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 :)

I have lived in Japan for over 8 years, and I am having some 'buyer's remorse.' My friends and family are here, and my partner has little interest in leaving. We are fine and fairly comfortable (for now, anyway), but almost everytime I meet people who move to this country I find myself just feeling so incredibly sad for them.

So many of them (especially Westerners) find themselves strugging financially, struggling to secure non-company housing, developing health issues, etc. There should be more resources about this country beyond anime bullshit and flashy tourist nonsense.

I don't mean to come off as the 'bitter gaijin', but I honestly don't think I would have invested so much of my life and love here had I known these things.

As for my background: I am a professor and have degrees in Japan Studies and Philosophy.

What I want to say:

No matter what the job is, 250,000 yen-per-month is NOT a lot of money. It's a pittance. Anyone who says otherwise is not your friend.

Eikaiwa jobs (NOVA, Berlitz, Yaruki Swtich, etc.) have little-to-no meaningful advancement. These clowns can, at best, hope to become plantation overseers (think Samuel L Jackson in Django). Again, your handlers - foreigner or not - are not your friends.

Westgate, Interac, Berkeley House - and virtually all other ALT or dispatch companies - are running a grift. Stay away, or at least be in a financial position where one can afford to be screwed senseless. They are pocketing 20-50% of your salary (for example: Westgate contracts for Aoyama are paid 275,000-330,000 per month, but the Uni pays twice that to Westgate. Furthermore, many Unis who use WG WILL NOT hire current WG employees).

Tech workers can and should seek high salaries elsewhere in the world. Japan is reserved for C-tier IT talent and so should be expected to be treated as such. Most Japan-based tech companies spend each and every day copying whatever American companies are doing.

Academics interested in Japan should a) come rich and b) lower peer expecations. No matter your credentials or your skill - if you are not Japanese, your opinion is not welcome.

How do I survive, you ask? I had friends here before I came. Well-connected, Japanese friends. That, and an inheritance. Also, I used to be quite conventionally attractive. Cronyism and sex, baybee.

Anyway - Where's a good place to set up my soapbox? Do I need to be an angry tik-tokker? IG reels? To quote Kamala Harris: "dont come."

Update: Ooof, a lot of 'pick-me' types are online today. I didn't say NO ONE is happy, or that happiness is impossible.

Recently my company posted this on their board.

各位

兼業・副業に関してお知らせいたします。 ご確認いただきますよう、よろしくお願いいたします。 【　兼業・副業について　】

近年、多様な働き方が広がる中、当社においてもより柔軟で働きやすい勤務環境の実現を目的として、 兼業・副業に関する許可制度を導入いたしました。

一方で、当社はAI・建築・CG・データベース開発などの事業を展開しており、 ⾧年培ってきた技術・ノウハウ・営業情報・顧客情報・データ資産など、 多くの知的財産や営業秘密を保有しています。 これらは会社の重要な経営資産であり、適切に保護していくことが不可欠です。

そのため、兼業・副業を希望する場合は、本業への影響、競業の有無、情報漏えいリスク、 会社の信用への影響等を総合的に確認するため、事前の許可申請を必須としています。 申請内容によっては、追加資料の提出をお願いする場合や、厚生労働省の指針等も踏まえ、 会社の判断により許可できない場合があります。 これは、兼業・副業を制限することを目的とするものではなく、会社の技術・知識等の知的財産を守り、 従業員の皆さんが安心して兼業・副業に取り組める環境を維持するためのものです。

皆さまには、上記の趣旨をご理解いただき、適切な申請・運用にご協力くださいますようお願いいたします。

【　兼業・副業をされたい場合の手順　】

①兼業・副業に従事される前に、「兼業・副業に関する許可申請書」を、 デスクネッツのワークフローにて申請願います。

当申請書には、兼業・副業先の情報の他、確認・誓約事項も含まれます。 必要事項の入力および内容をご確認の上、申請ください。

項目については添付PDF、もしくはワークフロー画面にてご確認願います。

②上記の承認後、「兼業・副業に関する誓約書」に署名・押印いただきます。

誓約書はワークフロー回付後、業務管理部の尾﨑より書面でお渡しいたします。 内容については添付PDFにてご確認願います。

③許可申請書・誓約書の2点が揃ったら、兼業・副業を開始してください。

兼業・副業開始後、「兼業・副業に関する許可申請書」の【確認・誓約事項】に則り、 兼業・副業先での実労働時間を1ヶ月に1回ご報告いただきます。 添付エクセル「兼業・副業の労働時間報告書（雛形）」に必要事項をご入力の上、 月初2営業日以内に【所属部署の上長＋業務管理部の尾﨑】へご提出願います。

Ive been working at this company for more than 10 years but have been doing side gigs for extra income. This was never an issue until now.

They say its okay to do a side job but are making it very clear that they want to know all details about it. What if i tell about my sidejobs but then in the future suddenly say its not allowed, im fucked.

What if i dont tell them anything? Because its my personal life?

I need the sidejob because without it i cant pay for my kids and my house, im very nervous about this whole debacle because finding a new job now is extremely hard.

Any advice?

Edit: Personally I feel the company is trying to find ways to lay off people easier through this. Especially high cost staff.

Hi! I’m looking for recommendations for Eiken 1級study books with little to no Japanese, if possible.
For reference, my current English level is:
TOEIC: 970 (passed in 2025)
Eiken Pre-1: passed in 2026 (R/L/W: GP1+9, Speaking: GP1+4)
I’d really appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!

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

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

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.

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!

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.

Today at the supermarket I noticed that Coke Plus has changed its packaging to use less white ink, which reminded me of the naphtha crisis that led Calbee and Kagome to change their packaging.

I couldn't find any news at all about the Coke Plus redesign to confirm whether or not it's due to naphtha shortages, but it got me curious to dig deeper for news about the current status and found nothing reported at all since July.

As a refresher, Calbee made an announcement in May that they were changing their packaging to be monochrome due to naphtha shortages brought by the Strait of Hormuz crisis. The government accused them of lying and called them in for a hearing. (I don't think I saw any news about the results of those hearings) Shortly afterwards, Kagome and Wellna also announced that they were changing their own packaging for similar reasons. There's since also been news that pharmacies are having trouble sourcing containers for ointments and air conditioning companies have also been having issues.

With no end in sight to the Hormuz crisis and no prominent news coverage on shortages since two months ago, what is actually happening?

I have a feeling that someone who posts on Japanlife either has some sort of insider info or knows someone with insider info. Hopefully this doesn't sneak up on us and leave us suddenly without lots of things we need.

My list is in the comments.

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.

I am planning to buy a car from my friend.

I have done the same around 5 years ago. But now, I see there is a One Stop Service system.

if it works like what I think, then I need not go to police station for parking certificate and i need not go to the unpankyoku for the registration as well. (both requiring taking time off from work)

I have my number card.

Has anyone able to successfully register the car online?

(I tried doing the application, but during eligibility check i cant get my head around the "登録識別情報")

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

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.

Hey yall, another dilemma from me haha.

So I finally moved into my apartment and remembered I’m supposed to do ward office stuff. Problem is, when I initially did my ward office paperwork in Kyoto I didn’t have a new address. I can’t remember if they even gave me that Tenshutsu paper because of this or not.

Would it be worth it to go to my new ward office with all my other stuff (Residence card, passport, etc) and just ask, or should I try contacting my old ward office to ask about my papers specifically?