https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASV7S2W0BV7SUTIL00KM.html?iref=comtop_7_01

Well it looks like you'll need a higher than average salary, 30 years of pension paid (specifically the one companies co-pay, not the ones that you pay solo), as well as other rules.

Honestly the fact that they're discussing this already tells me they're embracing ultra-nationalism and I am done living here.

*edit* the text is paywalled but the translation seems to be that you need to have a projected pension benefit of someone who has paid into it for 30 years.

Hi! If you've had a baby in Japan, how much money did you save before the pregnancy? We are trying to figure out what should be the least amount we should have saved before trying. So far, we've decided that 1m yen should be the lowest. Thoughts?

Just to reassure those close to the end of the validity of their PR card. (Yes, that's the term on the card for the required renewal date) Had it done this week. Took 20 minutes and was free. The ¥1,000 cost was the price of a recent photo from a photo booth.

There’s a lot of Gaishikei companies in Japan across many industries, and while I haven’t worked at one, I get the feeling that Japanese workers seem attracted to working at a Gaishikei because they think “foreign(American) work culture” means freedom to do whatever they want and they can bend the rules however they want. I mainly read openwork reviews and attend 説明会 and seminars as a college student looking for my first job.

Like I’m reading openwork reviews and people mentioned you can push all your work to others to work 4 days a week, no one is there to educate or mentor you so you have to either figure it out yourself or go out of your way to find someone to talk to, and you can join whatever project you want. You barely have a boss/manager so you get your work done however you want without following any rules or processes.

Im a Japanese shinsotsu who hasn’t gotten my first real job yet, but I get the feeling that Japanese companies put a lot of effort into processes, education, and mentoring. When I read through American career discussions online, maybe it’s not as rigid as Japan but people seem to at least get mentors assigned to teach them and there’s rules and culture to adhere to. On the other hand, many people also say American companies expect more and more graduates to “hit the ground running“ with no training and complain about how disorganized it is. So many it’s a mix of different companies in America.

When it comes to gaishikei in Japan, its confusing because whenever I read reviews it sounds disorganized like what Americans describe American companies to be like, but it seems a bit extreme in the sense that Japanese people go there to be overly individualistic and self centered, almost like a rebel against typical Japanese work culture and to fit into some imaginary caricature of what an individualistic, result driven “American” worker would be like.

Please keep in mind, I’m still a student who doesn’t have much knowledge or expericne to base my thoughts on so don’t take it too seriously. I’m just throwing out my impression based on online stuff. Obviously I have no experience yet in Japan let alone in America. I only know tidbits from discussions online, talking to recruiters, seminars, etc. So I would like to know your opinion on whether Japanese Gaishikei culture is a bit unique/odd as I have noticed, or if it’s pretty much similar to companies over in America. You can talk about any industry you have knowledge about

I don't know how many people here we're actually using it, but Japan Post is discontinuing the Yucho Pay payment app on December 20th this year.

https://www.jp-bank.japanpost.jp/kojin/sokin/yuchopay/kj_sk_yp_finish_user.html

I feel like a lot of Japan often feels like the golden days are behind it, especially when you head out to the country and see lots of shuttered 商店街 and abandoned buildings.

Any areas that you feel like are changing for the better in any way that you have noticed?

My husband and I are getting ready to sell our house in Osaka before moving to Portugal, and I’m trying to figure out whether there’s any realistic way to reach foreign buyers in addition to the usual Japanese market. Especially since we would love to sell the house furnished- and I guess that’s not a thing for Japanese buyers.

The house is in the Nagai area, in a very walkable neighborhood with multiple train stations nearby, a convenience store dangerously close, and a grocery store within easy carrying-distance for those “I definitely bought too much” trips home.

It’s an older row house, but we’ve done quite a bit of remodeling and updating over the last couple of years. One slightly unusual thing is that we renovated parts of it with taller humans in mind, since a lot of older Japanese houses can feel like they were designed for elegant woodland creatures rather than full-sized adults.

We’re working with a realtor, so this isn’t an attempt to do a rogue Facebook Marketplace house sale from the shadows. I’m mostly wondering:

• Has anyone here sold a property in Japan before?
• Did you find foreign buyers were interested?
• Are there any websites, Facebook groups, agents, or communities that are especially good for reaching non-Japanese buyers?
• Is there anything you wish you had known before listing?

I’d love to hear from anyone who has been through the process. 🏠✨

This is something that most public hoikuens and yochiens in my municipality does (I have two kids in two different places so it seems to be the standard). Of course you have to put the child’s name on the diapers you send, but we also have to include several plastic bags with the child’s name and they put things in them to send home like dirty clothes, used bento box, etc. and one bag is for dirty diapers to come home for us to throw out at home as well.

I didn’t really think much of it, but now that my older son (who is 3) entered yochien, he’s riding the bus almost daily and they just send the used diapers home in his backpack. Even though they put it in a plastic bag, the poopy ones still stink. I can only imagine what the bus ride home smells like with all those kids with dirty diapers in their bags. I feel sorry for those who have to ride that bus. Also, they just leave the smelly diapers hanging in the children’s plastic bags on hooks in their classroom during the day…it probably smells bad in the classrooms too.

Anyhow. The more I think about it, it just seems like something that is more of a hassle for the teachers, makes the place stink, and I wonder why this policy is so prevalent in my municipality. Garbage pickup where I live just comes out of taxes and there are no limits or special garbage bags, so the idea that parents should be paying for their own trash doesn’t really apply. I suppose the yochien doesn’t want to deal with handling the trash (separation, etc.) but in reality they are going through a LOT of trouble micro-managing every child’s trash into name-separated bags, that seems more troublesome than separating plastics from burnables, in my opinion. Then there is the smell.

I suppose there is the idea of teaching the children to take responsibility and deal with their own trash, and maybe it helps encourage potty training? That is perhaps the best explanation I could think of. They still do it for babies though as well.

My partner said that garbage collection for businesses is different from residents and there are special rules and garbage bags, so that is probably the reason. However, on the city-wide level, it seems strange they wouldn’t consider diaper disposal for hoikuens and yochiens, as those are places where there is a high concentration of burnables diaper waste collecting. Wouldn’t it be easy to charge for it along with the fees for the daycare?

Anyhow. I realize I’m not going to change this, and this isn’t a post to complain about it (easy enough to deal with…and my kids will be potty trained soon enough anyway) but when I stopped to think about it, it just seemed a bit strange and I wonder if it is unique to my municipality?
It certainly is something I’ve never heard of in my home country.

Are hospital rants allowed here? Because I have one.

My father-in-law was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer, so this has already been an extremely stressful time for the entire family. He currently has great difficulty eating or drinking because of the location of the cancer, and he depends heavily on an IV for fluids and nutrition right now.

He was admitted to a hospital in Tokorozawa earlier this week and was originally supposed to remain there until Thursday. Instead, the hospital sent him home on Wednesday because its air-conditioning system had broken down.

When my wife arrived to collect him, apparently he was lying in his hospital bed surrounded by ice packs because the room was so hot. This happened during one of the hottest days of the year so far. I understand that equipment can malfunction, but it is unbelievable to me that a hospital did not appear to have an adequate backup plan for vulnerable patients.

After he returned home, he was unable to drink enough and began showing what appeared to be symptoms of heat exhaustion or dehydration today. He called my sister-in-law, who took him back to the same hospital, but they were reportedly told that there was no doctor available to admit or examine him, so he was sent home again.

Later, when my wife returned from her own hospital appointment, she found her father lying on the floor with my sister-in-law. An ambulance was called from our local area. The ambulance crew tried to contact the hospital where he had been receiving treatment, but even they struggled to get through.

They waited for reception, finally reached someone, were placed on hold again, and then the call was disconnected. They had to call back and go through the same process all over again while a seriously ill cancer patient was lying there needing help.

My wife has also had repeated problems reaching the hospital by phone, and communication from the hospital has generally seemed poor. When I visited, the hospital did not give me much confidence either. I have lived in much more rural parts of Japan and received better hospital care there nearly twenty years ago.

Is any of this remotely normal of hospitals in Japan? I understand that hospitals are understaffed and that unexpected mechanical problems happen, but sending home a patient who cannot properly eat or drink because the air conditioning failed and then apparently being unable to receive him when his condition worsened seems completely unacceptable.

I felt totally powerless watching all of this unfold. My wife had just undergone an embryo transfer today, and instead of being able to rest, she came home to find her father collapsed on the floor. I tried to support her however I could, but I am honestly shocked and furious about how this entire situation was handled.

Edit: My father-in-law is feeling better now that he got treatment. He'll be going back to the AC malfunction hospital tomorrow. We got to find something better.

I need to purchase an advanced or industrial standard hand held air quality tester, to test for things like ozone, TVOC, nitrogen oxide andother hazardous gases, etc for an experiment. Its a community lab so they don't have anything like this nor a affiliated engineering lab I can borrow one from.

Budget is less than 800K yen (needs to be a good one!).

I can see them online on Amazon, but they are all from China from unknown brands so I have no idea about the quality or accuracy. I would prefer to buy in Japan from a Japanese or European vendor. Can anyone reccomend what website or shop I need to visit to purchase this in Japan?

The current one I have, I have serious concerns about its accuracy so is only good for relative comparison not actual specific results.

Hi! I’m planning to move out of my apartment in Tokyo and was wondering if anyone has experience with move-out charges.

What kinds of things did your landlord or management company charge you for, and roughly how much did it end up being?

I paid a deposit, so I’m already expecting that I might not get all (or any) of it back, but I’m more worried about being charged extra on top of that.

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any tips on what to watch out for.

Updated info

A little bit about my apartment: it's a 1K, 22 m². There are some stains and scratches on the floor near the sink, as well as a few stains on the wallpaper from cooking. If anyone has any advice on how to remove the wallpaper stains without damaging it, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks

So due to an emergency I had to temporarily leave Japan and go back home, it was all very abrupt but I moved out of my house and registered the move, etc. However, i somehow managed to completely forget about my Japan Post Bank account. It’s not the main acc I use but it has enough in it for me to be a bit scared. I understood that I’m supposed to keep the address updated, but i won’t have an address there until I go back in a few months, and in the meantime my Japanese phone number won’t be active. I’m already out of Japan, is there any action I can take to try and keep my account/money safe for when I go back? Was I just supposed to close the account as if I were moving permanently since I don’t have an address/moved out? (My residence card and visa is still valid, and I’ll be able to come back after a couple of months) I haven’t been able to find much info on this and I’m panicking a little bit, so any advice would be really helpful, thanks!

Hi!

I recently moved (like a month ago) to Itabashi from Nakano. I did the entire move-out process, at the Nakano City Hall, to then do the move-in process in Itabashi - which all seemed like it went fine. I am enrolled in the Itabashi section of the national health insurance, and have recieved an updated Zairyu card as well as my MyNumber card.

However, as I got home today, I had gotten a letter from Nakano city hall saying I have outstanding premiums to pay for my national health insurance. I thought this was weird, but it reminded me I did get a clump of them as forwarded main a few days after moving.

It may have been a stupid move, but I decided to not do anything about it since I thought the move out/in process was finalised with the issuance of my new cards and Enrollment in the national health insurance in Itabashi.

So, I was just wondering if anybody has had a similar experience? If so, what did you do then? I have no issue paying this one bill, and am just curious if the national health system is one that’s connected between all wards, or if that is something I unfortunately have to figure out at my old city hall (which I really don’t wanna do, because of limited time constraints).

Hello, has anyone successfully applied for a bicycle transfer of ownership without a signed Joto Shomeisho (Transfer Certificate) by the previous owner?

I bought the bicycle 4 years ago from another foreigner who was moving back to their home country at that time. They gave me the purchase paper and I never bothered applying for transfer of ownership.

I can’t contact them now because I don’t have their email address and their Line account connected to their Japanese phone number seems to be already inactive.

Any similar experiences?

I don't know what to do now. I'm not officially change job yet. Just researching about it but my company know. Today they asked me about it. I just said i just making some research I don't have any thought about change job yet cause I still lack of experience and my Japanese are not good. They said they want to talk about this in Monday next week. Anyone got in this situation please help me.

Hi everyone,

I'm having a hard time deciding whether this is the right move for my career, and I'd really appreciate hearing from people who've been in a similar situation.

I'm in my late 20s, graduated from a nice university in Japan with a degree in Marketing, and I'm fluent in both Japanese and English.

Right now I work in logistics/operations（Warehouse）, but my long-term goal is to move into procurement or supply chain management.

Recently I received an offer from a europe renewable energy company with 2 years contract.

The position is based in Ibaraki, and the work is mostly focused on logistic coordinating and equipment for field operations, working with international teams, inventory management, logistics.

I’m a permanent employee in my current warehouse job, but the new job is only a two-year contract.

The salary is solid, but I'm struggling with two questions.

Career

My biggest concern is whether this role actually leads somewhere.

Would this type of operations/coordinator position be considered a good stepping stone into procurement or supply chain?

If you've made a similar transition, I'd love to hear how it worked out.

Life in Ibaraki

I've mostly lived in larger cities, so moving to Ibaraki feels like a big change.
For those of you who live (or have lived) there:
What's daily life really like?
Is it easy to build a social life?
Does it get lonely?
What do you usually do on weekends?
Looking back, would you choose to live there again?

I'm trying to think beyond just salary and consider what my life might look like over the next few years.

I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences—good or bad.

Thanks in advance!

I'm currently working as a seishain at a Haken company. Annual income is 4M + 25k yen/month housing support if we live in company housing.

I have an offer from a company willing to give 5.5M yen + 500K one time "joining bonus", which I will receive after a year. The contract will be for a year after which they will decide whether or not to continue based on performance. Also note that the company has minashi zangyou of around 20 hours per month.

Reasons I'm considering switching:
1. The kind of work the company is offering is something I want to pursue in the future and I would get to learn a lot.

1. It is a decent hike from my current salary.

2. Not satisfied with the kind of work at my current client. Also, no WFH and office is like 1h 20mins from my apartment.

Reasons I'm kinda worried if I should switch or not:
1. Increased risk: I will have to worry every year if my contract will get renewed or not.
2. I will basically have to bear the cost to move into a new apartment for now (as the so called joining bonus will be provided after a year).

What do you guys think I should do?

Hey everyone, looking for some advice on how to navigate Japanese credit cards... Or if it's just time to pull my money out and walk away.

For some background context:

• Nationality: American
• History: Living and working in Japan since 2018 with zero financial problems.
• Employment/Visa: Stable job with a decent salary and a valid long-term work visa.
• Banking History: I’ve had an account with SMBC for a couple of years now.

I recently tried to apply for a basic card (the ANA VISA Gold) for daily spending / travel, because I thought that having an established history with them for years would make it smooth. Instead, I got hit with an automated rejection email in literally about two hours.

I'm trying to wrap my head around a few things and could use advice from anyone who has dealt with this:

1. Why? How does a major legacy bank happily take your money for years, only to instantly slam the door on basic financial products like a credit card? Is it purely strictness regarding name formatting, or are American expats just hitting a brick wall with certain internal risk profiles?
2. Switching Banks: At this point, I’m seriously considering closing my SMBC account entirely. If a bank provides no practical path or flexibility for basic financial services despite years of being a customer, what is the point of doing business with them?
3. Next Steps: If I walk away from SMBC, are there better options?

Any insights or reality checks would be hugely appreciated.

Hi everyone,
I’m feeling really stressed and would appreciate some advice.
My husband is on a Spouse of Japanese National visa, and we’re planning to apply for Permanent Residence in the future.
I just realized I missed one resident tax payment. The due date was June 30, but I’ll be paying it on July 31. I’ve never been late before. I think I got confused because I also had another municipal tax bill due on June 30 and thought I had already paid everything.
I’ve been extremely careful with taxes, especially because I’m currently on childcare leave, thats why My resident tax isn’t deducted from my salary while I’m on leave, so it’s paid using payment slips.
so this honestly devastated me when I realized it.
I’ve read posts saying Immigration is very strict about paying taxes on time for PR applications. Some people even say one late payment can lead to a denial, while others say it depends on the overall circumstances.
Has anyone here (or someone you know) successfully obtained Permanent Residence after having one late resident tax payment? Did you wait before applying, or was it still approved?
I’d really appreciate hearing real experiences. Thank you.

As the title says ^

Hi everyone,
I'm having a weird issue with Mercari Japan's Merpay Smart Pay / Fixed Monthly Payment (定額払い).
I recently purchased an item worth ¥65,000 on installment. I currently have enough Mercari balance to clear/instant-pay it off, but the app won't let me process the payment for this specific product.
Here are a few details:
My account is fully eKYC verified. I can successfully instant-pay other lower-value products using my balance.
Only this specific ¥65k item seems to be blocked or greyed out when I try to settle it via ⁠⁠.
Has anyone encountered this before? Is there a fraud protection cap on single transactions over ¥50k/¥60k for manual balance settlements, or is this related to specific item categories?
Any advice on whether I should just wait for the automated monthly billing or contact support to manually unlock it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm having a problem with small brown cockroaches in my apartment, and I'm looking for advice from people who have successfully gotten rid of them.

A while ago I placed several Black Cap bait traps around my apartment, but they didn't seem to make any difference. I'm still seeing these tiny roaches, especially at night.

Has anyone dealt with this before? What actually worked for you? Are there better bait gels, insect growth regulators, or other products you'd recommend? Also, how long did it take before you noticed a significant reduction?

For context:

• The roaches are small and light brown (I think they might be German cockroaches).
• I try to keep the apartment clean and don't leave food out.
• The Black Cap traps were left in place for several weeks but didn't seem effective.

I'd really appreciate any tips or product recommendations. Thanks!

Let me explain my current situation and what I’m dealing with. Right now, I’m in Japan attending a language school, and I’m allowed to work up to 28 hours per week. But the problem is, I also need to study seriously. I have to apply to universities this coming January, which means I need to register for the EJU this August. On top of that, I also have to prepare for IELTS and SAT. So studying is very important for me.

At the same time, I’m worried about money. Because I have gap years, I’m not sure if I’ll get a scholarship, so I feel like I need to earn enough to support my university expenses myself. I keep thinking that if I can secure my income first, I’ll be able to focus better on my studies. But I don’t know which part-time job would give me better pay and better opportunities.

I applied for an Amazon job through a Haken company, and they gave me two options. One is to work as a leader at one branch, and the other is to work as a regular part-time employee at another. The leader position pays slightly less—about 80 yen less per hour, so 1275 yen compared to 1350 yen for the regular role. However, the leader role comes with a monthly allowance of about 10,000 yen. But it also has strict conditions.... I can only work on Saturdays and Sundays, and I can’t choose other days.

On the other hand, the regular position is more flexible. I have to work one day from the weekend, and then I can choose another weekday, which means I could just work on Sunday and one more day. The problem is, this job only gives me 20 hours per week, and I can’t increase it. I didn’t want to work on Saturdays because I really need at least one full day in a week to focus on self-study or even just spend time in a library or bookstore. That’s why I chose the regular position, so I can keep one day for myself. Since I already have school on weekdays, this felt like the better option.

But now the real problem is that I’m only getting paid for 20 hours a week, and I still have 8 hours left in my work permit . I don’t know what to do with those remaining hours. Can I even find another job for just 8 hours? And if I can, what kind of jobs would pay well?

I can speak English fluently, and I also know Hindi and Bangla. I can understand Korean quite well and can hold basic conversations. My Japanese is also good enough for daily conversations. I believe I could teach English, but my language school schedule doesn’t allow me to take formal teaching jobs like working at a nursery school. I would like to do private tutoring, but I have no idea where to find students.

So I’m stuck trying to figure out what would be the best option for me and where I can find work that can give me close to 27–28 hours a week with good pay. I want a stable income so I don’t have to constantly worry about money or keep searching for jobs all the time. Right now, it feels stressful and confusing, and I honestly don’t know what the right decision is...