings, it depends on their family. And we have a custom to prepare new notes without folding lines. You can easily get new notes at any banks. Then, put notes into a fancy envelope like on the photo (left). In Australia, a couple make a wedding gift list and give it to guests, but in Japan, we don't have such custom. Sometimes, if you are very close friend of a bride or a groom, or if you do not attend the wedding ceremony and the reception, then you might give some gifts (not money in this case) to the couple. 

  You may notice, but when we give the wedding gift (money), we pick up odd numbers. And when we pick up welcome gifts to the guests, usually, we choose 3 or 5 items (again odd number). This is because we think even number is not good because it can be divided into to, which is associated with breaking up or divorce.

 Well, then the guests will reply to your invitation at least 2 months before the wedding. Then, the couple need to decide who to be in which table. And the couple make a DVD to introduce guests backgrounds and history of the bride and the groom. Some couples ask professionals to make such introduction DVD. Also, the couple usually ask their friends to make a speech or do some funny things (see photo below) to have a good laugh.

 Some couples take their wedding photos a month or a few weeks before the actual wedding ceremony and reception because on the wedding day, you don't have enough time to relax in front of the camera.

クロアチアへ移住 Moving to Zagreb, Croatia

クロアチアへ引っ越してきたのは2011年8月13日。ここからクロアチアで結婚する場合の手続き、結婚後一時滞在許可取得の手続きなどをご紹介します。ちなみに私たちは日本で結婚式を愛知県の砥鹿神社ということろで挙げましたが、日本で籍を入れずにクロアチアで法律上の結婚、という形を取りました。日本で籍を入れずにクロアチアで結婚する場合の手続きがあまりよく分からなかったので、前準備をあまりせずクロアチアへ渡ってしまいました。クロアチアに行けば何とかなるかな、なんてのんびり構えていたので、私たちの場合かなり時間と労力を無駄にしてしまいました・・・(^ ^;)
　まず、これは移住者に限らないのですが、クロアチアへ到着したら48時間以内に地元警察署へ出向いて滞在届をしなければなりません。旅行者としてクロアチアを訪問し、ホテル等に滞在する場合、ホテルが代わりにこの処理をしてくれるので特に気にすることはないです。48時間以内に届け出をしないと罰則があるらしいですが、私の場合、土曜日の夜にザグレブについて、日曜日、月曜日が祝日で警察署もお休みだったため48時間以内に滞在届を出すことはできませんでした。しかも警察に夏時間（サマースケジュール）なるものがあって、朝の7：30からお昼の14：00までしか受け付けないとの張り紙が・・・。なんていい加減な国なんだ(´Д｀) =3　そんなわけで、警察署に滞在届を出したのはかなり時間がたってしまいましたが、とくに罰則もなしでした。
　私の場合、滞在先のオーナー（主人のお母さんが家主なので、義理の母）と一緒に出向きました。滞在届に滞在先の住所と家主の名前、家主のID番号を記入する個所があったため。滞在許可証というか滞在許可の紙はすぐにもらうことができます。これで記載された日（入国から3か月）まではクロアチアに滞在することができます。この時点で結婚を考えている人は、この3か月以内に結婚をして一時滞在許可証を申請する必要があります。3か月以内に一時滞在許可証を申請するとその時点で「審査中」ということになり3か月の滞在期間は無期限に（一時滞在許可証が下りるまたは拒否されるまで）延長されます。
　警察から渡された滞在許可証は念のためパスポートと一緒に持ち歩いてくださいね。

From today, I will write about the marriage procedure and the procedure for obtaining the temporary residence permit (the temporary residence visa) in Croatia, what documents you need to prepare, how much it costs and so on.

  Firstly, we had a Japanese-style wedding ceremony at Toga-jinja (shinto shrine) located in Aichi prefecture without marrying on paper. The reason why we didn't resister our marriage in Japan before moving to Croatia was because that might make the procedure complex. We have searched how the marriage procedure does in Croatia, but there are little information about it. So, I flew to Croatia with a hope that things will go fine.

  First thing you have to do when you get to Croatia is to register with the local police or the local town tourist centre within 48 hours of arrival (click here for more details). But if you stay at hotels, they will do registration for you. So, the law says that I have to register with the local police within 48 hours, but I arrived in the evening of Saturday. The police station for registration is closed on weekend and public holidays. The next day I arrived was Sunday and the day after, Monday, was the public holiday, so I couldn't follow the law and register myself with the local police. So, I visited the local police the other day and found a paper saying that they had "summer schedule" and the office was open from 7:30 to 14:00 except for Thursday. I was so surprised to read that, because you want to follow the rule of Croatia but the registration office opens in such short time that you can easily miss. The summer schedule may vary depending on regions and locals, so better to check. According to the law, if foreigners failed to register with the local police within 48 hours upon arrival, they might be fined or charged. But, in my case, I was not charged or fined. I guess the police officers understand that there are some limitation in complying with the law.

  The stay permit was issued in a short time after filing it. This paper allows you to stay in Croatia for 3 months. If you intend to get married with a Croatian citizen, you need to get married and file a request for the temporary residence permit before that 3 months expire. Once you file the request for the temporary residence permit (or the temporary stay permit), which is valid and which needs to be renewed every year if you intend to stay longer, this 3 months limitation will be no longer apply to you.

 So, when you get the registration document from the police, bring it with you along your passport in case.

スプリット、ストン、ドゥブロブニク Split, Ston and Dubrovnik

Split

 5日目の午前中にトロギールをお昼を兼ねて散策したんですが、あまり記憶に残ってない・・・暑さに負けてレストランで涼んだり、トロギール近くのビーチで涼んだりしていたはず。クロアチアのビーチは日本やオーストラリアと違って、岩というか石がごろごろしているので、はだしで歩くととても痛いです。海の中もそうなので、ストラップ付のビーチサンダルがあると便利だと思います。その分海底の砂が巻き上げられることなく、海の水がとても澄んでいるんですが・・・もちろん、砂浜のビーチも数少ないですがあります。でもそんな砂浜のビーチにはものすごい人で混み合うそうです。
 
5日目の夕方と6日目はスプリットを散策しました。スプリットのランドマーク、ディオクレティアヌス宮殿はローマ帝国の遺跡です。クロアチアの海岸沿いの町ではローマ帝国の影響が色濃く残っています。オーストリアの影響を受けているザグレブとは全く違う雰囲気です。ちょっとイタリアに来たような気分になれるかも。言葉もイタリアに近いせいか、イタリア語の影響が見られます。ディオクレティアヌス宮殿の大聖堂の中も見学できるんですが、女性は肩を出した服装だと入れてもらえません。入口の前でそんな観光客のためにショールを貸してくれます。また、スプリットの海岸沿いにはヤシの木が植えられていて、とてもエキゾチックな雰囲気でした。

Truffle Pasta

ところで、クロアチアはトリュフの名産地でもあります。せっかくなのでトリュフを食べたい！と思って、スプリットでの夕食にトリュフのパスタを頼みました。一人では全部食べきれないくらいの量で、1,700円くらいだったと思います。トリュフの香りとクリームソースのまろやかでおいしいパスタでした。　

ザグレブにいたときは感じなかったのですが、スプリットでは路面がつるつるしていてものすごく歩きにくかったです。長い年月の間、人が通るたびに石が磨かれたのかな、なんて思いながら歩いていました。ちょっと歴史を感じながらロマンに浸ってみるのもいいかも。でも本当に滑りやすいのでクロアチア沿岸部の街を訪れるときには靴底が滑りにくいものを用意してくださいね。


7日目の朝についにドゥブロブニクに向かって出発しました。左の写真のような沿岸沿いを、青い海を横目にドゥブロブニクまで走ることになります。クロアチアの山は岩山が多く、ものすごく乾燥しています。行ったことがないけれどイタリアの南部とかギリシャみたいなイメージかな。

ドゥブロブニクに到着するまえに地球の歩き方を見て気になっていたストンという小さな町に立ち寄ることにしました。地球の歩き方によると、ストンにはヨーロッパで2番目に長い城壁があるのだそう。城壁の上をあるくこともできます。私がストンについたとき、ほとんど観光客はいなくて、城壁の上からの絶景をじっくり独り占めすることができました。この城壁の上も表面がつるつる滑りやすかったので、はだしで歩きました。一番高い城壁からは塩田が見えました。塩（Salt）は給料(Salary）の語源でもあります。それだけ昔は塩が貴重で、そのために塩田を守る城壁が必要だったということなんでしょう。

Ston

7日目の夜にドゥブロブニクに到着して、8日目に念願のドゥブロブニクを観光しました。ドゥブロブニクは真っ青なアドリア海に突き出た要塞都市で、「アドリア海の真珠」にふさわしい 中世の街並みを残す魅力ある街です。この小さな街にバカンスのピーク時には一日何万人もの人が滞在するそうです。一方、ドゥブロブニクの街を歩いていると、戦争の傷跡が見られます。1991年から1995年までの独立戦争で大部分が破壊されたとは思えないほど見事に復旧・再現されていてびっくりしました。

ドゥブロブニクでは、女性ならフランシスコ修道院の中にある世界で3番目に古いと言われる薬局でのショッピングなんかが お勧めです。ローズウォーターやローズの保湿クリームなんかがお手頃でおみやげに喜ばれました。そして、時間があればぜひスルジ山からドゥブロブニクの街を見下ろしてみてはどうでしょうか。2010年に戦争で破壊された山頂までのケーブルカーが再開しています。往復約1,000円です（クロアチアの物価からしたらかなり高い・・・）。ドゥブロブニクの街が一望できるだけではなく、近くの島々が見えて絶景です！ドゥブロブニクは城壁に囲まれた街で、その城壁の上をぐるっと一周できるようになっています。この城壁の上を歩いていくと面白いスポットが見つかるかも・・・。絶壁に突き出たカフェやら、民家やらドゥブロブニクに住む人の生活が垣間見られてとても面白いです。この城壁の上も滑りやすいので注意してくださいね！そうそう、街中でたくさんの猫に出会いました。こんな素敵な街でのんびりできてうらやましいな・・・。街角にはのら猫のエサ代の寄付箱が置いてありました。街の人がちゃんと面倒をみているんだなぁ、と感心しました。中世の世界に迷い込んだような感覚、不思議な魅力を持ったドゥブロブニク。とてもステキな街でした。

Franciscan Monastery

On 5th day, I think I spent most of day on beach near Trogir, but don't remember well. Most of beaches in Croatia are rocky compare to Japan or Australia which have sandy beaches. Advantages of rocky beach is that waves won't kick up sand on the bottom of the sea, so that sea water is always clean and transparent. Still, it's a bit painful to walk on such rocky beach barefoot. Inside the sea water is also rocky, so if possible, prepare a pair of beach sandals (a pair of thongs) with a strap such as an ankle strap. That would be very handy.

Restaurant in Dubrovnik

 In the evening of the 5th day and 6th day, I walked around Split. The main attraction of Split is the Diocletian's Palace, which is a great heritage of the Roman Empire. Actually, when you travel along the coast line of Croatia, you will notice that these areas are heavily influenced by Romans and Italy, comparing to Zagreb, which is influenced by Austria. I didn't have a chance to go, but it seems like you can climb up the tower. Also, females who wants to entre the Cathedral must cover their shoulders (e.g. if you wear a sun dress or sleeveless shirt). If you don't have a shawl or something to cover your shoulders, don't worry. You can actually borrow a shawl in front of the Cathedral. If you get tired from walking under the strong sun and heat, try The Basement Halls of the Palace.

 Croatia is famous for Truffles along with lavender, salts, vine and olives. If you try to find a truffle pasta in Japan, that would cost you a lot. But here in Split, I found truffle pasta in reasonable price, about 17 euros.

 When I walked in Split, I found that roads are so flat and slippery. Maybe because surfaces of the roads have been worn by people walking on them over long years. So, I had to be very careful while walking so as not to slip, but it is very romantic to think about a lot of people waking on the same path over the past in the long history.


 In the morning of the 7th day, I left Split to Dubrovnik. A trip from Split to Dubrovnik by car takes about 4 hours. It's relatively long, but it's very enjoyable drive. When you travel down to Dubrovnik along the coast line, the beautiful view of the Adriatic Sea spreads in front of you. On the way to Dubrovnik, I stopped at a small town called Ston, which is according to my guidebook famous for natural salt and the second longest wall after the Hadrian's Wall in England. There are a few tourist there, so I could have this small but hidden gem village all to myself. When you walked up to the top of the wall, you have a clear view of all the town and salterns.

 

Dubrovnik from the wall

 On the 8th day, I finally reached Dubrovnik! Dubrovnik is, as is described as "Pearl of the Adriatic", very very beautiful and charming city that retains atmosphere and remnant of the Middle Age. When you walk around the city, you will notice that there are scars of the war remain. It's amazing that the city has restored its beauty from the war that destroyed the city.

 Dubrovnik has lots of small and narrow passages, so it would be very fun to explore the city and find your own favorite spot. Also, don't forget to take time to walk on the wall, which surrounds the city. From the top of the wall, you will find and see a bit of local people's life and secret cafes that stand on edge of the cliff looking down the Adriatic Sea. Here too, surface of the passage is very slippery, so be careful. I walked the wall barefoot there, too. If you have time, take a cable car up to the top of Srđ Mountain. The cable car was completely destroyed during the war, but was restored and started operating from 2010. The return ticket of the cable car was 73 kuna for adult. A bit expensive considering prices in Croatia, though. But it's worth visiting the top of the mountain. You have panorama of Dubrovnik and islands nearby. When I visited there, there are a few people, so I enjoyed the breathtaking view in a quiet atmosphere.

Dubrovnik at night

 Another thing I would recommend is, if you are interested in natural cosmetics, the 3rd oldest pharmacy in Europe, Ljekarna Mala Braca, which is located inside of the Franciscan Monastery. The pharmacy sells various facial cream, toners, eye cream, hand cream and so on. I especially liked rose-scented toner and facial cream. They have not too strong but subtle and firm elegant scent.

 Dubrovnik has its unique charm and elegance, that attract many tourists. I would definitely love to visit there again and spend more time to explore this lovely city.

　Also, please visit here : http://www.photo4me.com/cart/details.asp?PictureId=141587
You will find unusual view of Dubrovnik :)

ザグレブ、トラコシュチャン、プリトヴィッツェ Zagreb, Trakošćan and Plitvice

クロアチアへは名古屋からルフトハンザでフランクフルトまで飛び、そこでクロアチア航空に乗り換えてザグレブ、スプリット、ドゥブロブニクへ行くことができます。今年からかな？フィン・エアーもヘルシンキからザグレブ行が開航するらしいです。

最初のクロアチア旅行はザグレブ2日間→トラコシュチャン城（日帰り）→プリトヴィッツェ→トロギール→スプリット→ストン→ドゥブロブニク→ザグレブという感じに周りました。クロアチア国内での移動手段は車です。クロアチアにはヨーロッパ各国から観光客が押し寄せてくるので、スプリット、ドゥブロブニクと言った有名観光地では駐車スペースを探すのが大変です。

 まずクロアチアの空港に降り立ってあまりの小ささにびっくり。一応首都の空港（旧ユーゴ時代は旧ユーゴのメイン空港だったらしい）なんだけれど、日本の地方空港よりも小さいんじゃぁ、と思うくらい小さいです。クロアチアの人口が愛知県全体の人口よりもちょっと多いくらいなので、仕方ないのかな。余談ですが、観光ピーク時にはこの小さな空港でもものすご～く長い列がチェックインカウンターの前にできるので、かなり余裕を持って空港に到着した方がいいです。

ザグレブはやっぱり東ヨーロッパの地方都市なので、小さいです。1日あれば中心部全部回れると思います。私はザグレブで聖マルコ教会、大聖堂などを観光しました。聖マルコ教会はタイル屋根が美しい教会なんですが、中には入れなかったです。地元の人の話では、この教会の扉が開いているのを見たことがないとか・・・。

Trakošćan Castle

3日目にザグレブから北に70kmのところにあるトラコシュチャン城（http://www.trakoscan.hr/index.asp）に行きました。小高い丘の上に湖を眺めるようにかわいらしいお城が建っています。湖の周りをぐるっと散策できるんですが、お城を眺めながらの散策はとても気持ちがよかったです。お城自体はそんなに大きくはないですが、とてもよく整備されていて素朴なお城です。

4日目にザグレブからプリトヴィッツェを経由してトロギールに向かいました。プリトヴィッツェに向かう途中、小さな町を通りすぎた時に、戦争の跡を見ました。家の壁のいたるところに銃弾の跡が残っていたり、大砲が放置されていたり・・・ここで戦争が確かに行われていたんだと認識した瞬間でした。プリトヴィッツェの近く、Slunjという小さな町の中のRastokeで滝が流れる緑豊かな公園を見つけました。時間がなかったので、上から眺めるだけでしたが、滝の音に癒されました。


プリトヴィッツェは世界遺産にも登録されている国立公園です。不思議なくらい青い湖がとても神秘的。夏だったので、たくさんの観光客がいたけれど、湖の周りをゆっくり散策したり滝の近くで水しぶきを浴びたり、ものすごくリフレッシュできました。ここの滝の不思議な言い伝えがあって、この滝の元で結婚したカップルは離婚しないんだとか・・・クロアチアのパワースポットなのかな?!　冬の雪景色のプリトヴィッツェも息をのむほど美しいらしいです。季節ごとに違う表情を見せるプリトヴィッツェ、またじっくり散策したい場所です。

Rastoke

そしてもう１つうれしい話。プリトヴィッツェには毎年たくさんの観光客が訪れるため、観光客が残していくゴミが問題になっています。そんな中、プリトヴィッツェ観光協会は、日本人観光客が一番と称賛していました。理由はゴミを残さず、自然環境に配慮した観光をしてくれるからだそうです。クロアチア全体で言えるのですが、日本人観光客の評判はものすごくいいです。いままでクロアチアを訪れた人が築き上げた信頼・評判。これを崩さないように責任ある行動をしないと・・・。




So, the first trip to Croatia! I flew with Lufthansa from Nagoya to Zagreb via Frankfurt. I travelled Croatia by car in the following order: Zagreb for 2 days, Trakoscan Castle (Trakošćan Castle), Plitvice, Trogir, Split, Ston, Dubrovnik and returning to Zagreb. In summer, there are so many tourists travelling down to Croatia from all over the Europe by car, so it is very hard to find a parking spot especially in popular destinations such as Split and Dubrovnik.

 Zagreb is quite a small city. You can walk around the city in one day but Zagreb has so many good restaurants and cafes you can't miss. I will write more about restaurants and cafes in Zagreb later.

Plitvice

 The Trakošćan Castle is located about 70km north of Zagreb. You can find more about the castle here: （http://www.trakoscan.hr/index.asp）. The castle stands on a top of a small hill so as to look down a lake. The castle is kept in a good condition and shows the history of the castle and a bit of noble people's life lived there. Even in the middle of summer, there were not so many visitors there, so I enjoyed walking around this small but charming castle. Also, it was very refreshing to walk around the lake.

 On the 4th day, I left Zagreb to Trogir. On the way to Trogir, I stopped at Rastoke and Plitvice. Rastoke is located in Slunj before reaching Plitvice. It is very small village but worth to stop and enjoy the beauty of nature. I didn't have enough time to explore the village and its beautiful park, but I enjoyed sound of the waterfalls and fresh air in a very quiet atmosphere.


 After spending a short period of time in Rastoke, I got to Plitvice Lakes National Park just before lunch. There were a lot of people in Plitvice, but I still could find space and a way to enjoy this breathtakingly beautiful nature. The lakes has a very unique, mysterious bright blue colour, and its water is so clear that you can see the bottom of the lakes. There are several hiking courses in Plitvice and you will easily find a favorable course to enjoy this fantastic and breathtaking nature and lakes in your limited time.

Plitvice

初クロアチア First Trip to Croatia

初めてクロアチアを訪れたのは、2005年にクロアチアのドゥブロブニクを知ってからだいぶ後の2010年の夏。10日間でザグレブ、トラコシュチャン城、プリトヴィッツェ、トロギール、スプリット、ストン、ドゥブロブニクを周りました。

去年あたりからだいぶクロアチアがメディアで取り上げられるようになって、日本人のクロアチアへの理解・関心も高まってきていますが、私がクロアチアへ旅行に行くと言ったときの周りの反応は「大丈夫？旧社会主義国で危ないんじゃないの？」 というものでした。その時の周りの人のクロアチアの認識は「最近まで戦争をしていた旧社会主義国＝貧しい→治安が悪そう」、というものでした。

事実、独立戦争が終わってまだ15年しか経っていないし、まだまだ発展途上の国なんじゃないかな、なんて私も思っていました。初めてザグレブの道路を走った時は、たくさんの車、思った以上に日本車が走っているのにまずびっくり！行く先々でドイツ、イタリア、ポーランド、チェコなどの国からの観光客の多さにびっくり！2005年時点では「ヨーロッパ人の間でひそかなブームのクロアチア」が今では大人気の観光地になっていました。日本にいた時には想像できなかったくらい活気にあふれた国、クロアチア。治安も常識的なことを守っていれば特に心配することのないくらいで、クロアチアはヨーロッパの中でもかなり治安のいい国に位置付けられているようです。

きっと私みたいにクロアチアに対して少なからず思い違いをしていたり誤解していたりする人もいるんじゃないかなぁ、と思います。このブログを通じて、今のクロアチア、クロアチアの本当の姿をお伝えできればと思っています。

It was summer 2010 when I visited Croatia for the first time, after 5 years since I saw Dubrovnik on TV. I visited Zagreb, the Trakošćan Castle, the Plitvice National Park, Trogir, Split, Ston and Dubrovnik in 10 days.

  By the way, it is not easy to take a week off if you work at a Japanese company. Many companies follow the national calender, meaning, employees have day off on national holidays, which we have once in a month average. It's not a problem to take a few days off, but taking a week or two is troublesome. On the other hand, some companies have their own calender, like the company I have worked for. According to my company's calender, we don't have day off on national holidays, instead, it gives us 7 to 10 holiday including Saturday and Sunday in April to March (which we call Golden Week), in August and in December to January.  So, I took a few days off and connected them to the summer holiday given by the company. I think I was very lucky that my boss always allowed me to have a bit longer holiday so that I can travel.

  So, Croatia! When I told my parents, my friends and my co-workers that I was going to Croatia, everyone was so surprised and then started worrying me saying "Is Croatia safe? It's former socialist/communist state, and there was a war fought in Croatia until recently, you have to be very careful otherwise you might have trouble.". I know it sounds ridiculous. Croatia becomes more and more popular since last year, thanks to media picking up Croatia, and I'm sure more and more Japanese understand Croatia. But back in 2010, we have so little information about Croatia and many people misunderstand Croatia. We are so allergic against socialism and communism without knowing why and without understanding what exactly they mean.

  To be honest, I had a bit of doubt before I visited Croatia. I thought Croatia must be still in a process of recovering from the war and could be a poor country. So, I was so surprised to see so many cars, even many Japanese cars, on the road. And also, I'm very surprised to see so many tourist coming from Germany, Poland, Italy, Czech and so on. So, "the secretly popular resort destination Croatia" in 2005 became "the most popular resort destination"! The "real" Croatia was very lively and vibrant, which I couldn't imagine at all while I was in Japan. Also, Croatia is considered as one of the safest countries in Europe.

クロアチアとの出会い First Encounter With Croatia

初めて「クロアチア」に出会ったのは、というか知ったのはオーストラリア留学中の2005年にThe Great Outdoorsという旅レポ番組で紹介されたのを見たのがきっかけです。30分の短い番組なのだけれど、オーストラリア国内に限らず海外の穴場だったりこれからブレークしそうな場所、新しい旅の楽しみ方なんかを提供してくれる番組でオーストラリアにいた時はほぼ欠かさず見てました。

その番組でドゥブロブニクが「ヨーロッパの穴場的リゾートで、まだ観光地化されていない魅力ある街」として紹介されていました。クロアチアって聞いたことあるけれど、こんなに海がきれいなところなんだ。ドゥブロブニクも素朴な感じでステキ。一回は行ってみたい、と思ったくらいでした。まさかそのクロアチアに（ドゥブロブニクじゃないけれど）住むことになるなんて、その時は夢にも思ってませんでした。住むならオーストラリアが一番！と思ってましたから（今でもそうですが・・・）。

My first encounter with Croatia was on a TV program called "The Great Outdoors", which I often watched while I was in Australia and which I enjoyed watching a lot. The TV program was only 30 mints short, but picks up various places and cities inside and outside Australia and gives us new ideas about trip. So, back in 2005, they showed Dubrovnik stating that it was "a secretly popular resort for Europeans. Recovering wound from the war and restoring its charms. It was not yet touristy and attracting many people.".

When I watched Dubrovnik on TV for the first time, I thought "Wow, that is very lovely place!". I have heard of Croatia but didn't know that it has such beautiful beach and lovely city. It looked like, well, how can I put it, earthy and simple but appealing. So, I thought I wanted to visit there someday in the future, but never thought I would live there (not Dubrovnik, but Croatia) because I thought (and still think) Australia was the best country to live.

C'est la vie...

はじめまして! Welcome to my blog!

このブログは私のクロアチアでの生活記録として、また今までの経験をみなさんと共有したいと思い始めました。クロアチアには2011年8月に引っ越してきましたが、その当時クロアチアでの結婚のための手続き、滞在のための手続きなどの詳しい情報が手に入らず苦労しました。クロアチアに引っ越してくるなんてあんまりある話ではないかもしれませんが、私の経験が誰かの役に立てば、と思います。

クロアチアに引っ越してくる前は、2年間のオーストラリア・メルボルンでの大学院留学を経て、日本で特許エンジニアとして企業に勤めていました。この時の経験なんかもお話しできたら、と思っています。

ブログは”クロアチアンライフ”ですが、クロアチアに限らずいろんな経験・情報をみなさんと共有できたらいいな、と思っています。よろしくお願い致します。

Welcome to my blog! I decided to start my blog for a purpose of sharing my experiences in Croatia, Australia and Japan.

I have studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia for 2 years, then worked at a Japanese company as a patent engineer. I would tell you more about my life and experiences in Australia and my working experiences in Japan later in my blog along with my experiences and daily life in Croatia.

In August 2011, I moved to Zagreb, Croatia. When I moved here, there are few information about documents I need for visa and stay in Croatia. So, I made many mistakes, which could be easily avoided if I knew a bit more, until I finally received the temporary resident visa. I will share my experiences about this procedure in my blog and I wish that will be of your help.

I also wish to share anything I find interesting, funny or useful with you. If you have any questions or things you want to know about Japan, Croatia (as a foreigner) or whatever, feel free to contact me. Thank you!