Bureaucracy in Japan

[Snark]

For the past few days, I've been reading a few guides to life in Japan and about the necessary procedures to enter for vacation or to attend a college. It seems there's five million pieces of paperwork to fill out, taxes and fees to be paid on every aspect of life. But something I don't see addressed is whether this is what I should actually expect in daily life, or is this all one time and then it's over. How much bureaucracy and delay should I expect to see in actual life, and how much do you deal with?

Thanks for the help.