As someone living in Japan, what is missing for you in terms of resources?

27 comments

1. Going to the bank, government building and post office all seem way too motainai and time consuming.

2. How about simple banking, online and offline, including international transfers without having to pay an arm and a leg? Including opening a new account with a double last-name (think: Miller-West for example, first name John Christopher, so full name would be John Christopher Miller-West).
   Oh, and also signing up for a house loan/mortgage.

   It’s really no fun to spend about 12 hours over the course of 2 days getting things signed and set up. The amount of kakunin of kakunin of kakunin is through the fucking roof!!!

   So, yeah, that.

3. Reasonably-priced cheese.

4. Not having to go to two different ward offices whenever I move! It should be enough to give you notice of my new address. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable here.

5. Mexican restaurants.

6. Not being able to do online banking. My bank is one of the major ones and there is absolutely no English options on their website. I heard they used to have it but they got rid of it years ago.

7. Having proper Internet experience. Here, it’s :

   – bad websites (when they exist)
   – too few online processes
   – too few informations about shops / places
   – pages full of images with text
   – buying / booking is horrible when possible

   There is a shit ton of shops in Osaka, but I feel I should spend a whole decade doing each shop of each mall/station/road to be able to know what they sell, at which price and when. This is, apart from Bank/Administrative/Train websites, the biggest pain in the ass.

8. My promised pay raises.

9. banter

10. Being taken seriously as a client at banks, real estate offices, etc.

11. Almost no apartments here have ovens, so making baked goods for holidays or even pizza is a no go which sucks because pizza and baked goods here I feel are a premium, even here in the inaka where I feel things are typically cheaper

12. Reese’s ANYTHING

13. Bacon. I’ve been thinking of getting a smoker and making my own

14. A place where winking won’t get me put on probation. IYKYK

15. Plus size clothes in common department stores, and I’m not speaking about hips or waist size but shoulder width, sleeve and leg length and enough fabric to not look like you’re wearing baby clothes when you try to buy a t-shirt.

16. Squash (the drink) , well more selection of diluted fruit juice. Also bigger cartons of milk, I’m stacking up 4 in my fridge every week.

17. im not sure you could help with wifi access in public places (incl. libraries!)?

18. Conveniently located fish & chips

19. Acknowledgement of foreign names or middle names.
    After 25 years living here there is zero progress on that.

20. Cheese!!! Really mature English cheddar!!!

21. Everything being available to be shipped to you. Specifically AMERICAN Amazon. The selection is so much more limited in Japan. Not having a reasonable access to things like Etsy and other resources for my hobbies is also painful.

22. jiffy lube, or things like that. I just need an oil change. I’m not planning a wedding, I don’t need to sit down at a consultation desk with a drink and thumb through an options catalog for an hour before setting an appointment.

    this should be a 20 minute affair. and this place is filled to the brim with that kind of nonsense.

23. Medical interpreting services that are readily available and with a reasonable cost.

    I get a lot of calls at work (part of our foreign resident support services) from people who need medical interpreting services, but the one run by the prefecture only works with medical institutions that have a contract with the interpreting service, so it’s never actually helpful. AMDA is another service we half-heartedly recommend but IIRC the doc has to be the one to make the appointment with AMDA not the patient.

    So either way we can only really suggest calling the 1 interpreting / translation company that’s in the capital and wish the caller all the best…

24. I want my cheap kebabs, I want my cheap hummus that doesn’t have disgusting chick pea shells, and I want my cheap chick peas so I can grind them into a paste, and make cheap hummus at home.

    I also want a steady supply of the same olive oil, which is hard since there’s a new brand every fricken week, and the taste is hit or miss.

    Ajinomoto is okay, but super expensive, and there have been MANY olive oils that were waaay better only on sale for a limited time, never to be seen again.

    Basically, cheap meat, and cheap beans in bulk.

    I see some people wanting cheap aged cheese, that shit is possible via Amazon, but sometimes the seller never restocks after a good run.

25. Resources that are probably needed for common questions:

    * List of English speaking _____
    * Single page with **simple** explanations of how city tax, pension, and other “surprise” (for FOBs) fees work
    * Where to find _____ food.
    * Where to find western-sized clothing
    * Which items are for which type of trash?

    Most of these exist, but not in a single place.

26. If you are from the west, bring western deodorant. I tried multiple Japanese deodorants and it is very weak in comparison and does not get you through the day without stinking, especially in the hot-humid summers. I’ve tried ordering western deodorant from Amazon but prices are way higher. If you can bring some, it’ll help you.

    Then again, maybe I haven’t found the western-style stuff in stores ‘cause I’m kinda inaka. Maybe you’ll have better luck if you hunt for a while in a big city but either way, something you might want to bring.

27. Good, high quality, dark chocolate which is not overpriced, tiny bits with no taste