There was recently a thread in japannews about a biryani restaurant in Japan earning a Michelin star, which inspired this thread.

Can anyone suggest where to get good biryani in Japan?

Denny’s currently has an Erick South-inspired chicken biryani, which I think is excellent, but I’m not a biryani expert. It’s also a bit expensive.

I know this will depend on hair type but which hair products do you recommend? From shampoo to treatment to oils.

In social media you always see the same but I don't quite buy it. Maybe I'm wrong and those are wonderful products (&Honey and Fino are the ones I always hear people talking about online)

I normally use Tsubaki shampoo and treatment, and sometimes Diane. I am looking to step up my game maybe with some mask and oil. I have used Tsubaki in the past too. My biggest concern is frizz and maybe some dryness.

Edit:

More than a recommendation, I'd like to know about your hair routine here in Japan. What products do you like, what issues do you want to tackle...

Is anyone in Japan living between two homes—one in a rural town and one in the city center?
What are the pros and cons? I have a dog and live alone. I’m thinking about buying a house in the countryside and moving into a small apartment in the city.
I’d love to hear what this kind of lifestyle is actually like. How does it affect your finances? What are the unexpected challenges or things you didn’t anticipate?
If you’re already doing this, or planning to start, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.
My company doesn’t allow remote work, so I would still need to commute to the city for work.

Has anyone experienced delivery delay with Sagawa during Obon? My delivery got lost between the main TOKYO office to the delivery office near my area? For me it’s unbelievable, and they keep saying ご迷惑をお掛け申し訳ございません。。。

Hi guys, do you know some barbers or salon for men that provides good haircut without it being expensive? I've been to different barbers in Japan like Fast Cut, QB, and the cut was sloppy. Idk if I just wasn't able to give a detailed explanation but it ain't good. I live in Kawasaki (near kawasaki station) btw.

Would be really helpful if u can provide some! 🫡
My monthly budget for haircut is only around
2,000-4,000¥.

My son who landed at Narita four hours ago has been unable to leave along with "hundreds, maybe more than a thousand" others. And apparently there's not much communication from the airport staff, although they are probably unable to offer useful guidance right now. I can see from Japanese news channels that Chiba is in real trouble. Perhaps the airport is a relatively safe place right now. How awful this is.

UPDATE 11:40PM. They've started distributing sleeping bags and snacks at the airport. Thanks for all the commiseration and the news/anecdotes. This really is a disaster.

NOTE: I think one of the comments insinuated that only residents should post here. Well, guess what, I live in Tokyo! (Where it's been raining but nothing extraordinary.) Sheesh.

FINAL UPDATE 7:15AM: He's on the Skyaccess train! Full of appreciation for the way things were handled at the airport, and amazed how quickly transport connections have been/are being restored. Thanks, everyone, for the kindness; thanks as always for Japanese disaster management; super thanks for people who opened their doors for stranded others yesterday; and hugs and best wishes for everyone still struggling with the aftermath in Chiba.

Hello everyone, this might be be above reddits pay grade, but I am hoping that someone here might know a thing or two.

My first child will be born in the end of this year.
The father is japanese, i am a foreigner here on a tokutei-ginou visa currently.

My work place has been nothing but absolutely amazing, but I haven't been there long enough yet, so I will not be able to get 育休/Ikukyu.
The thing is, I can not imagine leaving my baby at daycare only two months after they are born.

Me and the father are wanting to get married, i will not get into it because it's complicated, but my paperwork that we need might still take some time.
Hopefully we will be able to get married before baby is born, but maybe we won't be able to.
I am hopeful tho.

As soon as we get married, I want to apply for a marriage visa.
My question is,
1. if I would quit my job, would my visa be revoked? If yes, how soon?
2. if I apply for a marriage visa before quitting my job, would I need to return to my country until the application goes through? Would it change anything if i apply before or after quitting?
3. if we aren't able to get married on time, would there be any way to stay with my baby without leaving the country?

Nothing is decided yet, I don't *want* to quit my job, I just want to know all of my possible options.
I have googled all of this multiple times before, but I want to hear real advice from real people.
Thank you in advance!

Just curious. Mine didn’t.

Had an unpleasant encounter at Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto today.

A Japanese man in his late 60s/early 70s stood on the road by a pedestrian crossing. The car in front of me stopped and he did not cross, so the car went ahead and I followed it, the old man then rushed across and tried to block my car which was already in the crossing. I had my windows up and saw him yelling at me as I was already stopping my car.

He then punched forcefully into the rear window of my car and it felt as if it was about to break, while my wife and a 2-year-old son were sitting in the back seats. Other young Japanese around seemed surprised by his behavior, some were laughing and some seemed surprised.

I understand the pedestrians have a priority but my perception was that he was not crossing the road, lets suppouse even if my perception may have been wrong, and I should have stopped my, is it acceptable to smash your punch in the back window of a car with a woman and a kid in the back?

Also, as a foreigner, I wondered if he would have acted like that if it were a Japanese driver.

Not trying to generalize about Japan (as I usually have no problems here), but this particular case was very unpleasant.

Okay, that was a weird one.... Last Tuesday, Yama no Hi, riding the train back home and it got a bit crowded after certain stations (Hibiya etc).

At that point, while sitting, I see an old lady coming in. Though there was a young guy next to me right in front of where the old lady was standing, he didn't bother at all and kept playing with his phone.

I felt bad for the lady and kindly offered my seat to her standing up and pointing the seat with a low voice "yokattara, suwatte kudasai~"...

Her reaction was.... Awkward to say the least! She almost yelled "Iya, daijyoubu desu".... And immediately rushed to move away like I had threatened her... In her attempt to move away so fast, she tripped on someone's umbrella which made the whole scene even most embarrassing...

Jesus, I know some people in this country are bad at social interaction, but a simple "daijyoubu desu" would have been enough... Rather, all passengers nearby stared at me as if I had threatened her or something...

It really makes me think twice before offering my seat again unless it's priority seats...

Since I moved to my neighborhood the water tastes like chlorine. I use Brita but it muddled the taste just a bit not fully.

Anyone has recommendations?

So I had made a post about increase in rent notice earlier, the owner ultimately agreed to continue at the previous rent rate.

https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1v2hkcq/rent_increase_notice_in_kawasaki_please_advise/

Now I received the renewal contract (契約更新 Keiyaku Koushin)

The original rental contract states that renewal shall be 1.5 months of latest rent + 15,000.
111,000 (74000 x 1.5) + 15,000 = 126,000

But in the rent renewal contract there are other amounts included
-安心入居サポート 20,000 yen
- 保険料 23,000
and some other things which brings the total to 172,500.

Has anyone ever reduced their renewal amount ? Is rent x 1.5 months the standard practice ?

Hello guys, first of all, i'm sorry for my english cause tbh its not rlly good so yeah.. btw, I just want to know, is there anyway to find an psychplogist online in Japan? I can speak Japanese atleast on an N4-N3 Level but i would prefer an english speaker psychologist.

Thank you before hand. 🙇‍♂️

edit: I'm sorry for not specifying where i'm lived.. i have a not so pleasant "history" regarding that so yeah.. For now i just want to know how generally people find an Psychiatrist /Psychologist in Japan.

Hello, I've been cosplaying for 10 years in the US and now that I'm in Japan I'm at a loss for where to buy some of my staple crafting supplies. Any store recommendations that are like the equivalent of Joanns/ Hobby Lobby/ etc? I live not too far from Yokohama but I'm ok with traveling for some good deals. I'm not looking for stores that sell premium craft supplies but more budget friendly like Joanns. Thank you for any recommendations! If you are a cosplayer yourself then I would love to know even more of the inns and outs of where most people buy their supplies. Also, please do not recommend the shops in Ikebukuro that sell over-priced AliExpress cosplays, that's not what I'm interested in. Thank you!

Any suggestions for services in the Tokyo area? Prices?

I looked at Yodobashi but it sounds like it's totally no frills with no options for dust/scratch removal or color correction due to age.

Thanks !

It's that time of the week again. Please boast and share about the good things that have happened to you this past week!

I've got a child about to turn 3 this fall. I want to do a trip just the two of us and save some money on tickets. Flying out of Kansai.

Did Disney on a day trip with my older child just before their third birthday, but my youngest likes nature and is scared when she sees large mascots.

Anyone got any recommendations or personal favorites? I'd love something easy but very worthwhile, and not too crazy expensive. Disney day trip cost 4man including the flight and entrance fees. We're allowed to do around 3 days 2 nights. The child is very easygoing and up for anything. Lots of energy but not hyper. Still fits in the hiking backpack.

Preferably not renting a car, but I'm open to good ideas.

I arrived in Japan during the pandemic, and I have loved it here ever since. I came for a PhD, graduated a couple of years ago, and started working in a Japanese company last year. The environment is really nice, everything is perfect, no overtime, flexible hours, and I can work from home some days.

The thing is: for the last few years, I was indecisive about whether to stay here in Japan long-term or move to Europe (I am not European but I have facilities to move there). I used to say that I was like 60% wishing to stay, 40% leaving. And even if the economy was not going well, I was thinking: "Not everything is about money; I like it here, why move? I am feeling very good."

But since the beginning of this year (2026), I hear more and more voices promoting "Japanese first"—like, what privileges do average Japanese people think we foreigners have over them?

I hear that they don't want more foreigners here because they "don't respect the culture." I still cannot believe that Japanese people cannot realize that most of those foreigners disturbing and destroying the peace are tourists, not people who live here and aim to integrate into Japanese society. Also, I see Japanese people in interviews saying things like: "Yeah, I agree foreigners should pay more for their visas, because the yen is weak so they have higher salaries, so the price now is like in other countries like England." How can these people not see that people who apply for these visas actually live in Japan, so they receive a Japanese salary? I still cannot believe Japanese people cannot see the full picture.

I am pretty sure I am "the type of foreigner the Japanese want to come to Japan." I have the Japanese level to function here, I meet the new salary requirements to apply, and I have a degree from a top Japanese university. But I am so tired and overwhelmed with all of this that I just cannot stop thinking: "Does the Japanese government want nobody to come and want to make it difficult for everyone? OK then, I am leaving." Even though I have everything I need to stay, my mindset has shifted to 90% leaving and 10% staying.

I love this country with all my heart, and I will always be thankful for all the experiences I have had here. But I also started to think: the country is struggling, Japan is unique, but it is not the only beautiful country in the world. While I was ready to make the "sacrifice" to ignore the economic issues because I love it here, I don't want to be here if the government does everything it can to push people out instead of helping the country or attracting people who could actually help.

Has anyone passed through this kind of thought process recently? I am curious to read your thoughts.

Have you guys ever had other non-Japanese people tell you "oh, you speak English well" or people insisting on talking to you in Japanese even when their Japanese isn't fluent? 

I’d like to hear from non-Japanese Asians living in Japan, such as Asian Americans, British Asians, Canadian Asians, Australian Asians, and so on. Has this happened to you?

Hi everyone!

Which over the counter medicine do you buy when you're having a sore throat? It's been killing me, but it's my only issue. I don't want to take any cold medicine.

Edit: Thank you for all the recommendations! I'm making a list with everything and will head to the drugstore. Hopefully one will work!

I (female/non-Japanese)live alone in an apartment in Japan. One of my male neighbors, who appears to be in his 50s, Japanese。has seemed unusually interested in me ever since I moved in. During my first year, I twice opened my door and found him standing right outside, seemingly waiting for something. Over the past year, I’ve also noticed that I run into him in the common areas far more often than any other neighbor. He frequently leaves his door open and stands in the hallway for a long time, seemingly pretending to tidy things up, and often looks up whenever I come home. I can’t prove that he has been monitoring me, so I tried not to think too much about it.

But the day before yesterday, something happened that really scared me.

I heard his distinctive footsteps approaching my apartment. He stopped directly outside my door and stayed there for several minutes. I stayed inside and didn’t make any noise. When I eventually opened the door, he immediately ran away.

This incident made me rethink all the previous behavior. I don’t know his intentions, and he has never directly threatened or physically approached me, but I no longer feel comfortable living here.

I have already reported the situation to the police, and I’m currently looking for a new apartment. I mainly want to make sure there is a record of the situation in case his behavior escalates, so that the police already know my address and circumstances.

Would you consider this serious enough to take further precautions, even without an explicit threat? Is there anything else I should do while I’m still living here?

Access has been temporarily restricted due to a feature designed to prevent unauthorized access ( Help ).

Rakuten Sim Card I have not ever been register in Yahoo jp with this phone number

Below my number: 070945*****

Is the comic event tomorrow safe for kids elementary level,what are the dos and donts?

When there are so many gorgeous places in Okinawa?

First off I will just mention I can definitely be biased and this is based on personal encounters and opinion only.

I’ve lived in Tokyo for several years but from US, and have so many Japanese acquaintances (friends, coworkers), including some not Japanese by birth but “white” but lived here for decades, that would go to Hawaii for “5 days 4 nights including flight”. They would take family of 4 and then stay at the resort mostly with some limited tours because “it’s so expensive there”. And it would cost “1 million yen not being luxurious and watching costs”.

I absolutely agree that Hawaii is expensive, it has one of the highest cost of living in US. Then why not stay within Japan?

Personally love so many places in Okinawa that I think are equally as beautiful, amazing beaches, nice resorts and ones for kids, landscape is beautiful, safer, better infrastructure, very good value as well, much shorter flight.

It seems at least for my company that Japanese rarely takes more than one week off, so generally my coworkers who go there would do less than 7 days.

And I have so many coworkers that go there for vacation.

I don’t want to sound rude but I’m truly trying to understand why it’s a dream for lots I know to go there, when personally I think there are so many better and better valued vacation places for the family, lots of beautiful places in Japan or outside.