So many teachers are out sick at my kids daycare that they are shortening hours, guess it’s better than closing like they were doing constantly at the start of the year.
Has anyone recently tried the reservation system for the immigration office ? (Tokyo). I know their online system is/was down so you had to email them, which I did Thursday night. Do they … reply to you?? Or does it just take a long time?
I know I don’t need a reservation to get into immigration but I guess it speeds up things. I made the reservation for this week Friday.
Can you recommend things to do in Tokyo during obon? Also how many Tokyo Banana is acceptable per person for omiyage ? Thanks
I have a photo shoot for my new agent’s website today. They want formal and casual shots. They suggested the casual shots could have something related to my hobbies. I like sailing. Wearing a life jacket or holding ropes is just going to look weird. The photo shoot is in a studio and not on the boat. Any suggestions?
Waiting for wife to pick me and bub up from the local mall. Normally I wouldn’t mind but they are skimping on the AC and I’m sweating like crazy.
I wish they were so energy efficient in winter when they heat the place to summer temperatures and I sweat in my winter clothes.
the mixed pork/beef mixes they have here actually work really well as a smash burger. Something about how the pork’s fat renders gives it those extra crispy tendrils that is so characteristic of the dish.
I guess if you’re going to be basically frying the meat, they work really well, like in (Japanese) mapo tofu where the meat is fried until all the fat renders out. If you’re doing anything like a regular burger patty or a meatloaf though they’re definitely inferior (although I guess they’re pretty characteristic of Japanese Hamburg steak. I’m guessing the springy texture comes from the pork mix)
Set up a meeting in my calendar with a few others to discuss a topic. I also needed to get a lot of work done related to the same topic, so I was blocking out my calendar schedule with an “event” with a similar title to the meeting.
The meeting rolls up and I assume it’s just the reminder/task event I set so that I can concentrate on the task without being disturbed. Blast right through the meeting and even unconsciously ignored the Slack message from one member asking if I was joining…
Feel like an idiot.
I’m not very well versed in Japanese beaches, but if a beach’s website says 開設期間 2022年7月3日～8月21日, does that mean people can’t enter the beach outside of those dates…?
Or does it just mean the facilities (shops/showers) are closed? Would parking be affected? It says camping is fine all year round so I’m confused. Thanks
Does anyone know if it is possible to buy airplane ticket with a Prepaid Card (d prepaid card or Line prepaid with Visa or Mastercard brand). I intend to purchase the ticket through Skyscanner and wonder if they able to accept payment with the Prepaid Card
Power-wise, is it better to dry laundry on the bathroom’s ceiling dryer or by the drum-type washer/dryer combo?
I’m planning to move this October, and I’m thinking to dump my 5 years old cheapish top loader Haier washing machine. I know the washer/dryer combo is worth-it despite the price, but I’m still not sure..
Any opinion will be greatly appreciated.
What type of water do you use for a humidifier? I’m reading distilled water — 2L is about 330 yen. I thought there was a type of powder you could add to tap water which ‘cleanses’ it in a way, but I forgot the name or if I’m making that up. And another solution I was thinking about was just boiling the water first. Will probably go with the distilled in the end.
Our daughter is 6 years now and most of the times she doesn’t like to eat any meat. For example last week my wife made some Champon and our daughter didn’t touch the meat in it. So I asked her if she wants more vegetables instead and she said yes. My wife and I like to eat meat, but I thought why not try to adapt and provide our daughter a more vegetarian diet.
Is there anything we need to be careful if she stops eating meat, some other food she should eat for nutritional needs? Except for meat she likes almost everything else (Fish, Vegetables, Tofu, Miso Soup, etc.)
If you’re an EU citizen living as a resident in Japan, are you still covered by EU health care?
Getting very tired of customer service staff visibly tensing and choking up when asked to repeat something, then saying something simpler. I just didn’t hear you, why are you panicking and being weird.
Customer service is not actually good in this country, companies are just too terrified to disresepect the ‘honour’ of the customer, so they follow a robot routine.
I’m watching a presentation on zoom from a very well known organization right now. The content is very important but the guy giving the presentation is American and has the most stereotypical Japanese accent ever. You know the one that Japanese TV uses for foreigners speaking in that stilted katakoto style? That’s this guy and I can barely understand anything he’s saying.
3 1/2 more hours of this.
Japanese boss – We Japanese have the best manners and are the most polite people on the planet.
Also Japanese boss – Sits down at desk, loudly slurps soda, loudly burps, does the lean to side fart, and chews gum like a goat with his mouth open, smacking lips crazy loud. (to be fair, his wife is in the office with us and is always angry with him about most of this but he totally ignores her)
/rant
Any Germans (or people who lived in Germany before) here?
Genuine question, as I am planning to move there after my postgrad here, how different is the culture compared to Japan?
I’ve been told that Germans are more high-strung and strict.
Imagine this, you like working from home and your work is 100% done in a computer (IT/engineering field). The company says that it’s welcome to work from home, but it does not fully feel that way.
A few of your collegues boast about their daily commute and have some kind of 定期券 for the shinkansen、they are commuting from places like Aichi, Shizuoka etc, to Tokyo.
My response was, “do you still have time for your family or at least yourself?”
If it’s you, how would you respond? or was I some how rude?
I was always amused at how our small local almost inaka shopping mall has THREE Nagasaki chanpon places in close proximity (a mom and pop one, a food court Ringer Hut and a Chanpon Tei). There’s probably a story there haha. I’m guessing there’s an overflow of demand from the mom and pop one because it only has a few seats and has a line so the chains moved in across the street.
either that or idk, maybe the area has a bunch of Nagasaki transplants nostalgic for home?
I’ve been putting off applying for PR but I really really need to get the ball rolling or I’ll run out of time.
Would it be worth the money to pay for a company to handle my application for me? I’m staying home with a toddler who still naps and running here and there picking up documents feels like a huge pain in the ass. And despite having a spouse, kid and a house here I feel anxious about writing the 理由書.
I really feel sad this month because I have covid. I was not able to go to the festival and fireworks wearing yukata. My salary is very low also because no work no pay because of my absences due to covid. I’ve been waiting for that event for my whole life but I just can’t go 🥲 I’ll wait for the next summer next year.
I want to study further
It’s happened. After 9 years, I saw a roach in my house.
My house was built last year and we’re very clean people. Do the dishes right away, clean the sink every night, never leave food our, sweep.
I’m hoping this was just a one-time thing but all websites say if you see one during the day, that means you have an infestation. I checked everywhere and found no signs though. Put down those sticky traps and nothing there either.
Should I be worried and bomb the place?
Has anyone tried ordering from Puggy cupcakes, I think that’s what they’re called? The ad is constantly crossing my feed.
On my way biking home from a bar last night, I grabbed a can highball and an ice cream and stopped off in a park on my way home to sit down on a bench and drink and snack.
A pair of police officers stopped by and asked me some questions – apparently they were looking for a high school girl who had gone missing (they didn’t ask for any ID or care that I was clearly drinking alcohol with my bicycle parked next to me lol).
I hope that girl is found safe! Saw some more police cars pass by in the following half hour.
For the digital panels you use to control the hot water temperature, are these things you leave on all year or something you only turn on whenever you need hot water?
I was nearly late for my flight at Narita on sunday. Thank you to the caucasian man with the asian wife and kids for letting me go ahead of them in the queue at immigration. And to the other two Japanese moms and kids in the queue also 🙂
Anyway I can connect my American VISA card to mobile suica or pasmo?
I heard that stopped being an option about a year ago, any updates? Edit: I guess I can connect it but it won’t let me actually charge my card with it.
Going through previous Japan life threads on this, but they conflict with Japanese sites:
Does anyone knowledgeable about import taxes know if the sales tax for importing a PC is 6% or 10%?
JP Sites have long articles about how you only are taxed on 10% of 60% of retail price for items that you import, including PCS.
However it is entirely possible they are misinterpreting sales tax on imported items and import tax.
29 comments
So many teachers are out sick at my kids daycare that they are shortening hours, guess it’s better than closing like they were doing constantly at the start of the year.
Has anyone recently tried the reservation system for the immigration office ? (Tokyo).
I know their online system is/was down so you had to email them, which I did Thursday night.
Do they … reply to you?? Or does it just take a long time?
I know I don’t need a reservation to get into immigration but I guess it speeds up things. I made the reservation for this week Friday.
Can you recommend things to do in Tokyo during obon? Also how many Tokyo Banana is acceptable per person for omiyage ? Thanks
I have a photo shoot for my new agent’s website today. They want formal and casual shots. They suggested the casual shots could have something related to my hobbies. I like sailing. Wearing a life jacket or holding ropes is just going to look weird. The photo shoot is in a studio and not on the boat. Any suggestions?
Waiting for wife to pick me and bub up from the local mall. Normally I wouldn’t mind but they are skimping on the AC and I’m sweating like crazy.
I wish they were so energy efficient in winter when they heat the place to summer temperatures and I sweat in my winter clothes.
the mixed pork/beef mixes they have here actually work really well as a smash burger. Something about how the pork’s fat renders gives it those extra crispy tendrils that is so characteristic of the dish.
I guess if you’re going to be basically frying the meat, they work really well, like in (Japanese) mapo tofu where the meat is fried until all the fat renders out. If you’re doing anything like a regular burger patty or a meatloaf though they’re definitely inferior (although I guess they’re pretty characteristic of Japanese Hamburg steak. I’m guessing the springy texture comes from the pork mix)
Set up a meeting in my calendar with a few others to discuss a topic. I also needed to get a lot of work done related to the same topic, so I was blocking out my calendar schedule with an “event” with a similar title to the meeting.
The meeting rolls up and I assume it’s just the reminder/task event I set so that I can concentrate on the task without being disturbed. Blast right through the meeting and even unconsciously ignored the Slack message from one member asking if I was joining…
Feel like an idiot.
I’m not very well versed in Japanese beaches, but if a beach’s website says 開設期間 2022年7月3日～8月21日, does that mean people can’t enter the beach outside of those dates…?
Or does it just mean the facilities (shops/showers) are closed? Would parking be affected? It says camping is fine all year round so I’m confused. Thanks
[This is the link](https://www.kyotango.gr.jp/beach/725/) if it helps!
Does anyone know if it is possible to buy airplane ticket with a Prepaid Card (d prepaid card or Line prepaid with Visa or Mastercard brand). I intend to purchase the ticket through Skyscanner and wonder if they able to accept payment with the Prepaid Card
Power-wise, is it better to dry laundry on the bathroom’s ceiling dryer or by the drum-type washer/dryer combo?
I’m planning to move this October, and I’m thinking to dump my 5 years old cheapish top loader Haier washing machine. I know the washer/dryer combo is worth-it despite the price, but I’m still not sure..
Any opinion will be greatly appreciated.
What type of water do you use for a humidifier? I’m reading distilled water — 2L is about 330 yen. I thought there was a type of powder you could add to tap water which ‘cleanses’ it in a way, but I forgot the name or if I’m making that up. And another solution I was thinking about was just boiling the water first. Will probably go with the distilled in the end.
Our daughter is 6 years now and most of the times she doesn’t like to eat any meat. For example last week my wife made some Champon and our daughter didn’t touch the meat in it. So I asked her if she wants more vegetables instead and she said yes. My wife and I like to eat meat, but I thought why not try to adapt and provide our daughter a more vegetarian diet.
Is there anything we need to be careful if she stops eating meat, some other food she should eat for nutritional needs? Except for meat she likes almost everything else (Fish, Vegetables, Tofu, Miso Soup, etc.)
If you’re an EU citizen living as a resident in Japan, are you still covered by EU health care?
Getting very tired of customer service staff visibly tensing and choking up when asked to repeat something, then saying something simpler. I just didn’t hear you, why are you panicking and being weird.
Customer service is not actually good in this country, companies are just too terrified to disresepect the ‘honour’ of the customer, so they follow a robot routine.
I’m watching a presentation on zoom from a very well known organization right now. The content is very important but the guy giving the presentation is American and has the most stereotypical Japanese accent ever. You know the one that Japanese TV uses for foreigners speaking in that stilted katakoto style? That’s this guy and I can barely understand anything he’s saying.
3 1/2 more hours of this.
Japanese boss – We Japanese have the best manners and are the most polite people on the planet.
Also Japanese boss – Sits down at desk, loudly slurps soda, loudly burps, does the lean to side fart, and chews gum like a goat with his mouth open, smacking lips crazy loud. (to be fair, his wife is in the office with us and is always angry with him about most of this but he totally ignores her)
/rant
Any Germans (or people who lived in Germany before) here?
Genuine question, as I am planning to move there after my postgrad here, how different is the culture compared to Japan?
I’ve been told that Germans are more high-strung and strict.
Imagine this, you like working from home and your work is 100% done in a computer (IT/engineering field).
The company says that it’s welcome to work from home, but it does not fully feel that way.
A few of your collegues boast about their daily commute and have some kind of 定期券 for the shinkansen、they are commuting from places like Aichi, Shizuoka etc, to Tokyo.
My response was, “do you still have time for your family or at least yourself?”
If it’s you, how would you respond? or was I some how rude?
I was always amused at how our small local almost inaka shopping mall has THREE Nagasaki chanpon places in close proximity (a mom and pop one, a food court Ringer Hut and a Chanpon Tei). There’s probably a story there haha. I’m guessing there’s an overflow of demand from the mom and pop one because it only has a few seats and has a line so the chains moved in across the street.
either that or idk, maybe the area has a bunch of Nagasaki transplants nostalgic for home?
I’ve been putting off applying for PR but I really really need to get the ball rolling or I’ll run out of time.
Would it be worth the money to pay for a company to handle my application for me?
I’m staying home with a toddler who still naps and running here and there picking up documents feels like a huge pain in the ass. And despite having a spouse, kid and a house here I feel anxious about writing the 理由書.
I really feel sad this month because I have covid. I was not able to go to the festival and fireworks wearing yukata. My salary is very low also because no work no pay because of my absences due to covid. I’ve been waiting for that event for my whole life but I just can’t go 🥲 I’ll wait for the next summer next year.
I want to study further
It’s happened. After 9 years, I saw a roach in my house.
My house was built last year and we’re very clean people. Do the dishes right away, clean the sink every night, never leave food our, sweep.
I’m hoping this was just a one-time thing but all websites say if you see one during the day, that means you have an infestation. I checked everywhere and found no signs though. Put down those sticky traps and nothing there either.
Should I be worried and bomb the place?
Has anyone tried ordering from Puggy cupcakes, I think that’s what they’re called? The ad is constantly crossing my feed.
On my way biking home from a bar last night, I grabbed a can highball and an ice cream and stopped off in a park on my way home to sit down on a bench and drink and snack.
A pair of police officers stopped by and asked me some questions – apparently they were looking for a high school girl who had gone missing (they didn’t ask for any ID or care that I was clearly drinking alcohol with my bicycle parked next to me lol).
I hope that girl is found safe! Saw some more police cars pass by in the following half hour.
For the digital panels you use to control the hot water temperature, are these things you leave on all year or something you only turn on whenever you need hot water?
I was nearly late for my flight at Narita on sunday. Thank you to the caucasian man with the asian wife and kids for letting me go ahead of them in the queue at immigration. And to the other two Japanese moms and kids in the queue also 🙂
Anyway I can connect my American VISA card to mobile suica or pasmo?
I heard that stopped being an option about a year ago, any updates?
Edit: I guess I can connect it but it won’t let me actually charge my card with it.
Going through previous Japan life threads on this, but they conflict with Japanese sites:
Does anyone knowledgeable about import taxes know if the sales tax for importing a PC is 6% or 10%?
JP Sites have long articles about how you only are taxed on 10% of 60% of retail price for items that you import, including PCS.
However it is entirely possible they are misinterpreting sales tax on imported items and import tax.