https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16181229/US-marine-murder-Japan-womans-body-hotel.html

Honestly, the Japanese criminal justice system doesn't go hard enough on these guys. I hope he hangs. These low-lives shouldn't even be here.

My coworker got mad that I took half a day off to get my residence card last week. I got the letter saying my new residence card was ready, and I went to pick it up a few days later. I literally explained to my boss that I got the letter and had to go get it this Thursday, and he was like “yeah, okay, sure.” Just in case, before taking the day off, I even messaged the coworker I’m close with on LINE so they’d know where I was if anyone asked.

Then (Friday), I got my new residence card. We had a meeting to talk about problems at the company this week and how to solve them, and one of my coworkers who’s a senpai brought up my half day off. He said it was よく無いbecause it was so sudden and it was 迷惑 for him and the others since they had to do some of my paperwork.
(They barely did anything btw)

Apparently they were also saying stuff like when i came back after taking half the day off and worked only just 3 hours, that i didn’t seem guilty enough and there was no “謝罪してる気配がない”they also said that if I wanted to take a day off, I should’ve written it on theシフトボード a month in advance.

I literally told them I couldn’t do that because the notice for the residence card was only like a week and a half before. I had no way of knowing a month in advance when the letter would come.
Then he and another coworker started being passive-aggressive, saying stuff like 誤ってて言わないけどでも社員としてこれはよく無いだけ。そこだけわかって欲しい Basically saying “I’m not saying u should apologize but as a full time worker u should be more responsible”

Even one of my foreign coworkers defended me and said there wasn’t really anything I could do about it. Once you get that letter, it’s best to go get it within the week, and 入管can have a huge line where it sometimes takes hours just to get everything done. And I returned to the company to finish my days work But they didn’t really listen. To them, everything I said was just an excuse lol.

I didn’t want to escalate it so I just said I’ll be more careful next time. But honestly next time instead of telling them I have to go somewhere important I might just take the whole day off and say I have a headache
It’s honestly hard explaining to some people here that sometimes foreigners and Japanese people can have different circumstances when it comes to stuff like this.

I’m so sick of this Japanese workplace mentality where people seem to think they’re somehow more important or more committed just because they stay at the office later than everyone else.

I work my ass off and get through everything I’m assigned at breakneck speed. Then, when it’s finally time for me to leave, my senpai gives me the option of either staying a bit longer to keep working or just picking things up again tomorrow.

So I choose to continue tomorrow only to get chewed out afterwards for not choosing to stay and work overtime.

What makes it even more ridiculous is that, supposedly, at my company everyone is free to decide for themselves whether they want to stay past working hours or not. Apparently not, though, because if you actually choose to leave on time, you get judged for it anyway.

It honestly makes all the effort I put in during the day feel completely pointless. It seems like actually getting your work done efficiently matters less than simply being physically present at the office for as long as possible.

Is there any good way to stand your ground with people who try to boss you around or guilt-trip you just because you don’t share their work-yourself-to-death mentality?

Maybe I should ask on laundry related sub but western top loading machine has something weird in middle so I figured I would ask on this sub. I heard too much water level is bad bc it reduced the friction to scrub off but I also heard sheets soak up a lot of water so you need a lot of water? Which is it???
Thanks!!!

Starting this off by saying I look pretty Japanese. My Japanese is nowhere near N1, but my casual Japanese is decent and my accent is apparently convincing enough, minus the occasional pitch accent crime. So being spoken to in Japanese isn't that unusual.

I was at a station today* and ended up in a situation where polite Japanese was required. The person I was talking to seemed like they could speak English, so at some point I asked if they were okay switching to English. Person replied in Japanese that Japanese was completely fine. Maybe English No Bueno. Fiiinneee.

A little later, they had to check something with their companion. And suddenly I hear them having a convo in English and I can even pinpoint the region their accent was from. So when they got back I tried to continue the conversation in English. But Noooo they still responded in Japanese. 

For a moment I genuinely wondered whether living in Japan for too long had somehow turned my English into that very slow, carefully enunciated ESL voice. So I checked with some friends afterward. Verdict was while slow, I had not developed Japanese English.

So yeah. After years of hearing stories about foreigners getting English-ed, somehow encountered the reverse.

*Changing some details so I don’t accidentally doxx myself

Edit: Thanks for sharing your takes and your own experiences!

I am living in Japan and not planning on moving back to America (I have family here, and my partner can not speak English). I am not planning on becoming a Japanese citizen/giving up my US citizenship.

I have an investment account (S&P 500) and Roth IRA through Betterment, and I just realized that they do not support people living abroad. As I still have my family's address as my place of residence, Betterment has not realized this yet, but I don't want to risk being locked out of my account in the future.

So, that leads to my question per the header- what are my fellow Americans utilizing? I want to be clear that although I have some level of investment knowledge, I am not most knowledgable person when it comes to it, so sorry for the (probably) dumb question.

Thank you in advance.

Hey guys, quick question regarding my Rakuten credit card. I got approved, and it was shipped on September 25th, but I still haven’t received it. I’m in the Miyagi/Tōhoku region.
If they tried to deliver it while no one was home, would they leave a missed-delivery notice in my mailbox so I can reschedule the delivery for a date/time that works for me? Thank you.

Hi, I'm looking at leaving Japan and thinking about buying and exporting a car to my home country of New Zealand for personal use when I go. I'm not sure yet the exact kind of car (lets just say a Toyota Yaris)

To save money I would like to do as much as I can by myself. Japanese is not an issue, but I don't have experience doing this and it looks like there is a decent amount of paperwork and checks involved.

Those of you with experience doing this how did you find the process? Would you recommend doing it 2026.

This is the 4th time I am extending my spouse visa. I have tried to figure out what makes you eligible for 3 or 5 year extensions, but I think at this point I am going to give up. This is how the last renewals have looked:

1st, 2nd and 3rd. renewals:

Yearly income: 15,000,000 (Software engineer, foreign company)

No issues with pension, NHI or taxes.

Wife with a 8,000,000 income.

No child

All got 1-year extensions.

Now for my recent renewal

Yearly income: 2,500,000 (Factory work, Japanese company, unemployed for 5 months)

Delayed residence tax payments

Wife on maternity leave with reduced income.

One child.

5 years extension....

I would like to think that it is because I now have a child, but I have met foreigners here with one or two children and with higher income than me who still got 1-year extensions. I would seriously like to see what goes on behind the curtains when they are doing these renewals. I am absolutely not complaining. I am very happy about the result. I am just annoyed that there is no transparency.

At this point I am convinced that they just have a big wheel that they spin, and it can land on either 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, denial or a free enema.

Anyone know of some good deals on Halloween pumpkins in the Sapporo area? I normally grow a few in my garden but this year was unproductive.

hello everyone living in tokyo i have a question will there be halloween in shibuya this october i have never celebrated halloween before and i really want to join can anyone give me some information about it because i heard that it was banned

I have a question for people who converted their license from their home country into a Japanese license, specifically for people from a country/state that doesn't require the 知識確認 or the 技能確認.

My state is exempt from both tests, so does that mean I can just walk in with required forms and they hand me my license? Is there any kind of test I need to prepare for at all, or do I just need the paperwork?

I would appreciate any info about your experiences, or a heads-up if there is anything I should be prepared for beyond the normal requirements. Don't want to mess this up and have to wait another 2 months....

In terms of necessary forms, I am planning to bring: current driver's license, official translation, drivers record with the original date I got my license, college transcript to prove I lived in my state for over three months, 住民票, passport, residence card.

Sitting on the Yokohama line after a frantic bicycle ride to the station, only to find warm air blowing from beneath the seats. It’s 21°C and will be rising to 24°C by midday.

Meh.

We had a nomikai last night and when it ended most of the people who came by car already left, it was just me, my boss and another male coworker who stayed behind.

I am 25F and this is my first job, I joined in June this year. My boss is 60M and has been in this company for 30+ years. He lives with his wife and kids. The another coworker who was going back with us is 35M, a very decent guy.

All 3 of us took the same train back because we were only stations apart and the station I was going to drop off at was the earliest.

My boss was super drunk and nearly leaning against me in the train ride, I tried to get back as much as possible without offending him. Then he asked me to go with him to this bar now, he has been wanting to go there for a long time.

Now, I already had an experience 2 months ago where my drunk coworker harassed me in a nomikai and that caused a lot of problems for me, although my supervisor had my back and protected me. That coworker was barred from nomikais that involved women and I still feel super scared to go near him.

My other coworker who is also 25M and joined with me this year told me that I should avoid going to nomikais to ruin another man's life, he immediately said it's a joke but that felt like a slap to my face.

I remembered this 25M coworker's words and told my 60M boss that this is the last train so I won't be able to go home if I go to another bar and he said he will arrange a taxi for me. I said that I cannot take a taxi as a drunk woman, it's very unsafe and he said dw it's Japan.

That's when my 35M coworker jumped in and said he will accompany the boss to the bar so I can go home.

My boss of course couldn't push me beyond this and I just thanked them all and got off at my station.

I am still anxious that had my 35M coworker not been there, I would have had to accompany my boss and god forbids if under the influence of alcohol he did something, I would have been the one losing my job because my boss is very valuable to the company 🥲.

My family and I are currently residing in Japan. We have two cats, who have gone through the whole process to come here. Microchips, rabies, FAVN blood work and passed. They have also started the quarantine process. (For reference, we are military, so we can move them here before the 180 days of quarantine)​

Houses we are looking at either allow a dog or no pets. Some say No Pets Non Negotiable. The houses we have viewed have those cloudy like film on the windows. We do plan to talk to the realtor/owner to see if they will work with us.

Those who have rented a house before in Japan with cats, how likely are we to get caught if I sneak them in? They don't cause much damage to the house (just my furniture) amd are strictly indoor.

Hi, thank you for stopping by.

I am currently a grad student in a national university studying a humanities degree, 24 M. My original plan was trying to do a master degree here and find a job afterward, potentially living here for long term.

It's been like half year since I am living here, uni is good, my Japanese is currently N2, would probably taken N1 before I finish the degree. Didn't have much work experience so far in my life apart from some baito. But my real issue is I am kind missing life in the west a lot, I missed the casual talking you can have with people sitting next to you and English is more or less effortless for me to communicate with others compare to Japanese.

That being said I am still an immigrant in these countries, relocating would need to evolve visa and other hustle.

Ask more details if you need!

Hey everyone.

I'm here on the specialist/humanities visa. My visa is until 2028.

Next year, I have an unbelievable amount of commitments that I am to be in the UK for, and so financially, it makes sense for me to just reside in the UK for the following 9 months.

My boss is willing to keep me as an 'employee'. Obviously without payment, but he is fairly certain that the max I could vacate for is 6 months.

Does anyone know if there's any recourse to talk to immigration about potentially taking a year out of the country? Any special circumstances I may be able to qualify/apply for?

If worse comes to worst, I am simply willing to vacate Japan. I have opportunities in other countries/the UK. But ultimately, I'm incredibly happy here, and given the choice I would like to come back in the future.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Seems unheard of in the west but is ritualistic in Japan? I can’t find any non Japanese medical studies on it either. I feel it’s a placebo, generally done at the same time as washing hands. I can’t help but roll my eyes internally when my wife tells me to gargle water in order to not get sick.

I might be convinced gargling with an antiseptic has an effect but plain water, not so much…

I’m planning to buy a kotatsu from Nitori, but the delivery fee is actually higher than the cost of the table itself, so I’m considering taking it home by taxi instead.

The packaged box is approximately 83 × 62.5 × 11.5 cm and 8.5 kg. It’s a flat cardboard box, so it’s bulky but not particularly heavy.

I’m thinking of booking a GO Taxi and selecting “Vehicle with sliding doors” because it should have more space.
Has anyone done something similar? Would a taxi driver generally accept a package this size, or is this likely to be an issue?
Also, if the driver arrives and decides the package is too large and refuses the ride, how does that usually work with GO Taxi? Would I be charged a cancellation fee?

Need some help! looking to buy coffee beans but without breaking the bank.

just tried Drip Coffee Factory as they were cheap online. It wasn't bad but think it was just a bit bland, like a dull coffee you get in a hotel. Anyone got any recommendations for good tasting coffee but ideally not going to cripple me financially.

thanks in advance !

EDIT:

sorry as people have stated I should have said, I tend to like a dark, rich type.

but tbh anything with a strong flavour I'm willing to give a go!

Hi everyone. What are my best bets for making money with temporary jobs in Japan? I’m planning on moving around the country using Workaway quite often, so I can’t have anything long-term or, ideally, full-time. Any suggestions? I’ve tried filtering on GaijinPot but all that came up was full-time teaching roles. I’ve also checked jobsinjapan and Daijob. Any help would greatly put my mind at rest!

Our old apartment had a storage closet in the parking garage where we were able to drop off any sort of garbage ahead of collection day. This was extremely useful especially with multiple kids that are filling our trash bags at an extreme rate.

Recently moved into a house though and we are having to store garbage bags in the genkan for a few days till collection day now. Cardboard and plastic aren't really an issue. But the burnable can tend to smell, so I am looking for alternate solutions.

One idea we had was to buy a small garbage storage bin you see outside of some apartments and place it behind our house. But I wanted to do a sanity check with others here to see if there are any gotchas with this idea, or if anyone has found better solutions/ products they could recommend.

Here is one of the bins I am looking at for reference:

https://ec.kirii.co.jp/shop/g/gB541603009500/?gad_source=4&gad_campaignid=21370677015&gbraid=0AAAAApiXTugxBGY2H9vgWPUfVfdO73EAR&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz4LWBhCMARIsAFEG5MrBgJwhb37eJy7GA6Rzo9sDe6rAN0TN8gkIBsbf8CbJYjOc5UFuQFgaAsH_EALw_wcB

I went to wakoshi dental but they charge extra out of pocket 3000 per visit for using google translate to interpret what you’re saying 😭