https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/risk/#elements:inund/zoom:11/lat:40.781581/lon:140.377121/colordepth:normal

https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/risk/#elements:heavyrain/zoom:11/lat:40.785741/lon:140.330429/colordepth:normal

https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/risk/#elements:flood/zoom:10/lat:40.701464/lon:140.392914/colordepth:normal

Save yo kids. Save yo wife. Save yo life. Because shit is fucking flooding and you are about to be underwater, if you are not already, if you live in the affected regions of Aomori.

Update: NHK broadcast on the situation

Compared to last year the summer so far hasn’t been too terrible. There’s been some really hot days but it feels like it’s better than last years temps and it feels like especially the last couple of weeks it has cooled down in Tokyo. A couple of days of 24c this week feels like a good time to me.

There are lots of things I have loved about Japan since moving here two years ago, but their compartmentalized nature is something I really dislike.

People who give me snacks, plushies of a character I like at work, when I see them outside of work act like they don't know me: I'd wave or say hello, and they would just ignore me. It's happened multiple times with different coworkers.

I'm from the Caribbean, and it's very much a "I know you (regardless of where from), therefore I acknowledge you". In Japan, it's "I know you in this particular context, therefore I only interact with you within that context." Even at nomikai, people who were chatty and friendly act like we didn't just talk at length the day before.

I also do ikebana classes and sometimes I see other students, wave and, again, they act like they don't know me even though we talk fine during class.

It's so jarring, and I keep reminding myself that it's just a different culture and nothing personal, but it's jarring nonetheless.

Parents are 82 and 79 this year. I am trying to figure out how to deal with issues related to them aging from abroad while also being fair to my siblings. I go home yearly and currently have a job where I can go home for a month or so durations during parts of the year. We have discuss arrangements for death and some financial stuff but it seems like things go out a million different directions on a moments notice.

Some things I worry about are..

Does anyone have any experience dealing with parents with memory issues and getting the help?

How did you deal when one passed and the other remained? especially anyone working at university.

How did you deal with getting them into nursing homes (US)?

What kind of trade offs did you make with siblings back home to keep things fair?

Any legal things you wish you did beforehand?

Anything you wished you prepared for beforehand?

Any other advise or experience you want to share or think will be helpful.

Hello, asking for some advice.

My former workplace has posted pictures of me on their website to promote their previous events, even though I'm a few months removed from working in that place.

When I first resigned, they removed the pictures, but I'm looking at the website again and looks like they reposted the pictures.

Is there anything I can do to force them to take them down? Potentially legal action?

They're not offensive pictures, but they're pictures of me at bad angles and job recruiters have found these pictures of me through reverse image searches.

If you’re planning to learn driving in the Kansai area, especially in Osaka, do not go to this driving school Osaka driving lessons
The owner is a man called Mr Oliver, he has some network enterprise of various businesses. He collects almost 300,000K yen to teach you the bare basics before sending you to the test center. If you fail at the test center countless times, he gives a bunch of lame excuses. The standards and amount of classes needed to pass that he offers is quite low.
You’d be better off going to. Japanese standard school, get the materials, and if you don’t understand Japanese, Go find external resources in your native language you can learn from to ease your learning process.

My apartment is an old apartment and used to be a LeoPalace and has a loft. I know why my apartment is way too humid, it’s the first floor and I was still too naive when I first got this apartment, but I didn’t have many choices, time, or money to find another place so this was all I could get. I hate it so much. I go back home for the summers(May-end of August) since I’m a student, and I take so many drastic measures to keep it maintained, even had my now ex-bf take care of it while I was gone(well he didn’t do a good job). I’ve had my aircon on dry mode(dehumidifier) 24/7 and on the highest setting, one smaller dehumidifier, and a bunch of the Daiso dehumidifiers in every corner and nook and cranny of my apartment, and a fan in my loft. But not matter what, it’s still at 80% humidity. The air ventilation sucks, I have it on 24/7 (one in my bathroom and one on top of my door), and it barely does anything. Theres so much mold I’m trying to clean out, had to throw away some things when I came back. And some of the flooring is popping off, like coming out, if that makes sense. It looks cheap too. I can’t open my only sliding doors/windows cause the humidity is worse outside.

My lease ends around late November but I want to move out earlier because I can’t take this apartment anymore. I don’t know whether to contact the landlord with the help of a friend or the guarantor company since they offer foreign support and translation assistance, about the flooring and mold situation. I’m trying so hard to maintain it but no matter what, the humidity is ruining everything(hate Japanese summers). I don’t want to be charge so much with the repairs. I also don’t want to tell them that I was away for the summer since they will 100% say it’s my fault. I think if I was here for the summer, I’d still be dealing with these problem either way. What steps should I take? And what could I do to lessen the repair prices if it’s inevitable? Should I play the gaijin card? My anxiety is through the roof and it’s my first time dealing with this whole situation. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

My medium-sized Japanese company is going through a merger with another Japanese company in the near future. Iwork in back-office function and I’m currently the only licensed professional on the team and the only bilingual person, so I’m pretty important to the department. However, I’m also one of the highest-paid employees in the team, and the company is currently doing a cost-cutting initiative.

Management says that nobody will be fired because of the merger, but obviously they would say that.

The company itself is financially healthy and doing fine, so this isn’t a situation where the business is struggling.

How much protection do employees actually have under Japanese labor law if a merger creates redundant positions? Can a company legally lay people off simply because there is overlap between the two companies after the merger?

Also, has anyone here gone through a similar situation in Japan? I’m trying to figure out whether I’m being overly cautious or whether it’s smarter to secure another offer before the merger happens.

I recently got a bitemark cluster on my arm that are very itchy and a bit inflamed. After research thought it might be bed bug or something.

The next morning I immediately aired my beddings, washed the sheets, and triple vacuumed (including crevices and corners). I vacuumed an insect that might be a bed bug or a carpet beetle, a small spider, and some small white insects that might be baby book lice. I keep my window open a lot so different insects get inside.

I'm just worried it might be BBs but i'm just not sure. What would you suggest i use for initial pest control in case it's bed bugs?

Some notes: - beddings show no black spots whatsoever. Really clean. - been staying here for about 7mos w/o prior incidents. - didn't travel anywhere that needs sleepovers during the 7mos.

For example, what happens if you already started working at the new company before realizing that the job duties may not qualify under 技人国?

Would Immigration ask you to stop working, change your status of residence, or could this potentially cause problems with your current visa or future renewal?

A lot of things have led me to this conclusion but currently the thing making life here an absolute living hell is the immigration center. I applied for my visa extension in May. My grace period expires tomorrow. I realized the renewal was taking longer than usual and went to shinagawa twice this month, traveling an hour each way and waiting for hours both times only to get the same “it’s not ready yet, all you can do is wait“ answer. No word on what was wrong with it or why it was taking so long. When I finally got the damn postcard in the mail on FRIDAY at 6pm (aka, I couldn’t go into the immigration office until Monday, today) I see that I need additional proof of my attendance. I go to my school, and they tell me that they can’t give me this form until tomorrow, the day after the cutoff for picking up my new residence card. I called immigration and they told me to bring the document tomorrow at 1pm to pick it up. I sat and just cried in front of my old homeroom teacher for a minute because I‘ve been so stressed over this the past month and I’m terrified that even though they told me on the phone it’s ok to pick it up tomorrow, when I go they will tell me it’s too late.

WHY could their need for additional documents not have been communicated at literally ANY point including the two times I went in person to check on my application??? Before you ask, I promise nothing got lost in the mail. I’ve been checking it 3x a day all month.

WHY would they only give four days to pick it up, and three of those days are outside of working hours so I have only a 6 hour window to get it?

I can’t use my bank account. My health insurance is also blocked and I had to pay 15,000¥ for my medication. I can’t get it refunded, because the cutoff for that is today.
Last time I went to Shinagawa and begged them for information, the woman at the counter told me あなたに特別するのはできない. I’m not asking for special treatment, none of us are. We just want to know what the hell is going on. I’m literally visiting family in America this week, and panicking that I won’t be able to leave the country.

I’m so tired. I already decided earlier this month to drop out of uni and go home to the states despite it only being my first year in uni because life here as a foreigner woman is miserable. I can’t deal with the sexism, the discrimination, the lack of any real way to support myself. I spent 3 years of my life here, learned the language, and desperately tried to assimilate. But they make it so you feel like a criminal even if you’re a law abiding, tax paying citizen just because you aren’t from here. I can’t wait to go home.

EDIT:

I've confirmed with my teacher I'll get the document tomorrow. Hoping everything goes smoothly and I can just pick my card up normally, since I called. I've also calmed down a bit. I understand why some people would be angry on reading the title of this post but this is a culmination of months if not years of stress building up from living here and dealing with the constant bureaucracy.

A lot of people had questions about my general preparedness so to clarify-- I have extended my visa 3 times before this. Applied towards the end of May. I would've liked to apply as soon as physically possible, but life gets in the way, dealing with a bunch of really horrible personal life business including the loss of a family member. I prepared all the required documents, and didn't receive any notification there was anything missing until now. If anything, I'm a bit overkill with triple checking my documents as I know how long the extension process can take. Did my best to prepare for bank closure and the health insurance bit as I've experienced both already, and planned my trip to America to be after the grace period since I thought like most people that it would be ready by then if not sooner (In 2025 I had to cancel Christmas with my family because my card wasn't ready yet, it was in the grace period when it finally got renewed that time. Learned from that mistake.)

I decided to move back to America only very recently, due to a combination of things. I think it's pretty undeniable that life here can be hard as a foreigner, regardless of your stance on politics. I'm also very aware that life in America can be just as bad-- I mean, I lived there for most of my life lmao. It's not like I think going back to my home country will solve all my problems (if anything, I'm emotionally preparing myself for hell what with the current job market). But what I'm getting at is that I've come to accept that I would rather live somewhere where at minimum my residency isn't constantly on a tightrope, and where I'm not always an outsider despite my efforts to show my appreciation for this country. There's a lot of what-about-me-isms going on the comments, and people talking about how other countries including America are just as bad with immigration policy and I wholeheartedly agree! Immigration seems to be a horrible process to go through pretty much anywhere, and it's not right. Doesn't make Japan any better just because other places are worse. My takeaway isn't that I deserve some kind of award or special treatment for coming to a foreign country, it's just that this SUCKS. They're using a horribly outdated system which nobody likes.

In the three years I've lived here (which I know really isn't long at all), I've felt a very tangible difference in the way I'm received as foreigner, and I don't even get the worst of it compared with other people I know. It scares me how quickly Japan is becoming very very hateful, and things that were easily dismissed when I first moved here have become a much bigger issue very rapidly. I don't feel confident about the next several years here.

Someone pointed out a lot of this is "becoming an adult" stuff and I agree. Upon becoming an adult, having spent my formative years here, I've realized there isn't a reliable future for me in this country and putting up with all of this stuff isn't bravery, doesn't make me special, and nobody is going to give me a prize for toughing it out. If going home is less painful and I don't have a very specific goal here, I should just go home. Call me a fool for hoping for years that I would make it work because I liked it here, until it got so bad that I couldn't anymore. I don't really hate Japan, and there are plenty of things I love about it still. But it's just not viable and what I've gathered after reading replies is that a lot of other people are also very deeply unhappy here, specifically because of things like this.

EDIT 2:

After a 3 and a half hour wait in Shinagawa I finally have my new residence card. What’s more, I ran into an old classmate who had the exact same problem as me (same document needed, also only delivered on Friday at the last possible moment). Needless to say I’m not alone.

My card is approved for until 2030. Not gonna lie, it hurts a bit that I got something I wanted for so long and I’m going to leave, but I think it’s the right decision for me. Thanks for all the kind words, it helped me get through yesterday. I hope everyone else dealing with this has it work out for them.

I'm going to receive my first salary as a student working part time; the thing is, my employer won't be filing income tax on my behalf. I'm just wondering if I need to file it? My income is below 200k. Would like to gain some insight, thanks!

Hello, I might be dumb for asking this but are we allowed to print the online transactions history from Yucho Direct with translated documents to the Belgium embassy. It's for a 5 day funded trip. Everything is covered for me except for on ground transportation. So I am just showing my part time income as a student.

I will get the official balance certificate as well but I am a little bit worried because this is my first time applying.

I used to use giffgaff but now they don’t send the physical sim. So I’m thinking eSIM is the route to go but if anyone has done it recently I’d like to know which you used. Trying to avoid headaches when I go home for Christmas. I have an AU phone but it’s about 1000 a day for abroad. Just to clarify. I live in Japan. And I’m going to the UK in December. Looking for an eSIM I can use in the UK. I’d like to hear from people who actually did it. Thanks in advance.

I’ve lived in Kansai for ten years (first as a uni student, now working full-time) and have genuinely enjoyed my life here long-term. I only recently started lurking in Japan-related Reddit communities, and I was really struck by the contrast between the prevailing online sentiment and my own offline experience.

For other long-term residents: do you think this skew is mostly down to expat spaces naturally functioning as support and venting hubs for people hitting administrative or culture friction, or is there a genuine disconnect between active online posters and the broader expat population?

Hi guys! Is my first time writing here so its very nice to meet all of you. I am writing cuz i am seeking advice from you (maybe you know better than me hopefully i am so lost) regarding this issue that happened to me today.

back story in short: came to japan at the end of march and staying here until end of September. i am on a student visa granted for 1 year for my exchange program at a university in Japan, then now in September at the end going back to Europe.

HERE IS THE THING. so before leaving i went to the city hall to get my papers and giving them the moving out notice and get some paperwork for my new address (finished studies at uni in august, now at summer school for 1 month) for my new address in another prefecture. there i asked at the national pension and health insurance desk if i have anything else left to pay by any chance (i dont have to pay pension i am not required). there they told me that i dont have to pay anything and that i am ok yo leave my prefecture to go to the new one.

today, i got a pink envelope regarding a missed payment for national health insurance from my former city hall (about 1 month missed payment, was due 31st of july). I DIDNT RECEIVE ANY PAPER TO PAY BEFORE i got this and i was so confused.

THEN I remembered. once i got an envelope from city hall and my uni said “ah is pension throw it away)” but it was actually the payment sleeves for the health insurance. i couldn’t read it so i had no idea what it was. but i didnt throw it away and today my friend checked it.

fast forward: the july national health insurance is one month payed later (was supposed end of july, payed today) and the august one is late only one day (paid today)

I HAD NO IDEA because at my city hall said i have nothing left to pay, my uni literally said is pension but it wasnt so here i am getting a notice of “hey, you own us money”.

the thing that i am scared the most? next year i wanna get a new visa for longer studies and work, and because of all of this new laws and regulations i am so scared that my visa my get denied, even though it wasnt my fault for not knowing and the people in charge telling me someting else. what should i do in this situation? i am really concerned about this and my future visa and getting my PR in a couple of years.

if you have any idea how they might see this, help a boy out pls and thank you

I’ve seen a lot of confusion and contradictory information online about this, and honestly there isn’t that much information from people who have actually gone through it, so I thought I’d share my experience in case it helps someone.

I had lived in Tokyo before, then went back to my home country. I entered Japan again in mid April this year on a tourist visa, married my Japanese girlfriend in mid May, and applied for a change of status at the Shinagawa Immigration Office in early July. Today, at the end of August, I got my new residence card. So the immigration part took about 2 months in my case.

There’s actually quite a lot of paperwork involved before you even get to the immigration application. I had to go to my country’s embassy in Japan, get the documents proving I was legally able to marry, register the marriage at the ward office, wait for the records to be updated, register the marriage in my home country as well, wait for more documents, and then finally gather everything for Immigration: forms, evidence, documents from both of us, etc.

Also, something I think is important to mention: you can’t just assume that because you are in Japan on a tourist visa, Immigration will let you change to a spouse status. The application can apparently be refused at the counter itself if your documents aren’t in order. In that case, they can tell you to leave Japan and apply for the spouse visa from your home country through the COE route.

I used an immigration lawyer for the whole process. Interestingly, I spoke to several other lawyers beforehand and some of them told me quite strongly that I shouldn’t risk trying to do the change from tourist to spouse status inside Japan but in the end, it worked for me.

Obviously every case is different and I’m not saying this means everyone can do the same thing. I’m just sharing what happened in my case because I found it surprisingly difficult to find clear information about this online.

I’m European, if that’s relevant. If anyone is going through the same process and has questions about what I had to do, I can try to answer based on my experience.

Hi everyone,
I’m currently in Japan on a student visa and I’m planning to change my status of residence to a Spouse of Japanese National after getting married.
There is a 20-year age difference between me and my Japanese partner. Also, my spouse doesn’t currently have a stable/full-time job, so I’m a little worried about the financial requirements and whether this could affect the application.
We genuinely want to live together and build our life in Japan, but obviously we need to show that we can financially support ourselves.
Has anyone here been in a similar situation — especially with:
A large age difference between spouses
Japanese spouse having unstable/low income
Changing from Student → Spouse of Japanese National
What documents Immigration requested
Whether savings or support from family can help
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually gone through this process. Any advice, experiences, or tips would be very helpful. Thank you!

Hi!

Has anyone worked as a volunteer teacher on the Peace Boat?

What are some of the questions asked during the interview?

Thank you so much for your help :)

Those who store their out of season clothing in vacuum seal bags to prevent mold. What recommendations for bags / sealer do you suggest? Where is the best place to purchase? Any tips to the storage process? Thank you!

Just move from language school to a university and I forget to apply for national health insurance 14 days past my new visa, can I still apply for it?

Hi! I recently moved to Tokyo and wondering if you guys could recommend me a good English speaking dentist in here, it's a bit of an emergency 😅 I've had a lot of problems with finding good dentists in where I lived before some made the problem worse so I really want to make sure I can explain my situation clearly in English. And how does it work in Japan do they all take health insurance?

I’ve been living in Japan for around 2 years now, I’ve driven by pachinko places basically every day but never went into one till this last week. I thought it’d be like American slot machines… I was wrong.

Whatever the most insane slot machine you’ve played is, pachinko is 1000x crazier. Each individual machine is basically a personal strobe light, flashing colors and loud sounds while you just are launching ball after ball. When you get a reach (a chance at the jackpot game) the machine starts to ramp up its lights and sounds even more, then when you do get an actual jackpot, the machine turns into an active seizure warning. The mechanical parts of the machine start basically jumping out at you while the rainbow strobe lights try to blind you, meanwhile you stay stuck looking at them, basically hypnotized. It’s basically sensory overload to the max and you can’t get enough. Even after you leave you are still hearing the sounds and seeing the lights flashing in the corner of your vision for hours. I don’t know how else to describe it other than I think this is what drugs are like.

If any of you have similar experiences with them please share, I’m not sure I articulated well about just how insane these games are, but they are without a doubt the most insane thing I’ve seen in Japan since living here