Jan 21, 2026
How about a challenge?
Reading the daily blogs, product, and place reviews on City Cost makes my day. I love seeing what you find novel and enriching. But what do you think of a challenge week - one week of blogs on a particular interest or location that reveals our insights into our lives as foreign residents and "experts" on the things we nerd on? Some things I do: The periodic TtoE food blogs, regional posts in Chiba Prefecture Charms blogs, and fieldtrips in the Kanto region where I live. Got 5-7 day challenge ideas?
Best Answer
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on Jan 22
Great idea and I'm on board. I think it's great to get inspiration from fellow contributors. I'll have a think about themes, but ones that come to mind right away... - heart-warming encounter of the week, either someone you talked to or something you witnessed - things you should have known sooner, might not be the best way to word it. But to give you an example - yesterday I was writing about amazake no hi and all the while laughing at myself, because for my first 20 years in Japan I thought amazake was an alcoholic beverage!! -things you never tried in your first years in Japan, either because you were too afraid (too different to home), didn't have the opportunity or another reason -best buy and / or bargain of the week -what other prefecture you would like to live in, given the opportunity -what other job would you like to try here, given the opportunity -the last time you felt like a tourist in Japan and why? -Japanese food you think would be a big hit in your home country given the chance
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on Jan 21
I love this idea and it reminds me of the old theme posts we would have! A handful of ideas off the top of my head: - Ways that Japan isn't living in 2050. A theme that debunks all the social media stuff where travelers make Japan seem so futuristic. I'm thinking like the faxes that still get used, not being able to pay some bills online, and so forth. - Our 10 minute radius. A little look into our day-to-day within about a 10 minute radius from home. Maybe that's a look at your work station, your local supermarket, your city office, local library. A different place each day to give newcomers (or even old hats!) a glimpse into our regular lives here. - Things we learned in Japan the hard way. I think this could be another good theme to help any newcomers, since there are a load of things I wish I had done differently, known ahead of time, and so forth. - Following the weather. This could be a week-long theme about doing what the climate forces you to do. Very apt in my neck of the woods right now with some very heavy snow! - A week of tiny joys. This challenge could be just identifying something uniquely Japan in your day that brought you joy. Maybe it's a hot coffee from a vending machine, maybe it's a new goshuin stamp, maybe it's a new food you tried! Basically, a theme that makes us all feel a bit happier for having read each blog :) - What makes us stay?! I know that most of us have more than one reason for this. I'd love to hear from others about their varied reasons on why Japan has become home, especially for those of us who have been here a prolonged period of time. Those are some of the ones off the top of my head to start with, but I would love to hear everyone else's ideas, too!
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on Jan 21
@genkidesu About the radius - say a 30-minute cycle or train ride from home to reveal how walkable/bikeable our neighbourhoods are. Or not! And I hear you about Japan "living in the future". I'd love to read about how foreign residents confront the realities of retro and problematic systems that make the daily life of foreign residents challenging.
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on Jan 21
@TonetoEdo I like the walkability/cycle-friendly idea!! Mine is typically walk/bike friendly, but not so much right now!
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on Jan 22
A few more... Best things to rent rather than buy in Japan Resources for find a job Anime Japanese language What to do with (food item) "Only in Japan" / quirky type restaurants, cafes etc Cosplay Most walkable city in your prefecture Most tourist friendly city in you prefecture Most underrated place in your area Gluten free places you know of, not necessarily visited For those people lucky enough to have a topper on their local mailboxes, what is it
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on Jan 22
@BigfamJapan these are good ones! I love the where would you live/what job would you want in particular!
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on Jan 22
@BigfamJapan Things we wish we had known sooner is a big one! Riffing on that topic, things you misunderstood early on.
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on Jan 22
@genkidesu Orientations to our cities, or cities near us, sounds helpful! Stay safe! Kanto weather will be sunny and freezing overnight for the next week...
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on Jan 23
A few more ideas; Goals for this year Favorite kanji Favorite Japanese expression Places you can't believe you haven't visited yet You know you are in Japan too long, when... Photograph ideas Inspired by @genkidesu 's question : 100 yen best buys Most disappointing locations Most surprisingly good locations
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on Jan 24
@BigfamJapan more great ideas! I'll be blogging about some of these over the weekend! :)
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on Jan 30
A few more: Flower of your Prefecture and / or your prefecture's bird, tree etc Garbage woes Reviews of Japanese movies or books or anime or music etc Best beauty products / traditions in Japan Beauty trends you don't buy into Practical AI in Japan Revisit an old post - for example, chose something you wrote on here more than 5 years ago and compare then and now Reviews / posts on here that inspired you to visit somewhere / try something I may have suggested this already, but in case I didn't - places you can't believe you haven't visited yet
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on Feb 13
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on Aug 21
13 Answers