Apr 10, 2026
Blogs for the PICK UP?
Have you noticed the PICK UP posts haven't been updated since last year? Which blogs since January this year do you think deserve highlighting?
Best Answer
-
on Apr 11
@genkidesu this, exactly. I would also offer that they should move the features that aren't updated regularly to below the blog posts that normally have a new entry at least once every two days. The fresh content should be the first thing new visitors see when they come to the site.
-
on Apr 11
Sadly, I notice a lot of things not being updated any more. The pickup, the theme posts that never came back, the City-Cost social media sites, and even the in-house City-Cost blogs on here. I'm always a bit concerned that the site will just disappear one day, and the wealth of information and the sense of community here will just go with it.
-
on Apr 11
To answer your original question, though, some that I have enjoyed recently: - Your spot reports! They make me feel like I get to travel to other places in Japan in real time. It's a fun way of seeing other people's corners of the country. - Lyssays post titled "Deodorant in Japan and Makeup.jp". Super useful info, I always like personal recommendations for products/shopping spots. - BigFamJapan's post on why she doesn't use Japanese sunscreen: city-cost.com/blogs/BigfamJapan/wkj27-living_medical_saitama - Samoona's post about learning Japanese: https://www.city-cost.com/blogs/samoona/z48m8-living_education_tokyo#body
-
on Apr 11
@genkidesu Me, too, I think blog posts like the one Lyssays made are really helpful. More "editorial" posts appeal, too. As you mentioned, BigFamJapan's sunscreen critique made me more aware of sun protection options.
-
on Apr 11
@BigfamJapan that's a really good point. I think if I wasn't already a user of the site, if I saw old content I wouldn't necessarily scroll down and explore more. You're right, the fresh content should be the first thing anyone sees!
-
on Apr 12
@genkidesu This is it! This platform is precious as it's independent of the miasma of big social media. I shoot links at friends here and abroad, and to big social media. Not just my own blog posts, but other contributors covering seasonal and news events. It's one of the few platforms with genuine voices of foreign residents.
-
on Apr 24
Shout out @samoona for her recent post about workshops! I'm feeling inspired to try some workshops in my region thanks to her bubbly contribution.
-
on Jun 5
@TonetoEdo It seems pickup has been removed, and replaced with popular posts
-
on Jun 6
@achmadz I came here to write exactly the same thing! I had been on holidays and hadn't been on the site for a while and it was the first thing I noticed when I came by today!
-
on Jun 6
@BigfamJapan What a nice refresh, popular posts!
-
on Jun 7
@TonetoEdo I just noticed today that we can once again see how many views each of our posts are getting. That is big plus too.
-
on Jun 7
@BigfamJapan I see that now, too! Views are low, but at least it gives us a sense that folks are reading our missives.
-
on Jun 7
@TonetoEdo I think it's only unique views it counts and it is delayed by at least 12 hours.
-
on Jun 7
@TonetoEdo ...I've just realized too, that the "Popular Posts" must be delayed too - maybe based on stats 12+ hours ago. It is currently showing one of mine 'flight in a typhoon' as a popular post, but in the stats count I have two other posts that have been read more than that in the last 24 hours - the 'Friends of Frogs' post and the Baby Shower post. And the 'Friends of Frogs' post had the most reads too when I checked this morning too.
-
on Jun 7
@TonetoEdo Last one for now! But I think it's relevant enough to tack on. Another thing I noticed is that they must have set the stats to zero on older posts. I've just looked at my oldest posts on file, from 2015, which had thousands of views before they stopped showing the stats and now, they are showing as only having between 1 and 10 views. So, they must only be counting new unique views for just the past few days, and all the old stats have been wiped.
-
on Jun 9
@BigfamJapan You know, it's maybe a good thing the view counts have been reset. I wondered about how City Cost is using SEO. The old hit counts on my posts were through the roof, but were they from crawlers or human viewers? Who knows!
-
on Jul 14
@TonetoEdo I wonder about how the "popular" is calculated. I doubt it is calculated for real time stats, maybe a day or two delay. But my actual best performing recent post, never made it to the "popular" section, so maybe there's an even longer delay. I can't figure it out from my stats, cause it doesn't add up!
17 Answers