Bi-Weekly Boss Premium Edition Questions Thread – 10 May 2023

31 comments

1. Why there are so many water bottles filled with water and placed outside the house or on the sidewalks in some neighbourhoods?

2. Kind of a confirmation question about earthquake alerts, but does everyone know that:

   1 – Television and radio do the emergency alert, regardless of your location, when a big one is predicted?

   2 – Your mobile provider will usually only give you the “whoop-whoop, jishin desu” warning if you’re close to area predicted to get hit?

   Sort of needed to clear that up with my wife this morning, so I was wondering if others knew.

3. Is it possible to get a car loan as a lowly contract employee and no PR? Looking at used cars in the 150-200man range with 50man down payment.
   My wife says have to be full time seishain.

4. Are there any potential downsides to living in the Yokohama area versus central Tokyo?

   I’m currently on the Yamanote but am thinking about moving for better rent prices, shorter commute, etc.

5. Has anyone bought an Anbernic handheld gaming device directly from the Anbernic website? Any problems with shipping or customs?

6. Any recommendations for unflavored yogurt for cooking?

7. I’m quitting my current job at a Japanese company and beginning work for an overseas company.

   I would just like to confirm my to-do list:

   * Enrol myself and family in kokumin kenko hoken
   * Switch over to self-paid nenkin (is this optional? I’ll be leaving Japan within 3ish months and would rather save the money or put it in an overseas pension account)
   * inform my child’s hoikuen of job change

   Is there anything else I’m missing?

8. Can I use both a commuter pass and a free pass for one train trip?

   For example, I have a Suica commuter pass on the Rinkai line for Shin-Kiba–Oimachi. I wish to go on a round trip from Shin-Kiba to Omiya on the Rinkai/Saikyo direct line, and using the [JR Tokunai Pass](https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/pass/tokunai_pass.html) on the Osaki–Akabane section would be cheaper than just paying the fare, especially if I plan to get off somewhere in the middle. Then, I’d only need to pay the Oimachi–Osaki and Akabane–Omiya sections not covered by both the commuter pass and the free pass.

   Can I use both the commuter pass and the free pass without exiting the ticket gate? Or do I need to get off somewhere?

9. What are those sunrooms (metal frame with glass/plastic walls and roof) that people build on their large balconies and what kind of service do I contact to get one built?

   Like it’s obviously an aftermarket thing since the balcony railings are still there, they just built a room within an existing balcony.

10. Am I correct in thinking that, generally, life insurance isn’t really worth it if (a) we have no kids (b) my wife and I’s incomes are essentially the same? Or at least, that’s the impression I have from what I’ve heard in the past. There’s a salespersons (Gibraltar) who keeps coming and perstering my wife to sign up at her workplace (she’s a new employee), and my wife has admitted to having a hard time saying no as the salesperson is very persistent. From my understanding it might not all be worth it to us, but maybe someone knows better than we and can provide insights.

11. Been wanting to get a 250cc motorbike (I’m enrolling in a driving course soon-ish) but does anyone know about the procedures of buying a secondhand bike from a bike shop? Most likely outside my prefecture of residence?

    I live in Saitama- say I got the bike license, went to a shop in Tokyo and decided on a bike- can the shop do the required procedures (esp. registration) for me and deliver the bike to my address, with number plates set and ready to be ridden?

    I currently own a 50cc, but what I know is for bikes larger than 125cc I can’t register it at my city hall- it has to be land transport authority or some sort- and the LTA that has jurisdiction over my city is one in Tokorozawa. I work from office weekdays so doing some/all the registration procedures by myself is almost impossible.

12. what should I ask for at the pharmacy if I want something OTC to combat phlegm causing cough and a stuffed nose? not allergy related

13. what do yall buy and flip on mercari for extra pocket money? or is it a secret

14. I subscribed to an Amazon Prime trial, but so far I’m not very impressed.

    The interface for Amazon Video is bad, especially the process of finding stuff to watch. For example, it shows different seasons of the same tv show as distinct items of a huge list, intermixed with movies, and not even next to each other. Foreign titles are shown in the website in English, but in the android app and in Kodi it shows everything in katakana, it’s such a pain. The posters also have katakana. I think even Japanese people would rather see the original titles instead of a huge katakana soup. Ideally we should be able to configure how to show this.

    The categories, and the way they are presented are no good.

    Both UI and functionality of the Android app is worse than Netflix. And it doesn’t allow me to select subtitles other than hardcoded Japanese, which sucks balls.

    Then there’s the trial for Kindle. Every single book that I’d be interested in reading is not included, I’d have to pay extra. And again, all the foreign titles in katakana.

    Finally Amazon Music. It shows that I’d have to pay extra for that, but in the email I got it said Music was included. I suspect it’s using my amazon.com account instead of amazon.com.jp. Meh.

    I’ll play around with it more, but I already set a reminder to cancel it before the trial period ends.

15. To throw away an umbrella here, you have to buy a mini garbage bag and tape it to the umbrella. I thought I was reading the instructions wrong, but I guess the bag serves as a form of currency and is almost similar to the sodai gomi sticker. How does your place handle it?

16. Recently moved to the city and using public transport all day everyday, using just a basic ICOCA pass and I want to try and rack up rewards points or something if I’m gonna be using it so much.
    What’s the best commuting card/pass etc with a good rewards program that isn’t too complicated to sign up for? What do you use the points for?

17. anyone knows if the Immigration Office (especially Fukuoka’s) phone line operator can speak English?

18. Extension of visa related question.

    If I recall correctly, once you’re rejected you’re unable to apply again for an extension. Is that still the same or has things changed? What happens if your visa extension gets denied? I assume that just means you gotta pack up and leave the country?

19. What’s a good, preferably evergreen tree that can cope with full shade in the winter and full sun in the summer? It’s for the south end of my yard where the neighboring house blocks out the sunlight in the winter.

20. Went to the driving school, no english support in this prefecture, they recommended that I get the gentsuki license first to prove that I’m capable of passing a test :3

    Although I think if I insist they’ll let me join even without the moped license, but they’ve warned that a lot of foreigners quit after a few months… I want to take the exam in English, but have to take the classes in Japanese as there’s no other option.

    Any suggestions in this situation? I can somewhat drive (was a learner back in my home country and came here in the middle of my lessons) So practical exam won’t be much of an issue. I just need to prepare for the written test well. 🤔

21. I’m on the Humanities visa, is it possible to do the following?

    1. Go to immigration to get the stamp to do activities outside of my visa.
    2. Quit my current job.
    3. Get a part time eikaiwa job and job hunt at the same time.

    My mental health is reaching its breaking point and I need to quit but I know I shouldn’t without having the next job lined up but the job market is so crap right now I’ve had a few interviews but nothing’s coming up.

22. With conversational japanese, would it be more effective to go to my closest Hellowork office or is the trip to the foreigners oriented one in Shinjuku worth the trip ? (Greater Tokyo area)

23. Why are Japanese people so impolite to people who are not good looking? Yes I know Im brown and ugly to Japanese peoplebut why do Japanese people feel the need to blurt it out to my face? . Like I can get it Japanese people don’t like South or South East Asian faces but honestly, why do they need to tell it to my face how ugly I am. I know very well im ugly and pathetic looking, but no need to rub it in. I find it funny that people say Japanese people are polite, but not if you are (What they consider) ugly or bad looking. Like I mean saying “Oh look theres a foreigner” is normal , its an innocent observation. But I mean calling someone ugly is just plain rude. So to Japanese people or people who understand Japanese people why do they feel the need to comment on people’s appearance? Yet they will go on about how Kakoii or ikemen an overweight weeabo looking white american looks for example. The annoying thing is I make sure I am groomed properly, neat hairstyle , freshly ironed clothes, I work out a lot to remain thiin , I do skincare yet I so many openly rude comments.

24. Cheapest and easiest way to make international calls?

    I want to contact the U.S. IRS.

25. Anyone know where someone just on a normal working visa can get an esim? I have only esim on my phone, but every mobile provider i look at you need to be a PR to get an esim >.>

26. I work full time as an engineer, but I want to teach English on weekends for free. I have applied to several English schools, but they weren’t interested for obvious reasons. They prefer full-time employees rather than part-time ones.

    Do you have any suggestions on what I can do?

27. I can’t find gloves for arcade games (maimai) anywhere, I tried familymart, lawson, 7eleven, daiso and don quijote but I guess they don t sell them in spring/ summer. Any ideas where I can find some?

28. anyone know where i can print a document on thicker, not printer paper, paper? something good for a paper craft project? i thought maybe i could buy the paper myself and still print it at the konbini but didn’t see any options like that when i looked

29. Can anyone explain to me what is SBI thing im scared to read bcs of the big red 重要stamp

30. Is there a standardized term for those Showa-era looking blankets that you can find in mom-and-pop clothing/home good shops? There’s usually a solid block of color at the top and I’ve only ever seen floral designs. “Nishikawa blanket” on Amazon pops up a lot of what I’m talking about, but I assume that’s a brand?

    I’m not currently looking to replace my own but I’ve always been curious if there was a name for the style for easier searching in the future. They are sooo soft.

31. Has any one came across a recruitment company, named Fellowship global before?

    This company posted a job ad and i applied for it. Few days later, few people from that company sent me an email regarding job opportunities. I followed up with the marketing person and he/she asked for a cv to be sent to their general mail address. Was hesitant to send as those who have access to the account can view it or misuse it. i also
    attached my CV when I applied to the job which I felt it didn’t make sense if they needed me to send them my cv.

    I wonder if the company is actually a scam? The person whom I followed up with didn’t indicate his/her name as well..

    I just feel suspicious about the company.