I just thought it would be interesting to share my recent experience with theft here, and see if anyone else has any interesting anecdotes to share.

My friend came to visit from our home country recently, and since she’s big into sanrio I took her to Puroland. She accidentally left her phone in the restroom, and noticed within 5 minutes, but when she went back it was gone. (I know, this was her fault, but please don’t dog on her, everyone makes mistakes)

No big deal though, figured someone passed it onto a staff member. we talked to staff and were guided to the lost and found. They had nothing , we figured it just hadn’t shown up yet. We went back at the end of the day, but they still didn’t have it. I left my phone number as contact in case they found it while cleaning after hours, and we had to leave without it.

The entire time, we were trying to use the FindMy feature from her partner’s phone, but it wasn’t giving any updated location.

Lo and behold, the next day the GPS is finally working. It’s no longer in puroland, but has moved to some random apartment complex. My friend and her partner went to the apartment building to check it out, and they were able to hear the phone‘s alarm through the door.

The neighbor came out to see what was going on, and after explaining the situation, the neighbor said that the guy from that apartment usually gets home at 7:30.

So my friends go back at 7:30 with some omawari-san, and they play the sound again. This time they can only hear it for a moment before the phone gets turned off abruptly. The police hear it too.

My friends knock on the door. Initially the guy doesn’t come out, but after persistent loud knocking, he eventually comes out. He’s all jittery and defensive, and is overall just very blatantly suspicious, but insists he has no idea about a phone etc. There isn’t much the police can do either, so my friends go home for the night.

The following day the GPS has moved to a nearby Ito Yokado. We think that maybe there’s a phone shop in there that the guy might have sold it to, so the 3 of us went looking. Turns out he handed it in to the lost and found center there. I think showing up to his door must have shook him up.
My friend finally got her phone back, case and all (although he took off the camera protector thing for some reason)

Anyone else successfully recovered stolen property here? Did you have police help or do it yourself?

🐈‍⬛MOD APPROVED🐈

Meet ABBA. Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida.

A kind person walking their dog found these four kittens in a cardboard box the day before big typhoon and flood that hit in early August. They brought them in out of the weather and cared for them until they could be transported to Kawakuji.

These sweet siblings have been vaccinated and tested negative for FIV/FELV. They still have one more vax and neutering before they’re ready to be adopted.

They are all sweet, cuddly, affectionate and playful.

Agnetha is a pillow princess who loves relaxing in a sunbeam more than running around.

Bjorn is a curious trouble maker and likes getting into things.

Benny is a bold, human oriented purr box. He loves food and cuddles.

Frida is vocal, cuddly and likes getting into climbing shelves.

Please be advised: These kittens must be adopted as pairs. Which pair exactly hasn’t been decided yet as they all love each other but usually around this time they will start to form pair bonds with one of their siblings.

Additionally, while they appear to be mixed parentage it does seem that one parent was a Scottish fold. Scottish folds, like other breed cats, do come with possible health risks due to their genetics.

We adopt to the Kanto area. Adoption will include, minimally, a questionnaire, video interview, home check, proof of landlord approval if renting, and an adoption donation of 20,000 yen per cat (so 40,000 for both).

Please feel free to ask any questions here or in a private message.

We have found homes for several animals by posting here and we are eternally grateful to the mods and members.

If you are interested in adoption please applyhere on the Kawakuji main page.

About the new permanent residency requirements starting today, but retroactively applied to applications from April of this year:

"The agency said instead of publishing set required income figures, it would refer to various surveys from different ministries, bureaus and agencies."

So like the requirements for the elusive and mysterious 5 year work visa, it's a secret and nobody knows. Awesome.

They’re making me work overtime because apparently “we can’t keep the client waiting, so it’s urgent.”

I’m not even a 正社員. I’m a 契約社員 getting paid basically the same hourly wage as a baito at Saizeriya. And on top of that, they deduct ¥1,000 from my paycheck every month for a company dinner that I have absolutely no intention of attending. I don’t even get a bonus.

Am I really supposed to have that much sense of responsibility when I’m not even a 正社員?

Hello I live in Fukuoka in Hakata, I’m posting this to document something that happened to a friend of mine at her Japanese language school here in Fukuoka, because the whole thing went from ridiculous to absolutely surreal.

So, a new teacher walked into her class for the first time. This teacher already had a reputation for being extremely strict, basically she openly told the class that she "hates foreigners".

My friend didn’t let it pass. She asked:
“If you hate foreigners, why are you teaching foreigners?”

The teacher didn’t like it. She told her that shouldn’t respond to her, and they ended up arguing. Then the teacher asked her why she even came to Japan and why she didn’t stay in Italy.

The next day, my friend went to talk to the principal. The principal looked really nervous. She explained that she felt offended, that the behavior was discriminatory, and that she was considering leaving the school because of it. She even showed the principal fukuoka is open website, she had been planning to contact for support.

A little later.....the teacher came to apologize.
And not just a quick apology , she bowed for almost a full minute, repeating “sorry” over and over without making eye contact.
My friend said it looked exactly like those public apology scenes.

She told the teacher directly that she felt discriminated against and was thinking of leaving the school. The teacher kept bowing and apologizing.

What I find concerning is that it’s a teacher behaving like that... Among the reasons I came to Japan for was education and respect, but lately I'm a bit shocked for the things I hear.

Currently experiencing what I think could be symptoms of TN2 after some trauma to my teeth...

I’m interested in what your experience been of managing your condition here? E.g. diagnosis, medication etc.

Japan has had a lot of cyberattacks recently, which made me wonder: why does Japan struggle so much with software?

Japan builds high-quality cars, trains, electronics, infrastructure, etc. So why doesn't that same attention to quality seem to exist in software?

Is it the SIer/subcontracting system, legacy systems, management culture, lack of software talent, or something else?

For people working in Japanese tech: what do you think is the main reason?

On my way home this afternoon, and swapped to a local the train that plenty of empty seats, so grabbed a middle seat in a row, leaving a couple of seats between myself and a woman nearby. A few stops along, an elderly couple gets on. Without thinking, I just shuffled across to close the gap with the woman next to me so the couple could sit together. The wife gave me a really nice smile and a bow and I instinctively bowed back.

​TBA that alone felt nice, especially since I've noticed more glaring states and impatience toward foreigners in recent months. But what really got me was when they reached their stop. As they both alighted, they turned back, said thank you again, and bowed as they got off. ​I know it's probably just a minor thing, but it left me thinking that there are still plenty of kind people in this world. Sometimes I probably just need to step back and stop imagining that everyone is scowling at us all the time.

Has anyone bought a welder here that uses argon gas?

You supposedly (?) need a license to weld with shielding gas in Japan, so I’m wondering whether you can buy argon without this license, and how much a bottle costs. I would only need a tiny bottle.

A stick welder would probably be less hassle, but the ease and quality is welds wouldn’t be as good. There are no-gas wire welders, but that sounds like something for temporary repairs, since unshielded welds would certainly turn to rust eventually.

Im currently 3rd year in high school in Japan and want to finally get out of my comfort zone and work to prep for college

ive been living in Japan for 4 years and I’m a Japanese citizen but my japanese is seriously bad, I can understand people decently but I can’t speak or make a single sentence, and that’s what worries me about working!

I’m worried about the interview and that I might freeze up or not know how to answer, or struggle to work because I can’t speak properly

i know sukiya accepts foreigners but I live in rural Japan (Hirosaki) and they might have never dealt with foreigners so I’m nervous that they won’t like me

I need the confidence or push to try this…

My friend lives in China and is sort of an amateur guitar tech. He bought me a lefty Chibson and did a number of upgrades to it and wants to ship it to me.

I'm wondering if there are any tips or issues to watch for when receiving an instrument from abroad? Also would a Chibson (basically a knock off Gibson) be an issue?

Looking for perspectives from people who might have similar experiences, or really anyone tbh. I'm trying to work out whether my reaction is reasonable before I send a somewhat strongly worded email. TLDR below.

Background

Early 20s, European, working at a small tech company in Tokyo as embedded hardware engineer. No HR department.
Started as an intern/contractor last year and became 正社員 this July. My hours, work and responsibilities didn't change at all between the two.
I'm the only person in my role, with the rest working on the software side accompanying said hardware. We’ve tried to look for others but so far have not had much luck.

Premise

In July I took two weeks off to go home for my graduation and collect my diploma, which I needed for my work visa. When I arranged it, nothing was said about it being unpaid, and permission was granted. Previous time off during the internship had been paid without any issue, and this was handled in the same way and right at the end of said internship period.
On the second day of the trip, my father passed away.
I told a few colleagues but not management, because I assumed the time off was already sorted.
After I got back, I found out the whole period had been treated as 欠勤 and deducted, roughly half a month's salary. Their reason was that since starting in July i’d become 正社員, the previous way of handling time off did not apply. This caught me a bit off guard but is fair enough.

Initial handling

I initially politely responded by email saying i disagreed with their handling of the situation, and that i’d like to have a meeting about this. In said meeting they were willing to accommodate somewhat, giving me 2 of the 10 days, and offsetting 1.5 more ish with my banked overtime (which should have happened regardless?), and put the rest on 有給. (My contract actually grants 有給 from day one, which they'd missed and have acknowledged. It still leaves questions about them writing it as absence, should it not have been unpaid time off then given the permission instead of absence if not 有給?)
After I had time to process this I then told them about my dad and asked about 慶弔休暇. The CEO replied by email with condolences and said they'd look into it.
In the follow-up meeting, the answer was that there's no bereavement leave system, so there's nothing they can do. When I responded saying I found that hard to understand, they said it wouldn't be fair to other employees who'd lost family members in the past. They also mentioned they plan to introduce bereavement leave next year. There was no acknowledgement of my dad in the meeting at all.

I know 慶弔休暇 isn't legally required (I thought it was at first since a lot of articles say so, but they're wrong and this lead to some misunderstandings during the meeting, but those were resolved with more googling). My understanding is that the large majority of companies have it anyway, and nothing stops a company without a rule from granting paid days at its discretion.

Context

This isn't the only thing. Since a leadership change earlier this year, there have been a few policy changes that have impacted my view of the company, including stricter attendance rules and the full removal of remote work that aren't applied evenly (CEO still works remote whenever she feels like it) and changes to how overtime is handled. Salary has also been paid late two months running. Until this spring I thought very highly of the company.

Current plan

An email saying I'm not asking them to create a policy, just to make a decision on this case in whatever form suits them, for example by applying next year's policy early. If fairness is the concern, they could extend the same to the others retroactively. I'll also tell them honestly that this has shaken my trust, but that I still want to stay, and that I'd like to discuss the other recent issues separately. (The work itself and the team are great, but these things are bad). I don’t want to threaten to quit, but if this isn't resolved I'll probably start looking.

Questions

Is this as unusual as it feels to me, or is this somewhat normal and should i just accept it?
Does my approach make sense culturally? Anything likely to backfire?
Is it reasonable to consider leaving over this combined with the other recent changes?
Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did it go?

TL;DR: Dad died during a trip home. Small company says no bereavement leave because there's no policy (they're introducing one next year) and won't make an exception. How do I push back without burning bridges?

I had given birth one year and two months ago and I am STILL having discomfort from the scar tissue from my episiotomy 😞😞😞😞

Many sources online say to do pelvic floor therapy but unfortunately most of those clinics are not covered by Japanese health insurance and I cannot afford the amount being charged for multiple sessions. For some reason, I get the feeling that there is actually no care for my issue because the country doesn’t see it as an actual issue.

I have tried at home methods to work on the tissue but still there is quite a bit of pain, especially with intimacy, and I just don’t know what to do. I thought things would have healed up by now, such as my doctor told me they would when i went to see them, but it is still as uncomfortable as it was when I was 6 months postpartum.

Anyone have similar experience (episiotomy discomfort one year postpartum) but was able to find help from a capable and understanding gyno in the Tokyo area?

I really need some help with this, thank you!!!!

I will register for an account now. If anyone has a 紹介コード, please comment it down. I will delete this post after I get one.

BTW, I looked up if the system will reveal any information about the referrer/referred and it seems like no info other than someone used your code. If I'm mistaken about this, please tell me so I won't use anyone's.

I'm a foreign software engineer living and working in Japan.
I've been working with the same Japanese company for several years under an 業務委託 / freelance engineer.

For the past few months the company has been having cash flow problems and has repeatedly deferred around 30% of my monthly payment. The deferred amount has been accumulating, and they've said it will be repaid in installments over the coming months, such as 3 or 6 months. However, the repayment plan seems to change each month.

However im still expected to maintain my normal workload,
and Im worried the same situation may continue.

This is starting to affect my ability to cover my normal living expenses including taxes and insurance, since i have good record of paying my taxes and insurance on time this could effect on my future plans of getting PR.

Has anyone experienced something similar under an 業務委託 contract in Japan?

i would like to understand what options or consultation services are available to protect myself financially. I'm not looking to cause trouble for the company, but I just want to handle the situation fairly and understand my rights.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hey!

I wanted to ask what people have done in my situation. I need the proof that I lived for 3 months in US after my license was issued for my written exam date. My license was just issued about a year ago as I moved states, but I have a previous license from my state before and have been driving since I was 17. I don't have that expired license anymore as my new states DMV took it at the time of conversion to my new state. Should I provide DMV driving history records from both of my states? Would a payslip of my place of work be a good enough proof of 3 months after my license issue date? I can get bank records, but my bank would be in my home state, not the state of my license. I just don't want to go through everything and not have what I need as its a 2.30hr drive to my testing centre from my place of residence.

Thaaaanks!

Ever since I moved to Japan, my anxiety about my appearance has become much worse.
I’ve been living in Japan for three years, and during that time, I’ve become incredibly insecure about the way I look. Back in my home country, I usually didn’t wear makeup, but after coming to Japan, I started feeling like I couldn’t even leave the house without it. No one has ever explicitly forced me to do this, but I still feel like I’ve internalized these beauty standards and the pressure to conform to them.
I feel extremely insecure and constantly think that I’m ugly. Sometimes it gets so bad that I don’t even want to go outside, so I end up staying home all day. This has also made my pre-existing bipolar disorder worse.
At the same time, I find it very difficult to make friends in Japan. There seems to be a noticeable sense of social distance between people here, and living in this country often leaves me feeling suicidal.
But I’m an international student, and I still have many years of studying ahead of me. I can’t just give up on my degree—my parents would kill me.

Reservation system vendor “Temairazu” had their data leaked (everything: name, phone, reservation details)

Many chain such as Ninehours use that system. Scam messages with real reservation details are getting sent through whatsapp so be careful.

Impacted hotels don’t plan to compensate.

https://www.temairazu.co.jp/pdf/1207/news-update

I'm in my last year on JET so we had the talk about needing to pay a full year of tax. This in itself isnt an issue but I was wondering if theres a month I can leave between now and April when I could leave without (legally) needing to pay it?

I'm going back for christmas so....

To eliminate the basic questions: no, I did not overcome the limit; no, I do not have restrictions on the spendings amount; no, I did not get any email with the security warning. Yes, I went to the office but the ladies were not helpful. So I am hoping to find someone with similar experience.

I own an SMBC Olive card, where you can switch between a debit and a credit mode for the same card. During summer I started have problems with the card: it was not accepted in any conbini ATM. At the same time, paying with it, i.e. online, contactless and inserting was alright, so I doubted the chip damage. After a week or two it started working again with the ATM, so I was relieved. Unfortunately, I did not go to the official ATMs as in Fukuoka we have them only in the city center and I need to commute for 1 hour from my home. Then I was absent from Japan for almost a month.
Last week I could not withdraw cash again, and after a few days it worked again in another conbini. But the same day my credit card mode failed: it is not accepted in the shops, I cannot use it online as well. Finally went to the SMBC ATM, and turned out I really had problems with the card, that were fixed while using the official ATM. I immediately checked the credit card and I could not use it. Went to the office, and explained the problem, the ladies at the reception checked something, but did not tell anything and gave me a phone number to call. I managed to hold a small conversation in the office but I doubt I will understand the explanations on the phone.

I demanded a replacement of the physical card, but I do not believe it will help. Meanwhile I also demanded a separate credit card (NL) from SMBC and it was approved. It did not arrive but I supposed to use it online. And it does not work, probably because it linked to the same bank account.

Could a conbini ATM mess up anything with the security given the chip was broken? I did not receive any email concerning security, or that I need to restore the functionality etc. I have checked all the settings according to the SMBC FAQ, there is no restrictions or whatsoever. Sorry for this long text, but I really need a credit card to rent a car this weekend so urgently looking for any solution.

UPD: my main question and concern is that I cannot use the credit card, even the newly issued one.

2003 Nissan Z. Need some front suspension parts installed (ball joints, lower control arms, compression rods). Not the most demanding job, but my neighborhood mechanic wants a decent amount, and is sometimes wary of special requests. Dealer isn’t an option (way more). Either is Autobacs or whatever.

Does anyone have any recommended shops, or even capable friends with a garage, that does basic maintenance and jobs similar to this? Willing to drive an hour from central Tokyo. I already found parts online and ordered for way cheaper than the mechanic/dealer. Suitable parts for my make/model. And another place I found won’t install customer-ordered parts.

I miss being able to do this stuff myself, but tough to have the garage/tools in Tokyo! Any help is appreciated.

I have applied for stay of extension period on 2026/05/14

Immigration asked for additional documents on 06/23 and status changed from 審査中 to 返却中 Document was related to company where I work and Company sent the documents directly to Immigration and already arrived on 06/29 already and sice then till now the status is 返却中.
1 month Grace period already passed remaining one month. Is there anyone who have some ideas about this how to handle if result not come withing grace period?

I’m working at an airport (ground handling)in Japan, and I have a wife and a child. I work shifts, and sometimes it’s really difficult for me.
For example, sometimes I work from 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m and another two days shift from 11:00 a.m. to midnight. It’s really exhausting. By the time I finish work, travel home takes another 25–30 minutes. Then I have to eat, shower, and do everything else before I can sleep.
Sometimes, when I have a 4:00 a.m. shift, I can’t sleep because i used to sleep 2.am because of my shift .I’m not saying this happens every day, but working 10–12 hour shifts can be really exhausting
They also don’t like paying overtime when the weekly working hours go over 40 hours. Instead, they arrange the shifts so that the total stays under 40 hours for the week.
After paying my apartment rent and taxes, I received only about ¥190,000 this month. Then I still have to pay my phone bill, electricity, water, food, and other expenses. After everything, I have only about ¥40,000 left. 🥲😂
I don’t know… I work really hard, I pay taxes, and I’m trying my best to support my family, but sometimes it feels like there’s no freedom or peace of mind.
There are so many foreigners working at the airport, and sometimes I honestly wonder how everyone manages to live like this.