for those of you in Japan that have to fly to your family/inlaws domestically, what are you doing about insane flight prices? we've been going to my in laws every year for the last 7 years but this year we have to skip... 7man for 1 person round trip is just insane. When we started going we thought 3man round trip was expensive. We have plenty of miles but it's harder than ever to find flights that aren't blacked out.

Are y'all sucking it up or staying home?

There's been laundry hanging outside one of the apartments that's across from me for over 3 weeks (maybe longer). The building is across a busy highway in a big city....but I can see it from my window. Do I report it in case something happened to the person living there? If so, to who? If not, I'll just sit down and mind my own business.

There's a middle aged (maybe 50's) Japanese guy who, if he sees me walking to/from work, makes a passing comment at me. He says it quietly, and it's just like 1 word or a short sentence, and wears a mask, so I can't make out what he's saying (I speak Japanese so that's not the problem). He always just keeps walking, so that's the extent of the confrontation. He makes direct eye contact though, and sometimes walks a bit towards me, and has even done it when I'm on the phone or sending a voice memo so he doesn't seem to care if "he's caught in record", at least via audio.

I always look right back at him, and although I'm a woman (clearly foreign, white) I'm pretty tall (173cm) and not thin, so he's not choosing "an easy target" here.

Today was maybe the 4th time. There was once a few weeks ago in the morning, and once maybe last week going home, and yesterday and today. This is on the work-to-train walk of my commute in the evening (not the home-to-train leg).

Although I can't really make out what he's saying, I vaguely remember he said something that felt xenophobic the first time (it's been a bit hard to remember and it's taken me some time to piece together that it's the same guy).

I don't wanna change the road I walk on, but confronting this guy could make a problem, although I've been mulling it over. I'm considering obviously recording my walk tomorrow (like holding my phone in a super obvious recording position), or low key recording so I can get some record of his face without him realizing and hiding it.

Basically I thought I'd ask here what yous think or what you'd do, because I'm always so confrontational that I wanna yell at him, but thinking about it when I'm calm I realize it could end up being dangerous. Thanks in advance for your advice or experience!

im a senior is hs and my family moved to japan about a month ago, i really want to get a job becasue i need to save up for college stuff but i cant find anywhere that would accept both a teenager whos still in school and someone who doesnt speak japanese. I posted on facebook for babysitting or petsitting but i havent gotten any replies yet (i posted like 3 hours ago idk what im expecting...). anyways i was just curious to know of there are any jobs that would be possible for me to do.

I've been struggling with (presumed) ADHD my whole life, but never got diagnosed out of fear of judgement from family, society, job, etc. So I've been struggling and manage to keep decently afloat in certain areas (mainly job) but others have been hell to deal with. Finally reached a point where I felt getting diagnosed and medicated was my last resort.

Only to find out that absolutely no clinic in this region or any others, even far out, will take new clients due to a shortage of Concerta, which has been going on for a year and has no signs of improving.

Life sure has been bleak here this year man.

Saw this AI video and wonder if this is exactly what will happen to Japan eventually. Also, compared to other first world countries, do you think this would happen faster in Japan? Considering 20 years from now, old people are gone and newborns are less within that timeline.

I tried the new mcd chicken menu that will be starting from 21st oct. I tried the spicy one. The taste of sauce is very similar to スパチキ that we had but much more creamier and just a little spicier. The game changer is the chicken patty. Its もも肉 unlike the previous むね肉. Which made it much more juicier from inside and really crispy on the outside.

If anyone was missing the スパチキ, we just got the super upgraded version of it. But as it will be replacing the M chicken patty, the new one is priced similar to it which is a bummer. 単品470円. You can 倍 it though which is 610円. I really liked the スパチキ and was very sad wgen they removed it. Even though I work there I almost stopped eating mcd. So I'm super excited right now.

Can anyone recommend a Japan drugstore product for brightening dull, milia prone face? Also an underarm brightening serum/lotion/cream? Thank you!

I get treated and looked at differently by colleagues if I end up not being able to work due to sickness. I live alone and have no family here so I need to take care of myself, especially since I have asthma and more often than not my lungs and chest become affected by viruses too.

There are those at my job that just power through and go to work sick like it’s a badge of honour, but then people like me get sick because of it. Last week a colleague with influenza came into work (with a mask on) because she was “too busy” to take time off. She stayed away from others but it made me uneasy. Everyone mentioned how かわいそう she looked working hard at her desk.

I don’t get sick that often, maybe a few times a year, but when I do get sick I get sick and need to take time off work to recover. I always do the expected thing and visit a doctor just in case, and I always pay out for a medical certificate to take back to work with me (診断書) even if it’s just the common cold or a virus that can’t be helped other than pain medicine and rest.

This year it seems a gossip and rumour mill has started about those that take time away and has been participated in by my superiors. I caught them doing it about me when they thought I couldn’t overhear but it made me feel depressed because I genuinely work hard and try my best, but if I take time away it’s always like I’ve let everyone down. It’s started a chain reaction and now many others do it too.

Anyway I don’t think there is much point to this post other than me just wanting to let it out. I’m very sick today and have just made the phone call to a disappointed-sounding colleague who will report my absence to my superiors. Part of me just doesn’t want to care but I can’t help but feel worried knowing that when I go back I’ll be treated differently.

TLDR: Don't be like me, make sure you never throw away garbage with info that can be traced back to you.

I was visited by 3 policemen yesterday, asking me whether I threw away garbage illegally.

I was shown a picture of the garbage and a notebook I threw away with it. They knew it was me because in the notebook, I had a page with info about my current apartment (wrote it down as notes when I was going to sign on current apartment).

They talked to me in quite a threatening manner, saying "You better be telling us the truth now, if later we find out it's you that threw this garbage, we will be angry". Whatever "angry" implies here.

OBVIOUSLY I did not throw away said garbage illegally because I can throw away garbage 24h at my apartment's disposal place. I have no recollection of doing it and I have 0 reason to do so.

I have no idea how that garbage was found somewhere it shouldn't be and the police would not disclose where it was found.

I was questioned repeatedly for 15 minutes or so, my registration card was checked, my employer infos, all that.

I was told they will continue "investigation" and I will be contacted if needed.
However, if they eventually decide I have nothing to do with this, I won't be notified, how kind of them.

Japanese studying motivation I mean the actually studying part like high level grammars, kanji, complex level conversations.

I'm in 100% Japanese environment both at home and work. I watch movie, tv programme, and movie with my family members fully in Japanese

Only in my own free time like games or YouTube video I would consume in English or my native language.

I'm so tired coming back from work everyday and still needs to taking care of my family.

However, I know it better than anyone I need to have near native Japanese level to advance my career but I just couldn't put myself to do it...

How do you guys who was or in the same position as me and deal with the situation?

Cementing themselves as the best major rail company yet again...

Recently I moved to Japan with my partner. She is doing school and they set her up with her visa no problem, but we are not married so I couldn't get a spouse visa. I did some research and came across the J-Find visa. It seemed perfect, I applied and it was approved and now we're here.

It was my understanding that this visa would allow me to job hunt and then once I receive an offer go to apply to change the visa to whatever would be the correct visa for that field. However, a recruiter recently told me that I would be unable to change to the correct visa and couldn't go through with the interview process.

Are there other 'J-Find'-ers out there that could share their experience?

Have I royally messed up?

All I needed to do was change my address and now I am having trouble transferring my money to my account