Q&A
Questions about life in Japan answered by those who live it
Hot Topic
10 Answers
YouTube channels for life in Japan?
Recently ToneToEdo put me on to JapaneseCooking101 on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@JapaneseCooking101) where you can find a variety of easy to follow recipe tutorials for a myriad of eats. I was wondering if anyone knew of other useful "life in Japan" style YouTube channels. It doesn't have to be cooking, anything that helps you out with day-to-day stuff here would be great to know about!
on Dec 4
On Going
16 Answers
Any idea for snowboard destination?
What's the best ski resort in Japan that is accessible by bus or train? I have been to Nagano. Any other recommendations?
on Jan 3
All Questions
4 Answers
Can we still include hotlinks in our blog posts?
I noticed that I can't insert hot links in blog posts today, August 25th. Is this feature working for you?
4 hours ago
10 Answers
The most underrated thing(s) about life in Japan?
I'm curious to get some of your thoughts. I know there's a lot on social media about Japan that is perhaps overrated, but I'd love to get your opinions of what is underrated about life in Japan. One that came to mind for me is the cost of glasses/eyewear. My entire family are glasses/contacts wearers, and we can get glasses here so much cheaper than in my home country. Let me know your thoughts!
on Aug 7
4 Answers
Hair Color Treatments for Greying Hair
For those of you who have colored grey hair, I'm curious about the hair color treatments available in most drugstores. They seem simpler to use than box dyes. It's been many years since I've colored my hair. It's a chestnut brown and my grey is more silver. I don't hate it but the grey is dry and making me feel like I look older than I am. I'm especially interested in the natural brands that are non-permanent. For example Rishiri Kombu sounds like a decent option. Looking forward to your recommendations and experience.
on Aug 3
3 Answers
Iconic summer tunes
Which Japanese songs, traditional or pop, make you feel like summer has arrived? How about covers or imports that you hear a lot?
on Jul 9
10 Answers
Summer reading
I know there have been questions in the past about what we're watching, but I'm wondering what you're reading at the moment! I'm looking to get a few new books for summer and I'd love to hear if you have any recent recommendations. If you have any good spots here to get EN language books in person, too, I'd appreciate if you would share those as well!
on Jun 25
18 Answers
How do you add photos now?
I'm still having difficulties with adding photos. If I add one in the body of the text, the way we all used to do, it shows as the text "{the title of the blog post} photo", without actually showing the photo. The photo I am trying are less than 3 mb. If I try to add any to the gallery area they won't upload, I just get an "upload failed" or equivalent type of message. I also get an "upload failed" when I tried to add a photo (875.2kb in size) to this question!
on Jun 2
18 Answers
Database error
Anyone else getting a database error after you log in? So far, it looks like I can still write posts, but I had trouble logging in and after log in my home page looks different to normal with a "database error" message.
on May 23
3 Answers
Is the free school lunches national?
I just wrote a post about how my younger two children's school lunch will be free hereafter. However, I don't know if this is just my town or nationally. Does anyone know if they are doing this throughout Japan? The post about the free lunches for big families: https://www.city-cost.com/blogs/BigfamJapan/GQjEL-living_food_money_education_saitama
on May 17
6 Answers
What's in your bento box?
Do you fix a bento box lunch? How often? What do you typically put in yours? When do you prepare it - in the evening or in the morning?
on May 13
10 Answers
Condiments in your fridge?
Just for fun! I was thinking the other day how different the contents of my fridge are to the fridge I grew up with! Just one example, I always have soy sauce in my fridge and usually at least one other unopened bottle in the cupboard. There was never soy sauce in my fridge growing up. And the friends I grew up with don't have soy sauce in their fridges even now. But my Uni friends all have soy sauce in their fridges, because they all lived in Japan for at least a year. I was just wondering what things do you have in your fridge here that you probably wouldn't have in your fridge in your home country had you never lived here.
on May 9
9 Answers
Moving house process
I've been in my apartment for nearly 7 years. I've got my eye on an apartment one station closer to work. But I forgot what it was like to move in here! It was all a bit traumatic... Have you got some packing tips, suggestions for how to move your household goods, and what to save for last?
on May 3
4 Answers
Golden Week 2025 plans?
This year's Golden Week gives us Tuesday, April 29th, and then potentially a four-day weekend from May 3rd to 6th. How are you intending to spend the break? Will you travel, "staycation", or dare I ask, work through it?
on Apr 24