http://www.city-cost.comSat, 17 Oct 2026 05:37:02 +0900Hi, I’m Eli. I’m from Germany and have been living in Japan for over 10 years. I have a severe chronic illness and therefore am a wheelchair user.enCopyright © 2015 - 2026 City-Cost All Rights Reserved.webmaster@city-cost.com (CC Team)http://img.city-cost.com/static/blog_campaign_icon.pnghttp://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPddd-livingDo you like Disney movies?If so you should definitely check out your local Seria. They are selling these small art panels with different Disney characters. They are perfect for decorating your walls and only cost 110 Yen a piece so it is only a small investment to get the Disney atmosphere to your home.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPddd-livingThu, 18 Sep 2025 16:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPddd-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgvKm-shoppingI have been into crocheting since end of last year and have tried several of the yarns available at Japanese 100 Yen stores so far. A yarn I can definitely recommend is the chenille yarn from Seria with the name Princess Mole. Compared to other chenille yarn it is easy to use and does not shed. For the price of 100 Yen per skein it is priced very reasonable, too.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgvKm-shoppingMon, 08 Sep 2025 11:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgvKm-shoppinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbRYo-foodThe Japanese patisserie Cozy Corner currently has a collaboration with Sanrio going on. You can get a very cute cake set that comes will all your favorite Sanrio characters.It is available until September 30 and costs 3564 Yen.I was able to purchase one without a reservation when I went to buy one on the first day of sales.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbRYo-foodMon, 08 Sep 2025 11:48:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbRYo-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4Yyo-foodKurasushi is currently doing a Demon Slayer collaboration to celebrate the release of the new movie. You can get demon slayer themed-dishes and for every 5 plates of sushi you eat you have a chance to win a random prize, like demon slayer-themed charms, erasers or badges.They were also handing out clear files for every 2.500 Yen you order but these are out of stock already.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4Yyo-foodTue, 19 Aug 2025 10:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4Yyo-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYe7g-foodLast weekend McDonals did a special collaboration with Pokemon and you could get a promo pack of Pokemon cards with every happy set you bought.Knowing that Pokemon cards are very popular I got up at half past 7 and arrived at my nearest McDonalds at around 8 AM. I was surprised at how many people were in the shop. After I put in my order and found a place to sit I heard the staff saying it takes about 2 hours until you receive your order.I was quite baffled but decided to wait anyway. Luckily by the time my order was ready they still had Pokemon cards left and I was able to get some. I heard that at other places stores were already out of their stock at 7 AM.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYe7g-foodFri, 15 Aug 2025 16:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYe7g-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKp9K-livingEarlier in August I visited the fireworks festival in Nagaoka. The fireworks festival is very well-known in Japan and probably one of the biggest firework festivals in the country. It takes places every year on August 2nd and 3rd. I can really recommend it if you want to see breathtaking fireworks.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKp9K-livingFri, 15 Aug 2025 16:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKp9K-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mva5k-moneyIn June me and my husband adopted a cat. She is still very young and therefore gets sick easily. When she first arrived she immediately came down with diarrhea.I visited a vet to get her checked out and ended up paying 13.000 Yen for getting her temperature checked, an injection and some oral medication.A few weeks later she was having diarrhea again and I went to a different vet this time. The examination was almost the same as the first time and I again got oral medication but paid only 3.000 Yen.I was surprised by how different prices can be.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mva5k-moneyMon, 28 Jul 2025 16:08:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mva5k-moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2yZb-livingI recently did a photo shoot at the photo studio Hananosumika.They a have a special plan called princess plan where you choose from several gorgeous dresses and accessories to wear.The plan includes hair and makeup and you will receive 30 edited photos of you choice. I think mine turned out really nice and can only recommend the plan if you ever want to feel like a princess.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2yZb-livingMon, 28 Jul 2025 16:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2yZb-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkePA-livingOn July 22 and new Pokémon Smart Phone game called Pokémon friends was released. I tried playing it for a few days. It is a game where you have to solve mini puzzles and get virtual plushies as a reward for solving them.You can then display the plushies in a room.So far the puzzles were super easy and I keep getting the same plushies. Anyone else playing this game?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkePA-livingMon, 28 Jul 2025 15:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkePA-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWV8Q-livingJapan is famous for its Vending machines. Usually vending machine sell drinks or snacks but sometimes you can find vending machines that sell weird items.When I went to Kichijijouji recently I saw a vending machine for cleaning sponges.Would you buy sponges from a vending machine and what is the weirdest vending machine you have seen so far?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWV8Q-livingMon, 28 Jul 2025 15:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWV8Q-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7mpe-foodSushi-ro has started a new Sanrio collaboration. You can food items that come with Sanrio stickers are Sanrio picks and if you pay a little extra for your drink order it will come with a random plushie.Also the store are decorated with cute Sanrio stickers. Don't miss out on this collaboration if you are a Sanrio fan.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7mpe-foodSat, 26 Jul 2025 16:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7mpe-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnvPj-foodThe famous coffee shop chain Komeda has started a Pokemon collaboration. You can get several Pokemon-temed food items. For every item you order you will get a random keychain as bonus item.I heard that some shops are already sold out, so you should be quick if you still want to try the Pokemon foods.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnvPj-foodSat, 26 Jul 2025 16:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnvPj-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaYON-foodThis month Baskin Robbins started a Super Mario Campaign. You can two different kinds of sundae, one that comes with a questions mark block and a Yoshi one that comes with a Yoshi rubber bottle marker.There also is a new flavor available that is called Super Mario Fruits Summer Sorbet.On top of that you can also get Super Mario ice cream cakes.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaYON-foodMon, 21 Jul 2025 10:15:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaYON-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqVpp-foodFamily Mart is currently doing a collaboration with Demon Slayer for the start of the new movie. You can get all kinds of demon slayer-themed snacks like matcha roll cake, daifuku or Melonpan as well as a fruit au lait drink. The collaboration will be ongoing until August 4th.Which item would you want to try?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqVpp-foodMon, 21 Jul 2025 09:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqVpp-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaJbA-moneyHave you heard of TikTok Lite? It is an app that works just like TikTok but you can make money with it.Don't expect to make a lot of money, but it is slightly better than your average Point-Katsu app you can get in Japan.You can get money simple for login in daily, checking the app a few times per day, liking videos, watching videos and watching adds.Currently I make about 600-800 Yen per week with TikTok Lite. You can get your payout in Rakuten Points, Paypay Points, dPoints, Ponta points, Paypal or Amazon Gift card. I takes about 1 to 2 days for the money to arrive after you requested a payout.If you make a new account you will get 5.000 Yen as a beginner bonus if you log in once for 10 days.I have received several payouts from the app, so I can assure you it actually works.Click on this referral link to receive the aforementioned 5000 Yen beginner bonus for making a new account.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaJbA-moneyFri, 29 Nov 2024 14:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaJbA-moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GL72y-medical_healthI recently went to a cardiologist to have my heart checked out. We did a regular EKG at the clinic which showed no abnormalities. However, as the condition POTS that I have puts my heart under more stress than that of a healthy person I also wanted to get a 24-hour EKG where you wear a device that records your hear beat for 24 hours to be extra sure everything is all right.For the 24-hour EKG you will have to make 3 appointments in total. One to get the device placed, one to have the device removed and one to hear the results. It is a quite time-consuming process. The first two appointments are fairly quick, however. On the first appointment a doctor or nurse will place the EKG device on your chest. It is recommended to wear loose clothing as to not accidently rip the device off when undressing. I didn't mind having the device taped to my chest too much, but I did have trouble sleeping that night which might have been due to the unfamiliar feeling. They will also hand you a card where you are supposed to note your activities and symptoms during the time you wear the device. This card is very important so do make sure to not forget it on the second appointment. The card I got looked like this. On the left you note the time of the activity and then you make a check for the corresponding activity (walking, eating, sleeping, working, etc.) and symptoms (chest pain, vertigo, palpitations, fatigue etc.) if any. While wearing the device you cannot take a bath or go swimming, however a shower is all right. Otherwise, you can go about your daily activities as usual. The second appointment will be on the following day of the first appointment. On this appointment a doctor or nurse will remove the device and make a quick check if everything was recorded correctly. You will also have to hand in the activity card. It does take a few days for the data of the 24-hour EKG to be checked, so the final appointment will be several days after the second. On this appointment the doctor will explain the results and further treatments, etc. if necessary. With the regular Japanese health insurance, the fee for a 24-hour EKG is about 5,000 yen, which is cheaper that I would have expected. If you ever have to undergo this examination you now know what to expect. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GL72y-medical_healthThu, 22 Feb 2024 11:06:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GL72y-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAB8o-living_howtoLast Christmas I went to Tokyo Disneyland the first time since I started using a wheelchair. I found that the park offers several services for people with disabilities that make it very accessible by wheelchair. In this post I would like to describe them in detail.Cheaper TicketsFor people with disabilities tickets with a reduced price are available. They are about 20% cheaper than the regular tickets. The tickets are available for the guest with disability plus one accompanying guest. With the current tickets prices you can save quite a lot. In order to enter the park you will have to show your disability certificate. Disability certificates from Japan as well as from other countries are acceptable. Wheelchair RentalThe park offers wheelchair rental for guests with disabilities. You can rent a regular wheelchair for 500 Yen a day and a motorized wheelchair for 2.000 Yen a day. If you manage your everyday life without mobility aid but you have trouble walking through the park all day this is a nice option.Special Viewing Area for ParadesThere is a special viewing area for people with mobility aids for the parades. Unlike the normal areas this area does not fill up as quickly, so you have a better chance of getting a nice spot. Unfortunately the people accompanying you have to sit behind you so they do not get as good a view. For this service no disability certificate is required.Disability ServiceThis service makes attractions more accessible. If you have a disability certificate you can use this service that allows you to spend the waiting time for an attraction somewhere else instead of the line. In order to use this service you first have to register. In order to do that just talk to the staff that handles the priority passes. They will check your certificate and take a photo of you. Then you can reserve the attraction with the Disney park mobile phone app. This service does not shorten the waiting time, so for example if the current waiting time is one hour you will receive a pass to enter the attraction timed at one hour after you reserved. Then you can spend the waiting time exploring the park, shopping, enjoying the Disney foods, etc. The only thing you can’t do during the waiting time is ride another attraction. Once the time has come you can enter the attraction just like with a priority pass.Some attractions regularly have waiting times of several hours, so this service is very useful to enjoy more of the park. A lot of places in Tokyo are not very accessible by wheelchair so I was quite surprised to see that Disneyland does a lot for their quests with disabilities. If you are a wheelchair user I can recommend the park.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAB8o-living_howtoThu, 11 Jan 2024 11:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAB8o-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wm8qx-food_makinoharacity_makinohara_shi_shizuokaThanks to City-Cost I got to try some green tea and green tea goodies from the tea farm / tea-themed park Grinpia Makinohara. I would like to review these items in this post.Makinohara is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture. According to Wikipedia it is famous for producing green tea with the local economy being dominated by its production.I have not yet been to Makinohara but when looking at local sightseeing spots the Grinpia tea farm seemed like an interesting place to visit, as you can learn about the history of Japanese green tea and about growing and harvesting it. During the harvesting seasons you can experience green tea picking as well. I enjoy green tea and green tea flavored sweets so if I get the chance I would like to visit.I also found some very pretty pictures of cherry blossoms along the Katsumata River, so during the cherry blossoms season in late March and the beginning of April seems to be the perfect time for a visit.The green tea items provided by City-Cost were the following.Shizuoka Makinohara Sencha Tea Bags, Nanaya Shizuoka Matcha Leaf Pie andShizuoka Matcha SyrupAt first I tried the tea bags and the matcha pie. The tea bags are quite convenient as you don’t need a tea pot. You can just put a tea bag into a cup and add boiling water to it. Then you only have to wait 30 seconds until you can remove the tea bag and enjoy your tea.I found the flavor of the tea quite mild compared to other green tea I have tried so far, so I would say even someone not so fond of green tea could enjoy this tea. It has a nice refreshing taste so it’s ideally for drinking in the morning. The matcha pie has a sweet taste and a very crunchy texture. It is a bit similar to unagi-pie that is a famous souvenir from Shizuoka Prefecture. What I found interesting is that one piece of pie only has 81 calories and provides 5 grams of protein. If you eat two you get 10 grams of protein with 162 calories which is similar to some protein bars you can find at the supermarket. With the low calorie and the high protein count you can consider the pie as a “healthier” pastry.The two go nicely together and can turn your regular tea time into a special green tea experience. As for the matcha syrup I am not yet sure of how to use it. The flavor is quite sweet and the matcha taste rather strong. It seems like the perfect item for enjoying kakigoori, but shaved ice is not really something I would eat during the winter. I tried adding it to my morning oat meal but it was not really a good fit. I am hoping that the blog posts of the others participants in this campaign might provide me with more ideas.If you get the chance to try any of these items I can really recommend the Matcha pie. This post is supported by Makinohara City, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wm8qx-food_makinoharacity_makinohara_shi_shizuokaFri, 05 Jan 2024 13:41:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wm8qx-food_makinoharacity_makinohara_shi_shizuokahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgoK6-medical_healthLast year I found out that I have POTS which is short for postural tachycardia syndrome. It’s a chronic illness that is mostly known for having a high heart rate when being upright but also comes with symptoms like dizziness, brain fog, headache, back pain, neck pain, feeling anxious, insomnia, fainting, random sweating, fatigue and many more.I have had symptoms on and off ever since my early twenties and have mentioned these to several different doctors in Japan over the years. As I had not heard of POTS until last year I was not able to connect these symptoms and ask for POTS specifically. Unfortunately the same goes for all the doctors I went to. I went to several internists, several orthopedics, a pain clinic and a specialist clinic for blood vessels. They all would do some standard tests and would find nothing. As according to doctors I was too young to have anything serious I was told to go and find myself a psychiatrist as all my symptoms are probably being caused by stress. Feeling out of options I did actually go to a psychiatrist and they would just give me sleeping pills for my insomnia, without actually trying to find out why I can’t sleep at night. When the weaker drugs didn’t work anymore they would just give me stronger ones until I got prescribed drugs that are known to be abused as “date rape drugs” in the US.Once they wanted to get me on SSNI (a type of antidepressant), which is a type of drug you should avoid with POTS as it makes the tachycardia worse. When I told the doctor that I experienced a high heart rate as a side effect, they dismissed me and said that such side effects would not occur. I remember one time I fainted on the train. I probably should have talked to a doctor about it, but I was afraid of being dismissed again so I never mentioned it. Testing for POTS is actually quite simple and can be done with an oximeter (device to measure heart rate and blood oxygen) and having the patient stand up from a seated position. Yet no doctor ever mentioned this syndrome to me. Now that I finally have a doctor that is aware of the syndrome, I am getting treatment. There currently is no go-to treatment for POTS but several drugs are being used as off-label treatment. With the help of my doctor I tried several drugs until I found the ones that work best for me. My heart rate is still high when I stand up but, but dizziness, insomnia, anxiety and pain have improved quite a lot with treatment. I just wish I could have gotten this treatment several years earlier. Japan is known for its good healthcare system, just that it doesn't seem to be working for young patients with chronic illnesses.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgoK6-medical_healthMon, 11 Dec 2023 10:27:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgoK6-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zK3O2-shopping_howtoWhere do you usually buy cosmetics? At the drug store, at the department store or online? In this post I will talk about some website where you can get cosmetics for cheap or even for free if you are lucky.Qoo10Qoo10 is a famous online shop, that sells a lot of different items, but is mostly known for cosmetics and make up. You can find mainly Korean and Chinese brands here. High-end brands are not so prominent. Four times a year they will do a special event called “Mega-Wari” where you will get several 20% OFF coupons and a lot of special deals are available. In general their prices are on the cheap side as well and discount coupons are available throughout the year.If you pay with Paypal or Line Pay, additional discounts are available at checkout.On top of that they also have a sample section where you can apply to receive free sample items once per day. However the numbers are limited and only a few lucky people will receive something.@Cosme@Cosme is a platform where you can find a lot of cosmetics reviews, as well as make purchases. On this site you can find all kinds of cosmetics from cheap drug store brands to high-end brands. They do not have cheap prices in particular, but you can get points with every purchase that you can use for your next purchase.Sometime special sets are available, that you cannot purchase elsewhere that offer a good value for money. They also have a “presents” section where you can apply for giveaways for free cosmetic and make up items (both samples and full size items) with around 100 different giveaways every month. If you are into subscriptions boxes you can check out their Bloombox. It is a monthly box that comes with 4 to 5 items for 1,650 yen.AmazonAmazon has a sale once a month and usually a lot of cosmetic items will be reduced during this sale period. On top of that amazon has a “Clearance” and an “Outlet” section where you can find all kinds of items for reduced prices. Both sections have a “Beauty” category where you can find cosmetics and make up items. If you are not looking for the newest products, you can find some nice bargains here.I hope this post is helpful for your next cosmetics shopping session and that you can use the above shops to save a few yen.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zK3O2-shopping_howtoTue, 05 Dec 2023 09:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zK3O2-shopping_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wryZg-living_healthWith a wheelchair using the public transport can be somewhat of a challenge. I will explain how using busses and trains in Tokyo works with a wheelchair.Busses with a wheelchairOn most busses you will not be able to get on without help. If you wait at the bus stop in a wheelchair the driver will come to help you get on. Depending on what kind of bus it is there will either be a foldable ramp or a lift for wheelchair users. Then the bus driver will show you to the space that is designated for wheelchairs. There you can use a belt to keep your wheelchair in place. The bus driver will also ask where you want to get off. At your destination you first pay the bus fare and then the bus driver will help you to get off the bus.I have not yet experienced this during rush hour but I can imagine that the bus driver might not be happy to see a wheelchair user during rush hour. I don’t like that instead of using barrier free busses the bus companies just make their drivers do the work. Trains with a wheelchair Trains can be a similar challenge as the busses. The first problem is the ticket gate. With a wheelchair you can only go through the one gate that is bigger than the others. But if there are passengers coming out of the train station through this gate you have to wait until everyone is out and the gate changes back to entry.Unfortunately most passengers are not aware of this and use the bigger gate even if they could use other gates.Then you will have to ask a train staff for wheelchair assistance. Similar as with the bus they will provide a ramp so you can get on the train. You will have to inform the staff where you want to get off so they can inform a staff at this station to be ready for you when the train arrives. As you might have to wait a little until the staff is ready you should try to have some spare time as getting on the train might take longer than you think.In some wagons there is a wheelchair space where you can comfortably ride the train. Again other passengers might not be aware and could be standing in this space. In this case however you can ask them to open the wheelchair space as wheelchair users get priority.Again I cannot imagine how it is to get on a train in a wheelchair during rush hour and I do not want really want to find out if I can avoid it.In general in Tokyo you are probably better off with a car if you use a wheelchair.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wryZg-living_healthMon, 03 Jul 2023 15:48:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wryZg-living_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoPvA-medical_healthI recently went to the wheelchair evaluation center because I had filed a request for an electric wheelchair with the city office. I would like to explain how the appointment went.First of all, I had an appointment with a wheelchair maker at the hospital I go to in order to chose the wheelchair I want. The wheelchair maker would then provide a quotation that I submitted to the city office. Then I could make an appointment at the center.On the day of the appointment my husband took me to the center. Once it was time for the appointment first I had an interview with two workers from the center.They asked questions about when I first got sick, to which hospitals I go, about how much I can walk, etc.Once the interview was finished I had to do a kind of “drive test” with an electric wheelchair from the center in order to see whether I can safely use one.I had to drive the wheelchair from the interview room to the entry of the center and go outside. Then I had to drive outside of the center for a short distance. Crossing a street and driving up and down a ramp was also part of the test. During the test drive it was important to not bump into walls or people. A bump would result in termination of the test drive and a negative evaluation.I was quite nervous as I do not have much experience with electric wheelchairs. I never took a test for a driver's license but I guess this is how you feel when you do.Luckily I finished the test drive without any issues. The next step was the examination of a doctor of the center. He asked several more questions about my illness history and then tested the strength of my arms and legs. Once everything was done, the workers from the center and the doctor left the room for a discussion. The workers came back after a few minutes and told me that I had gotten a positive evaluation and that my wheelchair could be constructed almost as in the quotation. The only thing that changed was the wheelchair cushion which got downgraded to a cheaper version. If you get a positive evaluation, you will get a document called a “master card.” This document just needs to be sent to the wheelchair maker and they will get to work.Once the wheelchair is finished I will have to go the hospital again and ask my doctor to write a report for the center. Then the process is finished. I hope it wont take long until I get my new wheelchair.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoPvA-medical_healthMon, 05 Jun 2023 09:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoPvA-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z3qoY-living_howtoJapan is a country known for its rich cultural heritage and artistic traditions. From calligraphy to anime, there is a wide range of artistic styles and techniques that are celebrated in Japan. If you are an artist visiting or living in Japan, you may be wondering where to find art supplies. Fortunately, there are several options available to you.One of the best places to find art supplies in Japan is at a specialty art store. These stores carry a wide range of materials, including colored pencils, markers, paint, brushes, paper, and canvases. Some popular art stores in Japan include Sekaido, Tokyu Hands, and Loft. If you are a beginning artist this shops can be a little overwhelming as there are so many items to choose from so you might want to do some research in advance. Alternatively you can also ask the staff for assistance and advice.If you prefer to shop online, there are several websites that sell art supplies in Japan. One of the most popular is Rakuten. Rakuten offers a wide range of art supplies, from paints and brushes to easels and sketchbooks. Another popular online retailer is Amazon Japan, which also has a large selection of art supplies. If you are not looking for the most recent art supplies you can have a look in the Amazon Outlet section and maybe find a nice bargain.If you are on a budget, you may want to consider visiting a 100 yen shop. These stores carry a variety of items, including household goods and stationary. You can find items such as colored pencils, watercolors, acrylic colors, alcohol based markers, pencils, erasers and pencil sharpeners.While they may not have high-quality art supplies, they can still be a good option for basic materials like pencils, erasers, and rulers or art supplies for kids. Popular 100 yen shops in Japan include Daiso, Seria, and Can Do.Another budget option is second hand shops like Off House. They usually do not have a large art section but if you are lucky you can find used items in good condition for cheap prices. Flee market sites like Mercari also can be useful, however cheap offers tend to sell quickly.In conclusion, if you are an artist in Japan, there are several options available to you for finding art supplies. Whether you prefer to shop at a specialty art store or online, there are many resources at your disposal. With a little bit of research and exploration, you can find the materials you need to bring your artistic vision to life.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z3qoY-living_howtoThu, 20 Apr 2023 08:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z3qoY-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWpxJ-livingOn Saturday the 8th of April I went to take a look at the cherry blossoms in Otsu Hana no Sato in Akiruno City in western Tokyo. Otsu is situated 15 minutes away from Musashi Itsukaichi station. As it is a rather remote location going by car might be convenient. Parking spaces that are only 500 yen for the whole day are available.I went on a Saturday and even though the weather was very nice only a few people other people were there, so you can enjoy the cherry blossoms without having to deal with crowds of people and maybe even bring your tripod to take some nice photos. The parking space was almost empty so it was no problem to get a spot.There is not really a space where you can put your blue sheet and sit down, though. Otsu Hana no Sato is better suited for taking photos and enjoying the cherry blossoms while going on a walk. By the way, I would recommend shoes that are easy to walk in as the area is quite hilly.If you would like to take a break and sit down for a while, there are a few small coffee shops and restaurants available.On Saturday a lot of the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, while some had already started to fall slightly. You can enjoy a lot of Shidare Zakura, as well as sakura that bloom in white and pink on the same tree.Nanohana flowers bloom close to the sakura trees and provide a nice yellow contrast to the white and pink cherry blossoms, which is really nice for landscape photos.Whereas in central Tokyo the cherry blossoms mostly have already fallen, in general the beginning of April is the recommended time for a visit if you want to enjoy the cherry blossoms in full bloom in Otsu.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWpxJ-livingTue, 11 Apr 2023 09:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWpxJ-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8dax-living_tokyoOn March 26 I visited the Koganei Park to enjoy the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately it was raining but that also meant there were not many people in the park.Based on past visits I know that during the cherry blossom seasons on weekends the park is usually full with blue sheets and quite crowded with people. On rainy days you can enjoy the blossoms in quiet. The blossoms were mostly in full bloom and some had started falling already.On the weekend of the 25th and the 26th the Koganei Sakura Festival took place so there were several booths selling food and drinks. A stage was set up as well but it seemed the program did not take place due to the weather. Koganei Park is situated in Koganei City and can be reached by train and bus. Just get off at the Musashi Koganei station and take the bus at the north exit to the Koganei Koen Nishiguchi bus stop. If you come a by car a parking space close to the park is available but it might be hard to get a spot on days when the park is crowded. Parking is for free if you have a disability pass. Otherwise it cost 300 yen for the first hour and 100 yen for every 20 minutes onwards.The park itself does not charge any entry fee and is open all day with no holidays.During your visit I would recommend to also check out the the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum which is situated in the park. You can look at Tokyo buildings from the early Edo period through the postwar period. The museum is open from 9:30 to 4:30 in March and charges an entry fee of 400 yen. For disability pass holders the entry is free.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8dax-living_tokyoTue, 28 Mar 2023 15:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8dax-living_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBy6W-medical_healthAt the moment I get weekly IV treatments as they are helpful for my condition. For me going to a hospital to get these treatments is quite stressful and costly as I can’t go by train and my husband has to rent a car and take me. Therefore we started looking into doctors that do home visits last year.We researched doctors in our area online and contacted several of them. Usually they will ask for a report on the patient’s status from the current hospital and decide whether they can take on the case after review. We submitted my information to several doctors but were refused several times. It seems that in Japan many doctors don’t know how to deal with some with chronic fatigue syndrome or are afraid of the responsibility. This month we finally found a doctor that would agree to take me and I got my first home visit this week. At first the doctor visited to check my status and take notes of my current medication. A few days later he came to administer my first at home IV and do a blood test. Even though it took several tries to get the needle into a vein the experience was less stressful than a hospital visit. I did not have to sit in a waiting room with many people and could lie on our comfortable couch instead of a hard hospital bed. In the hospital a usually try to sleep during the treatment but it never works as because of the environment and all the loud noises. At home I can now sleep during the treatments.Once the IV was done a nurse came to visit to teach my husband to remove the needle so that he can do it from now on. From now on I will get weekly visit to receive my weekly IV treatments. The home visits are more expensive than regular hospital visits but compared to having to rent a car every week it is cheaper. Also it saves time for my husband as he doesn’t have to wait at the hospital until my treatment is finished.If you ever end up with a condition that makes it difficult to visit hospitals, I would recommend having a look into doctors that do home visits. For me it took a while to find a doctor but I think it paid off in the end.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBy6W-medical_healthSun, 26 Mar 2023 10:36:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBy6W-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MA3O5-living_moneyThe hometown tax system is a program in Japan that allows taxpayers to to prepay their annual income and residential taxes to other municipalities, rather than to where they live.Usually your taxes are paid to the city or ward you live in. When you use the furusato nozei system you can pay a part of your taxes to other city or wards, which in return provide gifts for the taxpayers.These gifts often are local products like foods or traditional crafts. Some places also over vouchers for museums and restaurants. The system is available for all taxpayers in Japan. Expats can use it as well. The only drawback is that in order to participate you pay a 2,000 yen fee and you will be faced with some paperwork. In order to make use of the system you first have to figure out how much of your taxes you can pay as furusato nozei. This website can provide an estimate.Now there are several website available, that provide an overview of the gifts and let you donate right through the website. For example there are Furusato Choice: furusato-tax.jp and Furunabi: furunavi.jp.You can send your taxes to as many municipalities as you like, however if you keep the number below 6 there is an easier system (one-stop system) available for the paperwork.Once you have chosen and paid, the gifts will be send out to you. Sometimes it can take a while until they arrive. I received this gift for donating to a place in Okinawa.A receipt for the donation will be send to you as well.If you chose to use the one-stop system you will also receive a document to fill out. The one-stop system is available for everyone that is not required to file a kakutei shinkoku and donated to no more than 5 places in a year.The receipt and the One-Stop System documentsAll you have to do is fill out the document and take a copy of your My Number card. Then you send it back to the municipality you donated to until the 10th of January of the following year.That is all the paperwork you have to do for the one-stop system. If you do not apply for the system you will have to file a kakutei shinkoku and attach the donation receipts. A certain amount of Japanese skills is required to use the websites and work through the paperwork but you can enjoy a lot of regional specialties by only paying the 2,000 yen fee. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MA3O5-living_moneyThu, 02 Mar 2023 12:38:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MA3O5-living_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYnAy-livingHay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, affects millions of people around the world. In Japan, it is especially prevalent during the spring season, when pollen from cedar, cypress, and other trees fills the air. For those living with hay fever in Japan, the symptoms can be quite debilitating. However, there are several tips and strategies that can help alleviate the symptoms and make life more manageable.One of the most effective strategies for managing hay fever is to avoid exposure to pollen as much as possible. This can be done in a number of ways. First, it is important to stay indoors during times when pollen levels are high, which is usually in the morning and early afternoon. Keeping windows closed and using air purifiers with HEPA filters can also help to reduce pollen exposure indoors. During the hay fever season the weather forecast usually comes with an indicator of how bad the pollen count will be on a given day, so you can try to avoid days with a high pollen count.When going outside, wearing a mask can also be helpful, as it can filter out some of the pollen in the air. There are also special hay fever glasses available that help to protect your eyes. They are sold as "Kafun Taisaku Megane" and you can get them for below 2,000 yen.Another way to manage hay fever is to take medication. There are several types of medication that can be effective for managing hay fever symptoms, including antihistamines, nasal sprays, and eye drops. These can be purchased over-the-counter at most pharmacies in Japan. You can also visit a doctor and ask for a prescription. Unlike the over-the-counter medicine, prescription medicine is covered by health insurance so depending on the medication you take prescription can be cheaper.Another important strategy for managing hay fever is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This includes getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and staying active. Exercise can be especially helpful for managing hay fever symptoms, as it can help to reduce inflammation in the body and boost the immune system.As for food specific foods that are known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties can be beneficial.One such food is natto. Natto is high in vitamin K2, which has been found to have anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties. It is also rich in a substance called nattokinase, which has been shown to help reduce inflammation in the body.Another food that can be helpful for managing hay fever symptoms is green tea. Green tea is rich in a type of flavonoid called catechins, which have been found to have anti-allergic properties. Drinking green tea regularly may help to reduce inflammation in the body and alleviate hay fever symptoms.In conclusion, living with hay fever in Japan can be challenging, but there are several strategies and tips that can make life more manageable. By avoiding pollen exposure, taking medication and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it is possible to reduce the impact of hay fever symptoms and enjoy a better quality of life. Whether you are a long-time sufferer or have recently been diagnosed with hay fever, there is hope for managing your symptoms and living a fulfilling life in Japan.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYnAy-livingTue, 21 Feb 2023 10:16:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYnAy-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gyk9k-foodThe most common gift for Valentine’s Day is chocolate, so every year in January all the chocolate makers come up with special Valentine’s Day editions. In most department stores across Japan you can find a special section dedicated Valentine's chocolate. As there is so much variety it can be hard to choose.I tried Valentine’s boxes from 3 different chocolate makers that I will introduce in this post. Hopefully it makes your choice a little easier.Pokémon Chocolate from Mary’s ChocolateMary’s Chocolate have a collaboration with Pokémon this year. They created 5 different boxes based on Bulbasaur, Charmander, Mew, Squirtle and Pikachu as well as a bigger box with several Pokémon.The smaller boxes are 1,300 yen each (except for Mew which is 1,500 yen) for 6 chocolates and a cute metallic box . The chocolate flavors and designs are based on optic features and attacks of the respective Pokémon.I tried the Pikachu and Bulbasaur chocolate and all tasted very good. Once you are done with the chocolate you can use the box for the storage of small items. I think every Pokémon fan will be happy to receive of these chocolates. Currently, they are sold out at the online shop but you might be lucky to find them in a department store in Japan that is selling Mary’s Chocolate.Kanmigaro from GoncharoffGoncharoff is my favorite chocolate maker because their chocolates are cute, taste good and are reasonably priced. This year they have a collection for Valentine's Day based on famous Japanese works of art with chocolates that look like traditional Japanese sweets.You can order these chocolates from the official Goncharoff online shop as well as from amazon, Rakuten and in department stores that sell Goncharoff chocolate. Boxes of several sizes are available. The two boxes in the photo are 1,080 yen each for 5 different chocolates. The chocolates are very cute and each one has a different flavor. I think this size is ideal as you can eat the whole box without having to feel too guilty about the calories. These boxes are without chocolates with alcohol but some of the bigger boxes do contain those with alcohol-based flavors.Valentine’s Chocolate from Bonoir KyotoThe Valentine’s Day collection from Bonoir Kyoto has chocolates with flower motifs and traditional Japanese motifs. They use flavors like matcha, yuzu and white peach. The chocolates tasted very good and have an esthetic quality. I especially liked the white ones. This chocolate is perfect for everyone who likes traditional Japanese flavors.Several boxes of different sizes are available. The box in the photo costs around 1,000 yen. You can order it from the Takashimaya online shop or buy it in the chocolate section of department stores in Japan. In the case of the store where I bought these Bonoir Kyoto chocolates, most of the bigger boxes were sold out and only few of the smaller ones were left.Did you any of the chocolates above catch your interest? If you plan to buy Valentine’s chocolate, you should not wait too long as the popular editions sell out fast. I hope you have a nice Valentine’s Day.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gyk9k-foodMon, 06 Feb 2023 14:46:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gyk9k-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnrAm-fashionAs I can’t leave the house a lot due to my chronic illness I decided for a home wear lucky bag this year. Snidel Home is the home wear branch of the brand Snidel and they have cute and comfy home wear for women. I reserved the lucky bag online in November. It was sold out in a few minutes. The price was about 14,000 yen, which is a little more expensive than the average clothing lucky bag.The description said that this year’s lucky bag would be all in the color pink. As with most clothing lucky bags, the bag would not contain items from last year’s stock but items that were specially made for the lucky bag. It arrived on January 3 in a big box.The box contained the lucky bag. Inside the bag itself there were 4 items - a dress, a fluffy cardigan, a pair of socks and a hair band. They were all in the color pink, but it was a more pastel-like pink / a very subtle pink. I was quite relieved as I had been a little worried they clothes might in a very loud pink.The clothes are really comfy and perfect for wearing at home. The dress has cups built in so you don’t have to wear a bra and the cardigan feels very soft. Depending on where you go, I think you could even wear them outside. As for sizing the lucky bag only comes in one size and you should probably be a size S or M in Japan in order to for the clothes to fit.I was quite satisfied with the lucky bag but I find the price a little expensive, which is probably due to the brand being more on the expensive side. If you are looking for a bag with a lot of clothes inside this is not the bag for you, but if you are looking for items that go well together it could be worth a try.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnrAm-fashionMon, 09 Jan 2023 17:33:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnrAm-fashionhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJjeJ-medical_healthLast month I had the chance to do a sleep study at a hospital in Tokyo and would like to share my experience for anyone that is wondering how such a sleep study is conducted.For a sleep study you have to spend a night at the hospital. I had to arrive until 3 PM and was introduced to my room and to the hospital ward after my arrival. After I unpacked I was asked some questions about my current medication and my blood pressure and temperature were measured.I basically had free time then until dinner and could do whatever I wanted in my room. I recommend bringing something to read or downloading a few episodes of a TV show on a tablet. The hospital did have a TV but you had to buy a TV card to use it. At 6 PM dinner was brought to my room. It was a typical Japanese hospital dinner. After I was done changing into my pajamas, brushing my teeth, and getting ready for bed, a doctor came to hook me up to the devices. For a sleep study you get a lot of sensors put on several body parts. I got sensors on legs and arms, stomach, chest and on my head. It took about an hour until all sensors were placed and properly tested. I looked quite funny with all the cables on my head.With the sensors on it is quite difficult to go to the toilet and you have to call a nurse every time, so you might want to cut down on drinking water. I was told that once I was ready to sleep I just had to let the doctor know and they would start the test. I found it quite hard to sleep with all the sensors on me. It feels strange and you have to watch out not go get trapped in cable if you turn around. After a while it also got quite itchy.In case you have a hard time falling asleep the hospital can provide sleeping pills for you. Once during the night the doctor came to my room because apparently some sensors had come loose. In the end I managed to fall asleep but it wasn’t a very refreshing sleep. When you wake up in the morning the doctor will come and take the sensors off you. You might want to take a shower as you will have some residue of the sticky substance they use to fix the sensors in your hair.At around 8 in the morning I got breakfast and then once my bill was ready I could pay it and go home. A sleep study is quite expensive. I paid 22,000 yen for it, which is with reduced medical fees due to my disability pass. If you pay regular medical fees, it should cost about 50,000 yen. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJjeJ-medical_healthWed, 07 Dec 2022 09:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJjeJ-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkaXZ-living_money_howtoYou might have heard the term "poi-katsu" on Japanese TV or seen it in a Japanese magazine. Poi-katsu refers to collecting bonus points that you get mostly from purchases e.g. Amazon points or Rakuten Points, which you can later use to make discounted purchases on the platform. I have done some poi-katsu in the past few months and here are my recommendations.Buying at the right timeBig online shopping site like Rakuten and Amazon regularly do sales where you can get more Points than usual. For example Amazon usually has a sale period of about 3 days at the last weekend of the month, that will award you more Amazon points for purchases during this period if you spend more than 10,000 yen. So if you have items that you purchase regularly or any planned purchases that are not urgent it makes sense to purchase everything during this sale period.Points with AppsYou can also obtain points without having to buy anything, although usually it is not much. For example Rakuten has an app called Rakuten Point Screen. You can get Rakuten points just from opening the app. You can get up to 5 points a day, if you open the app 5 times. For 3 points it doesn’t matter when you open the app, for the remaining two points you have to open it once during lunch time and once during dinner time.The Line App also has several ways to get points easy. If you go to the wallet section and select “いますぐ貯める” you can get points by looking at certain pages or watching videos. Points through reviewsJust like you can get points for writing reviews on City-Cost you can also get points for writing reviews on other site and apps.Yahoo is currently doing a campaign where you can 100 PayPay points every day for writing a review for certain locations that Yahoo designated. You only have to submit one photo and enter 50 Japanese characters to be eligible. Another app that rewards you for reviews is Line Place. You just have to submit a receipt or pictures of a location and rate it with stars. No text is necessary. You only get 17 Line points per review, but every month there is a campaign that awards additional points if you reached a certain number of reviews per month. Have you done any poi-katsu yet or is the amount of different point services that are available in Japan confusing you? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkaXZ-living_money_howtoFri, 11 Nov 2022 14:34:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkaXZ-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6aLW-medical_healthThis year I had several occasions to be taken to a hospital in Japan by ambulance and would like to share my experiences so those people that have never been in the situation get an idea of what to expect. In Japan ambulance pick-up is free of cost so you don’t have to be afraid of any extra charges. You only pay the regular medical fees at the hospital you are transported to. If, after the ambulance arrives and you talk to the paramedics, you realize that your case is not as urgent as you thought and decide not to be taken to a hospital, you will not be charged anything. When you call an ambulance in Japan staff will first ask you about the emergency and for your address. After the ambulance is dispatched you will get another call asking for details about the patient like medical history, medication, etc. They will also ask you to prepare patient's insurance card and the booklet that shows which medication they are currently taking.When the ambulance arrives paramedics will ring your doorbell. If you can walk, you get into the ambulance on foot. If not, the paramedics will transport you on a stretcher.Inside the ambulance they will measure your heart rate, blood oxygen, blood pressure and temperature. The ambulance team will ask you or the person that accompanies you several questions about the emergency and medical history. They will then call several hospitals until they find one that has available capacity. Depending on the how many corona cases there are, at the moment it can take a while until they find a hospital that can take you in. In my case, all communication was done in Japanese so I cannot say anything about the ability of paramedics to deal with patients that do not speak Japanese.Once a hospital is found they will drive you there as fast as possible and transport you into urgent care once you have arrived.Then the hospital will take care of you and begin your treatment. If, after treatment, you do not need to stay at the hospital and you can go home, you will have to take care of transportation yourself. I hope this post can be helpful for anyone that has never had to call an ambulance in Japan and is wondering how the process works. Nevertheless, I hope you will never be in a situation where you have to call one. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6aLW-medical_healthMon, 07 Nov 2022 17:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6aLW-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQ2Y3-living_moneyYou probably have heard of Mercari, a popular flea market app in Japan. However, Mercari takes a 10% fee which is quite high. Yahoo offers a similar app that takes only half the fees of Mercari. Here I want to explain how you can sell on PayPay Flea Market.As this is a Yahoo service you will need a Yahoo account to use it. If you don’t already have one, you can make one for free. PayPay Flea Market can be used via app or form a browser. You will need the app to create new listings, though.To register, you only have to choose a name and set a profile picture.Then you can start selling. This is the form to create a new listing.Creating a listing is easy. You just take a few pictures, enter the name and description of the product and finally enter the price and select a shipping method. As an additional option PayPay Flea Market also makes it possible to add videos of the product. Creating listing is for free. You only pay the seller fee once you sold your first item. The seller fee at PayPay Flea Market is only 5% of the price of the sold item. After a listing is sold you simply have to prepare it for shipping and take it to the nearest post office or convenience store. The app creates a QR-Code that you only have to show to the convenience store staff / scan at the devices at the post office. You don’t have to write a label. Unlike Mercari where you can choose between anonymous shipping methods and “regular” shipping methods, PayPay Flea Market only has anonymous shipping methods available. Depending on the size of your product these can be cheaper or more expensive than regular shipping so make sure you check the shipping cost in advance. When the item arrives at the buyer´s they have to confirm receipt and you will be credited the amount minus the shipping cost and the seller fee.The credit can be used in the app to buy things, but you can charge it to your PayPay account and use is as digital cash as well. Unlike MerPay that only a few shops accept, PayPay is accepted by many shops and several online shops. But you can also easily request a transfer to a bank account. A transfer fee of 100 Yen will be charged, however.If you are interested in trying out PayPay Flea Market feel free to use my referral code "F5WX8H". You will get a credit of 300 Yen if you enter this code when registering. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQ2Y3-living_moneyTue, 01 Nov 2022 10:19:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQ2Y3-living_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mq1kO-foodCafé Eve that is situated north of Kichijouji station recently started serving cute afternoon tea sets with changing themes. Currently you can get a Halloween-themed afternoon tea set. It is priced at 4,000 yen per person and needs to be reserved in advance at a minimum of 2 persons.I tried the menu recently and would like to share my experience. When you are shown to your seat the afternoon tea is already placed there so you won’t have to wait for the food. The afternoon tea comes with all you can drink for coffee and tea. Fitting for the Halloween theme you can get purple tea. Additionally you can also order a special Halloween drink. But that comes at an extra price. The afternoon tea set consists of several cookies, pieces of cake and a small plate with savory dishes. All are decorated in a Halloween style looking like pumpkins and little monsters. The savory dishes are a star-shaped toast with a meatball on top and a pumpkin soup. On the sweet side you can find macaroons, green tea cake, cheesecake, chocolate roll cake and icing cookies that look like stars. I particularly liked the cheese cake.On the photos you can see the amount for two people. It is quite a lot so you might want to go easy on lunch if you plan to get a tea set in the afternoon. The tea set portrays the Halloween spirit very nicely and if you combine it with the purple tea or the Halloween special drink it is a perfect combination. The cafe itself is not decorated for Halloween which was a little disappointing. I think the price of 4,000 yen is quite high for the amount of food you get. For example the Alice in Wonderland Café in Ikebukuro offers a Halloween buffet with sweets and light snacks where you can eat as much as you want for 2 hours and can choose from 30 different foods at only 3,500 yen. If you don't mind the price the afternoon tea set can be a nice way to celebrate Halloween. It will be available until the end of October. After that I assume a different themed afternoon tea set will be available. You can check their Instagram for information on the newest menu.As the cafe is quite small and does not have many seats you might want to reserve a few days in advance. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mq1kO-foodFri, 21 Oct 2022 22:07:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mq1kO-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Eav-living_medicalWhen you have a health condition that qualifies you for a disability pass in Japan you can request one at your city or ward office. There are different types of passes for physical conditions and mental conditions as well as different levels depending on how severe the condition is.The process differs slightly depending on where you live but in general you will need a doctor's evaluation from a practitioner that is on a list of designated doctors. You can contact your ward or city office to check which doctors are on this list.Evaluation papers cost around 5,000 yen but in the area I live in there is a system that reimburses 3,000 yen of that.Additionally, you will need a recent photo of yourself, you’re "My Number Card" and an application form. In my case, I also submitted some additional documents about my health condition as recommended by a Japanese NPO that advocates for the rights of patients with this condition.I would also recommend bringing your health insurance card and bank book, as these might be needed as well.In addition to the application form I was also asked to fill out two other applications for monthly disability payments and for a reduction of my medical fees because I qualified for those with the disability level that my doctor designated for me. The regulations and availability of such support systems differ for each ward/city. A lot of places offer a reduction of medical fees from 30% to 10%, for people with a certain disability level. I was told that it usually takes about a month to process the application. After about 5 weeks I got a phone call telling me that my disability pass was ready and that I could come pick it up. I was quite relieved that it went so smoothly as my health condition is not well-known in the medical community despite the rapidly increasing number of patients.Besides the reduction in medical fees, the disability pass comes with a lot of discounts for daily life. In Tokyo, train and bus fees are either reduced by 50% or are completely free. You can get free or discounted tickets for museums, parks, and cinemas too.There is even a reduction on ticket prices for theme parks such as Disneyland or Universal Studios. Personally, I can only leave the house for a few hours in a wheelchair so most of the discounts don’t really matter to me. But a reduction in medical fees is quite relevant as I pay over 5,000 yen each month for my medication only.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Eav-living_medicalWed, 12 Oct 2022 10:27:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Eav-living_medicalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2gBn-foodJust like in the previous years I bring a report on cool Halloween sweets that are available in Japan in 2022. I hope you enjoy it and get inspired to try some of these out.Halloween Parfait from Nanas Green TeaNanas Green Tea has branches in several prefectures in Japan. They have a nice selection of tea and green tea sweets. During the Halloween season you can also get a Halloween parfait. It is priced at 1,200 yen and available until October 31.The parfait is filled with pumpkin cream, whipped cream, soft ice cream, sweet pumpkin compote, cornflakes and Houji Tea jelly. With all the different pumpkin flavors it is perfect for Halloween. You even get to taste small pumpkin pieces. The cornflakes in the parfait were surprisingly crunchy and deep in flavor. The soft ice was really good as well. The Houji Tea jelly was a little disappointing.All in all I think the parfait is quite nice and reasonably priced. If you want to enjoy Halloween with a Japanese style dessert, Nanas Green Tea is the place to go.Halloween Sunday Ice Cream from Baskin RobbinsBaskin Robbins started their Halloween special in the end of September. You can enjoy some special flavors and special ice cream sets for Halloween. The flavors come with cool names like cotton candy or magical "mintnight".If you prefer your ice cream a little fancy you can also choose the “Sweets Sunday”. For this ice cream cup you can choose two flavors of ice cream. They will be decorated with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and different cookies.This dessert is a collaboration with KitKat and therefore comes topped with a KitKat bar as well.Like most Baskin Robbins products the price varies from store to store. I paid around 700 yen for my Sunday. It is available until October 31.You can eat at the store or order for take-out. When you order for take-out dry ice for 30 minutes will be provided for free.Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin sweets from StarbucksAt Starbucks like every year you can get pumpkin spice lattes in the Halloween season. They are available in hot and cold and start at 510 yen for the smallest size. As I never tried a pumpkin spice latte outside of Japan I can’t really compare it. For me it tasted similar to the gingerbread latte you can get during Christmas time.On the dessert side you can autumn flavored cakes and scones. I tried the Pumpkin cheese cake. It had a nice rich flavor that really felt like autumn. It costs 510 yen. Did you like the sweets I introduced in this post? Are you planning to try some of them? Let me know in the comments.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2gBn-foodFri, 07 Oct 2022 17:46:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2gBn-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6a89-foodA lot of shops in Japan offer seasonally flavored sweets. In autumn you can enjoy a variety of flavors and designs that are specific to the season. I picked up some sweets that are available in this year.Autumn Wagashi from the supermarketI found these autumn themed daifuku at a local supermarket. They come in two different variants. One is filled with regular anko and chestnut anko and the other one with regular anko and sweet potato anko. Chestnut and sweet potato are typical autumn flavors in Japan. With wagashi I find that you can get sick of them after a while because many are filled with anko or use anko as an ingredient. So they taste quite similar. With these daifuku they added a new flavor on top so you can enjoy different flavors with the usual flavors.If you are a little tired of the regular wagashi, you could try looking for a seasonally themed version. Autumn flavors are especially delicious. Most supermarkets in Japan should have some available. Besides chestnut and sweet potato, pumpkin is a common flavor in autumn. McDonalds Autumn McFlurryMcDonalds also has seasonal autumn flavors on their menu. Just like the before-mentioned daifuku, they also used chestnut flavors. This year you can get a McFlurry with chestnut Mt. Blanc cake flavor. It was a little disappointing though. The McFlurry ice cream is mixed with cake pieces that seemed like a sponge cake rather than a Mt. Blanc cake. The chestnut flavor was only very slight as the caramel sauce overpowered it mostly. If you like McFlurry ice cream, it might be worth a try otherwise you might want to stick with Baskin Robbins ice cream. They have some autumn themed crepes with sweet potato and pistachio this year. The McFlurry is priced at 330 yen.Tsukimi dessert from ChateraiséChateraisé is popular cake shop in Japan. They have stores in all over Japan.In September Chateraisé started selling a cute bunny dessert. This dessert is based on the tsumiki tradition and a folklore tale about a rabbit on the moon.Tsukimi refers to the Japanese tradition of holding parties to view the harvest moon. It is associated with a variety of foods that are traditionally served at the moon viewing parties.Tsukimi is also a popular theme for autumn sweets in Japan. Tsukimi sweets also often incorporate rabbits, which is due to a folklore tale about the man of the moon who came down to earth and took a rabbit with them to moon when they returned.The Chateraisé tsukimi dessert is filled with two types of custard cream, sponge cake and custard pudding. The moon and the rabbit ears are made of chocolate. The flavors are not necessarily autumn flavors but it was delicious nevertheless. It is priced at 302 yen. It thinks it is a better investment than the McFlurry. Have you tried any autumn desserts this fall? Would you like to try some of the desserts I talked about in this article? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6a89-foodTue, 20 Sep 2022 11:38:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6a89-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj4jm-foodThis month I participated in a trial course for making wagashi. In this course I learned how to make autumn themed wagashi. Wagashi usually have a seasonal aspect to their design and incorporate seasonal fruits and flowers.The three wagashi I made represent a chestnut in its case, a kaki fruit and the harvest moon. For the course the materials, including the different types of anko and the tools you need, are all prepared for you. You only have to bring a towel, an apron and a bag to carry home the wagashi you made. You even get some small plastic boxes to put the finished wagashi in.At first, the teacher gives you the recipe and explains it. Then you go through the process step by step. First you prepare the neriki (white anko mixed with a special flour), which is used for the outer layer of the wagashi. Then you color it with food coloring. As a final step you put in the anko filling and form the wagashi in the required shape.The teacher explained everything in an easy to understand way. It was quite easy to follow them. All three wagashi use different methods so the process never gets boring.Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures during the process so I can only show you a picture of the finished wagashi.When I tried them at home they didn’t taste much different than store-bought wagashi, but I guess the taste is mostly depended on the ingredients you use. The trial course is only 500 per person and the courses are held in several prefectures. On their website you can check which days a course is available near you and make a reservation. The wagashi course takes 90 minutes, out of which about 60-70 minutes are the actual course and the remaining time you have to listen to the sales talk of the teacher.The aim of the trial course is obviously to make you sign up for follow-up courses, but I didn’t feel pressured to make a decision on the spot. You do get discounts if you decide to sign up on the same day though. Considering that similar courses aimed at tourists usually cost around 2,000 to 3,000 yen you can save some money if you don’t mind listening to a little sales talk at the end. Technically you would probably even pay more than 500 yen for 3 wagashi if you bought them at a store. If you want to try out making wagashi this autumn, I think this trial course is a nice idea. It is only available in Japanese though, so your Japanese should be good enough to understand what the teacher says.However, this offer is for first-time customers only so if you have taken part in a trial course by homemade cooking in the past you can't participate again. The autumn wagashi course is available until November 13. After that I assume they might offer a winter or Christmas themed trial course. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj4jm-foodWed, 14 Sep 2022 11:08:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj4jm-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7lmp-medical_healthBefore I received my CFS diagnosis there was a time when I was too weak to eat or drink because of the illness. “Regular” hospitals would not accept me at the time due to them being too busy with corona cases so I ended up in a mental health hospital for a few days.I can say it was the worst days of my life so far. The clinic had the weird policy that every new patient had to stay in the closed section for 4 days to avoid infections. At other hospitals it takes a few hours for a PCR test result to come back so this policy seemed rather arbitrary.Even though I was not in danger of hurting myself or others, in fact I was too weak to even stand up, the full rules for people that belong in that category were applied.The door to my room was locked all the time and I was being recorded on camera. I was not allowed to have any items in the room, not even a table. The only things in the room were a bed and a toilet. It felt a lot like a prison cell.The table that was used during meals would be removed after the meal. I also was not able to contact anyone as I was not allowed to have my phone nor was I allowed to use the hospital's phone.On top of that I was forced to take medication that I didn’t want to take. Without the possibility of contacting my husband I had no one to come and pick me up so I couldn’t leave the hospital even though when being administered I signed a paper saying that I decided to stay at the hospital voluntarily and would be allowed to leave if I decided to.After the 4 days I was finally allowed to be in the regular section of the hospital and had access to a pay phone. Unfortunately my room was on the second floor and the phone on the first and there was no elevator. As this was a rather high obstacle for my weak body I requested to use a cell phone from my bed but was denied. I had to use all of my last energy to go downstairs to use the phone to call my husband.I cried during the whole conversation and after he heard how badly I was being treated he came to pick me up the next day.Considering that this hospital is supposed to help people with mental health issues to recover I was shocked at how they treated their patients. I would assume that most people actually felt worse after staying there. Also there was no reason to treat people that were in the closed section for quarantine like people in danger of hurting themselves but nevertheless no differences were made.Whatever you do in Japan, try not to end up in a mental health hospital if you can help it.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7lmp-medical_healthFri, 09 Sep 2022 10:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7lmp-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKb0K-living_money_howtoCurrently you can get up to 20,000 yen worth of digital money by registering you’re "My Number" Card for certain services. The process is quite simple. You only need your "My Number" Card and your phone.If you haven’t yet applied for your "My Number" Card you will have to do so with your local city or ward office until the end of September to be eligible for the points. Once you have your card you need to download the "My Number point"-app and the "My Number portal"-app. You can choose from a variety of different payment services to receive your points. A list is available here.I would recommend to choose the one you use most often.I decided to receive PayPay points as PayPay is a service that a lot of stores accept and you can also use in on amazon. To apply for the "My Number" points open the PayPay app and select the "My Number point" button in the menu.The PayPay app will guide you through the whole process. You receive 7.500 points for each registering you’re "My Number" Card as your health insurance card and for registering a bank account to receive government payments. At certain points in the process you will have to put your "My Number" Card on your phone and enter the passwords you defined when receiving the card to use the digital ID stored on the card. If you have just received the card the process might not work immediately as it can take a few days for the digital ID to become active. If you get an error just try again in a few days.Once you are done with the registration it can take one or two days for the points to arrive. Once you got the points you can use them just like regular PayPay points.For the the remaining 5.000 points you can choose whether they will be awarded for charging your PayPay balance or for doing payments with PayPay. Either way you will have to charge 20,000 yen to your PayPay account or your will have to spend 20.000 Yen in PayPay to receive the full 5,000 points. You can charge your PayPay balance by transferring money from a bank account, using sales from the PayPay flee market app or at a convenience store with cash.The points are awarded immediately upon charging. The my number points can only used to pay via PayPay and cannot be transferred elsewhere. In the PayPay app you check if the points have been awarded or whether you need to do anything else to receive them.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKb0K-living_money_howtoTue, 06 Sep 2022 10:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKb0K-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoPPA-medical_healthAfter my health plummeted very fast in the beginning of the year and I was bed bound for a few weeks, I went to several hospitals to find out what was wrong. Unfortunately no doctor was able to help me - all the tests came back normal.When I mentioned that I think it could be chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) this thought was brushed off immediately and I was told that it is probably depression.Fortunately, a reddit user pointed me into the direction of a Japanese NPO that advocates for people with chronic fatigue syndrome and their website led to a hospital that is doing research in the field in Tokyo. The hospital is called National Center for Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP). It is situated in the western part of Tokyo.My husband made an appointment for me and about 6 weeks later I could visit the hospital. Based on my symptoms the doctor concluded that the possibility for CFS is quite high and ordered further testing. I did a blood test for antibodies that are associated with CFS and a CT test to check the blood flow in my brain. Both came back with results pointing towards CFS. The hospital was the first hospital to take my symptoms seriously and actually offer treatment. There is no way to cure the illness yet but there are some drugs available that can improve symptoms. Thanks to the treatment I am no longer bed bound and can do a few things around the house. When I want to leave the house I still need the help of my husband and a wheelchair though but the overall situation has improved quite a lot.Recently the doctor officially diagnosed me. With CFS you can only get a diagnose once you have had symptoms for more than 6 months, With the official diagnose I can now apply for a disability pass.If you ever have symptoms that point in the direction of CFS and other possible illnesses were ruled out, I would recommend paying a visit to the NCNP hospital. It is probably the only hospital in Tokyo that will take you seriously and can offer treatment. You might have to wait a few weeks for an appointment but the situation is still a lot better in Japan then in my home country. There you have to wait several months for an appointment with a specialist.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoPPA-medical_healthTue, 09 Aug 2022 15:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoPPA-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mnrro-foods_productInstant corn pottage in a waffle shaped like Pikachu. To prepare it you open a small whole in the waffle and pour the contents into a bowl. Then you pour hot water and stir.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mnrro-foods_productWed, 03 Aug 2022 10:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mnrro-foods_producthttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRXXW-money_fashion_howtoZozotown is a big online shopping site for clothes. Recently I discovered a trade-in service that allows you to trade in your previous purchases for Zozo-Points. These points can be used for new purchases with one point being equal to 1 Yen.When you access the option 買い替え割 in the menu you can see a list of items from previous purchases that are eligible for trade-in and how many points you would get for each item. The amount of points you get isn’t very high. I would assume it is similar to the amount you would get for selling your clothes at second hand stores. However, Zozo makes the whole process very convenient. All you have to do is choose which items you would like to sell and schedule a date and time for the pick-up. You don’t even have to leave the house.The points will be awarded immediately and can be used for new purchases on Zozo.A few days later a Zozo bag will arrive at your home. All you have to do is put in the clothes you selected and wait for the pick-up. If you have clothes that you would like to sell that you did purchase elsewhere you can put them in the bag as well. Zozo will review the clothes upon arrival and provide an offer. You can then choose to accept the offer or have your clothes returned to you. All of that with free shipping. For the additional items you can choose whether to receive the amount in Zozo-Points or transferred to your bank account.Zozo has a list of brands they do not accept so you might want to check it in advance. You can still send in clothes from these brands but you will only receive 10 Yen per item. For items that are from brand they accept but are in bad conditions you will also only get 10 Yen per item.You could probably sell your clothes for higher prices if you put them on platforms like Mercari or Rakuma, but if you don’t have the time to photograph each item and ship them all out separately the service Zozotown provides is an easy and very convenient way to get rid of clothes you don’t need anymore.If you are a regular user of the platform this service might come in handy. You can get rid of clothes you don’t need and save a few Yen on new purchases at the same time. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRXXW-money_fashion_howtoWed, 03 Aug 2022 09:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRXXW-money_fashion_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXnnL-drink_productNew drink from Family Mart available since end of July. 500 ml for roughly 150 Yen. A mixed cold drink made from jasmine tea and milk from the maker Iyemon.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXnnL-drink_productTue, 02 Aug 2022 22:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXnnL-drink_producthttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zd8-medical_healthI was dealing with severe dizziness and stomach troubles since December and at one point I was so exhausted I figured staying in a hospital for a while to recover and to find out what the problem was, was the best cause of action.It didn’t turn out very helpful though. I had several MRI scans of my head which came back with no issues so I know that there is nothing wrong with my brain. But the gastroenterologist that was supposed to find out what is wrong with my stomach was just incompetent. I suggested several tests that could have been done, but all they did was a simple blood test and a CT of my stomach and gut. Then they put me on a very restrictive diet for reasons that are beyond my understanding. It would have made sense to me to give me stomach-friendly food for a few days, but I only got yogurt and a small jelly. As I am already very thin restricting my calorie intake so much seemed like a rather dangerous thing to do. But apparently, they wanted to see what happen once my gut was able to rest. What happened is that during the time I couldn’t eat my stomach problems actually got worse and also I was hungry all the time which made it hard to sleep at night. On top of that there constantly were all sorts of alarm bells ringing during the night which didn’t make it easy either.I literally had to beg the nurses to give me more food because I was starving. The doctor didn’t seem to care too much and just blew off all the concerns I had. After a few days, he said there were no further examinations to be done so they send me home. I still have no idea what causes the dizziness and the stomach troubles. They suggested to keep checking back with my regular doctor and maybe see a psychiatrist. All in all the only helpful information I got out of the visit was the result of the MRI scans. Besides that, the time at the hospital was rather stressful and didn’t lead to recovery at all. It also cost quite some money.As I was exhausted to the point that I had no energy to properly look up a good hospital I just went with one that was close by but it turned out a horrible experience. If you ever have to stay in a hospital in Japan make sure to find a good one. I hope your hospital stays end up better.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zd8-medical_healthMon, 07 Feb 2022 10:34:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zd8-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MEAZD-medical_healthIn general, if you get acupuncture treatment, it will not be covered by your health insurance in Japan. However, some places do offer a treatment option where you can use your health insurance.I recently found that my back problems came back and since the last time this happened acupuncture seemed to help I started going for treatment again. In case you are also considering acupuncture treatments, this method might help you to save some money. If you pay for everything out of your pocket, these treatments can actually get rather expensive. First, you need to find a place that offers treatment via health insurance. I got a place recommended to me by my doctor. Then, you will have to make contact with the acupuncture clinic to receive a document called a “doiusho” (同意書).You will have to take this document to your doctor and have them sign it. Getting the documents signed is not very expensive. I pay only 200 yen more than I would pay for a regular visit when getting the documents for the acupuncture treatment signed.You can then submit the document to the acupuncture clinic and you are ready to be treated. Now you only have to pay the regular 30% of the treatment cost. I pay about 2,000 yen for a session this way but I assume prices may vary depending on where you get the acupuncture done.Unfortunately, the doisho is not valid forever and you will have to get a new one every 6 months. But I guess in general you will not need so many sessions that you receive acupuncture treatment for longer than 6 months. If you have never tried acupuncture before, you might want to first find out how you respond to the treatment and try a session that you pay for out of your pocket before doing the paperwork.Acupuncture is viewed critically and, personally, I also do not believe in the energy fields of the body that you find in Chinese medicine.However, I do believe that acupuncture can help to reduce inflammation and reduce muscle tension.For me, I can say acupuncture helped with my back pain better than any treatment I received from western doctors, who just gave me stronger pain medication every time I went back.Also, the acupuncture did not come with any negative side effects. If you are suffering from back pain and have already tried several therapy concepts without success, you could give acupuncture a try. Have you tried acupuncture before?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MEAZD-medical_healthThu, 13 Jan 2022 10:57:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MEAZD-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbPoP-living_howtoRecently I saw an article that talked about why people that lived abroad for a long time can get less fluent in their mother tongue.My assumption was that they forget it because they use it less when living abroad. However, the article suggests the reason is rather that people mix up languages.If you speak two or more languages, there is a sort of control module in your brain that in a certain context suppresses one language in favor of another, according to the article. For example, as an English speaker that also knows Japanese if you see a table you could think of the English word “table” or of the Japanese word “テーブル”. Depending on the situation you are in one is suppressed.However, if you mix up languages the control module gets weaker which can lead to issues such as difficulty remembering words or becoming less fluent in your mother tongue. This is especially common when you talk to other immigrants a lot. If you talk to a fellow immigrant in your mother tongue and throw in a few Japanese words here or there, they will most probably understand it. So you get used to a speaking style that mixes your mother tongue and Japanese.I think most of us have said something along the lines of, “I have to go to the shiyakusho” today instead of, “I have to go to the city office” to fellow ex-pats. This, however, is something you should probably try to avoid if you want to stay fluent in your mother tongue.Personally, after living in Japan for over 10 years, I haven’t realized any significant issues when speaking my mother tongue of German. This might be due to the fact that I mostly talk German with my family and German friends who don’t know a lot of Japanese, so I am only rarely in a situation where I can actually mix up languages. Also, most Japanese people I talk to speak neither German nor English, so I am not tempted to mix up languages in these situations either. But I must say after reading this article I am more aware of such situations and when I catch myself mixing up languages I stop immediately. I assume that even if you don’t know certain words in one language it would be better to try and describe them instead of just using an expression in another language. How is your experience? Have you seen any degrading of your mother tongue after living in Japan for a few years? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbPoP-living_howtoFri, 07 Jan 2022 10:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbPoP-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MdBYK-living_workIn Japan, it is common that a lot of companies close for a few days from the end of December to the beginning of January. If you only do business within Japan, this works really well because all clients and business partners are likely to be on holiday, too. So there is just not much work to do.Unfortunately, this system does not work as well if you are a Japanese company with international clients. Because these clients tend to do business again once Christmas is over and you might find yourself with a very full inbox and, in the worst-case scenario, angry clients because you couldn’t deal with their urgent requests.How does your company deal with this issue? For my company, I can say that we contact all important clients in December to wish them happy holidays and a good start to the new year. In this email, we also inform them about the holiday closure.Furthermore, we post the closing dates on the homepage and social media platforms as well as set up an auto-reply during the time the office is closed. This works with regard to urgent requests but even so, after the year-end holiday I still come back to work to find an email inbox that is bursting with unopened emails, especially when I used some paid holidays to extend the holiday to cover Christmas.I usually plan the first day after coming back to work for email checking, prioritizing, and responding as I hardly get any other work done on that day.In order to not get too busy at the beginning of January, I try to get tasks that can be dealt with in advance done in December. In my current position, I am responsible for writing content for the homepage so I try to get most of the content for January finished in December.Nevertheless, sometimes the first days back to work can end up being rather busy and I already feel stressed again even though I just came back from a holiday. When I went to Germany over Christmas it gets even worse with jetlag that my body has to deal with after coming back to Japan. Luckily the first weekend in January is usually a long weekend because of a national holiday.Do you feel stressed when you get back to work after a Christmas holiday? Do you have any special methods to deal with this kind of stress? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MdBYK-living_workWed, 05 Jan 2022 10:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MdBYK-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVXZ4-livingSquare Enix, the Japanese video game maker, is also selling lucky bags, or "fukubukuro," every year. They usually have 4 differently-themed fukubukuro - a Final Fantasy lucky bag, a Kingdom Hearts lucky bag, a Dragon Quest lucky bag, and a Final Fantasy Online lucky bag. The bags usually cost 11,000 yen and contained goods of the value of about twice that amount.In the past, they were sold at the store and online but recently they have only been selling them online. Online sales used to be on a first-come-first-served basis, however a few years ago they switched to a lottery system due to high demand. Ever since then I have applied every year but was never lucky enough to get one. This year I finally managed to get one of the Square Enix lucky bags. I had applied for a Kingdom Hearts one this year. As you would expect, the fukubukuro arrived on January 1st. It came in a huge box. The box did not contain any bag, you could see the items inside once you opened it. From what I had seen on social media these lucky bags seem to contain a bigger figure as the main item and a lot of smaller items, like key chains, straps, small plushies, and drink glasses. This was the content of my lucky bag. Unfortunately, I did not like the figure I got too much so it will probably end up on eBay. As the figure is being sold for around 9,000 yen on amazon JP, if I get it sold, it means I got the rest of the lucky bag almost for free.From the smaller items, I have use for some and not so much for others. I might give the ones I don’t need to friends.I think the lucky bag is nice if you are a fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise and if you get items you don’t like or already own, you can still sell them and recoup a part of the lucky bag price. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVXZ4-livingTue, 04 Jan 2022 10:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVXZ4-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPyZn-livingJust like last year, I purchased the Koupen-chan Lucky Bag this year. Last year I was really happy with the bag. It contained a limited cow plushy because last year was the year of the cow and a lot of other plushies and goodies. The bag was completely full.This year it seems the lucky bags were more popular. It was rather difficult to connect to the website when the reservation started, and it was sold out in under 10 minutes.I was lucky enough to get one though. To my surprise, it shipped quite soon after purchase and arrived on December 22. That was an interesting surprise. It felt like a Christmas present. Unfortunately, the content of the back was not such a pleasant surprise. It arrived in a huge box, but once you opened it you realized that the bag was only slightly filled with items with a lot of room. The contents of my lucky bag looked like this. Considering that it only costs 4.000 Yen this is not bad and I guess someone that didn’t buy the lucky bag last year would be very happy with this.However, last year the bag contained twice as many items and also cost only 4.000 Yen. For comparison here is a photo of the bag from last year. The difference is quite obvious.With this downgrade, I am not sure if I should get a lucky bag this year. I must say I like the limited plushies that you can only get in the Lucky Bag but I am not happy with the downgrade. If they only put in half of the content the price should be lower as well.Have you made experiences with lucky bags that you purchased several years in a row? Did they get worse over time as well? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPyZn-livingSun, 02 Jan 2022 21:15:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPyZn-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zkv-living_food_familylifeThis year my husband and I went to a fancy Italian restaurant on Christmas Eve. The restaurant had a really nice Japanese-style garden that was nice to look at but unfortunately they did not have a lot of Christmas decorations in the restaurant so there was not much of a Christmas atmosphere.They had a special Christmas menu, that consisted of a few appetizers, a fish dish, a pasta dish, and a meat dish. The food was really good and of high quality but also didn’t feel a lot like Christmas for me because it was rather different compared to what we eat for Christmas in Germany. Personally, I really liked the dessert that was a pistachio Mt. Blanc Cake. It was the first time I ate a freshly made Mt. Blanc Cake as I usually only buy them at cake stores. The fresh one tasted amazing. It was filled with strawberry ice and chocolate cake. It came with a small bowl filled with a liquid that you were supposed to smell. I first thought it was a sauce but according to the waitress, itwas only for the smell. It smelled like gingerbread so finally there was something that felt like Christmas.The Christmas menu cost 12.000 Yen per person and with drinks, we paid a little less than 40.000 Yen for two persons. That is not cheap and you could also do a weekend trip for that money.The food was really nice but I also had nice food in cheaper restaurants before. So I guess you don’t need to spend so much money. As I had never been to such an expensive restaurant before it was a nice experience but I guess I will not repeat it too soon.Also, both my husband and I had stomach issues after the meal. That probably is a common problem with Christmas food but I guess we are not made for expensive fancy foods.All in all the dinner was nice but lacked a Christmas atmosphere. I hope that next year we can spend Christmas with my family in Germany but if we end spending Christmas in Japan again I would like to find a restaurant, that was a Christmas tree and decorations to get a Christmas feeling. It does not necessarily have to be an expensive one.How do you spend Christmas when you are in Japan? Do you know a restaurant that provides a Christmas feeling close to Christmas at home?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zkv-living_food_familylifeTue, 28 Dec 2021 15:17:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zkv-living_food_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6lQ9-living_healthI recently saw a video that talked about a study that found out that by sitting long periods of time you diminish the effects of your workouts significantly. As I sit 7 to 8 hours a day when working it was a rather scary thought. I also previously had read several articles that suggested that sitting for long periods of time is not healthy in general.The video suggested several ways to overcome this issue. One was a standing desk. As I am working at home a standing desk would actually be possible, but I am rather satisfied with my current desk setup, and standing for long periods of time sometimes can cause my back to hurt. Another suggestion was getting a small exercise bike to put under the desk.As amazon had a cheap one I ordered it. I can say that I actually really like it. I do not use it when typing but for tasks that only require me moving the mouse and reading text on the screen, I put my legs on the bike and put it in a small workout while working.As the bike was rather cheap (below 5,000 yen) it is not the best quality-wise. But I basically bought it to find out whether I would use it or not. Now that I know I actually use it I can get a bike of higher quality once my current one falls apart.Personally, I could not recommend it for usage in an office because the sound is definitely noticeable, and you would probably annoy your co-workers. Maybe there are other options available that are quieter. But even then, you would probably get a lot of weird looks. Personally, I would encourage people that are trying to improve their health but in Japan usually, everything that is different from the norm is discouraged. But even if you can’t use it at work, you can still use it when doing desk work at home or while watching TV or reading a book to get in some extra exercise without having to sacrifice other activities. Personally, I get the impression that moving my legs while working makes it even easier for me to concentrate as on most days I have a strong urge to move around. I will definitely keep the bike and get a higher-quality one later. How do you deal with sitting around all day at an office job? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6lQ9-living_healthFri, 24 Dec 2021 10:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6lQ9-living_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2qrY-foodOn the first days of January in Japan, it is common to eat Osechi. Osechi looks like a bento box with all sorts of fancy foods. You can buy it at the supermarket or preorder a box and have it delivered to your home. Some households also make their own osechi foods.You might think that is still too early to think about New Year's food, but let me saythat if you want to preorder some of the popular Osechi boxes you might be already too late.Last year I was thinking about ordering a Pokemon-themed Osechi box and I waited a little too long with my decision. Once I had made up my head it was sold out. I just check the shop and this year's Pokemon Osechi box is already sold out as well.So you have to be fast if you want to get a certain Osechi box.I have also seen Demon slayer-themed and Hello Kitty-themed boxes last year so if you are a fan of Japanese anime you will probably find a box that you like. But there also is a huge variety when it comes to "normal" Osechi boxes.If you preorder an Osechi Box it will usually be delivered frozen on December 30 or 31 so that you can defrost it until January.If you missed the timeframe for reservation or don't want to reserve you can check your local supermarket on the 30th or 31st December, and can probably find some Osechi there.As I missed the reservation last year I got this Osechi box from the supermarket. It was about 2,000 Yen. For the fancy boxes, you can reserve you usually pay a lot more. The Pokemon Box for example costs 12,100 7en, but it also contains more food.In the following part, I want to talk about foods that usually are contained in Osechi boxes.Datemaki - Left side middleDatemaki is similar to Tamagoyaki but the egg is mixed with fish or shrimp paste. I find it tastes sweeter than normal Tamagoyaki. Personally, I like this osechi food a lot. As it looks like rolled paper it represents a wish for the development of culture and learning.Kuromame - Middle on the topKuromame are sweet black soybeans. These beans are eaten to bring good health for the new year.Kamaboko - On top of the DatemakiKamaboko is made of processed seafood. In English, it is often translated as fish cake. The shape of the cake resembles the sun at daybreak and represents the first sunrise of the new year.Kuri-kinton- left side on the topKuri-kinto are sweet sticky balls made of chestnuts. The golden color is supposed to bring wealth for the new year.Shrimp - in the centerShrimps look like they have a beard and a bent back. So they are supposed to give you a long life until you have a beard and bent back as well.As you can see all foods have a certain meaning and represent a wish for the new year. Personally, I do not believe in such superstition but I enjoy Osechi for its taste and optics. Will you eat Osechi in January?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2qrY-foodThu, 23 Dec 2021 10:13:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2qrY-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvgq-livingHave you received any nengajo? For me personally, I can say that I usually don’t get any because most friends will just send me a “Happy New Year” message via Line. I sometimes get nengajo from hair salons or shops but rather irregularly so that the most I ended up with so far was 3.If you work for a Japanese company you probably have seen a small tower made of nengajo because companies tend to get a lot of these from business partners. In a previous job, one of my tasks was to organize the nengajo we received. There was a long Excel file with many company names and I had to put a checkmark for companies that send us nengajo and add new company names if they weren’t on the list yet.If you ask me that was a waste of time and also a very boring task. In a digital setting, it would be much easier to do that and one could probably write software that completes this task automatically.In the western world, you don’t send nengajo but it is rather common to send Christmas cards. Nowadays most companies have switched to sending their Christmas greeting via e-mail. I assume this trend has increased even more with the pandemic and rising numbers of people working from home. From my experience, the nengajo in Japan have not yet been hit by this trend. In my current job, I am responsible for the design of the company nengajo and I realized that my bosses seem to take this really seriously. They ask for revisions and different drafts quite a lot compared to other design tasks that I am doing. Based on the experience I had with organizing the nengajo I don’t really understand that because the nengajo never reach the persons in the higher positions. The person in charge of mail would put them all in a stack that would later be handed to me without anyone else looking at them. No matter how good your design is, no one will really look at it anyway. Also, nengajo designs tend to be similar as most use illustrations of the zodiac of the new year and typical design elements, so it is hard to stick out in the mass of nengajo that companies receive, and as this is Japan you can’t really use unconventional designs to stick out either. After having seen 5 nengajo for a certain year you probably have seen all nengajo for that year.Nengajo sold in a supermarketOne aspect I find interesting is that most nengajo come with a kind of lottery number attached to it. Sometimes in January, the Japanese post will announce a few numbers that are the winning numbers and if you received a nengajo with a winning number you can get a price. I have never won anything yet but I remember one year when my company got one of the smaller prices. How is your experience with nengajo? Have you sent some to Japanese friends? Have won anything in the nengajo lottery?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvgq-livingSat, 18 Dec 2021 12:54:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvgq-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zb6-living_shopping_money_workI am registered on a Japanese platform where you can find influencer jobs. Most jobs require you to have a least 5,000 followers but prefer people with more followers so I usually have a hard time finding jobs.Last month I saw an ad that only requested 1,000 followers. It was about promoting skincare products. I applied with not much hope but to my surprise, I got the job.I received a skincare product from the company that was looking for promotion via mail and was asked to report my impression on Twitter together with some photos. The company gave me instructions on how to take the photos, which hashtags to use, and which account to tag for the tweet. I had some questions as I was unsure about some aspects, so I contacted them. They replied quickly and helped to clear up my worries. I only received the product a few days before I had to write the tweet so I could only give a first impression, but apparently, that was not an issue. For this job, I did not have to provide a draft, but for other jobs, I have seen that it is rather common that you provide a draft first and the company revises it if necessary.Once I posted the tweet I was asked to send the URL via message on the platform. After confirmation, I could give the company a review and had to wait for my payment. The payment was scheduled for the end of the following month. As this was my first time working with the platform and the company I was a little anxious if everything would go smoothly. But there was nothing to worry about. At the end of the month, I received a statement and could confirm the payment in my bank account. As you can imagine, you don’t get a lot of money for jobs that only are asking for 1,000 followers but considering that I also got a free skincare product and all I had to do was take a few photos and post one tweet I consider this a nice side hustle.What I was a little afraid of is that the company might ask people to overly praise the product but I was rather free in formulating my impression and did not receive any complaints after I posted the tweet.I think I will try to get more of these jobs in the future if I find companies with interesting products that accept applicants with not so many followers.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zb6-living_shopping_money_workThu, 16 Dec 2021 10:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zb6-living_shopping_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/weDKr-living_deeperdivesAs you all know Christmas is not a holiday in the Japanese religion or traditions. December 24 to 26 are regular workdays and I assume that most Japanese people won’t take vacation days on these dates.Nevertheless, Christmas has recently become rather important in Japanese culture. Families celebrate Christmas with their children and buy Christmas cakes and fried chicken. Couples see Christmas as an opportunity, or obligation depending on how you look at it, to spend quality time together. You can’t be alone on Christmas There is the slang term “kuri-bocchi” in Japanese that describes someone who is alone at Christmas. It has a rather negative connotation and implies that being alone, as in not being in a relationship, at Christmas does not conform with the social norm. The idea of spending Christmas alone is so terrifying for some that they desperately start looking for a partner as Christmas is getting closer and start relationships that didn’t really work well, to begin with, and only last for a few weeks or months. On the Internet, you can find websites with advice on how not to end up alone over Christmas or which places you should avoid if you do end up alone at Christmas. Restaurants and hotels in Japan also cater to this idea by offering romantic Christmas dinners and experiences. I usually don’t spend Christmas in Japan but last year I couldn’t go home over Christmas due to the pandemic, so my partner and I celebrated in Japan and attended a Christmas dinner. Most other attendees were couples as well.As for me, Christmas is a holiday you spend with your family and the thought of spending it alone is indeed sad as it might imply that you lost your family or didn’t have one in the first place. But not having a partner at the time of Christmas is rather irrelevant in my opinion. If you don’t have a partner, you might as well spend Christmas with friends or spend it alone watching bad Christmas movies and enjoying your fried chicken.When you have to work over Christmas it might not even be possible to do much in the evening if the following day is a working day as well. As Christmas is not a Japanese holiday but rather was imported from the western tradition, I find it interesting that apparently, it is rather important how you spend Christmas for the Japanese. Christmas is everywhereBut Christmas has invaded other aspects of Japanese culture as well. Once it turns December you can find Christmas decorations everywhere. In some areas, there is a special Christmas illumination, in several places in Tokyo you can find Christmas markets and theme parks like Disney Land and the Universal Studio also have special Christmas events and parades.If you go to the supermarket or convenience store you can find posters advertising the Christmas cakes and fried chicken plates that are open for reservation and all sorts of snacks and sweets and being sold in a Christmas-themed package as well. In the bigger malls, there are Christmas decorations and huge Christmas trees and of course, the obligatory Last Christmas coming from the speakers is not missing. You can hardly escape the Christmas spirit. Gift-giving in JapanOne aspect that has not yet reached Japan is the gift-giving madness. Some of the couples that spend Christmas together probably will give each other gifts, but it is not as common. In German e.g., it is common practice that you get presents for all your relatives and friends. A lot of companies also give gifts to their employees. I find buying all the gifts rather bothersome and usually don’t know what I should get so I probably end up getting a lot of things the receiver does not really need, so I am glad that this has not yet reached Japan.I also tend to receive a lot of Christmas presents I don’t really need and throw away a few years later which is kind of a waste of money and resources.In Japan, there is a gift-giving custom called “O-seibo” which happens in December. But this is more a business scene custom. Companies will send gifts to business partners to thank them for the business. Usually, these gifts are gift sets with consumables like coffee, snacks, and drinks and if you send them to a larger office some employees will always accept them happily. So, these don’t go to waste.Another gift-giving tradition in Japan is called “Otoshidama”. This is the custom of giving children small amounts of money to children on New Year’s Day. In my culture giving money or gift cards is considered as not very thoughtful but I find it better than giving someone something they probably don’t need just because gift-giving is a custom.What do you think about the Japanese Christmas culture? Are you annoyed or do you enjoy the atmosphere? Do even celebrate Christmas when in Japan? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/weDKr-living_deeperdivesMon, 13 Dec 2021 10:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/weDKr-living_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mv8WJ-livingA few weeks ago a Duskin salesman rang our doorbell. I usually don’t listen to door-to-door sales, but my husband had opened the door, and when I joined they were already talking.We ended up testing two Duskin dusters for for free and could later decide whether we wanted to rent them afterward for a fee.I tried them shortly after and was surprised that compared to the duster I was using before that I got in a drug store cleaning was a lot more smooth and hard-to-reach areas were easier to reach. Also, I had the impression that more dust would stick to the Duskin duster. When we had to return the dusters they were almost grey with all the dust they had collected. I was undecided whether to actually rent them for some time because the rental fee is not cheap. For two dusters you pay about 2.000 Yen and for only the smaller one you pay about 800 Yen per month.In the end, I decided to rent the smaller one for a while to see how it works. Once you make a contract with Duskin you cannot cancel for 3 months but after that, you can cancel monthly. So the contract is not that hard to get out of.If you make a contract, a Duskin person will come to your house every month collect the old duster and provide a fresh one. You don’t have to send anything via mail or pick up anything yourself.Together with the dusters, you can also rent a cleaning station, but you can also clean the dusters with a vacuum cleaner so that is more a question of convenience. This year will be the first year I will use the Duskin duster for the annual oosouji and so far I am glad that we have it, and would not like to go back to my old duster. I kind of also enjoy dusting more than before. I am not trying to advertise Duskin products but if you find cleaning rather bothersome at the moment maybe getting new cleaning supplies can help you find more motivation and if depending on what you get can help you to get done with the cleaning faster or more efficiently. The annual oosouji is the perfect time to try out something new.Have you had a visit from a Duskin person so far? I usually try to stay away from salesmen but this time I think we got a useful product.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mv8WJ-livingFri, 10 Dec 2021 12:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mv8WJ-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVXbJ-foodLike for every season, you can find seasonal sweets over Christmas as well. As I am always very eager to try them out, I have already tried a few in Japan and can report my experience. In this post, I will talk about sweets you can buy to takeaway and enjoy at home.Japanese Wagashi in Christmas StyleWagashi are traditional Japanese sweets that are made from rice flour and filled with anko. Usually, they are shaped like flowers and leaves to represent the current season, but nowadays you can find all sorts of wagashi, like Halloween-themed wagashi, wagashi that look like Hello Kitty, and of course Christmas-themed wagashi.I found these two in the Daimaru Shopping Center at Tokyo station. You can probably find similar treats in most stores that sell wagashi. One of these sweets costs just over 400 yen, so they were not cheap.I think that they look really nice, but in the end, wagashi usually taste the same no matter how they look because they all are made of rice flour and filled with anko. If you are looking for a difference in taste, you should look for wagashi with a different filling (than anko) instead. Nevertheless, these wagashi tasted really good and were nice to look at.Christmas Cake from Quatre QuartsA lot of Japanese patisserie stores also start selling Christmas-themed cakes in December. Usually, you can find small cakes that look like Santa Clause or a snowman. In a store of the patisserie chain Quatre Quarts I found this cake which was called "Crystal" and is probably inspired by a snow crystal. It costs about 600 yen. The cake is made of white chocolate mousse and filled with vanilla cream - not necessarily very Christmassy flavors but I really liked the taste. I buy from this patisserie quite a lot because the cakes look cute and also taste nice. This chain has several shops in the western area of Tokyo.Besides the smaller cakes at most patisserie stores in Japan, you can usually also reserve bigger cakes that you can either pick up or that will be delivered to your door shortly before Christmas. Christmas chocolate from GodivaMost famous chocolate makers also will have a special Christmas collection in December. I tried this small box from Godiva that contains 4 pieces of chocolate. It was around 1,300 yen which is rather expensive for chocolate. It should be available in all Godiva shops and in their online store. The set contained a piece of dark chocolate and a piece of almond chocolate that tasted as I would have expected. The star-shaped chocolate was filled with walnuts and had honey and ginger flavors that made it feel like a Christmas chocolate. The little snowman was white chocolate with hazelnut filling. This chocolate can come in different designs.All in all, it did taste good and came with some interesting flavors but considering the price, I would probably not buy it again. Have you tried any Christmas Sweets so far? Do you prefer the Christmas Sweets from your home country over the Japanese ones? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVXbJ-foodTue, 07 Dec 2021 12:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVXbJ-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/weDxr-livingLast year I refrained from visiting my family in Germany for Christmas due to the pandemic. It was a little sad but it was also nice to spend Christmas in Japan since I usually spend it in Germany.This year I wanted to go to Germany and things were looking good with Japan easing the quarantine restrictions and Germany taking back more and more restrictions for going out and visiting restaurants and events. However, in November infection numbers in Germany exploded and now some parts of the country are already in lockdown with others probably soon to follow.The situation in hospitals in Germany is already close to the situation we had during the Olympics. Ambulances have to drive around for our hours to find a hospital with a free bed and the intensive care units of hospitals are filling up quickly. Even though I am fully vaccinated I consider this too dangerous and there is also a chance we could not return to Japan if Japan puts Germany on the list of countries that are too dangerous. Currently, there is no quarantine for vaccinated people that enter Germany from Japan with Christmas markets being canceled and a lot of places closed there would not be much to do anyway. Not being able to celebrate Christmas with my family again is rather sad but still, I try to make the best of the situation. For the 25th my husband and I reserved a Christmas dinner in a fancy France restaurant so that I have something enjoyable to distract me. I also ordered a cute Christmas cake for us that will be delivered on the 24th. For my family, I packed a huge box of presents and shipped it to Germany a few days ago. As it was over 7 kilograms shipping was not cheap, but I hope it brightens their mood a little. Of course, we will also talk a lot over skype during the holidays. I hope that infections numbers will be lower in spring so I might be able to go to Germany over the Golden Week Holidays but with many people in Germany not willing to get vaccinated chances are the situation will be unstable in Germany for quite a while longer. In a situation where a lockdown could be coming anytime and restrictions to enter change constantly, I find it rather difficult to make plans for a visit. Especially since usually plane tickets, can’t be fully refunded if you cancel them.Have you visited your family back home since the pandemic started? How are you coping with the travel situation? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/weDxr-livingThu, 02 Dec 2021 12:42:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/weDxr-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWd9-livingLove Hotels are an interesting part of Japanese culture, although one that can be slightly unsettling for foreigners who are not used to the concept. In the end, they are just hotels you can book hourly, but their anonymous nature also brings certain problems with it.What is a love hotel?Love hotels are hotels that you can book hourly and that are targeted at couples that want to spend a few hours or the night together undisturbed. They cost around a few thousand yen per hour if you choose a cheap one. In Tokyo, you can find a lot of them in Kabukicho in Shinjuku, which is known as the red-light district of Tokyo, and also in Uguisudani which is known as the love hotel district. In more rural areas you can find them close highways. Usually, they are pretty easy to tell apart from normal hotels because they tend to have really flashy exterior decorations and designs. Another hint is that love hotels usually do not have many, or only small, windows.Love hotel that looks like a castleThe inside can look like a regular hotel but in general, rooms in love hotels are slightly bigger, come with luxurious beds and bathtubs, and other fancy extras. Some hotels also decorate their rooms according to certain themes. You can find love hotels in Japan that have rooms which look like classrooms, a dungeon from the Middle Ages, or a Hello Kitty wonderland.Most hotels also have additional services like the rental of costumes, adult toys or massage chairs, and food delivery services. Love hotels are anonymousLove hotels are designed to ensure privacy. That might be because in Japanese society it is not common to show affection to your partner in public. You will never see a Japanese couple kissing in a public space. Everything that goes beyond holding hands should stay private.When you check-in you don’t need to show your ID or write down your name and address. In most cases, you don’t talk to a receptionist but just check-in through a machine in the reception area. Payment is usually done through a vending machine.Room selection in a love hotel -Photo by Jason7825(CC BY-SA 3.0) Entry areas are designed so that you can enter discreetly, parking spaces are hidden from the public eye, and as mentioned before there are almost no windows.A reservation is usually not required. You can just enter and choose one of the open rooms.Why are love hotels popular?In places like Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures, apartments tend to be small. Many people use their sleeping space as living space during the day and put away their futon when they wake up. Another issue is that walls can be quite thin in Japan and neighbors might be able hear everything. I would also consider distance a problem. If, for example, you live in Kanagawa and your partner in Chiba, instead of going to one of your places meeting in Shinjuku and staying at a love hotel for the night would save a lot of time spent on the train. Another aspect is that love hotels provide an escape from your everyday life with their luxurious or kinky interior designs.According to Japanese Wikipedia, about 2,000,000 people use love hotels every day in Japan. Recently solo usage of love hotels is also becoming popular among people that want to enjoy a bath in a big bathtub or just to spend a few hours alone. When I think about the small bathtub in our apartment I kind of can understand that.Love hotels can also come in handy if you missed the last train home and don’t want to spend the night in a manga café. Love hotels are popular among foreigners, tooRecently, love hotels also are becoming more and more popular among foreigners. If you have a look at YouTube, you can find a lot of foreigners doing room tours in bizarre love hotel rooms. They have become a sort of tourist attraction. After all, there are surely some love hotel rooms you can only experience in Japan.For some travelers love hotels are also an alternative to business hotels because they prefer the larger rooms or only want to stay a few hours. I personally find them rather inconvenient for staying overnight as usually the overnight stay is limited to 8 hours and you have to check in very late or check out very early.The problem with love hotelsThe anonymous nature of love hotels also brings about some problems. Without any records of the guests and no receipts, it is easy for owners to evade taxes. Japanese Wikipedia also mentions other issues like, cameras that were hidden in hotel rooms and footage being sold on adult video platforms, or sanitary issues. You would think that the rooms are properly cleaned after a visit but that does not seem to be the case for all hotels. Have you been to a love hotel? Did you enjoy the stay?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWd9-livingWed, 24 Nov 2021 16:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWd9-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKdA-living_onlyinjapanJapanese trains are known for being very punctual. This is indeed true for the Shinkansen trains and probably for most other trains unless it is rush hour.I was really amazed when I rode the Shinkansen for the first couple of times since before I had moved to Japan I lived in Germany and the German ICE is almost never on time. Therefore I was used to calculating time on the train so that I would still be on time even if the train was late and spending hours at the train station because the train I was waiting for just didn’t arrive. I also got very familiar with the procedure of how to claim a refund for a delayed train.In Japan on the other hand it is so easy. You can just take the time schedule for granted. Your train will leave on time and you will get to your destination on time. I have no idea if there is a procedure for claiming a refund if your Shinkansen is too late because it just never happened in the 10 years that I have been living in Japan.The local trains in Tokyo during the rush hour or when there was an accident can tell a different story though. The very popular lines like Chuo Line or Yamanote Line have a very high frequency and there will be a new train arriving every 5 minutes or even faster. A slight delay of one train can cause a chain reaction and soon all trains of that line are delayed. Also sometimes trains have to wait for people that change trains from a different line so the delay of one line can also easily lead to delay of another line. With so many people boarding the train during rush hour, delays are easily caused by items getting stuck, people getting sick from the crowded trains, or doors not closing because there are just too many people.When I was still commuting to work by train the trains would be delayed about 50% of the time which more often than not would cause me to be late to work. However, Japan also has an efficient solution for that. When a train is late you can get proof of delay from the station booth. It is a small sheet of paper, with the station name and the date on it, that says that the train was delayed. You can just ask the person at the booth for one. When the delay is severe you can also see people handing these out to passengers as they leave the station.The field for how much the train is delayed is usually not filled in and you can fill in the number of minutes yourself.Some workplaces require you to submit these documents in order to not get a deduction from your salary if you arrive late because of a train delay.Unfortunately, if the train is late almost every other day at some point most HR people will probably just stop accepting the proof of delay and tell to you to leave your house earlier.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKdA-living_onlyinjapanThu, 18 Nov 2021 14:22:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKdA-living_onlyinjapanhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKORV-living_workIf you work in Japan full-time you probably know that at the end of the year you will get some documents for end-of-year tax adjustments that you have to fill in.These are used to adjust the amount of taxes that are deducted from your salary every month to the actual amount you have to pay. For example, you can get tax reductions if you have private insurances, your partner does only have a small income, or for certain loans. You might have to pay more if you had any additional income.In the past, I would get 4 sheets of paper I had to fill in for that procedure. Since last year my company started doing these procedures digitally. Now we all get an email asking us to fill out these documents online. You have to create an account for the service first and after you log in it guides you through the process step by step. Instead of just being confronted with fillable versions of the documents you will be asked for the information step by step. First, you fill out your name and address, then the software asks about additional income, if you paid insurance fees, about your family members, loans, etc.I find this easier to understand than the paper procedure as most of the time I was unsure of where I had to write what information. The papers also are printed in a very small font size so if your insurance provider has a long name, you have a hard time fitting it into the space provided.Previously I had to ask my husband for help but with this software, I manage to fill out everything alone. Another convenient aspect is that information like name and address that usually don’t change every year is stored so you don’t have to fill them in every time. The whole process only takes about 10 minutes.With our remote work style, this digital procedure also saves stamp fees. Unfortunately, it is not 100% digital yet. For example, the postcards you receive from insurance providers at the end of the year to inform you about the total fees you paid and other documents regarding loans, etc. have to be submitted as originals. Therefore, I have to mail them to our office. Nevertheless, I find this digital tax adjustment procedure rather convenient. Hopefully, in the future, a scan of the documents will be sufficient so that the whole procedure can be done digitally.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKORV-living_workWed, 17 Nov 2021 11:10:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zKORV-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWd5-livingWhereas in Japan restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic have never as strict as in other countries and a lot of things were still possible even during the state of emergency some things that I used to do almost every year were not possible. With the low infection numbers we have now in Japan I hope that next year some of these things that I used to do might be possible again.Visiting my husband's parentsUsually, we would visit my husband's parents during the cherry blossom season. They live close to a beautiful park with many cherry trees that is famous for the light-up at night. During the season you can find a lot of booths in the park that sell all kinds of yummy foods. Because of the pandemic these hanami events did not take place or were reduced in size for the past two years. We could have visited this year but as my husband's parents are in a high-risk group because of their age and at that time Tokyo had high infection numbers we refrained from going. Going there for Hanami was kind of a fixed event ever since we got married so it feels like something is missing if we don’t go. My photography skills have improved somewhat and I have a better camera now so I cant wait to take pictures of the beautiful cherry blossoms.Also, I haven’t seen my husband's parents since the pandemic started so I would really like to see them again. I am especially looking forward to the food my mother-in-law cooks.Firework festivalsBefore the pandemic, my husband and I used to visit the Nagaoka firework festival regularly. It has not been held in the past two years so we would spend the day it was supposed to be held watching footage from previous years.The festival has special tickets for photographers so you can get a seat where you can take good photos. Next time we can go I would like to try and get one. They are sold on a lottery basis so I guess they are not easy to get but I would love to try. I was able to get nice photos from one of the regular seats but I imagine the photos from the special photographer seats would be even more stunning.Indoor sports without a maskA few months ago I found out that there is an indoor parkour gym in Tokyo where you can learn how to do this sport in an environment where you don’t get hurt easily. Ever since I wanted to go. It is open at the moment but doing sports with a mask is not necessarily fun and it can get hard to breathe at times. Also with a lot of people breathing heavily in a closed space, the infection risk is probably quite high even with a mask.Once it is ok to walk around without masks again I would definitely like to visit the gym and take a trial lesson if not even visit it regularly.I hope next year these things will be possible again. What are you looking forward to doing? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWd5-livingThu, 11 Nov 2021 10:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWd5-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1v85-medical_howtoOnce you are done with getting your COVID-19 vaccine shots you might want to consider getting a vaccine passport - the proof of vaccination that you get from the vaccination center or clinic is only valid in Japan. If you plan to travel overseas, you will have to get a different document that by most people is called vaccination passport. Officially it is called Vaccination Certificate of COVID-19 and it is not a passport but just a one-page document in Japanese and English.The application process is determined by the area in which you got vaccinated so you will have to check the website of that city or ward for details but in general, it should be similar. In my city, you could apply via two methods, by mail or by visiting the city office.If you apply by mail, you have to prepare a copy of your passport, the proof of vaccination you received when getting vaccinated, and fill out the application form. It should be available to download on the city or ward website. Then you prepare a return envelope and send everything in.If you apply in person in my city, you have to make an appointment via phone call first. Then you bring the documents with you on the day and you can fill out the application form at the office directly. I was able to get an appointment real quick and could go only a few days after I had called. When I went there they checked my documents and told me the vaccination passport would be ready in an hour. I was also asked when I am planning to go overseas as apparently the passport is only issued for people that have plans to travel. I did not have to show any proof of that though. I came back an hour later and could pick up the document. As they only had to print it out I am not sure why it takes one hour to do so but apparently, that is how it works here.I heard that in other areas it is only possible to send in your documents via mail so depending on where you got vaccinated the process might take longer than it took for me. If you got your first and second shot in different areas, you should first confirm which area is responsible for your vaccine passport application if you plan to get one.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1v85-medical_howtoTue, 09 Nov 2021 09:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1v85-medical_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z36Xk-food_healthA convenience store close by recently started selling Base Bread and cookies so I had a closer look at them. Base is a company that makes several food items that are supposed to provide all nutrition that you need. At the convenience store, you can get bread and cookies and on their website, you can also get pasta.For example purposes let us have a look at the curry bread. It provides 13.5 grams of protein, 3.6 grams of fiber, and several vitamins and minerals. It has around 250 calories.According to the recommendation from Base, you should eat two pieces for a meal. If you stick to that recommendation, you get 27 grams of protein and around 40 to 50% of the recommended daily intake for most vitamins and minerals it contains. At the convenience store, one piece costs 270 Yen so you would end up at around 600 Yen per meal, which is fairly cheap compared to a real meal but expensive compared to other bread options you have at the convenience store.I tried the curry bread and taste-wise it was rather dry and not close to “normal” curry breads I have eaten so far. I had the feeling I was eating food for astronauts. So this is defiantly not something I would buy for the taste. But considering that getting something nutritious and with enough protein at the convenience store can be a difficult task these breads might be a nice option. I have also tried the earl grey cookies and they were similarly dry and tasted close to other low-carb cookies I had eaten before. The base breads are probably a lot healthier than all the other bread options you can get at the convenience store as these usually are filled with sweet fillings and contain a lot of sugar, whereas for the base bread sugar comes up in the latter part of the ingredients list. As for the price similar to other “health foods” the base breads are not cheap. Also considering the taste this is probably not really something a lot of people want to spend money on. I think these can be a nice healthier option if you don’t have enough time to get a decent meal and sit down to eat but just want to grab something you can eat on the go. If you are willing to sacrifice the taste and pay the high price to get more nutrition is up to you. Have you seen or tried the Base breads or cookies already? Please share your experience in the comments.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z36Xk-food_healthThu, 04 Nov 2021 08:54:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z36Xk-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKoA-medical_healthHow do you go about choosing a doctor in Japan?In the past, I would just go to the clinic that is closest or the one with the operating hours that would work best with my schedule, but after having had a few not so satisfying experiences I recently am more careful with choosing my doctors.First of all though, I still check clinics that are close by but I also check the website and reviews on Google or Japanese clinic review websites. As I have mainly had bad experiences in Japan with older doctors, I definitely try to avoid these. So, if the website looks like it's from the 90s or if the reviews talk about an elderly doctor, the clinic is a "no go" for me. This is just my experience, but with elderly doctors it seems like they don’t know much about recent research and can’t really accept it when someone that is still “young” is sick so they will just prescribe some medicine and send you home without any examination. With elder people hearing issues are common which makes communication more difficult than it already is when visiting a doctor in Japan as a foreigner. Also, I see a lot of patients who talk about the doctor not listening to them in their reviews. I try to avoid these kinds of doctors as well. I get that there is also a time factor, but still, if the patient has worries a doctor should address them properly. Google reviews can also give you a certain idea of how long waiting times can be. So you can either factor in enough time or go for a clinic which appears to have less waiting time. If a reservation is needed, I definitely do prefer places that have an online reservation system. It is still rather rare in Japan, but I do see more and more clinics that offer this service. Of course, reviews are not everything and in general, people are more likely to write about a bad experience than writing about a good one -- with Google you can write reviews even if you have never visited a place, and purchased fake positive reviews are a thing, as well. I don’t think fake reviews are very common when it comes to smaller clinics in Japan, but you never know. If you are unsure about a review checking other reviews of that account can be a way to better judge if it is genuine or not. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKoA-medical_healthSun, 31 Oct 2021 11:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKoA-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Zd9-food_deeperdivesIn Japan regional specialities are an important part of tourism. Every prefecture, and sometimes also certain regions or cities in Japan, has a special food, food product or beverage they are famous for. As a tourist this is an interesting part of traveling in Japan. When I go somewhere I always try to eat something you can only eat there. But Japan also pushes this cultural aspect slightly over the top sometimes.All restaurants offer the same itemsWhen there is a speciality there will be too many restaurants that offer it. For example, the city of Utsunomiya, in Tochigi Prefecture, is famous for gyoza and you can find over 300 restaurants in the city that serve the dumplings. Some of restaurants serving gyoza are better than others and as a tourist, it is not always easy to find the good restaurants. Also, do you really need so many restaurants that offer the same food? Personally, I do love Utsunomiya gyoza and would recommend everyone that visits the city to try them, but every time I go there I always go to the same place because I found the place that works best for me.Souvenirs and merchandise of the regional specialitiesBesides the food itself, you also get all sorts of edible souvenirs and merchandise among regional specialities. For example, in the city of Uji, near Kyoto, which is famous for green tea, you can get green tea flavoured curry, green tea flavoured cookies, green tea flavoured candy and just about everything else you can think of. You can even get cosmetic products with green tea, like face creams and facial hydration masks. If you are into cute things, you can also find keychains, plushies and toys themed around some kinf of regional specialty. In Utsunomiya you can get small plushies, toys and badges formed like a cute anime-style gyoza. With Demon Slayer being so popular at the moment, you also find Demon Slayer regional-themed merchandise in most souvenir shops. These mostly are keychains and magnets with illustrations of the characters eating the regional speciality. But these kinds of souvenirs have been around in Japan for a while now. For example, there are a lot of region-limited Hello Kitty keychains that feature regional food specialities, too.These items are fun to buy when you visit the region, but I get the feeling that, similar to Disneyland headbands with Micky Mouse ears, they lose their charm once you go home.My recommendations for regional specialitiesI am not an expert on regional specialities but I have visited several regions in Japan and here are three recommendations from me regarding which places you can visit to enjoy them. Kirasse in UtsunomiyaKirasse is a gyoza restaurant situated in the basement of a Don Quijote store about 10 minutes from JR Utsunomiya station. The interesting aspect here is that you can eat gyoza from different restaurants. You can even get a plate of 5 gyoza that all come from different places and taste differently to compare and find out which one you like best. They have a different menu for each weekday so you can come back on a different date and enjoy different kinds of gyoza as well. At around 300 yen per plate, the prices are very reasonable, too. On weekends you might have to line up because the place is rather popular. My favourite gyoza are those from the stores called "Men Men“ and “Men Men Ichiba.”Fukutaro in Osaka Osaka is famous for okonomiyaki and takoyaki. I am not such a big fan of takoyaki, but I like okonomiyaki and have tried several places to eat it. So far the restaurant Fukutaro has been the best. They have a main restaurant in Namba and two other branches in Umeda and in Takashimaya. The main restaurant can be crowded. In my experience, it is easier to get a seat in the other two branches. Personally, I would recommend the mochi and cheese okonomiyaki.King Tacos in OkinawaOkinawa is famous for taco rice - a bowl of rice topped with ground meat, cheese and vegetables covered with a chili sauce. This dish is said to have been created for the American soldiers in Okinawa, to provide a filling and cheap dish. King Tacos claims it was the first place to offer taco rice. The main store is situated in Kin town that is said to be the birthplace of Taco Rice. You can get taco rice in almost every restaurant in Okinawa but in the town of Kin, you can try the original. They offer fairly large portions for very reasonable prices so if you are not an American soldier you might want to consider sharing with a friend. It is not a fancy restaurant, but the taste is right.Are you into regional specialities? When you travel in Japan do you research what kind of food is famous in the region or do care more about sightseeing and other activities? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Zd9-food_deeperdivesFri, 22 Oct 2021 11:48:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Zd9-food_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z364j-living_howtoRecently my Fitbit kind of fell apart for no apparent reason even though only 11 months had passed since I bought it. Luckily it was still in the warranty period so I checked the website for options on how to contact customer service.The website provided an email contact for Japan and I sent an e-mail. Later, I also posted about the broken Fitbit on Twitter and the Fitbit Twitter support contacted me. They said they needed a photo, my name, email address and information about where I bought it. I provided these and they created a support case for me.I was happy with the quick help because the Japanese email support said it would take 2-3 days to receive a reply.However, I didn’t yet know what would happen next.After I provided my address for the replacement to be shipped, Fitbit told me my address was wrong. But it wasn’t. I had checked properly when entering. Nevertheless, they asked me for my address again.I provided the same address asking what the issue was and if they maybe needed the address in Japanese characters, but I never got a reply to those questions.After that, the case remained on hold for a while and I didn’t hear back so I contacted Twitter support again but they also couldn’t tell me what the problem was. However, they did tell me to contact chat support if wanted quick help. I did so, but it turns out the chat support couldn’t help me. I was only told to wait for an email. Then I suggested the Twitter support forwarding my case to the Japanese support team hoping they would know how to read my address correctly. The Japanese support then asked for my phone number, that I had provided twice already, at this point and a receipt of my purchase, which was surprisingly something I had not been asked for yet.I provided these and a few hours later I got a confirmation that my replacement order was being processed. It turns that they had changed my address to Japanese characters. So, now I wonder why the Twitter support and the English email support were not able to tell me that the problem was that my address was not in Japanese characters. I assume that I was not the first person from Japan with a warranty case so they should be aware of that issue. But judging from the fact that they send me to chat support that couldn’t help me I get the impression the Twitter support has no idea what they are doing. I finally received the replacement after about two weeks but after this experience, my next smartwatch will probably not be a Fitbit. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z364j-living_howtoFri, 15 Oct 2021 10:57:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z364j-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1v41-living_onlyinjapanReselling of limited goods is probably an issue all over the world but from my experience, in terms of limited anime and manga goods Japan is at its own level when it comes to reselling.I recently experienced such a case when I visited Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. In September a collaboration with Demon Slayer started at the park and they have a limited-edition popcorn bucket with the character Nezuko from the anime for sale right now.When I researched Universal Studios on YouTube I found someone who said the waiting time to buy the Demon Slayer popcorn bucket was one hour, which at that time was a lot more than the waiting time for most rides - which were rather short due to the restriction of visitor numbers.I did not try to purchase one, but I saw the very long line of people waiting to buy it. Someone who visited the studios a few days later reported that the buckets were sold out in 10 minutes, which probably means the line was closed 10 minutes after opening but people still had to wait several hours to make their purchase. Have you ever heard about a popcorn bucket being this popular? When I checked Mercari I saw the Demon Slayer popcorn bucket being sold for almost 4 times the regular price. At that time, it was only a few people selling it but by now Mercari is flooded with resellers that sell it at around 10,000 yen, which is still more than double of what it costs at Universal Studios. For some reason, they allow you to purchase more than one bucket per person, so it is a perfect opportunity for resellers. I don’t understand why they allow this. Usually, one popcorn bucket is enough for one person if they plan to use it, so limiting the numbers you can purchase would make more than enough sense. Everyone is aware that Demon Slayer is popular and therefore an easy target for resellers. Reselling has also been an issue with other limited merchandise available in Japan like figures and trading cards, and unlike Universal Studios some shops here have come up with creative ways to make the life of resellers harder. Some shops started to implement a kind of quiz that you have to answer correctly before you can buy anything. These quizzes are designed in a way that a fan has no trouble giving the correct answer. In the case of trading cards, some shops ask you to open the pack in the shop so that it cannot be sold as an unopened pack anymore. For someone that purchased the pack to open it anyway that should not be an issue.A Lolita fashion brand once required buyers that wanted to buy a popular dress to wear clothes from the brand to prove that they actually do like the brand and want the dress for themselves.I approve that some stores are now trying to implement such measures as I also had experiences when I could not buy something because it was sold out due to resellers buying all the stock. On the other hand, it is also sad that such measures are necessary just because some people ruin the fun for everyone else in order to make quick money.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1v41-living_onlyinjapanWed, 13 Oct 2021 10:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1v41-living_onlyinjapanhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNob4-living_money_workWhen you are employed full-time in Japan the fees for health insurance, pension and unemployment insurance are split between employee and employer. But how is the amount you pay determined? You might think it is a percentage of your salary but actually, it is a fixed amount that is determined in a very weird way.The amount is determined by the average of your salary from April to June - this includes overtime and transportation fees. The average is then compared with this table(The PDF linked only applies for Tokyo.) and depending on which category you end up falling in you pay a fixed fee. The insurance fees are always calculated in September and then you will pay a fixed amount for one year until it is again calculated in September of the next year.Even if your average salary is only slightly above the threshold for a higher category, you still end up in the higher category. This can lead to very inconvenient situations for employees.For example, if April, May and June are very busy months and you do more overtime than usual you will be paying insurance fees based on these months' salaries even if you make less during all the other months. A lot of companies also give salary raises in April which means that these will impact the insurance fees for the employee immediately. I once had a colleague that received a raise, but this raise pushed them into a higher insurance category so, in the end, they had less money than before the raise. If you have some control about when to do overtime it would be best to avoid overtime in the months of April, May, and June in order to keep your insurance fees lower. I find this system rather unfair. This year I did slightly more overtime in April than last year which pushed my average salary into the higher category because it was 300 yen above the threshold. Now I pay about 2,500 yen more each month even though during most months my salary is below the threshold. How does that make sense? Why do they not take the average of the whole year? Why only three months and why these three months in particular? If you look up Japanese websites about this topic, they tell you that this money is not lost, but do they really believe that? I receive the same health services no matter how much I pay so paying less is obviously better. The pension you receive is indeed dependent upon how much you paid but I do not think I will receive any pension when I am old anyway.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNob4-living_money_workMon, 11 Oct 2021 10:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNob4-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKoW-food_tokyoMost places in Japan start with their Halloween foods in October, but some restaurants and cafes are a little early having already started serving their season's menu in September. I have already tried two very cute Halloween menus so far that I would like to introduce here.Q-Pot Café in OmotesandoIn an earlier post I introduced the summer menu of the Q-pot Café in Tokyo's Omotesando. Since September the cafe's seasonal limited menu has now changed to Halloween. As usual, you can choose from a dessert plate and an afternoon tea set that also comes with sandwiches and soup. For dinks, you can choose from a spooky-looking cherry soda with an eyeball or a dark chocolate tea latte.The dessert plate at Q-pot Café comes with one of two cakes: one looking like a brain and one looking like a ghost, sesame ice topped with a bat cookie and a macaron. For the macaron, you can choose from an eyeball or a jack-o-lantern design. The ghost cake is filled with vanilla mousse & pistachio and berry sauce. The dessert plate is priced at 2,060 yen including a drink, however, the special Halloween drinks will be charged with 200 yen extra.I like that at Q-pot Café you can customize your Halloween dessert in either a cute way or a spooky way so everyone should find something they like. Also, you get a nice variety of sweets on a single plate for a reasonable price. The cafe itself is also decorated for Halloween, so take a look around to not miss any of the cute details.Café Eve in KichijoujiCafé Eve is also known for its seasonal limited dessert plates. They started with their Halloween foods on September 14.You can choose between two versions of a dessert plate. They both look similar and come with a Mt. Blanc cupcake, Japanese style ganache, a ghost parfait and several cute icing cookies. The filing of the ghost parfait is either chocolate mint ice or pumpkin ice. The Mt. Blanc cupcake comes in either sweet potato or chestnut flavour.You can also get one of two special Halloween drinks at Café Eve, one being a cider float the other being a milk tea with whipped cream. The cafe's dessert plates are rather cheap at 1,000 yen each but you have to order a drink or food with it as orders of desserts only are not allowed.The Halloween limited drinks are 780 yen each but you can also choose one of the cheaper drinks from the regular menu.I really liked the Japanese style ganache. The ghost parfait was not very easy to eat as it was covered with a rather large mochi. The Halloween menu from Café Eve offers a nice variety of sweets for a very reasonable price and also allows you to choose from different flavours according to your preference.As this cafe does not have many seats you might have to factor in some waiting time if you plan to visit on weekends or holidays.Both menus are available until October 31. Make sure to not miss them if you like Halloween themed foods as much as I do. Have you already found Halloween foods and menus that you can recommend in 2021? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKoW-food_tokyoSun, 03 Oct 2021 16:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GoKoW-food_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgr1W-living_food_shopping_fashion_deeperdivesHalloween is not traditionally part of Japanese culture but in the past few years it has become an important annual event for a lot of Japanese people. No matter whether you are into the food, the parties, the dressing up or the Halloween goods I think Halloween in Japan offers something for everyone.Trick or treating is not a thing in JapanUnlike in America kids don’t go play "trick or treat" during Halloween in Japan. Nevertheless, there are (or, rather, used to be considering the pandemic) Halloween parties for kids where they play dress-up with some stores having special events where staff hand out candy to the children that visit. Usually, these are smaller neighbourhood events that are organized by people that live in that area. Dressing up your kids can be very cheap in Japan. Most 100 yen stores sell a huge variety of Halloween items, makeup, and costumes for children, so a few 100-yen coins can be enough to get the job done. Adults do dress up as wellIt's not only the kids who dress up during Halloween, the adults do, too. When you go to Tokyo's Shibuya district on Halloween night you can see a lot of people in costumes. Some people put a huge amount of effort into their costumes and do look really stunning. Besides that, if not for the pandemic, there would also be a lot of Halloween parties for adults on the days before Halloween night. Some musicians and artists would do special Halloween performances as well.Last year people were discouraged to go to Shibuya on the 31st because of the pandemic but I still saw a few people in costumes on the live cameras. I assume it will be no different this year.Halloween in Disneyland Halloween is also the only time of the year when you are allowed to go to Disneyland and DisneySea in costume. Usually, costumes are forbidden at the parks but during the Halloween event dressing-up is allowed if you stick to the rules park management has for costumes. This time is very exciting for cosplayers that cosplay Disney characters because Disneyland and DisneySea are probably some of the best locations you can find.Last year the Disney Halloween event was cancelled so no dressing up was allowed at the parks. I assume it will be the same this year, too.Halloween in Disneyland is exciting for visitors that don’t dress up as well. You can enjoy special foods and parades and some rides will even be redecorated during the Halloween period.Of course, you can get limited Halloween merchandise and souvenirs as well.Halloween foodsIf you are not into costumes, you might like Japanese Halloween foods. A lot of cafes will offer special Halloween theme desserts and drinks.If you like Halloween and Pokémon, you might want to visit the Pokémon Café in Tokyo or Osaka because they always come up with a new Halloween-themed menu every year.Some restaurants in Japan, like for example the Alice in Wonderland themed restaurants and restaurants of famous hotels, even do Halloween-themed buffets where you can enjoy a huge variety of cool-looking foods and sweets.Places like Mister Donuts and Baskin Robbins will offer special Halloween doughnuts and ice cream for a limited amount of time and even your local supermarket will likely have Halloween-themed versions of KitKat and other popular sweets on the shelves.Halloween is really an exciting time for foodies in Japan. With a lot of places being closed at the moment because of the state of emergency though, it might not be as exciting this year. Halloween goodsA lot of popular franchises will sell special Halloween collections. You can get a Halloween Pikachu, a Halloween Hello Kitty and probably a Halloween version of every character you like. Popular items sell out fast so you should be quick. However, sometimes seasonal items don’t sell as well as expected and you can get them for cheaper a few weeks after Halloween but I guess after Halloween they are not that exciting anymore. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can also check the 100 yen stores for Halloween goods. Recently they started selling Disney themed items in some of the 100 yen stores as well. Halloween clothesSome Japanese fashion brands, in particular Lolita fashion brands, will have special Halloween collections that go on sale in September and October. They come with Halloween-themed prints and patterns and look really cool. Unfortunately, they are also very popular and it is rather hard to get your hands on them as usually, the quantity is limited. This also makes these items interesting for resellers which makes it even harder. Because of that, some stores have policies like not selling to male customers and refusing customers that don’t come dressed in clothes of the brand when the sale of a popular item starts.How do you like to celebrate Halloween in Japan? Which aspects of the Japanese Halloween culture do you enjoy? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgr1W-living_food_shopping_fashion_deeperdivesMon, 27 Sep 2021 12:15:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgr1W-living_food_shopping_fashion_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G02mV-living_foodAutumn is my favourite season in Japan -- it is the perfect temperature, and I am not allergic to any flowers or trees that bloom in autumn unlike in spring. Also, you get all the amazing Halloween foods and events. But there are a lot of other things you can enjoy in Japan during autumn. Here are some of my favourites.Relaxing in an onsenIn autumn in Japan it can get cold enough at night that a relaxing bathe in an onsen is just perfect. My favourite areas to visit for onsen are Nasu Kogen in Tochigi Prefecture and Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture. But you might not even have to go far to enjoy Japan's onsen -- if you do some research, you can probably find nice onsen close to where you live as well. If you don’t feel comfortable being naked in front of strangers, you should look for private onsen that you can rent as a family or couple to enjoy the comfort in private. These are usually more expensive, but I think it is worth the investment. Enjoying and taking photos of the autumn leavesIn autumn you can enjoy all the leaves turning into orange and red. Last year I visited Shuzenji Niji no Sato in Shizuoka Prefecture during the autumn, and it was very nice for autumn leaf viewing. The place is also very welcoming for cosplayers if you are interested in doing photo shoots with autumn leaves. Another famous place for autumn leaves is Nikko. When travelling to see autumn leaves however, the timing can be difficult because it can be hard to tell on which dates the autumn leaves will look their best, similarly with the cherry blossoms.But again, you can probably find smaller parks close to where you live in Japan to enjoy the autumn leaves without having to travel far.Japanese chestnut foods and sweetsAutumn is the season of the chestnut in Japan, and you can find really cool chestnut-based foods and sweets in a lot of places. Recently I ate this parfait (below) in a cafe in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The parfait contained different types of chestnut ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate and more so that you would never get tired of the taste. I must admit though, it was a little much for one person! The cafe is called Del’immo and has several branches all over the country that you can visit if you like artistic sweets. Another chestnut sweet I tried last year was this chestnut latte art parfait from Café Reissue in Harajuku. They have seasonal desserts that come with cute latte art that also can be personalized according to your preference. You just have to show them a photo on your cellphone.If you have the chance, you should also definitely try kurigohan (rice with chestnuts), which I think tastes really nice and you can feel that autumn has arrived in the flavour. You should be able to find it in certain restaurants or even as onigiri in convenience stores in the season.What are your favourite activities and foods in autumn? Do you like the seasons or do you prefer another one? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G02mV-living_foodSat, 18 Sep 2021 12:00:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G02mV-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnyXo-living_onlyinjapanGetting lost is something that happens quite regularly to me. It has gotten a lot better since phones have GPS and Google Maps, but it still happens. So far, I have got a lot of different reactions from Japanese people who either approached me or who I approached when I was lost. Here are a few anecdotes.1. People that are just trying to helpWhen I stand somewhere looking at a printed map or my phone looking like I don’t know where I am going it happens quite often that someone approaches me and asks whether I am lost. Usually, these people are just friendly and trying to help, and even if they don’t know the way they take out their phones and try to look it up to help. Some even walk with you until you reach your destination. This is really a unique thing for Japan. In Germany people usually would not approach someone who looks lost, and even if you asked them, chances are that they will just tell you they don’t know. 2. People who try to help but also want your phone numberAs a young foreign woman in Japan it also has been the case that the people who approach you are not only friendly but they have something else in mind. It's happened to me a few times - a guy has approached me and walked with me to my destination but when we reached it, he asked for my phone number. I declined in friendly way and there was no further trouble - and I must admit helping someone find their way is better than just coming up with a random pick-up line. Nevertheless, I got the impression they only helped because I am a young foreign woman. 3. People who ignore youIt has only happened to me once so far, but when I had trouble finding my way I approached an elderly Japanese couple to ask them for direction. I spoke to them in Japanese, so I assume they were perfectly able to understand me. Nevertheless, they just ignored me and went on their way. I would have accepted a, “We are sorry, but we don’t know the way,” or a “We are sorry, but we have an appointment and need to rush,” but straight out ignoring me felt a little impolite. I don’t know whether they were scared because I am a foreigner or whether they actually were in a hurry to get somewhere.In the end, I went to a koban (police box) and asked there. They gave me correct directions and I found the place I was looking for.In general, when you are lost in Japan and there is no one that can help you, going to a koban is your best option as the police officers there know the area very well and usually are willing to help you.What experiences have you had so far when getting lost in Japan? Did people try to help you or were you left helpless? Have you also had experiences that a guy was only hitting on you by trying to help you?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnyXo-living_onlyinjapanThu, 16 Sep 2021 19:42:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnyXo-living_onlyinjapanhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrQ7D-living_howtoI recently lost my camera here in Japan and luckily got it back because someone was nice enough to deliver it to the police. I would like to share my experience so that in the case of you losing something in Japan you know what to do.The last time I remember using the camera was before I got on the train going home and when I got home, I realized it wasn’t there anymore. I wasn’t sure whether I had lost it on the train or when I bought food for dinner at a shop in the station. On the next day at first, I went to the lost and found centre of the train station to ask whether it was delivered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. By the way, JR also has an online form where you can check whether your lost item was found. You just enter all the information they ask for and a few hours later you get an e-mail telling you whether they have something fitting the description. My next stop was the shop where I did my shopping, but it wasn’t there either. So, my last stop was the police station in front of the station. They also checked their database for lost items, and it wasn’t there but they recommend filing a lost item report in case someone would bring it in later.For a lost item report, you fill in the place and time where and when think you lost it, your name, address and phone number and details about the lost item. They told me the police wouldn’t call me but to call them in a few days to check. I didn’t really expect much at this point and was already checking selling platforms for cameras like mine but on the next day, I did get a call from the police even though they had said they wouldn’t call me. The person on the phone told me that a camera similar to the one I described was found so I went to the police station during my lunch break to check. Luckily it was my camera, and I could take it home. I felt so happy and relieved. When you pick up something at the police station depending on whether the finder agreed to it or not the police might give you the contact information of the finder. In my case the finder didn’t so I don’t know who did the kind act but in case you get it you should try to contact that person and thank them in person. I had already considered my camera gone but as you can see sometimes you just need to wait for something to turn up. It is always useful to file a report with the police when you lost something of value. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrQ7D-living_howtoMon, 13 Sep 2021 09:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrQ7D-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6lOE-medical_healthI got my first vaccination last month at a mass vaccination site and would like to share my experience. The process was straightforward. When I reached the centre, I handed them the documents that I had filled out in advance and as there were no issues, I was guided to the waiting area. Everyone got a small card with a number and should wait until their number was called.I didn’t have to wait long and was soon guided to the vaccination area. What I found a little unfortunate is that the number calling was in Japanese only so it would have been difficult for someone without knowledge of Japanese to understand when their number was called.The vaccination area was separated into several small rooms where a doctor would go through the papers about your current health condition that you filled out to check whether there are any issues. Then I got the vaccine and was guided to a desk where I would receive my papers for the second shot and then to a waiting area where I would wait for 15 minutes to see whether there were any immediate adverse reactions. As I was fine, I left after 15 minutes. The waiting time included the whole process took about 30 minutes. I felt normal for the next few hours but after 2 or 3 hours I started to feel a pain in the arm that received the vaccine. It was annoying but bearable without any pain medication. I also had a slightly higher temperature in the evening, but it was back to normal the next day. The pain was still present on the second day. It was a little inconvenient when typing or holding things with that arm but normal everyday activities were possible and I worked normally on that day. As for the second dose my appointment got cancelled due to the faulty Moderna vaccine doses that were found recently. I only found out about the cancellation shortly before I was about to go to the vaccination site.I found this rather inconvenient as I had adjusted my schedule according to the appointment. I now have a new appointment but the vaccination site just decided on a date without any consideration as to whether that date works for me nor did they offer a possibility to change the date.Personally, this seems rather unprofessional. I understand that the cancellation was required and that the appointment had to be rescheduled but usually, you offer several dates to choose from when you reschedule an appointment, don't you?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6lOE-medical_healthMon, 06 Sep 2021 12:23:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6lOE-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqQ0A-livingAs you might know, cosplay is a big thing in Japan as well as cosplay photography. Some photo studios and photographers are even specialized in cosplay photography. But there is also a scene of Japanese photographers that produce original pieces that have an amazing fantasy vibe.I have visited a few photo exhibitions of such photographers in recent months and am planning to visit more in the future. So I wanted to share my experience and give you some recommendations.Everland Exhibition by Yumi Gejo & Ariana in collaboration with CoCoonharukaYumi is a female photographer that does a lot of work inspired by Lord of the Rings and Disney movies. In her works, the models turn into elves, fairies, mermaids or characters from Alice in Wonderland. With her shooting and editing skills, usage of props and location choices she makes these fantasy portraits looks very realistic. I also had the opportunity to work with her once and the pictures turned out really great.Ariana is a model that does a lot of modelling for fantasy and alternative photo shoots. She has an amazing repertoire of poses and expressions and is also very skilled in terms of makeup and hairstyling. Every year the two of them hold an exhibition that has the theme “Fairies” in the gallery “Gallery Miru” in Shibuya. This year it took place from July 19 to July 25. The theme was fairies through the seasons, and you could not only look at the amazing photographs but some of the costumes and props were on display as well. It felt like being in a fantasy world.The animal dolls were provided by the artist CoCoonharuka. Most of the costumes were self-made by either Yumi or Ariana.The entry is free so if you are interested in this kind of photography, you should definitely go next year. You can check out the Instagram of Yumihere and the Instagram of Arianahere.“Mirai He no Okurimono” (Present to the future ) Exhibition by Haseo HasegawaHaseo is a very famous photographer in Japan. He was the first Japanese photographer to do shootings for Playboy magazine and has won several international photography awards.He did a solo exhibition at the Fujifilm Gallery in Tokyo in July. It is over already but currently, he has an exhibition ongoing in Osaka until August 16 at the Fujifilm Gallery in Osaka. Travelling to Osaka is probably not a good idea at the moment but if you live close by you should check it out. Entry is free. I had the chance to visit the Tokyo exhibition and all the pictures were stunning. Haseo usually builds all the sets for his photoshoots himself and has very close attention to detail. When he uses flowers for photo shootings all are always fresh and he even made his own swamp in his studio in Nagoya that he uses for photo shootings. Here are some pictures from the exhibition.If you want to see more, you can check out the Instagram of Haseo. If you would like to become a part of his art or have him take your wedding photos you can book a variety of photo plans on his website, but as you can imagine from the work that goes into such photos they are not on the cheap side.Yami no Ou “King of Darkness” – ExhibitionThis is a joined Exhibition of several photographers that will be held on August 28 and 29 in Yokohama at studio Olive. It is organized by Pasha Style, a group of Japan-based photographers that organize a website and a magazine specialized in portrait photography. They also do seminars and photo shooting events. On their website you can look at a lot of great work from photographers from all over Japan, that is carefully selected from a large number of submissions they receive every day. A few pictures where I modelled can be viewed as well, in case you are interested. This exhibition is unfortunately not free. It costs 2.200 Yen but you will get a booklet with all the photos on display together with your ticket. In this exhibition, you can enjoy photography that is more on the dark side. Most of the works you will be able to see there are not yet published but from what I have seen so far it should turn out to be a great exhibition. The location looked very nice as well judging from the photos on their website. Tickets can be purchased through the online shop or at the door but then the price is slightly higher.Due to the Corona measures, only 80 people can enter at the same time therefore all tickets have a time slot. I hope you found some of my suggestions inspirational and maybe decide to visit one of the exhibitions. This kind of photography is not necessarily considered typical Japanese culture but is an interesting sub-culture to explore and once you start looking you will find a lot of great Japanese artists. Are you into photography? What kind of pictures do you enjoy? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqQ0A-livingMon, 23 Aug 2021 21:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqQ0A-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNoy7-living_workMy first real job in Japan was in a small law office. I worked in a position assisting the attorneys and communicating with foreign clients and I want to share some aspects of my work experience.No clothing rulesUsually, in a law office, you would expect at least a business casual dress code but that was not the case. You could wear what you wanted, even anime t-shirts. Only when you had a meeting with a client you were expected to dress more businesslike. One of the attorneys even would walk around in fluffy Hello Kitty room shoes when in the office.Office chatterFor lunch, those who brought their own lunch and didn’t eat out would sit in the meeting room and eat together. Most of the time everyone would be speaking ill of the attorneys because they usually were not in the office. When one of the other office workers had a day off usually that person would become the topic of the conversation. As I didn’t enjoy that very much, I stopped eating in the meeting room and would eat at my desk.Overtime is for everyoneI usually try to finish my work on time so that I don’t do overtime. Some of my colleagues at that time would do overtime almost every day. I am not sure if they really had such a high workload, were just slow or did overtime because of the money. After a few weeks my bosses would talk to me and said that because everyone does overtime, I would have to do overtime as well. But they didn’t say a word about switching responsibilities to maybe adjust imbalances in the workload. It was just: “Do overtime because everyone else does overtime!”No real days offAs I was the only employee in the company that spoke decent English, I had to check emails even on my days off in case something important from a foreign client came up that had to be dealt with immediately. I was allowed to submit the time I worked as overtime and would get paid for it, but it was rather stressful to not be able to forget about work on your days off. In my current job, I can count on my colleagues on my days off which is much better.Working there was rather different from what I had imagined and as I didn't enjoy it very much I switched jobs once I got a better opportunity. How was your first working experience in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNoy7-living_workSat, 21 Aug 2021 21:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNoy7-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkmLB-money_howtoIf you live in Japan and want to sell on eBay.com you now need a Payoneer Account. eBay is no longer working with Paypal in regards to seller Payouts. Buyers can still use it though.Getting a Payoneer Account turned out more difficult than expected because their support staff is about as helpful as a bad AI would be. In order to get an account, you have to register on the website and provide your personal and bank account information. As it is not possible to enter your address in Japanese characters you have to enter it in English spelling.Then they will ask you for some documents to prove your residency. They ask for a passport, however, a foreign passport will not be accepted, which you only find out after submission. My resident card that I submitted on the second try was ok though. For proofing your address, you have to submit either a rental contract, a document from your bank that contains your address or a utility bill. I asked the support staff whether a Juminhyo would be sufficient because the rental contract and the utility bills are in my husband’s name and usually the banking statements in Japan don’t contain your address. It took about three e-mails until they understood my question because they never really read what I wrote and just gave me a reply that copied what is already explained on the website. They said yes but when I submitted it, it was rejected. I was never able to get an answer to my question why it was not accepted because again no one actually read my e-mails. I think they never understood what a Juminhyo is in the first place. In the end, I remembered that our internet contract is under my name. We don’t get the bills mailed so I had forgotten about it. I downloaded a PDF bill from our internet provider's website, and it was accepted. I have no idea how this document that you could fake rather easily is acceptable and a Juminyho with an official stamp from the city office is not.If you can’t submit a utility bill, a bank statement or a rental contract I assume it is impossible to open an account.If you are ready with the process and your account is officially opened, you can start receiving funds from eBay. With the new payment system, it takes a few days until funds are transferred from eBay to Payoneer. Then you can request a transfer to your bank account which again will take a few days. Payoneer charges fees for conversion of USD into JPY but there are no fees for transferring money to your bank account. Your bank might charges fees but as the transfer is considered a national transfer most Japanese banks should not. However, there is a minimum amount for the transfer which is 50USD for most accounts so if you only sell a few items on eBay it might be a better idea to sell elsewhere.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkmLB-money_howtoSun, 15 Aug 2021 12:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wkmLB-money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjPA1-shopping_onlyinjapanI think everyone knows the cliché of Japanese people liking to line up. I have had some interesting experiences in this regard that could be classified as “only in Japan”.On the release day of the Nintendo Switch I decided to line up in front of a big electronics store that supposedly had a few consoles for sale for people without a reservation. The experience was rather pleasant. I arrived about 3 hours before they opened and there was a sign that told people where to line up and a few people were already in line. I just went to the end of the line, sat down, and started to watch some Netflix series I had downloaded.There was no pushing in and no one tried to cut into the line. Everyone just sat down waiting patiently.When someone wanted to leave for a toilet break they would just inform the person in front and behind them and they could get back their spot without any issues once they came back.When the opening time of the store came close a member of staff handed out number cards to people lining up and confirmed which colour console they wanted and whether or not they wanted to buy a game as well.Everyone that got a card would be able to buy a console. People that didn’t get at a card knew already that they couldn’t and could then leave without having to wait any longer.Once the store opened people would enter slowly and no one started running or pushing other people away either. The process of purchasing the Switch was also fast and smooth and I could leave about 30 minutes after the store had opened. I was very surprised how well organized this whole thing was carried out and that all the people lining up were nice and calm. I thought that in other countries I wouldn’t work like that.When I lined up for an iPhone release in front of an Apple store I had a rather different experience that kind of confirmed my suspicion. This also happened in Japan but a rather large percentage of the people lining up were foreigners. For the iPhone release, Apple had not organized anything at all. So, people would just line up where they wanted and all over the place you could see people that were trying to cut into the line. After several stores in the surrounding areas complained about the line, security people tried to move it back. Most Japanese people followed the instructions, but a lot of foreigners refused. I saw an elderly Asian couple that had to be dragged away by security because they just kept sitting in their spot even though everyone else had already moved backwards. Also, from what I heard, Apple had no idea of how many iPhones they could sell so there was no information on who could buy one and who couldn’t, as a result a lot of people probably waited for hours and hours in vain. I was lucky that in the line the people in front of me and behind me were Japanese so that when I wanted to leave for a toilet break, they secured my spot and even moved the camping chair and blanket I left there for me when the line moved.Standing in line in Japan can be a very positive or negative experience depending on who lines up with you and how the whole thing is organized. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjPA1-shopping_onlyinjapanSun, 08 Aug 2021 10:12:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjPA1-shopping_onlyinjapanhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2q9V-foodThe Japanese summer can be harsh in terms of UV rays. Sometimes sunscreen might not be enough to protect your skin sufficiently. But you can also support your skin with smart food and drink choices. Here are some foods and drinks that make your skin stronger against UV rays and prevent damage that it might cause.1. BlueberriesBlueberries are rich in antioxidants. These help to fight free radicals that are caused by UV rays in the sunlight. In Japan, fresh blueberries can be expensive but in most supermarkets you can find frozen blueberries for better prices. I must say though that fresh blueberries taste better, especially when they come from a local farm. 2. Green TeaA study in 2010 found that green tea can reduce the number of tumours induced by UVA light in mice. It also is said to protect your skin against the decrease of collagen.In Japan, you can also find skincare products that contain green tea extract, but I personally think it would make more sense to drink tea because most substances in skincare products cannot pass through the barrier of the skin. Green tea is available from every vending machine in Japan and of course in supermarkets and convenience stores as well.3. Dark ChocolateDark chocolate also contains many antioxidants. But you should choose chocolate of 70% cacao or higher. I once tried a 95% chocolate, and I must say it was an interesting experience. It didn’t taste like chocolate but rather like cacao which makes sense if 95% of it is cacao. The package even had a warning because of the extremely bitter taste.I personally can enjoy chocolate up to 85%. As chocolate contains a lot of fat you might not want to eat too much. But if you go with the 95% chocolate, eating too much is probably impossible. Dark chocolate is available in every supermarket in Japan. 4. PomegranatePomegranates are extremely rich in antioxidants, ellagic acid and have anti-inflammatory agents. They can help your skin resist cell damage caused by UV rays. In Japan, they might not be easy to get. In fact, I think I haven’t seen them in Japan yet. But you can buy pomegranate supplements on amazon Japan.5. Sweet PotatoSweet Potatoes contain beta-carotene which is also an anti-oxidant. I read a book called “DNA restart” that talked about an ancient tribe living in an area with high sunlight exposure. They would traditionally eat a lot of sweet potatoes. It is suggested that because of this they didn’t have much trouble with skin cancer. People from that tribe that moved to a larger city and changed their diet ended up with significantly higher skin cancer rates. Baked sweet potatoes can be found in many Japanese supermarkets or convenience stores ready for eating. Sweet Potatoes have more calories than regular potatoes, but they also have more fibre.How are you dealing with the strong sunlight in the Japanese summer? Do you have special foods you eat during summer to protect your skin? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2q9V-foodWed, 04 Aug 2021 09:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2q9V-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvnJ-medical_healthIn July in the area I live vaccination for citizens under 40 years of age started. The city has set up an online vaccination system where you can make appointments easily. Or, well, I assume that was the intention I suppose.You need your vaccine voucher and your date of birth to log in. That worked out quite well. Then it creates a “my page” for you and gives you the warning that this “my page” cannot be deleted once it is created, which I find kind of suspicious from a data security point of view. If you want your data deleted, it should be possible to do that.Then you can proceed to the reservation system. I first tried searching by dates but on most dates the search would simply result in no open slots. Then I started searching by vaccination sites and found out why. Only one vaccination site of the many that offer vaccinations in my area is actually using the online reservation system. All other the sites apparently only take reservations via phone. Here I really wonder why the city would spend quite a lot of money to build this system when only one vaccination site is actually using it. By the way, that vaccination site is only a temporary one that will stop doing vaccinations in August. Seems to me like tax money was wasted. Also, the vaccination reservation system is only available in Japanese with no support for people that don’t speak Japanese whatsoever. They don’t even use the bad machine translation that some wards in Tokyo use for the website of the ward office. Nevertheless, I was able to get one of the few remaining appointments at the vaccination site that takes online reservations, however, what I found inconvenient is that it automatically schedules your second appointment 4 weeks after the first at the same time slot. I guess that it might be more difficult to organize a system where you can have a flexible second appointment but with this system some people might not get vaccinated because they just can’t adjust their schedule so that both appointments work. Also, it just shows you the message about the second appointment only once and it is not like your second appointment is mentioned when you check your reservation on your “My page” so I guess a lot of people don’t realize that their second appointment is scheduled automatically. How did your COVID-19 vaccination reservation process go? I hope the area you live in has a better system. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvnJ-medical_healthMon, 02 Aug 2021 15:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvnJ-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYXpL-food_tokyoI recently visited the Q-pot Café in Omotesando, Tokyo, to try their newest creation for the summer. Unlike what you might expect from summer, it features a polar bear and snowflake design hoping that everyone who eats it can cool down from the summer heat a little.The dessert consists of three parts, a parfait made of jelly, mousse and fruit that is topped with a cute ice bear made of meringue, ice that is topped with a chocolate snowflake and a macaron. The plate is also decorated with blue jelly hearts. For the macaron, you can choose between 4 different flavours: melon, strawberry, lemon and chocolate. The one in the picture is the melon macaron. I personally was not a big fan of the jelly, but the white mouse, the ice cream and the macaron were very good, and it is a nice cool dessert that helps to refresh in the Japanese summer heat. The dessert plate costs around 2,000 yen and comes with a drink of your choice. They also have a fitting yoghurt lassi drink that comes with a polar bear made of ice cream on top, however, this drink will increase the price by an additional 200 yen.In my experience, Q-pot Café is not very crowded on weekdays. On weekends you might want to get a reservation which you can do easily via tabelog. Reservations are free of charge but you can only reserve for one or two persons. For reservations for 3 or more persons, you will have to call the cafe on the phone.If just a dessert is not enough, you can also order an afternoon tea set in the same theme, that comes with a sandwich and a soup for 2,500 yen. If you prefer take-out, you can also get a tropical mouse cake from Q-pot Café that comes with a cute polar bear on top. The new desserts are seasonally limited and have been available since July 22, however, I couldn’t find for how long they will be served. I assume it might be until autumn when they will probably start serving a Halloween-themed dessert. I like that they keep offering seasonally themed desserts at Q-pot Café. It makes it more fun to visit again. At the Q-pot Café they also have each seating area designed in a different style so you can enjoy a different atmosphere every time you visit. This time I got a seat on the large table in the centre that is decorated with fake cakes.They also have a chocolate-themed area, a sakura-themed area, and others.Also, I found it interesting that unlike most cafes that offer fruit parfaits in summer, they tried a different approach and themed the summer desserts with a cute polar bear design. If you ask me, they could get rid of the jelly but for some reason, jelly seems to be a thing in Japan in summer and you can find all sorts of jelly desserts in cafes, convenience stores and supermarkets. If you don’t mind the jelly and want to try a different kind of summer dessert, the Q-pot Café in Omotesando might be a nice option.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYXpL-food_tokyoWed, 28 Jul 2021 14:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MYXpL-food_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mv8XN-living_deeperdivesMy first contact with cosplay was when I started to get interested in anime and manga and went to some smaller conventions and fan meetings in Germany. It seemed like an interesting hobby but I never got into it due to lack of costume making skills. In Germany cosplay is still mostly a niche hobby, but in Japan it is quite major and some cosplayers have even made it their main job.Cosplay is quite popular in JapanHaco Stadium in ChibaIn Tokyo and neighbouring prefectures you can find several photo studios that specialize in cosplay photography, for example the Haco Stadium in Chiba and Ikebukuro, Studio Aria in Tachikawa or Studio Booty in Shinjuku. All have several different themed rooms so they can cater to a large variety of cosplay and have a huge collection of props that can be rented for free. Compared to regular photo studios they even are quite cheap. You can use them for a whole day at around 4,000 to 5,000 yen.Props at Studio AriaSome studios also offer a photography service where you can have your picture taken by a professional photographer for an additional fee and costume rental services. All year round there are also cosplay events taking place where you can take photos in locations like abandoned places, churches or ruins. Cosplay is very popular online, and you can find a lot of social medial profiles of cosplayers. Some even became popular enough that they can make a living by selling their photos / videos, taking part in paid photo sessions, etc.But don’t wear your cosplay outsideIn “normal” society, however, cosplay is still looked down upon in Japan. It is considered bad manners to walk around in your cosplay outside unless there is a cosplay event. But even for events it is usually not allowed to arrive in cosplay. Cosplayers usually arrive with no makeup and in normal clothes and change and do their makeup and hair in the changing room that is provided by the event organizer. The same goes for cosplay shooting in the photo studios. Some studios even ask you to take off your wig and wear an overcoat if you leave the studio to get something to drink.I don’t really see why that is. Obviously, costumes with large wings or costumes that show a lot of skin shouldn’t be worn outside, but some costumes just look like a school uniform or are similar to Lolita fashion. The cosplayers just add some fancy wigs and a little heavy makeup on top of that. If you go to Harajuku, you will find people with fashion styles that are just as flashy as cosplay but these people can wear it because it is “fashion”? Cosplay and Legal IssuesRecently cosplay also became the topic of legal discussion in Japan. In regard to the cosplayers that make money from their hobby copyright infringements are now being discussed. So far cosplayers would just cosplay what they wanted without asking the author or the company that owns the right of the franchise for permission - which in my opinion is perfectly fine if you do it as a hobby. But when it comes to making money, I agree that they should need the permission of the rights owner. After all, the author worked hard on their story to make it popular and a company spends a lot of money on advertising to make their franchise popular. Cosplaying a popular character will probably be getting the cosplayer more attention and photo sales than cosplaying a lesser-known character. So, it makes sense that the cosplayer should have to get permission and possibly pay licensing fees to the rights owner. I assume some might just be alright without any fees because they consider it free advertising, but some might charge something just like Nintendo charges a part of the profits of Lets Players. So far a decision has not been made but there are plans to update the copyright law in regard to cosplay. Another thing I find problematic is when cosplayers take photos only wearing swimwear or undergarments when the character is never shown in such a situation in the anime, manga or game. In that case, they only do it for popularity and better sales. But I don’t think the author is very happy to see a character they out a lot of work into undressed. It depends on the person I guess, but I wouldn’t like it if I were an author. Also, is it really costume play when you don’t wear a costume? If they update the law maybe it will become possible for right holders to determine what kind of cosplay they allow and what they don’t want to see.Have you ever done cosplay? Do you think cosplayers that make money should be paying license fees to the right owners?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mv8XN-living_deeperdivesThu, 22 Jul 2021 12:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mv8XN-living_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqQAW-living_foodSummer usually means Pikachu Parade in Yokohama however with the current state of emergency I doubt that this event will take place this year. Nevertheless, there are other fun things you can do this summer if you like the franchise.1. Go Pokemon Hunting at the Pokemon Wonder Forest in YomuirulandThe theme park Yomuriland in Tokyo recently announced a new Pokemon-themed attraction. A part of the park has been turned into a wood where you can go Pokemon hunting. You don’t actually catch them but rather look for small Pokemon statues or crafts that resemble Pokémon that are hidden in the area. As they only allow a small number of people in the area at the same time tickets must be purchased in advance. Unfortunately, tickets are sold out until the end of August but an announcement for tickets sales for September should be coming at the end of July.2. Enjoy the Pokemon Colors Exhibition in Matsuya GinzaThe department store Matsuya in Ginza will hold a Pokemon exhibition from July 22 to August 11. Judging from the website it will be a colourful and interactive exhibition. As visitor numbers are limited tickets must be purchased in advance and are available on this website. Currently, there are a lot of tickets still available. That is how a ticket looks like. They are 1.000 Yen per person.3. Buy yummy cakes at Pikachu Sweets in IkebukuroThe Pikachu sweets shops in Ikebukuro has changed their menu quite a lot from when they first opened. At the moment they have really cute Pikachu cakes. During the state of emergency only takeout is available, and you cannot eat in the store. As they sell out fast you might want to go in the morning to make sure you get the cake you want. But be careful when transporting your cake or it might end up like this.4. Take Photos of the Pokemon ManholesPokemon Manholes can be found all over Japan by now with new ones being installed every few months. On this website, you can check which manholes you can find in your area. In Tokyo for example, you can find manholes in the Serigaya park in Machida.5. Cool down with sour Pikachu gummy sweetsThe Japanese sweets maker Kanro has been doing collaborations with Pokemon since last year when they first started selling a Pikachu shaped version of their Pure gummy candy. Currently, you can find a summer-themed version of this candy in convenience stores and supermarkets. There are 5 different designs available that might make the summer heat more bearable.I hope I could provide some inspiration for your summer activities.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqQAW-living_foodWed, 21 Jul 2021 10:03:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqQAW-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zen-food_money_onlyinjapanIn Germany you will not find a lot of wending machines. Some can be found at train stations or airports but definitely not as much as in Japan. When I first came to Japan the vending machines quite useful because you can get something to drink no matter where you are, and the drinks are even hot/cold depending on the season. I also like that you can get something to drink without having to line up at a conbini cashier, skipping the conversation about whether you have a T-Point card or whether you need a bag.I am also quite a fan of the ticket vending machines in restaurants here in Japan because it reduces interaction with the waiter to a minimum. It probably also makes it easier for the waiter because they do not have to take notes and there is never the issue of me pronouncing something incorrectly and giving the waiter a hard time in understanding me.In recent years I started seeing Japan's vending machines a little differently though because they use quite some amount of energy considering they provide hot drinks in winter and cold drinks in summer. Also, most of the drink vending machines are in operation 24 hours every day which is kind of ironic because most ATMs in Japan close at night and some are not even available on weekends, but that is a different topic. It makes sense to have vending machines in districts like Shinjuku in Tokyo where a lot of people come and go no matter what time of the day it is, but I also see a lot of vending machines in my neighbourhood where mostly families live and you hardly see someone walking around at night, and only a few people during the day. I assume these vending machines are still profitable because if the power cost was higher than the income from sales, the machines would probably be removed. Besides the power the machines themselves use, you also might want to consider the gasoline that the drivers that come to fill up the machines when drinks are empty use. Vending machines are convenient but probably not the best choice when you think about the environment. Also from the point of view of your wallet, Japan's vending machines are not the best option because the drinks are rather expensive compared to buying them at a supermarket. Even the cheapest drink tends to cost more than 100 yen from a vending machine, whereas in the supermarket you can often get the same drink for 70 to 80 yen. Nevertheless, I still buy drinks at vending machines a lot when I am at the train station and waiting for my train. I could just make a short trip to the supermarket before entering the station but the vending machines are rather convenient when you are in a hurry and as you can pay with your Suica card you don’t even have to get out your wallet. I would have never done so in Germany because there, vending machines drinks are even more expensive than in Japan. So every time I buy a drink from vending machine is kind of an "only in Japan" moment for me.Do you fall victim to the convenience of vending machines a lot? Have you found a way to resist them? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zen-food_money_onlyinjapanThu, 15 Jul 2021 16:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M9Zen-food_money_onlyinjapanhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Z1W-food_healthIn Japan, you can find "healthy" versions of Pepsi and Coke in supermarkets and convenience stores. In this post I want to have a look at how healthy these kinds of drinks really are and whether the higher price here in Japan is reasonable. I will use Pepsi Special Zero as an example.What is different?A Pepsi Special Zero bottle contains 5g of indigestible dextrin, which is a fibre. Besides that the ingredient list is quite close to the original Pepsi Zero - the special uses a slightly different combination of artificial sweeteners and the amount of some ingredients seems to differ as they appear in different places in the list.What is Dextrin?Dextrin is a fibre that has shown an effect on sugar absorption and fat absorption when taken with a meal. This helps to keep your blood sugar level and the level of triglycerides in the blood at bay. Price Difference In my local supermarket in Japan a regular, 600ml bottle of Pepsi Zero costs 68 yen whereas the Pepsi Special 500ml bottle costs 108 yen. Dextrin is available in powder form for below 2 yen per gram on Amazon Japan. I assume Pepsi buys larger amounts and can even get a price of below 1 yen per gram. They managed to double the price with a minimal cost increase. Quite remarkable. Is the special Pepsi healthy?You could say that it is healthier than a regular Pepsi because fibre is good and has proven positive effects. Nevertheless, you should not forget about all the other ingredients in the drink that are not considered very healthy. So, adding fibre to not so healthy drinks does not make them healthy. Is it worth it?Definitely not. I do not see why you would have to pay so much more for just 5 grams of dextrin. If you want more fibre in your drink, buying the powder and adding it yourself is definitely the cheaper option. Also, when you look at studies that researched the long-term effect of dextrin participants would take 9grams per day. I think we can agree that drinking two bottles of Pepsi Zero Special per day would not be very good for your health.You can also find green teas with added fibre in Japanese supermarkets. In that case drinking two bottles per day should not be an issue but these teas also tend to be very overpriced. So, you would still be better off just adding the powder yourself. Also, you could consider eating more veggies to increase your fibre intake. Veggies not only contain fibre but also vitamins and minerals and most people probably do not eat enough of them.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Z1W-food_healthTue, 13 Jul 2021 13:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Z1W-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQKL8-food_howtoDo you like latte art? Do you like to customize things? Then there is a perfect cafe for you. AtCafé Reissue in Harajuku, Tokyo, you can get customized latte art on your drinks and on your desserts. All you have to do is show a picture on your phone. It can be anything; your favourite anime character, a picture of yourself, a cute animal or even a fantasy creature like a unicorn.Then you can choose whether you prefer a 2D or a 3D latte art and then the latte artist will work their magic. It might take a while for your drink to arrive, but it is worth the wait. Make sure to take pictures before you enjoy your drink as these are definitely "instaworthy." The drinks are rather expensive and start at 1,100 yen. Depending on the type of art, additional fees might be added. You can choose from a variety of flavours at Café Reissue, like vanilla latte, honey latte, raspberry latte and more. For folks that don’t like coffee, you can also get a hot chocolate with latte art.For the dessert, Café Reissue usually has a seasonal latte art dessert that comes with a default art. By paying an additional 200 yen you can customize that art to whatever you want to get a one and only dessert just for you. The café also offers 3 different dishes for lunch that change daily and a variety of cold drinks but these don’t come with the art. The lunch dishes are at around 1,000 yen.From my impression, everyone that goes to Café Reissue chooses one of the drinks with art though. At the moment it is very easy to get a seat even on weekends because they have fewer customers due to the pandemic. Before corona, it used to be crowded on the weekends so you might have had to wait a while. Café Reissue had all the standard corona measures in place. Guest are asked to disinfect when entering, wear masks when not eating and the number of seats is reduced. When I last visited, I had a short talk with one of the latte artists and they seem to be struggling right now due to the lower number of customers. I personally like this place and would be sad if they had to close. If you happen to be in Harajuku, why not pay a visit and enjoy a custom-made drink. What kind of art would you choose? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQKL8-food_howtoThu, 08 Jul 2021 11:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQKL8-food_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpYDB-living_medical_workI recently received my COVID vaccine voucher, but I cannot yet make an appointment as in my area, for now, people with certain health conditions are being prioritized. I should get more information at the beginning of July on when I can make reservations.I had been checking out several clinics that have waiting lists where you can register for cancellations, and they call you if someone cancels on the day of the appointment. However, either I was not living close enough, they only take people from the area the clinic is in, or they still only take people over 65 years of age so I have not been able to register yet.Nevertheless, my workplace is very cooperative when it comes to vaccinations. We are allowed to get our shots during regular work time. All we have to do is inform our superiors. They were even OK with me trying to register for the clinic waiting lists even though it would mean that I could only inform my superior shortly before I would need to leave the house. My company also has paid sick leave and usually you have to submit a receipt from the clinic you went to as proof to qualify for the leave. In the case that someone feels bad after getting their COVID vaccination shots though, they can take a sick day without having to submit anything. My husband’s company has similar policies in place. They allow employees to take a special day off (a day off that does not count towards your annual vacation) for the day they get their vaccination. Vaccination at the workplace is not possible for both of us though. My company used to do flu shots at the office but since we switched operations to "home office" that option is not available anymore. However, if you submit the receipt and request reimbursement, they still cover the cost if you get your flu shot at a clinic.I am quite happy with how my company deals with vaccinations and I hope that I can get a spot soon. How does your employer handle the situation? I could imagine that a lot of companies wouldn’t grant their employees special days off so that they only get their vaccination on the weekends or after work if they don’t want to take a vacation day. But I also heard a lot of the bigger companies plan to do the vaccination at the workplace which can be convenient because you don’t have to visit a clinic or a vaccination site. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpYDB-living_medical_workFri, 02 Jul 2021 11:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpYDB-living_medical_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjP3e-livingI wanted to share some of the activities I have recently been into when I am at home to provide some inspiration and ideas for those that are starting to get bored with being stuck indoors.Indoor walkingI like to go for walks after work, but I don’t like to go outside when it rains. Therefore, with the rainy season starting in June I purchased this walking pad.It's like a smaller version of a treadmill with a handrail. However, you cannot run on it. It is only for walking. You can adjust the speed from level 1 to 5, where 4 is around my normal walking speed and 5 is my slightly fast walking speed. With this walking pad, I can still do my evening walks but don’t have to leave the house and I can also watch Netflix while walking. I also hear of people that like to use walking pads together with a standing desk to walk while working but I personally would find that impractical because I have to do a lot of typing to do when at work. If you wear running shoes, it is not very noisy. But I only tested it on the first floor so it might be noisy for your downstairs neighbours if you have some. Learning about psychology, nutrition, money management and a lot of other interesting topicsIf you used to watch Japanese TV you might have heard of Daigo the mentalist. He used to appear on TV shows as someone who does some kind of psychological magic tricks. Now he does not appear on TV anymore but has his own video platform called D-Labo where you can find more than 3000 videos about topics that can be helpful in life. You can learn how to lose weight more efficiently, what items you should use for your skincare, how to be more self-confident, how to deal with difficult human relations and much more. All the information he presents is based on scientific research.The D-Labo service is free for the first 20 days and then costs 824 yen per month or 599 yen per month if you choose to subscribe for a full year.I have watched several videos already and must say that they provide useful information in an interesting way. I probably would never read all the studies myself but this way I can listen to the videos while doing the dishes or cleaning. However, I can only recommend this service if your Japanese level is pretty good already. Daigo speaks rather fast which is on purpose to keep the listeners attentive but for a non-native speaker, it might be hard to follow. For me, it took a few videos where I really had to listen carefully until I got used to the speed and now, I don’t find it fast anymore. If you already are quite good at listening to Japanese, these videos are perfect for getting used to people that talk fast. If you don’t want to sign up, you can also check out Daigo's YouTube channel first where he uploads shorter videos that don’t go into as much detail as the D-Labo videos. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjP3e-livingWed, 23 Jun 2021 10:17:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjP3e-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPygO-living_money_ongoingJapan is known for being a very safe country and you often hear that people get back their lost items. When I was first living in Japan for the long term as a student I got back a lost item before I even realized that it was lost.At that time I used a backpack for going to university and one day I put my wallet in and didn't properly close the backpack. When riding my bike home from university the wallet must have fallen out. I was on the way to do some errands when I got a phone call. It was someone from my university who told me that my wallet had been found. I was rather confused as I was still under the impression it was in my backpack. I checked it wasn't there anymore and realized that I must have lost it somewhere.The person from the university gave me an address and, thanks to my cellphone, I could easily find it. I went there and a nice elderly lady greeted me and gave me back my wallet with everything still left inside. No money was missing, no credit card was missing, everything was fine. She said she had seen my student ID and therefore called my university, that in return had called me.I was so relieved and astonished that everything was handled so quickly and so smoothly. I mean, they had found the wallet before I had realized I had lost it so I never had to go through the "OMG! I lost my wallet"-panic.The women said she had a son who also was a student and could imagine that I would be in trouble without the wallet. I thanked her and happily retrieved my wallet.A similar thing would have never happened in my home country, Germany. When you lose your wallet you might get the wallet back but the cash will most probably be taken out. A friend of mine also once told me a story about how she had lost an envelope full of cash at the airport in Japan. When she asked at the lost and found counter someone had delivered it with all the cash left inside. An envelope with cash is probably even more tempting than a wallet when it comes to taking out the cash, I assume.By the way, did you know that, in general, in Japan when you lose cash the finder is entitled to 10% of the amount? Most people will not claim the money but in case it should happen to you, you might have to pay. But I guess if someone wanted money they would just keep everything anyway.But even though Japan is rather safe I would not recommend carrying large sums of cash with you. Personally, I think credit cards are safer as you can easily make them unusable when you lose them and a lot of services offer to send notifications to your phone or e-mail when purchases are made so you easily realize if something is not right. Have you lost cash in Japan? How was your experience?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPygO-living_money_ongoingThu, 17 Jun 2021 11:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPygO-living_money_ongoinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GloNR-living_workJapan's work culture is known for long and pointless meetings. But is it true? I have never worked in a company where I would sit in meetings all day long, but the meetings I was in were usually not of the most productive nature.Weekly meetingsA company I used to work for would do weekly meetings for the whole company, where news and current topics would be shared. It was mostly someone presenting and the other employees listening. There was not really much of a discussion going on. Personally, I think an e-mail informing everyone about the news, changes in procedures, etc. would have been sufficient. At this company, we would also do “lunch meetings” in the meeting room when a new employee joined the company to welcome them. It was nice that the company would buy lunch for everyone, but personally, when I have to be in a small open plan office with many colleagues all day, I prefer to spend my lunch break in solitude listening to podcasts or watching Netflix. I don’t mind them doing welcome after-work parties for new employees because then I have the option of not going, but please don’t take away my lunch break.Morning meetingsAt the company I worked for when I just came to Japan, we would do morning meetings. These were quite short, but also quite pointless. Everyone in the department would say what they were planning to do on that day. As these would be held first thing in the morning, I usually would have no idea because I had not had the chance to check my e-mail yet. I guess people were expected to arrive a few minutes early so they could check their e-mail prior to the meeting, but I was just an intern so I didn't really care that much.Also, why would you need to know what your colleagues are doing today? If their work is related directly to my work, we can just talk about that in the group of people that are involved. Otherwise, I don’t care. From what I have heard from my husband. He also is in meetings that are not related to his work a lot. He has meetings several times per day and most of the time he tells me that he doesn’t understand what they talked about because the topic is very specific and not related to his tasks. Currently, they are all Zoom meetings so he can do other tasks while listening but I wonder how he got his work done when he still worked at the office. Luckily at my current workplace I only have a department meeting once a month and it usually only lasts for about 2 hours. All other communication works quite nicely via e-mail or chat. Are you in unproductive meetings a lot?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GloNR-living_workThu, 10 Jun 2021 10:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GloNR-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvJ9-medicalI have been following the news a lot recently in regard to the Olympic Games that are coming closer and closer. It seems that even though the majority of the population in Japan does not want them to happen, medical professionals say they don't have the capacity to deal with the Olympics and an online petition to cancel the Olympics was signed by more than 350.000 people, the Olympics will take place no matter what.The IOC says that they want to go through with games even if Japan was still to be in a state of emergency at the time, but I am pretty sure the state of emergency will conveniently be lifted just before the games begin.Whereas the Tokyo government says they want to make sure that a safe Olympics can be held, I wonder how they plan to achieve this when the measures for the state of emergency already are the opposite of strict and Japan is pretty far behind with the COVID vaccination schedule. Also, attendees get privileges like relaxed quarantine requirementsand the government is considering only requiringspectators to take a temperature check before entering a venue.You see these temperature checks a lot in Japan when entering shopping centres or restaurants but checking the temperature on the wrist or the forehead is not really accurate in the first place.I heard from family members and friends in Germany that in a lot of areas it is currently a requirement to take a "Fast Covid-19 Test" and show a negative result to enter restaurants and shopping centres. Also, some schools and companies have the students / employees tested a few times per week. For these tests, it only takes a few minutes to get a result and you can undergo them at pharmacies. Although these tests are not 100% accurate either, I assume they are better than just a temperature check.However, in Japan, I have never heard anyone on the news talk about these kinds of tests. If they really want to have spectators for the Olympics, why not at least implement them.All in all, I get the impression that the Olympic issue is only about the money the IOC makes through selling the TV rights as this is their main source of income and they do not care about the human lives they put in danger. Even the athletes are now being asked to sign a document that says they recognize that participating in the Olympics can pose a health risk for them and they take part in their responsibility.So, the IOC wants the money but does not want to be held responsible for the damages they may cause. For me, it would be a clear decision to either postpone the games again or cancel them so I really can't understand how the IOC and the Tokyo governmentcan so determined to go through with the games.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvJ9-medicalMon, 07 Jun 2021 10:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWvJ9-medicalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgrgl-living_howtoJapan is known for employees doing a lot of overtime, sometimes even until the point they die from overwork. I have worked in three different Japanese companies so far and I must say I never did an insane amount of overtime. The most I did was slightly over 10 hours per month if I remember correctly. Obviously, that kind of overtime is not the average, but I just wanted to show that it is possible to work in Japan without doing a ton of overtime ,and share advice based on my experience on how to find such a job in Japan.Look closely at job adsWhen looking at job ads sometimes they give you an estimate of how much overtime is to be expected for a position. Obviously, do not choose those that have high numbers. If they do not give an estimate of the overtime to expect, the salary structure can give hints. Some companies have an overtime allowance included in the base salary. Most of the time I see numbers of 30 to 45 hours per month. Definitely avoid these jobs because if this time is included in your base salary, you probably are expected to do that amount or it is so common in this company to work so much overtime that they need such a system. Look for job ads where overtime is paid by the hour.Check when the HR person e-mails youAnother hint can be the times when the HR person responds to your e-mails. If they respond very late in the evening, you might not want to proceed with this company as at least the people in HR seem to be doing some overtime. Look at online reviewsFor well-known companies, you can find reviews written by mostly former employees on websites in Japan like tenshoku-kaigi. A lot of the reviews talk about overtime so you can get a general idea of whether it is common to work long hours at a particular company or not. Ask during the interviewIf you made it to the interview phase but have not found any information so far regarding overtime, you can also ask your interviewer. Japanese websites dealing with how to perform well in interviews recommend not just asking a straight question like, "How much overtime is to be expected ?", but rather phrase it more positively. For example, you could say,"In order to keep my motivation at work high I would like to use my free time to study. How much overtime should I expect from this position?"Unfortunately, in the end you cannot really be sure about the amount of overtime until you start working, but I hope these hints can help you avoid the really black companies in Japan.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgrgl-living_howtoFri, 04 Jun 2021 12:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgrgl-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4BLx-foodSummer means ice cream. In Japan, it also means kakigori season. Here are a few tips for places to get good ice cream and fancy kakigori in Japan 2021, and items you might want to avoid.Fancy KakigoriEveryone has probably eaten kakigori at one of Japan's summer festivals but did you know that there are cafes in Japan that offer very fancy kakigori? One of them is Café Lumiere in Kichijouji, in Tokyo, where you can get baked kakigori. "Baked Ice?", you might wonder, but what they do is put meringue on top of the ice and flambé it. It looks pretty stunning and they do it at your table so that you can get nice footage for your next Instagram reel.Flambé Rose KakigoriThey also have regular kakigori that is decorated very cutely with cookies and sugar elements. The kakigori has several layers inside so that you can enjoy a lot of different flavours. Also, you get several sauces to put on the ice. Reservation at Café Lumiere is not required but on weekends you might have to wait in line for a while.A Halloween-themed kakigoriAnother place where you can get cute kakigori in Tokyo is Kumokumado in Chofu. They don’t bake the kakigori but decorate in a nice way so that it looks like little animals. Also, they use flavours like corn that are rather uncommon, so come here if you want to challenge yourself to unusual flavours.It is recommended to reserve a table at Kumokumado through their line account. Depending on the coronavirus situation you might need a reservation.Normal Ice CreamIf you have been to Okinawa, you probably know the Blue Seal ice cream that is very popular there. But you don’t have to fly all the way to Okinawa for Blue Seal, you can enjoy it in other parts of Japan as well. For example, there are Blue Seal stores and cafes in Yokohama in the World Porters center, in Sunshine City in Ikebukuro and Koenji, both in Tokyo.You can check if there is a store near you here.Blue Seal has a variety of flavours. Most of them use ingredients from Okinawa, like mango, sweet potato, Okinawa salt cookies, pineapple, Okinawa cheesecake and more. But they also have regular ones like vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. For those of you who are counting the calories, Blue Seal also offer sorbets that come at around 130 calories per serving. Blue seal ice is really good and if you have to chance to go Okinawa or to visit one of the stores elsewhere you should definitely try it.They also have an online store that ships to everywhere in Japan but shipping is a little expensive because they have to use the cooled shipping options. Further on the topic of regular ice, I recently saw this Godiva Matcha ice cream at the convenience store and tried it because Godiva makes really good chocolate. It was a vanilla matcha ice with chocolate sauce. For me, the chocolate sauce didn’t add anything and I would have preferred regular matcha ice. I don’t understand why they always use dark chocolate for these things. Just use white chocolate or matcha chocolate and I would be perfectly happy. But if you are a fan of this combination you might enjoy this ice. Have you eaten any ice in 2021 yet? What are your favourites? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4BLx-foodFri, 28 May 2021 14:13:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4BLx-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5ZXe-food_familylife_tokyoI like to go to interesting places for special events like birthdays and anniversaries. This year I decided on the vampire café in Ginza. It is situated about 5 minutes on foot from exit number C3 of the Ginza subway station.The restaurant has a very nice dark atmosphere with lots of skulls, bats, spider nets and fake candles. They have a few larger tables in the centre and some smaller ones that are separated by red curtains that provide some privacy. Unfortunately for me, someone who likes to photograph her food, the café does not have many lights. If you want to take pictures here, you defiantly need to bring a camera that does well with low light.I must admit that I even used my iPhone light so I could read the menu better because that was not easy in the dim light.On the menu, that is designed to look like an old magic book, you can find a variety of appetizers, pizza and pasta dishes, meat and fish dishes and desserts. All are arranged nicely to give them a gothic look and they all have very cool names which, unfortunately, are only in Japanese. The menu has English explanations, but they just explain what the food is and not what it is called. For example, I ordered beef cheeks and they were called “Remains of the executed Van Helsing” in Japanese or the Caprese salad is called “beautiful rose” because it is arranged to look like a rose. They also have a lot of cool-looking cocktails that come with these fancy ice cubes that glow. I personally can recommend the rose cocktail as it had a really nice rose aroma.A common issue with these themed cafés in Japan is that the food does not taste very good, but this was not the case here. Everything I tried tasted quite good and my beef was very juicy and soft.The café is rather on the pricy side, but considering that is situated in Ginza and considering the atmosphere of the place I think the prices are reasonable. Cocktails are around 1,000 yen and food items around 800 to 2,500 yen. You can also get course menus starting at 3,850 yen. For special occasions, you can also order a special cake but as they only have chocolate cake options I went with the regular dessert menu.For this spider dessert, you can choose from a variety of combinations for the ice cream flavours.What I found quite interesting is the waiter. He had a very cool looking vampire-like outfit and also a very vampire-like attitude. He was acting unfriendly on purpose to contribute to the atmosphere. In Japanese restaurants, the waiters and waitresses usually are super friendly so this is exactly the opposite of what you would expect. If you are looking for a new kind of experience and like gothic vibes you should check out this place. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5ZXe-food_familylife_tokyoMon, 24 May 2021 13:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5ZXe-food_familylife_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWv32-living_deeperdivesPokémon, as a best-selling franchise worldwide, is well known in a lot of countries but with Japan being the country of its origin you can experience the phenomenon and enjoy your fandom of it in a lot of different ways. In this article, I would like to talk about how you can experience the Pokémon phenomenon in Japan.Pokémon Themed Cafes and Sweet ShopsCurrently, there are two permanent Pokémon Cafes in Tokyo and Osaka where you can get Pokémon-themed food and enjoy a Pokémon-themed interior. The cafes change their menu regularly, so fans are encouraged to visit more than once. In Ikebukuro, you can also find a sweets shop called Pikachu Sweets that sells Pokémon-themed sweets, which also changes its menu regularly. Both places also sell limited merchandise you cannot get elsewhere.Pokémon CentersIn many cities in Japan, you can find Pokémon Centers. Unlike in the anime, these are not places to heal your Pokémon but places to spend money. You can get all sorts of merchandise from plushies and figures, over trading cards to stationery and household goods. Before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, they would also hold events at the centers regularly where you get the chance to take photos of someone dressed up in a Pokémon costume, can participate in mini-games or get certain bonus items for shopping at, or even just visiting the centre. If you visit during your birthday month, you can also get some special goodies, too.Entrance area of the Pokemon Centre in Ikebukuro Pokémon Foods and Goods in SupermarketsBut you don’t have to go to a Pokémon Center or Café to find Pokémon-themed goods and foods in Japan. You can get them in almost every supermarket in Japan. In the sweets corner, you can find Pokémon-themed sweets and in the bread corner, you can find Pokémon-themed bread. Some supermarkets also sell small figures and shikishi (paper cards with illustrations) in blind boxes. Pikachu Outbreak in YokohamaUsually every August there is a big event held in Yokohama called Pikachu Outbreak where you can see all sorts of Pikachu dance shows and a Pikachu parade in several different locations around the city's Minatomirai area. Several performers wearing Pikachu costumes will collaborate with dancers to provide an amazing experience. The event lasts a few days and you will also be able to get limited goods and limited foods from shops close to the venues. Since corona though this event has not been held and it looks like there will be no Pikachu Outbreak this year either, but last year there was an online event instead where you could explore a virtual Pokémon theme park.Pikachu and Eevee dance showPokémon Movies and CollaborationsUsually every year in summer a new Pokémon movie is released in Japan. Some of them later make it to other countries as well, but some of them don’t. To promote the movie places like Baskin Robbins, McDonalds or Mister Donuts will have special Pokémon-themed dishes that come with little goodies.Pikachu McFlurry from McDonaldsOther Pokémon FoodsThe Japanese beef bowl chain Yoshinoya has been doing collaborations with Pokémon a few times now. During the time of the collaboration, they have a limited gyudon (beef-on-rice) dish that comes in a bowl that looks like a Pokeball and you get a limited toy with your order. For the toys, they only chose Pokémon whose Japanese name ends with “-don” because Yoshinoya mainly sells beef bowls which are called "gyudon" in Japanese. Pikachu is the only Pokémon that was made an exception to this rule so far.The bowls are unfortunately not for sale and only available through lotteries that Yoshinoya holds on their Twitter account sometimes. Among fans, they are pretty valuable and are sold for quite high prices on online marketplaces. The taiyaki shop chain Kuriko-an is also selling Magikarp shaped taiyaki at some of their stores. As far as I know, they are available in the Tokyo districts of Asakusa, Kichijouji and Akihabara. They taste like the regular taiyaki but as a fan, these are kind of a must-try. These taiyaki are not a limited collaboration but are available throughout the year.Pokémon ManholesYou might have heard of the Pokémon manholes. These are manholes with covers made in Pokémon designs that have been installed in several cities in Japan so far with new ones coming up regularly. On this site, you can check where which Pokémon manholes can be found in Japan.This Pokémon manhole can be found in Serigaya ParkClosest to Tokyo are the manholes in Machida in Serigaya Park. Machida was the place where the creator of Pokémon Satoshi Tajiri spent his childhood. Watching bugs in parks was one of his hobbies that later became the inspiration for the Pokémon games.As you can see, if you live in Japan, it is hardly possible to not come into contact with the Pokémon franchise, although I assume people who are not fans of the franchise will not really notice. As I am a fan, I am quite happy that I can live in Japan and can enjoy all the events and collaborations. Are you a fan of the franchise or are you rather bothered by People playing Pokémon Go on the streets? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWv32-living_deeperdivesThu, 20 May 2021 16:15:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWv32-living_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLOB3-living_workAs a bilingual employee in Japan chances are that sometimes you will be asked to interpret during a meeting with a foreign client or on other similar occasions. For some reason, people tend to think that anyone who can speak two languages automatically can interpret without having undergone any kind of training. Whereas I can interpret daily conversation for my Japanese husband when we visit my family in Germany, more or less, I cannot interpret for important meetings at work where you talk about business contracts or similarly complex topics and where mistakes could lead to very bad outcomes.A few years ago, when I just started working in Japan and was rather inexperienced my boss asked me to come along to a meeting with a foreign client to interpret. I told him that I have close to no experience in that field, but he said the other side would bring an interpreter, too and it was mostly my task to check whether what the other interpreter said was true or to take over when the other interpreter needs a break. I said yes because I did not want to disappoint my boss but in hindsight, I should have refused the task.The other interpreter was a professional interpreter that did a very good job. I wonder if my boss didn’t care how he looked bringing along someone with no interpreting experience. From my perspective, this was highly unprofessional. In the end, the professional interpreter did most of the talking and as he was doing a perfect job there was nothing for me to correct or add. When I interpreted I had a hard time following the conversation as I was not used to switching between languages constantly, didn’t know when to interrupt so I can start my interpretation, and totally didn’t know enough vocabulary for the topic of the meeting as I had not received any material to prepare from my boss. I few times I even talked in Japanese when I was supposed to talk in English or the other way round. I was glad once it was over, as my head started spinning. After the meeting, my boss even had the audacity to complain to me that I didn’t do much talking during the meeting and threatened not to pay me for the time of the meeting.So, my advice for you if you ever are asked to interpret and have not undergone any training in that regard, refuse the job and tell your boss that they will embarrass themselves by bringing someone with no experience.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLOB3-living_workFri, 14 May 2021 12:54:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLOB3-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJOBV-food_healthVeggies and fruits are vital for a healthy diet, however, in Japan they tend to be a little expensive. Here are a few tips on how you can get your greens in Japan without spending a fortune.Buy from local farmersIf you have local farmers close by, chances are they sell their crops directly. Sometimes you can find unmanned selling stations close to the farms. The vegetables and fruit for sale are lined up with price tags and there is a little box to put money in. You can just take whatever you want and leave the corresponding amount of money in the box. Unfortunately, you won't get any change so better bring some coins. When selling like this the farmers save on personnel cost so they can sell their products cheaper. As far as I know, Japan is the only country where such a system based on trust works. In other countries, people would just take the food and not pay.Buy seasonal fruits and veggiesUsually, seasonal fruits and veggies are cheaper so if you stick to the calendar, you can save a few yen here and there. During the summer in Japan, for example, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce are in season. In Autumn you should look for sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and mushrooms. In winter it is cabbage, daikon and turnips. Also, mandarins and strawberries get cheaper in winter in Japan. For this reason you can find a lot of strawberry-themed buffets in January and February.Frozen veggies and fruitsAlthough they are not necessarily cheaper than fresh veggies, frozen veggies are perfect if you live alone and end up throwing away leftovers because you can't eat, say, a whole cabbage on your own. You can eat the amount you need for one person and just put the rest back into the freezer. If you have access to a Gyomu Super (supermarket), you can get large bags of frozen vegetables as well, provided you have enough storage space for them. Personally, I can recommend this grilled vegetable mix you can find at AEON supermarkets. It tastes quite good right out of the package and contains a nice mix of several vegetables. Other options are canned vegetables and fruits. Canned fruits often come with added sugar so you might want to check the ingredients list.Are you managing to eat enough veggies and fruits and in Japan? Do you have any tips on where to buy them for reasonable prices? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJOBV-food_healthTue, 11 May 2021 15:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJOBV-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgrYj-living_howtoWith the new state of emergency in several prefectures and a lot of the big shopping malls closing this years Golden Week again will be a Stay Home Week. But you do not have to let your free go to waste and do some of the things you usually do not have time for.1. Clean out your closet and sell things you don’t need anymoreWith more working from home and less going to the office a few pieces in your closet might not have seen the light of day for a while or maybe your taste in clothes recently changed a bit. In general, they say if you didn’t wear something for a year you should get rid of it. If it is still in a wearable condition you can consider selling it on of the Japanese flee market sites like Mercari or Rakuma. In case of brands that are popular overseas like Lolita brands or girly brands like Axes femme or Liz Lisa you can also consider eBay as you might get higher prices there.I would not recommend going to second hand stores as they only pay a few yen per clothing item if unless you have really expensive brand items.2. Sort your documentsIf you are like me and have a pile of documents on your desk you might want to consider sorting them so you can find important papers fast when you need them. I usually am a bit lazy when it comes to taking proper care of my doctors’ receipts. But these can come in handy when you file your taxes at the end of the fiscal year. If you had expenses over 100.000 Yen for medical treatments in a year and this includes your train fare to go to the doctor, you can get tax returns. You don’t not need the submit the receipts unless asked for them but you do need them to calculate the total amount. At the end of the year usually, your health insurance will send you a list of the fees until September but as I found in my case these lists do not mention all doctors visit I did so better keep all the receipts. 3. Buy a new game or watch a new TV seriesJust in time for the Golden Week Nintendo will release the new Pokemon Snap so if you are a fan of the franchise you can just spend the holidays taking cute pictures of Pikachu and his friends. As for a TV series I recently discovered Elementary on Amazon Prime Japan which I can recommend for everyone that likes detective stories based on Sherlock Holmes. They also have a Japanese dub if you want to practice Japanese, but the dub is quite horrible compared to the original.How you do plan to spend your Golden Week this year? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgrYj-living_howtoThu, 06 May 2021 09:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgrYj-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRYWK-living_workA lot of us are probably working from home now. I was wondering, how other companies deal with overtime while working from home. In my company, nothing has changed actually.When working from home you log into the company timekeeping system from your computer in the morning and log off in the evening when you are done. If you did over time you have to file a request for overtime and give a reason why you did overtime. I usually only do 2 to 3 hours of overtime per month and never had any problems getting them approved. I also get paid for my overtime at the respective overtime rate without any issues. My overall overtime amount has not changed since I started working from home. It is basically the same as when I was still in the office. Some surveys that asked Japanese workers have shown that a lot of people actually work more overtime since they started working from home.Apparently, some employees also complain about superiors and colleagues calling them after the regular work hours. I guess they assume their colleagues don’t have anything to do because they are “only” at home. I never had the problem of being called after working hours unless we received a really urgent inquiry that had to be replied to immediately. But these are rare and most inquires can wait until the next day.I hope that people that have to do overtime while working from home get paid for it properly. But I can assume that some companies might just refuse to pay for overtime for work from home because they can't control what the employee is doing. On top of that in some Japanese companies, there is some kind of unwritten rule that employees are supposed to do unpaid overtime or employees are afraid that they might lose their job if they would actually charge their employer for the overtime they did.In general, you might assume that home office can improve the work-life-balance because you don’t have to commute to work anymore, but when people actually work more when they work from home and often get calls after the regular working hours I wonder if home office is actually a positive thing for Japan. How does your company deal with overtime when working from home? Do you get paid? Do you work more or less since you started working from home? Did you have any issues with your company?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRYWK-living_workWed, 05 May 2021 11:00:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRYWK-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mny9m-medical_healthI have had a few bad experiences with dentists in Japan so far, but I think I finally found a dentist I can trust. Last year I realized that somehow a small part of one of my lower teeth had broken off, so I decided to go to a dentist and have it fixed.Earlier I had seen a dentist that had Star Wars decoration in the window which caught my eye as I am a huge fan of the franchise. Luckily, the dentist had an appointment open the next day and even better, at this dentist, you can reserve online and don’t have to call.I didn’t have to wait long in the waiting room and was lead to the treatment room very quickly. It took a while until they found the part of my teeth that was bothering me as it really was only a small part that had broken off. However, after it was clear what I wanted fixed staff were quick to deal with the issue and didn’t even try to sell me any additional services like teeth cleaning. I once went to a dentist in Japan that told me they had found a cavity, but instead of fixing the cavity right away they would do a cleaning of half of my teeth and asked me to make a new appointment for fixing the cavity and another one for cleaning the other half of my teeth. All of this could be done in one appointment, but dentists in Japan make more money if they have you come back several times.So, I was really, and positively, surprised that the dentist I visited only did what I asked for and didn’t ask me to come back for cleaning or anything similar. Also, as we both like Star Wars we had a common interest to talk about as well. Recently I had the same problem with another tooth and went to the same dentist. The procedure was over in 10 minutes and I was perfectly happy with the result.I guess if you are looking for a new dentist here in Japan, the next time you should choose them based on their window decoration! Obviously, I am joking, but how do you have any advice on how to choose a dentist in Tokyo? There are so many dentists here I sometimes get the impression there are more dentists than convenience stores. Finding a good dentist has been an issue since I moved to Japan and I am glad I finally found a one I can trust and that isn’t booked out for the next few weeks. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mny9m-medical_healthTue, 13 Apr 2021 10:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mny9m-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MdBNW-living_fashion_deeperdivesMy husband and I recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and wanted to get some special photos to remember the occasion. Through a friend, I found out about the service of inkimono that offers Kimono photo shooting experiences for couples and singles in Tokyo.Our anniversary was in February but we decided to wait until March because it is usually still quite cold in February and in March you can get photos with the cherry blossoms.Inkimono is managed by Stasia from Poland. She does most of the work alone. She picks out outfits from her kimono collection, dresses you up, styles your hair, takes the photos, and edits them as well. Only if you request professional makeup, she will hire a makeup artist for the day. We had a really nice experience. I told her what kind of style we are looking for based on pictures she posted on her social media and she picked out very cool outfits for the both of us. Before the dressing, she will give you a brief lecture about the history of kimono as well. I usually do not wear kimono a lot and the last time was for our wedding photos. On that day I started to feel unwell after about 30 minutes, but when I was dressed by Stasia I was fine walking around in the kimono for a while. It might be because it was a different type of kimono or maybe she has a way of dressing that feels more comfortable. Nevertheless, I still wonder how people eat when wearing a kimono because there is not much space for a full tummy! She also did my hair just as I requested. Even though I don’t have very much volume and thin hair she managed to pull off of an up-style with volume that looked very nice. The makeup artist was really friendly too and is a native English speaker, in case you worry about communication. She did a western-style make up for me.Stasia speaks perfect English and Japanese so you can have the experience in either of those languages or a combination of both which is perfect for international couples. The photos were taken at a shrine close to the location of Stasia's shop in Asakusa and in a park with lots of cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, it started raining right after we left the store even though the weather forecast had said "cloudy" but Stasia had bought an umbrella just in case so we were safe. Her instructions were easy to follow but sometimes she switched between Japanese and English which was OK for me but a little hard to follow for my husband. We have not yet received the photos, but I am pretty sure they will be great based on the other photoshoots she posted on her social media so far. Here are some selfies of my outfit and hair and makeup.I wore a vintage kimono from the 1950s with some fancy accessories and hair decorations. The whole experience took about five hours. As you can’t eat during that time, either eat enough for breakfast or bring some quick snacks.According to the plan we will get about 35 photos. Stasia took couple photos and individual photos, too.For the whole experience including the lecture, renting the kimono, dressing, hair and makeup we paid slightly over 55,000 yen. Compared to what we paid for our wedding photos this is extremely reasonable and we got fewer photos at that time. It is understandable that Stasia decided to increase her prices starting from May but even with the new prices I still think it would be hard to find a place that offers the same experience with the same quality for cheaper. As for negative aspects, I could only list one. Even though we had booked the shooting for 10:30 on the evening of the previous day I got a message to be there at 9.45. Which was OK but in general I prefer to receive e-mails regarding a change in schedule at least a few days in advance because I am not really a flexible person. But I guess sakura seasons it extremely busy for photographers so that can't be helped and after all, she does most of the work alone. If you are planning to take some special photos for a special occasion or if you just want to experience wearing a kimono that was personally styled for you and have pictures to remember it, inkimono is the place to go especially if you are not very comfortable talking Japanese and prefer communication in English. Also, unlike the touristy places, you get to wear real authentic vintage kimono. In summer yukata experiences are available, too. Have you done a Kimono photo shooting before? How was your experience? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MdBNW-living_fashion_deeperdivesWed, 07 Apr 2021 10:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MdBNW-living_fashion_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZ6pV-foodSince my last post, I found a few new sakura themed desserts in Tokyo that I would like to showcase here.Sakura Plate at Café EveCafé Eve in Kichijouji, has a limited sakura cake plate this year. It comes with sakura jelly, sakura roll cake, a sakura matcha cake and cute frosting cookies. All the cakes tasted very nice and it was quite reasonable for only 1,000 yen. The plate is perfect if you want to try different types of sweets. You can add a hot or cold sakura latte for 780 yen. The hot sakura latte tasted like the sakura latte used to taste at Starbucks before they started adding random berry flavours into their drinks. The plate is available until May 5, so you can use Japan's Golden Week Holidays to try it.Sakura Parfait at Momobukuro in IkebukuroThe night parfait café Momobukuro in Ikebukuro has two sakura theme parfaits this year. One is made to look like a big sakura cherry tree and the other is called sakura bonbon. It is a flat rectangular bowl filled with different layers and toppings.I tried the sakura tree parfait. It had a lot of sakura-an on top and some gobo sticks to represent the branches of the tree. Inside it was filled with different layers of cream, crumble, ice and many more ingredients. Café Momobukuro always uses so many different ingredients it is hard to tell them apart to be honest. The parfait was 1,800 yen which is reasonable for such an artistic dessert. Momobukuro usually opens at 17:00 but during the shortened business hours they currently open at 15:00. I did not find a definite date until when the sakura parfaits are available but the staff said until the sakura petals fall so it might not be available for much longer. Sakura Macaron from DalloyauI found these cute macarons at a shop in Ikebukuro station but this confectionery maker has stores in several locations of Tokyo. They have a nice selection of cute macaroons but also cakes and other sweets. During springtime, they have a limited sakura macaron. It was filled with sakura an and the top layer was sakura flavoured, whereas the bottom layer was matcha flavoured. A perfect combination if you ask me. These macarons ate little on the expensive side so I think they are rather a sweet for the special occasion.So far I am quite satisfied with my sakura sweet findings. I like how the cafes in Tokyo always come up with some new designs every year. This way you can enjoy every season, every year with new sweets. On the other hand, of course, it is hard to resist and still stick to healthy eating habits. I personally try to stick to the 80% - 20% rule. 80% of what I eat is super healthy and 20% is food that is not healthy but tastes good. During sakura seasons these 20% are completely filled with sakura sweets. How do you resist the temptations of Japanese sweets? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZ6pV-foodFri, 02 Apr 2021 11:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZ6pV-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G02Ek-living_howtoSakura season in Japan is quite short so you don’t have a lot of opportunities to take photos. Here is some advice based on my personal experience on how to take the best photos of sakura.1.Timing of your sakura photosSakura season only lasts for about 3 weeks, from the first blooming until the petals fall, so you might want to make sure you have a few days in that time frame set aside for your photography trips. Usually, the first Sakura forecasts come out at the end of January / beginning of February. However, in the last few years, the blossoms tended to be a little early in Japan so a flexible schedule is best. This also applies in regard to the weather, which can be quite unpredictable in spring. As blue is a complementary colour to pink, in general, a blue sky is preferred for sakura photos instead of a cloudy sky. When it comes to the time of the day, usually mornings and the golden hour are best for taking photos. Some places also do sakura light-ups which can be a really great motive for taking photos as well. In general, weekdays are less crowded compared to weekends so they should be preferred if you want to take photos without people. 2.Places to take photosYou might want to check in advance where you would like to go for your photography. The famous sakura spots like Nakameguro, Asakusa or Yoyogi Park in Tokyo are usually very crowded so going to lesser-known places might be the better option. During the pandemic, a lot of parks are closed down or there is limited access to areas with cherry blossoms so you definitely should check associated websites in advance. Some places in Tokyo like Shinjuku Gyouen require an advance reservation at the moment.3.Which lens to use?Depending on what kind of picture you want to take, you will need different lenses. For taking a landscape picture with several sakura trees a wide-angle lens is best.This was taken with a 24mm lens. For taking close-ups of single blossoms a fixed focal length lens which can be set to a small f-number will give you the most "bokeh."This was taken with a 50mm lens at f 1.8. 4.Using tools to spice up your picturesThis year I started to experiment with different small tools to make my pictures more interesting. For this picture, I used a small decoration object from the 100-yen store and held it in front of my lens. I created some nice light effects.For this picture, I used a photography prism that created a nice mirror effect. You can also use artificial sakura branches to hold in front of your camera to create front bokeh.5. Editing your photosMost sakura are rather white but it is quite easy to edit them to make them look more pink-ish in Lightroom. For a slight pink you can adjust the "temp" and "tint" of the colours slightly to the right side. For a stronger pink you can play around with the orange colour in the colour mix or change the highlights to a pink colour in the colour grading. Have you taken any nice sakura photos this year? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G02Ek-living_howtoThu, 01 Apr 2021 15:42:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G02Ek-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7BmW-living_money_workI recently got my first "real" model job in Japan for a Japanese company. It was nothing fancy and I will not appear in a fashion magazine but it was an easy job and it paid well. I would like to share my experiences here.I found the job on a Japanese website with job ads for freelance models. You don't necessarily have to sign up with an agency, signing up with one of these websites can be enough to get jobs.Usually most clients on such websites are looking for Japanese models but sometimes you can find jobs for foreign models as well. I found a job to be an image model for a vending machine last month and applied. They were looking for a female foreigner. To my own surprise, I was accepted for the job.After I agreed to the offer the photographer contacted me about what clothes I should wear and which makeup and hairstyle the client requested. You might think that the client is supposed to prepare the clothes and hire a makeup artist but for smaller jobs, it's quite common that the model has to use their own clothes and do the makeup on their own.Recently due to corona I also see a lot of remote jobs, where the client sends the model some clothes and instructions on what photos they want, the model then needs to find someone to take photos of them or take the photos themselves and only submit the finished photos to the client. Clients can be very creative when it comes to cutting costs.On the day of the job everything went smoothly. I had to arrive about 30 minutes early. The shooting itself was only about 30 minutes long and finished about 10 minutes behind schedule. I just had to stand in front of the vending machine and pretend to use it, so it was quite a simple job. I got paid right after the photo shoot was finished and could go home.I assume that this is not the usual scenario. I didn't expect everything to go so well. At least I would have expected some major delays or long waiting times and I was prepared to have to wait for my payment for a few weeks, but nothing like that happened. It was a pleasant surprise. As the photos will be used for printed B2B advertising materials I will probably never get to see them but that is OK.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7BmW-living_money_workWed, 31 Mar 2021 09:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7BmW-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5ZAr-living_food_familylifeIn February my husband and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Just like every year we looked for a nice restaurant and reserved a course there. This time we chose the dining bar Rumon in Tachikawa, Tokyo. It is situated close to the north exit of the station.They have a dinner course for 4,000 yen that includes all-you-can-drink for 2 hours and a free dessert plate set when you reserve via Hot Pepper.The course consisted of a salad, cold appetizers, a meat dish, a fish dish, a pasta dish and the dessert plate. For the dessert plate you can also request a personalized message.The food all tasted really good. I especially liked the ratatouille on the cold appetizers plate.The dessert plate, which consisted of two cream puff swans swimming on vanilla sauce, looked stunning, and the vanilla sauce tasted amazing.The all-you-can-drink menu had a nice selection of cocktails, too. I can’t really say much about the wine and beer selection as I usually do not drink such drinks.I saw some other interesting, rather rare dishes on the menu at Rumon like a kangaroo steak, that I would like to try in the future. On the day we went it was out of stock so you might want to check in advance. The staff at Rumon were very nice, too. When we came into the bar there was a small nameplate on our table with an illustration of a Pikachu. I had contacted the Instagram account of the bar to make a request in regard to the dessert plate a few days earlier and I assume they realized that I am a fan of the Pokemon franchise when they saw my account.All in all, we had a very nice evening and I can recommend this place for special occasions. Depending on your budget they also have more expensive courses with Japanese beef or cheaper lunch courses. Reserving through Hot Pepper was smooth and contacting the bar through Instagram was easy, too. As for infection prevention measures, Rumon has the usual measures in place. Guests are requested to disinfect and wear masks, tables have enough distance, and the staff are wearing masks, too. Also, during the state of emergency, the bar closes at 8:00 PM. Food for take-out is available, too.How do you like to celebrate anniversaries? Have you any restaurants in Tokyo that you can recommend?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5ZAr-living_food_familylifeTue, 23 Mar 2021 12:06:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5ZAr-living_food_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXm81-living_food_deeperdivesIn this article, I would like to introduce a part of Japanese popular culture I fell in love with last year, the character Koupen-chan. Koupen-chan is a baby emperor penguin that was created by the Japanese illustrator Rurutea.The origins of the nameHis name is an abbreviation of Koutei Pengen (肯定ペンギン), where Koutei stands for "affirmation." In illustrations, you will see Koupen-chan praising you for simple things like getting up in the morning, going to work or simply for being alive. However, Koutei Pengen when written like this (皇帝ペンギン) just means emperor penguin so the name is also a pun. How Koupen-chan become popularKoupen-chan started to become popular through an illustration that the illustrator posted on Twitter in 2017. It went viral and helped them gain followers. Koupen-chan became an established character and the illustrator started to sell stickers for the messenger app Line. As it happens with characters that sell well in the Line sticker portal, after a while Koupen-chan merchandise was released. By now there are several stores dedicated to the penguin in all over Japan and you can also buy the goods online. The Koupen-chan store at Tokyo stationFor the merchandise collections it is quite common that Koupen-chan dresses up in some kind of costume, as another animal or sometimes as fruits and vegetables. Here you can see a hamster and a melon version of Koupen-chan. In drug stores in Japan, you can find the small penguins on skincare products and sanitary napkins and the franchise also does regular collaborations with food franchise stores like Hanamaru Udon or Nakau where you can get small figures or stickers for ordering a certain menu.Koupen-chan keeps your skin hydratedKoupen-chan is basically just a character and does not have a storyline. However, on the YouTube channel, short anime clips are being published regularly.They are only a few seconds long but leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Last year a game for Nintendo Switch was released and a smartphone game is available as well. How I became a fan of the franchiseI first saw Koupen-chan in a gachapon machine where I got a small penguin figure that praises you for going to work. I put in on my desk and slowly started to collect more merchandise and check out locations that were doing collaborations.My first Koupen-chan figure At the moment there also is a Koupen-chan themed café at Tokyo Sky Tree that I visited on the opening weekend. It was booked out completely, so it seems to have been a huge success right from the start. I would only recommend it to fans of the franchise though as the food is more made to be enjoyed from a visual perspective, if you know what I mean! By now my desk is populated by many little penguins that keep me motivated when working. Why I think the franchise became popular in JapanIn Japan you often hear the word “Ganabaru” which means doing one's best. In situations whereas in English, you would say, “Good luck” in Japan people say “Ganbatte kudasai” which literally translates to, “Do your best!” In Japan, everything is about your effort. If you didn’t get a good job, you didn’t work hard enough. If you failed a test, you didn’t study enough. If you didn’t find a marriage partner, you didn’t try hard enough etc. Everything is about how much you ganabaru and people that do not give their best are sometimes considered worthless. However, in life not everything is due to your effort of the lack thereof. There are other factors that can decide your fate that you can’t even influence, and I think that giving your best all the time will probably just result in burnout for most people. I assume the small penguin that basically tells you that you do not have to give your best all the time, by saying things like, “You are already perfect just by showing up to work”, gives Japanese fans the reassurance that they are enough and worthy even if they do not perform perfectly all the time. Also in Japanese work culture, I have the experience that it is rare to receive praise from your superiors so the penguin can provide something that everybody is looking for but what is rarely given. This might not even be limited to Japan so why not try to be a little like Koupen-chan and praise the people around you when they did a good job. If you can’t understand the Japanese videos, I would recommend this song with Koupen-chan illustrations by the band Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai that also has English subtitles. I am sure you will become a fan of the penguin in no time.Do you think Koupen-chan would be a success overseas as well?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXm81-living_food_deeperdivesWed, 17 Mar 2021 11:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXm81-living_food_deeperdiveshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWe3-living_medical_healthI recently had the experience of losing my Japanese health insurance card so I would like to walk you through what you should do in that case and how to get a new card when your insurance is managed by your employer.Go to the PoliceIf you can’t find your health insurance card the first thing you should do is inform the local police station. You can file a missing item report there. This can come in handy if someone found the card and used it pretending to be you. Don’t forget that a lot of places in Japan accept a health insurance card as ID so it is not only useful for going to a doctor. Someone might use the card to borrow money from shady places in your name. Also, police will inform you if the card was found and delivered to the police station. Inform your companyIn order to get a new Japanese health insurance card, you have to inform the person or department in your company that is responsible for such procedures. You will be asked to fill out a form to request a new card and they should take care of the rest. After 1 to 2 weeks a new insurance card should be ready for you. Going to the doctor in Japan without a health insurance cardEven though, at this point, you don’t have a health insurance card you are still insured and can still go doctors and hospitals in Japan. It might be the case though that you have to pay the whole treatment fee out of your pocket, initially. You can then go back and claim a refund on the 70% of the costs that the insurance covers once you have a new card. So, you might want to take some extra cash along with you to the medical facility and make sure to keep the receipts as you might need them to claim the refund. If you have been to a hospital earlier in the same month, you should be fine as you only have to show your health insurance card once a month. If your hospital visit is not urgent, you can also ask your company to issue a document which proves that you are insured for the time being. With this you only have to pay the usual 30%. Other things to think about If you use your Japanese health insurance card as an ID a lot, make sure you have some other document ready in the meantime. As a foreigner you should also have your residence card, so this should not be a problem. If you ever find your old health insurance card, you are requested to return it.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWe3-living_medical_healthFri, 12 Mar 2021 08:58:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyWe3-living_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GloVX-foodSpring always means new sakura flavored desserts and drinks in Japan, and as usual most stores start selling them earlier than the cherry blossoms are actually blooming. Let me introduce what I have tried so far in Japan in 2021.Sakura desserts from 7-Eleven7-Eleven has several new Sakura flavored desserts in their chilled dessert section, among them a Mini Mouse cake and a Sakura milk pudding, which I have already tried.The Mini Mouse cake was very cute and the average quality that you can expect from a convenience store cake. It comes with several chocolate pieces for decoration.7-Eleven's Mini Mouse cake is filled with a strawberry sauce and I always wonder why so many dessert makers feel the need to combine sakura with strawberry, peach or other fruits. I personally prefer items that are sakura only.The milk pudding was a little disappointing as the sakura flavor was rather weak and after you finished the topping it didn't have very much taste left. Also, it had a rather jelly-like texture and didn't really feel like a milk pudding.Sakura Ice from Family MartI found this Sakura Ice cup at a Family Mart. I assume it is not necessarily a new product for 2021 but just seasonally limited. This had a pretty strong sakura flavor but when it comes to the topping for the ice it was not that strong but I think it was a good balance. Sakura Latte from StarbucksJust like every year, Starbucks in Japan started selling its Sakura Latte and Sakura Frappuccino right after Valentine's day. As is the issue with most Starbucks drinks they only taste good as long as you have topping left which is quite surprising considering the number of calories these drink pack. I would not recommend investing so many calories into an overpriced drink. You can get one of the desserts I mentioned above instead - they all have fewer calories and are cheaper. Starbucks also usually combines the sakura flavor with some kind of fruit. This year it is strawberry and raspberry.Sakura Tea Set from LupiciaTea store Lupicia has several sakura flavored tea sorts. In this set (above), you can try most of them but it also comes with other teas that are not sakura flavored. Even though the teas tasted good I must admit I did not taste a single bit of sakura in the sakura flavored teas. Therefore, I cannot recommend this in terms of sakura tea considering that it almost cost 2,000 yen. But, if you would like to try interesting new tea sorts it might be worth a try. Lupicia has several stores all over Japan, mostly to be found in larger department stores.Sakura tea from Natural LawsonUnlike the above-mentioned teas, this tea comes with a really strong sakura flavor. This might not be for everyone but I personally really enjoy it. The tea is also a little on the expensive side but if you like flavor of sakura, you should definitely try it.What kind of sakura foods and drinks have you tried so far in 2021?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GloVX-foodMon, 08 Mar 2021 12:37:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GloVX-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6loW-living_howtoThe Haco Stadium Tokyo is a famous photo studio for cosplay photo shootings. I recently had the chance to take part in a photo shoot there and would like to explain how you can use the studio. To enter the studio you need a ticket. First, you have to register on their website if you want to purchase a ticket in advance.Day tickets for Haco Stadium are available too, but these are more expensive and the studio might be booked out. A ticket for a whole day on a weekend or holiday costs 4,000 yen in advance per person. A ticket for 5 hours costs 3,000 yen in advance per person. The day tickets for Haco Stadium are 500 yen more respectively. Tickets for weekdays are 1,000 yen cheaper.When you use the studio for the first time you will have to show some kind of ID and the staff will prepare a member’s card for you. With the card, you can collect points that can make future usage of the studio cheaper. The studio has a large room where cosplayers can do their make up and change into their costumes. In general, you should not arrive in your cosplay at Haco Stadium as this would be considered bad manners in Japan. For shooting, you can choose from a great variety of locations. They have a Chinese room, a castle, a school room, an American dinner, a gothic style room and much more.It is not possible to reserve a certain room and all cosplayers share the studio. If the room you would like to use is currently being used by someone else, you might have to wait. However, when you ask most people will let you use a part of the room they are currently not using when it comes to the bigger rooms. Some are just too small for multiple people to do their cosplay photo shoots at the same time.Haco Stadium studio also has a lot of small and big props you can use for your shoot for free, like fake flowers, fake sweets, weapons, balloons and other items. There is a large shelf in the locker room and you can just take whatever you like.Besides the photo shooting rooms, there also is a room with chairs and tables where you can sit down to take a break and get some drinks for refreshments. If you don’t have a good camera, you can also rent cameras, lenses and lighting equipment or a small fee. Tripods can be rented for free.I was really surprised by how much the studio has to offer considering the fairly cheap price and can really recommend it for cosplay shoots. So far I have only visited the Haco Stadium Tokyo, which is actually situated in Chiba Prefecture, but they also have similar studios in other parts of Japan.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6loW-living_howtoFri, 05 Mar 2021 10:07:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6loW-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnyaR-livingSince January for shipments to the US handwritten labels are not accepted anymore at the Japanese post. You have to use their website, enter the sender and recipient information and print out the label. For shipments to other countries, handwritten labels are still accepted but usage of the website is still recommended as handwritten labels can lead to delays.At first, you have to register with your e-mail, name and physical address. There is a mobile version and a desktop version of the website. When using the desktop version, you will have to print the label at home. With the mobile version you can print it out at the post office for free so I would recommend using this version. The mobile version is also accessible on a desktop PC if you use the inspect tool of your browser and select a mobile device for the viewing mode. To send a parcel you will first have to enter the address of the recipient. Be aware that special characters like "ä" or "é" cannot be used and you need to express them otherwise. You also have the option of adding an address to your address book if you will use it again it the future.On the next page, you have to select which kind of shipping method you would like to use and enter the contents of the package and their respective value. On the next screen, you will have to choose the day on which you plan to send the parcel. On the final screen, you can confirm whether the address and contents of the package were entered correctly and can go back if you want to revise anything. If you then press confirm you get the option of having an e-mail sent to you with a QR code. In this e-mail, you can find a link that lets you access the QR Code. With the QR code, you can then print out the label on at the Yupuri-Touch device that you can find in most post offices. It looks like this.With the printed label you only have to add your signature and the date and then go to the counter to pay the respective shipping fee. Have you already used the new website? It had some problems in January because the server could not handle the number of people accessing it but now it seems to work fine and all parcels I send so far have arrived. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnyaR-livingTue, 23 Feb 2021 13:48:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnyaR-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQK23-food_healthLast year a Natural Lawson opened close to my nearest train station. Natural Lawson has different products than a regular Lawson and you can find some interesting healthy food options there. That does not mean that everything there is healthy though. They also have sweets and unhealthy processed foods, so you need to check before buying.I recently found a few new drink options and a protein bar that I wanted to share. Sakura Green TeaIf you like Sakura flavoured drinks but want to stay away from Starbucks and their sugary drinks this might be an interesting option. This Sakura Green Tea contains Japanese Sakura blossoms and leaves. It tasted like green tea with a slight Sakura flavour. I really liked it. It is sugar- and calorie-free. If you don’t have a natural Lawson near you can also find Sakura green tea bags and tea leaves on Amazon, Rakuten or other online shopping sites. Sweet Potatoe TeaThis tea had baked sweet potato flavour. It tasted slightly sweet but it is sugar- and calorie-free, too. Drinks at Natural Lawson can be a little more expensive than at a regular Lawson but you can discover new flavours that you can’t find elsewhere and if you like something you can look for cheaper options online. If you limit yourselves to sugar-free drinks as I do even though Japan has quite a few options, you might get bored sometimes. Then checking out a Natural Lawson can be a nice way to discover new options. I was happy to see that they also sell my beloved Sanpin Tea, a type of Yasmin Tea that usually is only available in Okinawa and there are still a few drinks I want to try in the future.Strong Bar Protein BarI also tried this protein bar recently. Unlike the ones you can find in “normal” convenience stores this one was without sugar and contained agave syrup as a sweetener. The taste was alright for a protein bar and the protein content is quite high with 20 grams per bar. It also is gluten-free and free of artificial colours and flavours. You can get a white chocolate and regular chocolate option.The only downside is the price of over 300 Yen that might not be affordable on regular basis.Have you been to a Natural Lawson before? Do you like it or do you prefer the normal Lawson?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQK23-food_healthSat, 20 Feb 2021 13:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQK23-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrQ30-living_workI recently took part in a zoom event hosted by the German Chamber of Commerce in Japan as part of my job. The event was called "Young Leaders Forum" and consisted of presentations of three German guys who are working in managerial positions in Japan. The event was supposed to provide interesting topics and a chance to network in small groups after the presentations.None of this was actually delivered. The three presentations were mostly long self-introductions of each of the presenters who told us how they got to where they are now. The presentations also included a part about the company they work for and why it is so great. The point is, however, that the personal experience of three people who believe they became successful because of something they did is worth nothing because the real reasons why they got to where they are now are probably different from what they believe. Their success was most probably due to several factors, some of which they could influence and some of which they couldn't, but in hindsight you tend to forget about the factors you could not influence.Also, no one will ever be in the same situation as they were so trying to achieve the same results by doing the same things will never work out. Furthermore, looking only at successful people can also skew your view of the world into a direction that is far from reality as you forget about all the "not successful people." This phenomenon is called "survivorship bias," in case you want to look into it a little more.So, unless someone in the audience was personally interested in the life stories of the presenters, these presentations were a waste of time. On top of that, the presentations took longer than expected so in the end there was no time left for networking.It was the first time for me to participate in a young leaders forum event. It seems they hold these events several times a year and everyone below 40 years of age can participate for free. In case these events are always like this I would not recommend participating but future events might provide more useful presentations and a chance to network so you can check out the details here. The next one is supposed to be at the end of February or the beginning of March. Presentations are in English and all nationalities are free to participate.Have you had similar experiences with events you attended as part of your job? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrQ30-living_workMon, 08 Feb 2021 12:33:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrQ30-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wm15d-food_healthAs a foreigner, you might have a difficult time to understand food labels in Japanese so you can find out what you are actually eating. I want to provide some help by listing-up some things you might want to look out for. If you want to check the ingredients of a product you will have to look for 原材料名 (Genzairyoumei) on the back of the package.Food Label of ChocolateGlutenGluten-free is not really a thing in Japan. Although there are some shops that sell special products most products you can find in the supermarket are not gluten-free unless they are naturally gluten-free products. If you want to check whether a product contains wheat you have to look for the word 小麦 (Komugi) on the ingredients list. Some products also have warning reading something like 本品製造工場では小麦を含む製品を生産しています。- which means that the product was produced in a place where products using wheat are used so I can contain grains of gluten even if it would gluten-free naturally.EmulsifiersI recently found out that emulsifiers can cause digestive issues for some people especially when consumed together with gluten even if they don't have a gluten allergy. Emulsifiers can be found mostly in sweets and dairy products and you have to look out for the word 乳化剤 (Nyukazai).SugarUnlike in Germany where the calorie table of a product shows you how much calories of that product come from sugar in Japan most products are not that detailed and only show you the general carb content. You can get an idea of whether a product contains a lot of sugar by checking where on the ingredients list sugar is listed. The earlier it is listed the more sugar the product contains. To check for sugar look for the word 砂糖 (Satou).You might be surprised how much many products actually contain quite a lot of sugar.The ingredients list of a protein bar. As you can see sugar is listed early. The actual product name is not "protein bar" but "chocolate sweet". Don't be fooled by products that pretend to be healthy.Artificial SweetenersWith regard to artificial sweeteners some people say you should avoid them, others say you can consume them without any risks. But as far as I know, there is no data that shows what happens if you consume them over the long term. So if you want to be safe and avoid them look for the word 甘味料 (Kanmiryo).A german health and fitness YouTuber I sometimes watch recommends to avoid products with more than 5 items on the ingredients list and I think that is a good rule of thumb.Are you reading the labels of the food you buy in the supermarket?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wm15d-food_healthMon, 01 Feb 2021 11:16:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wm15d-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaD5N-foodWinter In Japan means Valentines Day Chocolate season. Usually, as soon as New Years Holidays are over you can find the first Valentines Day chocolate variants in supermarkets and department stores. Most department stores also have a special section where they only sell Valentines Day chocolate for the period until February 14. Popular chocolates tend to sell out fast so don't wait too long if you want to try it out. I already tried a few and will provide a short review.Pokemon Valentines Day ChocolateThis chocolate box features Pikachu and EeveeI saw this chocolate in my local supermarket and a department store but you can also order it online on Rakuten or the Odakyu Online store. There are several different sized boxes you can choose from with the smallest one being around 600 Yen. The pieces all have a different taste but to be honest the taste was not that spectacular. The chocolate is not bad but probably rather made for people that enjoy the cuteness and not for people that focus on the taste.If you are one of the former group this year you can also get Kirby chocolate, Dragonball chocolate that looks like Son Goku and Demon Slayer chocolate.I have not yet tried them though.This chocolate looks also very cute. I might try it in the future.The Demon Slayer chocolate is sold out at my local supermarket already.HATSUNE Valentines Day Matcha chocolateI found this chocolate at a local department store in their Valentines Day section. I looked for it online but couldn't find a place that sells it. It contained 4 pieces with different flavours: cherry blossom, yuzu lemon, matcha ganache and houji tea. Each piece had a very unique and very intense taste and I enjoyed this chocolate a lot. If you happen to see it and you like Matcha I can recommend it. You can also get larger boxes with more pieces. The 4 piece box was priced slightly below 1.000 Yen if I remember correctly.Chestnut Valentines Day Chocolate from Ginza SuzuyaThis chocolate is also from a local department store but you can also order it at Takashimaya Online store. The chocolate is filled with a chestnut filling. You can get several different flavours. The one that I tried contained white chocolate, bitter chocolate and cherry blossom chocolate. For 1.100 Yen it was not exactly cheap.I liked this chocolate as well but would not buy it again considering the high price for 4 pieces. Also, the cherry blossom taste of the cherry blossom chocolate was not very strong and it did taste quite similar to the white chocolate. For a box with 6 pieces, you would pay 1.650 Yen.To sum it up I would recommend the Hatsune Matcha chocolate if you are looking for chocolate that tastes good and the Pokémon chocolate if you are looking for cute chocolate.Have you tried any Valentines Day chocolate so far? Do prefer making the chocolate on your own?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaD5N-foodWed, 27 Jan 2021 19:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaD5N-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2lQ3-living_howtoI recently visited the new Lovot Café in Kawasaki. As currently, the website is only available in Japanese, I wanted to provide a short guide to the Café in English. Lovots are the newest Japanese pet robots that were just released last year. If you think about buying one or just want to experience them once you can play with actual Lovots in the Lovot Café in Kawasaki that opened this autumn.The Café is situated on the second floor of the Kawasaki Lazona Shopping Center that you can reach directly from the station. You need a reservation for the Café. You can reserve on their website for free. A visit is always timed for 70 minutes. If you plan on going on a weekend, I recommend reserving about 1to 2 weeks in advance. For a weekday, a few days should be sufficient.Once you enter the café you will be shown to your seat. You have to order one food item per person. All food items come with one drink that is included in the price. Most are priced at around 2.000 Yen. While waiting for your meal a staff of the café will bring one Lovot to your table and explain how to play with it. Then you can play with the Lovot at your table for about 25 minutes. Unfortunately, you cannot choose a Lovot and it is random which one will be assigned to your table. Make sure to always hold the Lovot as they can’t sit on their own on the benches. Once the food is ready the Lovot will be brought to a charging station and you can enjoy your meal. For the last 10 minutes of your visit, you can play with several Lovots on the Lovot stage at the entrance of the Café. A staff of the Café will come and get you once it's your time so make sure to wait and not leave the Café once you are done eating. You cannot get on the stage, but you can sit on the edge. At the stage, there are several Lovots roaming around freely that you can play with freely. Taking photos and videos is allowed as well. After the 10 minutes are over a staff will let you know, and you can proceed to the cashier and pay. I hope you have fun when visiting the Café. Let me know how you liked the Café in the comments.*Editor's note: This post was submitted prior to the declaration of a state of emergency. We would advise people to check the cafe website to stay up-to-date with the cafe's business hours and virus prevention measures, as well as to keep informed about the broader situation regarding the novel coronavirus outbreak and the advise, recommendations and requests of authorities relating to that.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2lQ3-living_howtoTue, 19 Jan 2021 10:41:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2lQ3-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk5N6-living_workIn Japanese companies it is quite common to receive an evaluation of your performance every 6 months. Some companies also have different schedules.The evaluation style also differs from company to company in Japan. Some ask employees to first fill-out a self-evaluation sheet and later have a superior fill out the same sheet, so you can see where there are differences in perception. Some companies also ask you to set certain goals for 6 months and evaluate how good you were at reaching these goals. Depending on the evaluation system this can motivate employees to work harder. It is also common that the evaluation is a factor on how much bonus payment you receive in summer and winter or it can even influence your monthly salary.In my company, the evaluation system is a complete waste of time. Every 6 months I get an evaluation sheet per postal mail that provides scores from 1 to 10 in certain categories. I never got an explanation on what these categories stand for nor on what factors the evaluation is based on. I also have no idea how to improve the score nor do I talk about concrete goals with my superiors. So you can say the time spent evaluating me, the time spend printing the sheets and the time spent sending them out is completely wasted. On top of that, when looking at the score I usually feel bad because I usually don’t get the full 10 points. Therefore, recently I just throw the sheet away without even looking at it.You could argue that I could ask my superior to explain the evaluation to me. I tried that the first time I got the sheet but I didn’t get any concrete information from that talk, nor did they give me any concrete goals I could work towards. So, in the end I set my own goals but whether I achieve them does not change my evaluation at all. I sometimes have the feeling my superiors just enter some random number based on how they feel at the moment. Also, as my company is currently in a financial situation where they can't pay bonuses or increase salaries I don’t care too much about my evaluation as my salary would not change even if it improved.Do you also get such evaluation sheets from your company? Do you benefit from them or do you think they are useless like I do? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk5N6-living_workFri, 08 Jan 2021 15:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk5N6-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgad6-living_fashionI recently tried out a side job as a photo session model and will give you my impressions. Photo sessions (撮影会 in Japanese) are a concept I have first seen in Japan. It usually works in a way that a larger photo studio is rented by the organizer for a day and several models are booked for the photo session. Then photographers that want to shoot the models can register and pay a certain entry fee depending on how long they want to take part. Then they can shoot whichever model they prefer for a certain time frame.If you want to apply as a model, you usually just fill out an online form on the homepage of the organizer and submit a few photos, then you might be called in for an interview, but some places just judge based on the photos. Most places I have seen in Japan say they also take applicants with little or no experience.If they accept you, you can choose on which days you would like to participate. Depending on the organizer they may have several sessions per month or only one or two. On the day of the photo session you have to arrive at the venue at a certain time and bring several outfits. As the one I participated in was at a studio quite far from where I live I had to get up at 5:30 in the morning. Also, having to carry several outfits and matching shoes to the venue was quite exhausting! The sessions I took part had 4 shooting slots of 50 minutes with 20 minutes break in between during which you had to change outfits. At the beginning of each slot the models would line up and the photographers choose who they wanted to shoot. If several photographers wanted to shoot the same model, they would take turns. The session I took part in bases the payment of the models on how many photographers shoot you, so the more popular you are the higher your salary. As I was not very popular I didn’t get paid much but it was an interesting experience anyway. Most of the photographers that took photos of me also uploaded them to social media and tagged me so I could easily find them. Despite me not having too much modeling experience some of the pictures turned out quite nice. Also, the organizer provided free lunch and a drink for the models. I can recommend these kinds of side jobs in Japan for everyone who likes being photographed, is OK with their pictures being uploaded to social media and who can speak enough Japanese to communicate with the photographers. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgad6-living_fashionWed, 23 Dec 2020 11:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mgad6-living_fashionhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gbka9-foodChristmas season in Japan means Christmas desserts. And as you might know, you can find some of the cutest desserts in Japan. Here is what I have tried so far this year for festive desserts and sweets.Christmas Menu at Baby King KitchenBaby King Kitchen is a café situated close to Koenji station in Tokyo. They have seasonal menus all around the year and of course during Christmas time as well. This year Baby King Kitchen has several items you can choose from. There is a Christmas tree latte that comes in 4 different flavours and a shortcake drink decorated with a little Santa strawberry. For desserts, you can choose between different cakes that are decorated very cutely. I tried this reindeer apple pie, which was really good. And there is also a Santa Omrice plate if you are hungry.For those planning to celebrate Christmas in Japan with a special dinner, you can also reserve a Christmas dinner course at Baby King Kitchen. The interior of the café is also decorated in a Christmas theme so it is the perfect place to pick up on some Christmas vibes. I have not found a date for all the Christmas menu items, but some are limited until December 25, according to the café's official Instagram. Christmas sweets plate at Q-Pot Café The Q-Pot Café in Omotesando, Tokyo -- famous for its macarons -- also offers a limited Christmas dish. It is a sweets plate that comes with a cake, a macaron, a Santa strawberry and pistachio mousse. I recently visited the café for the first time and you really feel like you are in a sweets wonderland because the whole interior looks like ... sweets. The sweets plate at Q-Pot Café was really cute, too. For the macaron, you can choose between 4 different flavours: vanilla, melon, strawberry and chocolate. The sweets plate is around 2,000 yen and comes with a drink of your choice. For an additional 100 yen, you can also upgrade the drink to the limited bear bitter caramel milk tea. I liked that this was not so sweet as it provides a nice balance to the sweets plate. You can easily finish the plate alone but it is also nice for sharing. If you plan to go with a group of friends, there is also a Christmas afternoon tea set you can order that is just as cute.The Christmas items are available until December 25. As the café is popular a reservation is recommended but not required. On the second and third floor there is a shop where you can purchase Q-Pot accessories and clothes, which are all very cute but come at a not-so-affordable price. Christmas cakes, cake shopsIf you also want to enjoy Christmas sweets at home in Japan, at the moment you can find cute Christmas themed mini cakes at many cake shops. They usually cost around 500 yen per piece. Here are some I have eaten so far. For those that prefer larger cakes, most cake shops are currently taking reservations for Christmas-themed regular-sized cakes. They can usually be picked up shortly before or on Christmas day. Have you found any nice Christmas sweets so far? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gbka9-foodFri, 18 Dec 2020 12:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gbka9-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPBV-livingI recently visited the Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, on a weekend trip. During the trip I went to the Izu Granpal Park to enjoy the amusement park's winter illuminations. The illuminations have received several awards and are definitely worth a visit.The entry for a night ticket to Izu Granpal Park is 1,500 yen per person which is around that which most illumination venues in Japan charge. You can use the digital and paper versions of the Go-To Travel campaign coupons for the entry fee as well as the restaurants and store in the park.You can enter Izu Granpal Park after 16:30 with the night ticket. The park is very spacious and you can expect to spend a few hours walking through it if you want to see everything and take photos. I went there by car but you can also go by train and bus. There is a bus from Ito station that takes about 35 minutes and a bus from Izu Kogen station that takes about 20 minutes.All over the park you can find chairs and benches so it's not hard to find a spot to rest should you get a little tired. At the time of my visit there was also a hammock area where you can lay down and rest in a hammock for a while.I went on a Friday and there were not many visitors, so it was easy to keep a distance from the other visitors. At the parks entrance staff also perform the usual temperature check and disinfection. As long as the park does not get very crowded, I think the infection risk can be considered quite low.The illumination at Izu Granpal Park has several different areas. There is one where you can enjoy illuminated animals, one that feels as if you walk through a sweets wonderland, an area with underwater creatures, a large video wall and several illumination tunnels. As there are some areas that are higher, you can also get very nice photos over the entire park.Several times per hour there is also a laser show that you can enjoy for free. You can see it from almost everywhere in the park but watching it from the higher viewing points is probably best.Besides the illumination at the park there also is a building with a small petting zoo where you can pet guinea pigs and rabbits -- a nice addition especially for kids and you can use it to warm up a bit once you start feeling cold. However, you might want to be careful as the petting zoo might pose a higher infection risk if it gets crowded.There also are some attractions for kids that you can be enjoyed for free like a giant slider and a trampoline. Adults can use them as well, but after having tried the slider I would not really recommend it for adults.If you are planning to eat at Izu Granpal Park there is a Korean restaurant and a pirate-themed restaurant that you can try. I personally have not tried them but the menu of the pirate restaurant looked interesting.The Izu Granpal Park illumination is open until the end of August 2021, so you still have plenty of time left to visit. If you are in the area, I can definitely recommend a visit.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPBV-livingWed, 09 Dec 2020 11:49:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPBV-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbkV2-living_medicalI recently upgraded from a Fitbit Inspire to the Versa version. The Versa comes with a lot of health tracking features however I am still in the process of figuring out how to make the best use of them.The Versa provides you with two scores every day: a sleep score and a stress score. The sleep score is calculated based on data such as how long you slept, how long your deep sleep phases are and you pulse while you are asleep. The stress score is calculated based on changes of your pulse, your sleep patterns and your activity level. So far I think the sleep score is quite accurate as usually when I have the feeling I didn’t sleep well the score is quite low. For the sleep score, a low score means bad quality sleep. The stress score I am not sure about as I got low scores when I didn’t feel that stressed. For the stress score, a high score means little stress. However, when living in a busy city like Tokyo you sometimes get caught up in the many things you have to do every day that you might not realize you how stressed you actually are. The Versa also provides mindfulness features from short 2 minute sessions to longer meditation sessions. During the mindfulness sessions, it can track your skin sensitivity by placing your hand on the device. So far I get the impression that the Versa provides a lot of data but you don’t really know what to do with it. It does not really give you advice on how to improve your sleep and stress scores.However, more features might become available in the future.As for now, I think you could use it to try to discover patterns in your scores to find out what you could change. If for example you always have a bad sleep score on Mondays it might be because your bedtime is different on weekdays and on weekends. The mindfulness feature is quite nice as you can use while on the train or waiting for the train as long as you have about 2 minutes to spare. So far the device did not drastically change my life for the better but it is nice to have and compared to the apple watch quite affordable. Amazon Japan also has a nice variety of third party bands you can choose from the match the Versa to your outfit. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbkV2-living_medicalTue, 08 Dec 2020 09:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbkV2-living_medicalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1bQV-livingThe amusement park Sagamiko Pleasure Forest, in Kanagawa Prefecture, puts on an illumination event every winter, but this year they have something special -- they are doing a collaboration with Pokémon. The collaboration started on November 14 and I visited it on the first day.The fee for entering the Sagamiko Pleasure Forest park just to see the illumination is 1,000 yen for adults. You can enter after 16:00. You can also get free passes that allow you to ride the attractions in the park as much as you want for 2,600 yen. However, in order to get to the Pokémon Area of the park, that is situated in a higher area, you have to ride a lift. The return ticket for the lift is 700 yen per person, so technically it costs 1,700 yen to see the Pokémon illumination. The website says you should purchase tickets in advance online but I saw people purchasing them at the venue as well.Every Saturday and Sunday you can enjoy a special Pikachu performance on a small stage just before the illumination is switched on, however, you will need a special ticket to view it.Additionally, you have the chance to participate in a lottery for a Pikachu photo shooting every day if you sign up at the souvenir shop before 16:30. The lottery is free of charge and if you are one of the lucky winners, you can take photos of Pikachu in front of the illumination for a few minutes.The Pokémon area of Sagamiko Pleasure Forest is actually not that big, but together with the regular illumination, you have a lot to enjoy. There are also some limited bonus items you can get for dining at restaurants in the park. You can get Pokémon luncheon mats and coasters when dining at the "World Dining" restaurant, however, you need to purchase certain items on the menu so be sure to check the official homepage which items are eligible. When buying souvenirs you can get a Pokémon tote bag if you purchase more than 3,000 yen's worth of souvenirs, including at least one Pokémon item.I did enjoy the Pokémon illumination as it was really cute, however, I did not like the system with the lift. I got up to the Pokémon area at around 17:00 and was done viewing it at around 18:00. As I was lucky enough to win the lottery I was able to participate in the Pikachu photo shoot, which was held at 19:00. I could have used the time to look at the regular illumination but for that, I would have had to purchase another lift ticket just to get down to the lower area and back up again later. I don't really understand why they force you to use the lift. If you purchase a free pass you can use the lift as much as you want so that might be something to consider.As far as crowds go the illumination was pretty crowded on the first day and I don't think they were limiting the number of visitors. Also, when people get excited they tend to forget about social distancing and the staff did not really do much to remind the visitors. But at least everyone I saw was wearing a mask. When visiting the illumination you might want to be extra careful in regard to virus prevention.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1bQV-livingMon, 23 Nov 2020 11:22:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1bQV-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2lxJ-living_workWith corona virus infection rates rising once again in Japan it looks like of many of us will be working from home over the winter, my husband and I included. As I have already experienced a "home-office" winter last year here are some items I found useful in making things more comfortable.1.A few pairs of warm socksIn the home office you don’t need to wear shoes so there's nothing to keep you from wearing warm and fluffy socks to keep your feet warm. You can get cheap ones at Japan's 300 yen stores or a little more expensive socks in clothing stores or online. I like those socks that have some rubber on the sole in order to prevent slipping. By wearing warm socks, and warm clothes in general, you might be able to set your air conditioning a few degrees lower to save some energy cost. 2.A mug that keeps your drink warmIn winter your warm drinks will cool down faster so you might want to invest in a Thermo mug that keeps them warm for longer. You can find a wide variety of such mugs on amazon ranging from simple ones to cute ones with famous Japanese manga and anime characters on them. I got this cute Sanrio mug from our local "off house" store for just 55 yen, although that was indeed a lucky find.3.A daylight lampIn winter in Japan it's still dark in the morning sometimes making it harder to get up. It could also mean that you do not get enough sunlight. I got a daylight lamp for my work desk that I switch on for about 30 minutes after I start working. I felt that it had a positive impact on my mood and sleeping rhythm. It was only 5,000 yen on amazon. When choosing daylight lamps, you would want to look for one that has a light strength of 10,000 lux or more.4.A humidifierThe air conditioning can make the air in your home office really dry, further exacerbating Japan's super dry winters, so you might want to get a humidifier to feel more comfortable. You can get small USB humidifiers for around 2,000 yen or if you want to invest little more, you can get larger ones that also work as an air purifier at the same time. Recently, you can find humidifiers in all sorts of different designs ranging from really stylish ones to cute ones that look like animals. So everyone should be able to find a humidifier that they like.Do you have any favourite home office items for wintertime?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2lxJ-living_workThu, 19 Nov 2020 11:38:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2lxJ-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk510-food_healthComing from Germany, where would usually eat bread for breakfast, I had to adjust my breakfast habits after moving here to Japan as I don’t like the Japanese bread for breakfast and German bread is too expensive for everyday use. I do like Japanese style breakfasts, but they are a little too time-consuming to prepare.For a while, I was eating cereal from the supermarket for breakfast but most of the cereal comes with huge amounts of added sugar so I stopped eating that for health reasons and switched to making my own cereal mix. The funny thing is that even most cereals that are marketed as healthy contain added sugar so you really need to check the ingredients carefully to be sure.To make my own cereal I put some oatmeal in a bowl and mix it with chia seeds, nuts and other seeds. Then, I add some cinnamon and turmeric for flavour. I also add a bit of inulin powder. Inulin is a starchy substance that supports the growth of healthy gut bacteria. You can get it on amazon or other online shops. In cereal mixes from the supermarket you can often find dry fruits but I prefer to stay away from them as they contain quite a bit of sugar and have fewer vitamins compared to fresh fruits. Finally, I add a spoonful of protein powder as I am trying to gain muscle at the moment. But even if you don’t work out, protein powder can be useful as a protein-rich breakfast will decrease your appetite for the rest of the day. If you use flavoured protein powder, it will in turn help to add flavour to the mix. As the last step, I mix the cereal with sugar-free yoghurt but you can also use milk if you prefer. Unfortunately in Japan choices are quite limited when it comes to sugar-free yoghurt as most of the yoghurt you can get at the supermarket comes with sugar. I like to use this yoghurt from Danone because of the creamy texture.Preparing this breakfast only takes a few minutes and in the end I have a breakfast that is rich in protein and fibre, and also has some essential fats. I usually eat my self-made cereal with some fresh fruits to also get some vitamins. This breakfast keeps me perfectly satiated until lunchtime. What are you eating for breakfast? Have your breakfast habits changed after moving to Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk510-food_healthFri, 13 Nov 2020 19:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk510-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GojNb-food_autumnfood2020Since I wrote my first post about Halloween foods in Japan this year I found a few more Halloween foods worth mentioning. So here goes.Halloween Kakigori at Café Lumierein KichijoujiCafé Lumiere is known for its artistic kakigori creations. Of course, they have a special "Halloween Ice" during Halloween season here in Japan. It was topped with a ghost cookie in sweet potato flavour and pumpkin chips, and covered in a pumpkin caramel sauce. I also liked the walnuts they added for some extra crunch. But I must admit, autumn is not exactly the perfect season for kakigori and I felt a little cold while eating it.Halloween Pancake at Cafe Accueil in EbisuI had seen this pancake at Cafe Accueil in Ebisu on TV and definitely wanted to try it. The pancake was topped with different ice cream and had a pumpkin cake on top that was decorated to look like a jack-o-lantern that had chocolate and chocolate cream as a hat. It also had some chocolate wings for extra details. The sauce on the plate was sweet potato flavour and went very well with the pancakes. All in all, it looked very artistic and also tasted really good. I managed to finish it on my own but I felt a little guilty afterwards for eating so much sugar.It was my first time visiting this café in Tokyo's Ebisu district and it has a really nice atmosphere. If you happen to go to Ebisu, give it a try. I went on a weekday and could get a seat immediately without having made a reservation.Halloween Buffet at the Alice Café "Alice in an old castle" in IkebukuroDuring the Halloween season, the Alice Café in Ikebukuro is holding Halloween buffets on the weekends. For 3,500 yen you can eat and drink as much as you like for 90 minutes. The buffet was mainly sweets but they also had foods like potato fries, soup, noodle salad, quiche and curry. The sweets were mostly Halloween themed and a lot had some kind of pumpkin flavour. They were all very cute and had some Alice in Wonderland Vibe to them. You could choose from a large variety of cakes, cookies, puddings, scones, cupcakes and many more. On the drink menu, there were several soft drinks and non-alcoholic cocktails.Alice Café has a really nice interior that is decorated in careful detail. Considering that I usually pay around 2,500 to 3,000 yen when visiting a cafe for food and drinks I think the price of the "Alice" buffet is very reasonable. In the end, you also get a teabag as a take-home gift. For this buffet, you need a reservation and they usually go fast so make up your mind quickly if you plan to go. In November and December, they are doing a Christmas buffet on the weekends.Halloween season is now over but Christmas season is just around the corner and I am already looking forward to Christmas sweet creations of 2020. Have you eaten any nice Halloween food? What Christmas food are you looking forward to?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GojNb-food_autumnfood2020Wed, 11 Nov 2020 09:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GojNb-food_autumnfood2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWOl2-living_howtoIn September the “New Fantasy Land” finally opened in Tokyo Disneyland. In this post I would like to explain how you can make the most of your visit to the new area.Buy a ticketFirst of all you will need a ticket for Tokyo Disneyland. Currently, the number of visitors is limited due to COVID19, therefore tickets sell out quickly. You should buy your ticket as soon as possible especially if you plan to go on a weekend or national holiday.Make reservationsCurrently, some restaurants and all shops in the new area of Tokyo Disneyland require a reservation. Additionally, you will also require a reservation for shops in the other areas that sell merchandise from the “New Fantasy Land” collection. You can make reservations via the Disneyland website. Reservations for shops can be made 5 days before your visit, starting at 0:00. The shops in the new area “Village Shops” do not sell any goods, they just have the items on display so you can order them through the Disneyland App. If you want to buy something and directly use it in the park, you would want to make a reservation for one of the shops outside the new area of Tokyo Disneyland. The shops outside the new area that require a reservation are Gag Factory, Kingdom Treasure and Planet M.Restaurant reservations can be made a month before your visit to the new area of Tokyo Disneyland. You currently need a reservation for the new popcorn shop “Big Pop” and the Gaston restaurant “La Taverne de Gaston.” If you were not fast enough on the day reservations started keep checking the Disneyland App regularly as sometimes new spots open up due to cancellations. I managed to get in a reservation for Big Pop on the day before my visit in the afternoon.Participate in the lotteryAll new attractions are currently only accessible through a lottery system. Once per visit you can try your luck in the Disneyland app for each attraction. There are several time slots you can choose that are about 1 to 2-hour windows. If you are lucky, you will be assigned a smaller window of about 20 minutes when you can ride the attraction. Make sure to not select times that could overlap with restaurant or shop reservations as you probably won’t make it to both. Then you simply go to the attraction at the designated time and you will be able to get on it just like with a fast pass.If you are unlucky, you will not be able to ride the attraction on that visit, unfortunately.Have fun on your visit to Disneyland and the New Fantasy Land area!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWOl2-living_howtoTue, 10 Nov 2020 10:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWOl2-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z83ov-money_fashion_workRecently I came across a tweet of a student that is studying at a university in Tokyo to become a hair and makeup artist. The student was looking for a hair and makeup model for one of their study projects. I found it interesting and applied. They selected me and I would like to write about how it went.We met quite early in the morning close to their university and went there together. There was a huge room where several students were working on their models at the same time. At first, I changed into the outfit that the student had prepared. Then they started with the hair set. As it was quite a complex and high-fashion like hairstyle it took more than two hours until it was done.It was quite interesting as I usually don't have any opportunities where I get my hair styled like that. After the hair was done they did the makeup.Once everything was done we headed for the shooting studio. The university has a special studio for photo shootings of the students. There a professional cameraman took photos of the hairstyle. I was surprised that the shooting only took 15 minutes. I had done other model jobs before and usually, shootings are much longer, but I guess because all students have to get their models shot on the same day they can't take much time.After the shooting was finished we went back to the previous room and the student removed my makeup and then returned my hair to my normal style.All in all, it took about 4 hours.As you can image students can not pay their models much so these jobs are not the best paying jobs. But it was an interesting experience and I got a small glimpse into how it is like to be a student at that university. As for now, I am not allowed to post the pictures online as they might be used for a hair and makeup contest. But I will be allowed to use them on my social media later.I can recommend such jobs for everyone that wants to experience an artistic hairstyle and makeup and maybe also for people that think about studying something along those lines to get an impression of how it is like.Modelling experience is nice to have but not necessary.Especially at the moment, it is not easy for the students to find models and for certain styles, foreign models are preferred.If you are interested in such jobs you can look on Twitter or Instagram under the hashtag #メイクモデル or #サロンモデル.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z83ov-money_fashion_workMon, 09 Nov 2020 14:06:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z83ov-money_fashion_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/we9Ke-living_shopping_howtoIn September a campaign started in Japan that awards 5,000 yen worth of My Number points when you spend 20,000 yen on your regular shopping via a cashless payment service. In order to benefit from the campaign -- the MynaPoint campaign -- you need a My Number Card. You can request a My Number Card online via your smartphone or your PC. In order to request the card you will need the piece of paper that you received from your city office when your My Number was first issued and a recent photo.You will first need to register on this site. Then you will be asked to enter your personal information and upload the photo. You can also choose some options in regards to the card. Make sure to choose a card with a digital certificate (電子証明書) otherwise you can't use the card for the My Number campaign.About a month after you requested the card you will get mail from your city office. On their letter you will find information about a website on which you can reserve a slot to pick up the card from the city office. You will need to go in person unless there are special circumstances that make it impossible for you to go in person. In that case, you can appoint an agent but you will have to provide proof that it was impossible for you to go yourself.The letter from the city office will list some documents that you will need to bring to your appointment. If everything is in order, you will be asked to create 4 passwords for the card for the different certifications the card can provide. There is a special computer at the city office where you can enter the passwords via touchscreen. Once you are done you will get your My Number card. The card should be valid as long as your visa for Japan is valid and needs to be renewed accordingly. Also, if you move you, will have to get your address on the card updated.You can use you My Number card as a form of identification. It can also be used to request documents such as your juminhyo at the convenience store (rather than having to go all the way to the relevant city hall to collect it) or as the digital certification for filing your taxes online. Once you have the card you will have to download the My Number app on your phone and register your preferred cashless payment method for the MynaPoint point program. Several credit cards and smartphone pay services are available. You can find a complete list here.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/we9Ke-living_shopping_howtoThu, 22 Oct 2020 10:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/we9Ke-living_shopping_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mga5O-living_money_familylifeCurrently, you can save quite a bit of money when eating out and traveling in Japan via the government's Go To campaigns. I will explain how.Go To EatMaking use of the Go To Eat campaign is pretty simple. You simply have to reserve a restaurant online at Japan's popular reservation sites like Tabelog, Gurunavi or Hot Pepper Gourmet. If you don't have an account already, you will need to make one first. Then you have can search for restaurants that are part of the campaign and make a reservation. For a reservation during lunchtime you will get 500 points per person, for a dinner reservation you will get 1,000 points per person. One point is worth 1 yen.The time the points will be awarded depends on the site through which you made your reservation. You can then use those points for next time you reserve something through the website.The campaign will be ongoing until the end of January next year. The points have to be used until the end of March next year (2021).Go To TravelJapan's Go To Travel campaign provides a 50% discount on domestic travel. The travel fees (hotel and transport) will be discounted by 35%. You can make use of the discount by booking your trip through travel sites such as Rakuten Travel, Jalan or Ikkyu, among others. Making booking in this way will mean that the Go To Travel discount is applied automatically when booking. The discount is not available for travel in your own car (or when arranging your own transportation), when staying at a friends place or for self-organized day trips. If, however, you book a day-trip tour via a travel company the discount should be available. Note that the Go To Travel campaign budget currently limits discounts to up to 20,000 yen per person per night (for overnight trips)On top of that, you will also get shopping coupons to be used in and around your destination worth 15% of the amount of your travel costs. These can be in paper form or digital. Which form is used depends on the site through which you made your bookings. You can use the Go To campaign coupons in the prefecture you travel to and neighbouring prefectures (the valid prefectures will be displayed on the coupon). They can be used at tourist attractions, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. I also saw convenience stores where you can use them.Depending on the shop / establishment, they might only accept paper coupons or only digital coupons, so you might want to check in advance. However, if 15% of the travel cost is below 500 yen you will not get any coupons.Have you reserved any trips or restaurant visits with the Go To campaign so far? I have a short trip planned for the end of November and already collected 2,000 points via the Go To Eat campaign so far.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mga5O-living_money_familylifeMon, 19 Oct 2020 11:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mga5O-living_money_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVPb8-food_healthI recently listened to an audiobook called, “Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar” in which the negative consequences that sugar can have on your health are explained. The book did not only focus on sugar however, it also talked about carbs and their impact on blood sugar and insulin in general. At several points the book talked about the traditional Japanese diet, one that includes a lot of processed white rice.Processed white rice is low in fibre and nutrients compared to brown rice. White rice is mostly empty calories and carbs. Nevertheless, the traditional Japanese diet is considered very healthy and is often said to lead to a long life. According to the book, the secret is that the rice is usually eaten with a lot of vegetables. The vegetables come with a good amount of fibre. The fibre results in a slower metabolization of the carbs from the rice. Accordingly, the rise in blood sugar and insulin will be smaller meaning that the liver is not swamped with too many carbs at once but has more time to process them one after the other.In general, brown rice is the healthier option, however brown rice takes longer to cook compared to white rice. Also, when eating out only a few restaurants actually have brown rice on their menu, in my experience. If you have the option to choose brown rice, I would generally recommend it, otherwise, you can balance out the white rice by eating some veggies with it. Most of the Japanese beef bowl restaurants have salad options that you can order in addition to your beef bowl. In convenience stores you can buy a salad or vegetables sticks together with your bento box. There is also a sort of food hack for eating white rice at home. When you cook rice and let it cool down and put it in the fridge for a few hours, during the cooling process a part of the starch in the rice changes to "resistant starch." Resistant starch is said to have some of the same physiologic effects of dietary fibre. Also, the cooled rice has about 10 to 15% fewer calories than then freshly cooked rice. That does not change even if you reheat the rice. So, cooking more rice than you need for a meal and keeping the remaining rice in the fridge for later is not only convenient, it is also healthier. The concept also applies to dishes that are traditionally eaten cold, like sushi or o-nigiri. Do you eat a lot of rice? How do you balance it out? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVPb8-food_healthTue, 13 Oct 2020 18:22:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVPb8-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GOWr7-food_autumnfood2020Even though Halloween season is considered to be in October, you could find Halloween sweets and dishes from September already, in Japan. I want to introduce three Halloween dishes and sweets I have tried so far.Halloween Wagashi from ChateraiseThe sweets shop Chateraise is selling three kinds of Halloween wagashi this year -- a Frankenstein head, a black cat and a Jack-o-lantern. All are filled with different versions of anko. The Frankenstein is filled with regular anko, the Jack-o-Lantern with pumpkin anko and the Cat with white anko. You can purchase them at all Chateraise shops and if they are not in stock at the moment the shop can order them for you. Chateraise has shops all over Japan.The wagashi are small so you can easily eat 2 or 3 for dessert or as a snack. Ideally, you have some Green Tea to enjoy them with. If you don’t like wagashi, Chateraise also has several Halloween themed cakes and cookies.Halloween Dessert from the All C´s CaféJust like every year, the All C´s Café in Koenji, Tokyo, is offering a Halloween dessert. This year it is a Halloween parfait. The parfait is available in September and October. It is topped with cookies, caramelized pumpkin slices, and pumpkin and caramel ice cream. Below that there are several different kinds of corn flakes and pieces of sponge cake. The Halloween parfait is not small, but it is manageable as a dessert if you choose only a light meal for your main dish. But sharing with a friend is also a nice idea. C´s Café also has a Halloween-themed hamburger meal for the complete Halloween experience and their poodle cakes that are on the regular menu come with cute little Halloween add-ons during the Halloween season.The café interior is decorated with several Halloween items also, so you can enjoy your meal in the right atmosphere and take some nice pictures. The café requests all customers to order at least one drink so take that into consideration when visiting. Halloween Menu at the Pokémon CaféOf course, there also is a special Halloween menu at the Pokémon Café. It is available from September 26 to November 8. This year there is only one menu item, unlike last year when you had a few to choose from. This year’s Halloween menu at the Pokémon Café is a set consisting of a cheese doria and fruit juice. The cheese doria is arranged to look like Mimikyu and is very cute, however, I didn't really see anything "Halloween" on the plate. The juice with its orange and purple colours felt a little more like Halloween.Nevertheless, the taste was good, and you get a mask case aa present when ordering the dish. Still, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of variety and having to choose a whole set instead of ordering single items. Also, the Pokémon Café was not decorated for Halloween unlike in the last two years when they had used plushies from the recent Halloween collection as decoration. Have you found any nice Halloween themed dishes in Japan so far? Are you planning to eat some this month? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GOWr7-food_autumnfood2020Thu, 08 Oct 2020 11:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GOWr7-food_autumnfood2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zakX0-living_workYou probably have heard of the option of doing paid surveys online to make a little money on the side. I have been using a few Japanese survey sites for a certain period of time and would like to share my experience.MacromillMacromill is a famous survey site in Japan. You can answers surveys on your PC or your phone via the Macromill app. Most surveys are paid at 2 to 4 yen per survey and are fairly quick. Some of these quick surveys can qualify you for longer surveys that pay at around 100 yen. Sometimes the surveys on Macromill also look for participants for phone surveys or surveys you attend physically that are paid at several thousand yen, however, I have never been chosen for such a survey so far. I usually answer surveys for about 10 to 15 minutes each day and make around 1,000 yen per month. The money you make can be transferred to your bank account or you can exchange it for Amazon gift codes, t-points or g-points. You need at least 500 yen to exchange it or request a transfer. So far I always received the money timely and there is no fee for exchanging.You don’t make a lot with Macromill but it’s a nice thing to do when you have only a few minutes of idle time while waiting for a train or similar and it is quite convenient to answer surveys on the phone as the UI of the Macromill app is quite decent.LifepointsLifepoints only offers longer surveys that are paid at around 100 yen per survey. However sometimes after the first few questions if you do not fit the target group, a survey will quit early and you only receive a fraction of the points.Lifepoints does not have an app version and the website is not really optimized for mobile use so I would recommend answering Lifepoints surveys from your PC. Unlike Macromill, Lifepoints is not originally in Japanese and most surveys are translated which results in weird Japanese sometimes. On Lifepoints I usually make around 500 points per week. Once you have 550 points you can exchange them for 500 yen Amazon or Rakuten gift cards that you will receive a few days after requesting the exchange. So far I always received the gift cards timely. Lifepoints surveys are paid higher than Macromill surveys, however, you get fewer surveys per day and you lose 50 points when requesting an exchange.Have you tried out survey sites? What experiences did you have?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zakX0-living_workSun, 20 Sep 2020 10:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zakX0-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAqoQ-living_shopping_howtoIchiban Kuji is a popular lottery system in Japan. Every month several new collections are released. One collection usually focuses on one franchise and contains several prizes like figures, key chains, plushies, mugs, towels or glasses. The prizes are arranged in categories, usually named with letters. Ichiban Kuji's A prize is usually the most valuable and the lower you get the less valuable the prizes will be. When buying Ichiban Kuji you will get one prize per lottery ticket that you buy, however chances for winning the higher value prizes are lower compared to the lower value prizes.Ichiban Kuji are usually sold in Japan's convenience stores, toy stores or special franchise stores like the Pokémon Centers or the Nintendo store. On the official website, you can search for shops close to you.Popular collections can sell out within only one day so you might want to go early if there is a lottery you really want to try your luck on. Purchasing Ichiban Kuji is quite simple. Once you found a store that sells the "kuji" there is usually a cardboard advertising board. On the right corner, you can find a small pocket that holds small cardboard tickets. Just take one and take it to the cashier. You can buy several tickets at once. Just tell the shop assistant how many you would like. They will then hand you a small box containing all the lottery tickets and you can pull them out. One ticket costs around 600 to 700 yen.After that, you will have to open the tickets and show them to the shop assistant. They will bring you the prizes according to what you drew. For some prizes, there are different versions, e.g. different colours or different patterns. Most of the time you can choose which version you prefer but sometimes the prizes are in blind boxes and which one you get will be random.There is also a way to get Ichiban Kuji items a little cheaper. If a collection is not very popular or they are sold in a store where hardly anyone buys them, sometimes the remaining prizes end up on a sale table where you can buy specifically the items you like for cheaper prices. I was once lucky enough to find an A prize from a Pokemon lottery for only 500 yen. Alternatively, if you don’t like the randomness of lottery tickets you can look on sites like Mercari for people that sell prizes. The lower categories are usually sold for cheaper than the lottery ticket price but the higher category prizes can cost several 1000 yen. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAqoQ-living_shopping_howtoWed, 16 Sep 2020 12:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAqoQ-living_shopping_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjabv-food_shopping_healthFinding healthy foods or foods for people with certain dietary restrictions at convenience stores can be difficult, however, there is an alternative version of Lawson that makes it easier, called Natural Lawson.Natural Lawson is focusing on health-conscious people or people with special eating requirements. It was originally intended to cater to working women however nowadays health-conscious men enjoy the offering as well. At a Natural Lawson you can find the following items that can be harder to find at regular convenience stores.Low-carb and high-protein optionsNatural Lawson has a whole product series of bread products that are low-carb. The carb content is written on the front of the packaging for easy reference. Natural Lawson also offers a larger variety when it comes to protein bars. In most convenience stores you can find the standard selection of Japanese products but at Natural Lawson you can also find imported protein bars with different flavours.Meatless Options and gluten-free OptionsI have not yet seen any meat substitute options for vegans or vegetarians at regular convenience stores so far. Natural Lawson offers several meat substitute products from the Zeromeat label. Similarly, gluten-free products can be scarce at regular convenience stores, too, In general, there is not a huge variety of Japanese glutenfree products as the concept has not yet spread in Japan. As Natural Lawson carries more imported products you can find gluten-free foods more easily here.More Water and Tea OptionsA healthy diet contains a lot of water. At Natural Lawson you can find a larger variety of water than at other convenience stores. You can find rare options like Deep Sea Water, Fiji Water and Onsen Water from several prefectures of Japan. You can also find rare tea variants that you usually don’t see in other convenience stores, like this chestnut tea.Healthy Snack OptionsUnlike regular convenience stores that mostly sell chocolate, potato chips and cookies in their snacks section Natural Lawson is more focused on “healthy” snacks like dried fruits and nuts and offers a larger variety of such products.Natural Lawsons are not as common as regular Lawsons so it might be difficult to find one that is close to you. But if you happen to find one it can be interesting to explore the difference in the product range. However, products at Natural Lawson tend to be a little more expensive than at regular convenience stores.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjabv-food_shopping_healthMon, 14 Sep 2020 09:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wjabv-food_shopping_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2l4n-food_autumnfood2020Although it is still pretty early in the "Halloween season" here in Japan you can already get some Halloween-themed foods in supermarkets and sweet shops. Besides that, you can also find yummy autumn-themed traditional Japanese sweets that use seasonal flavours like chestnut and sweet potatoes.I would like to introduce what I have tried so far this autumn / Halloween season. Pokémon Pan Halloween versionThis year you can get two different versions of Halloween-themed snack bread -- one is a pumpkin-flavoured doughnut and the other a pumpkin-flavoured melon pan. Both come in a cute Halloween-themed package featuring a dressed-up Pikachu. I only tried the melon pan so far and was not impressed by the taste. I hardly tasted any pumpkin flavour. It was almost a normal melon pan. But as this type of snack bread is quite cheap in Japan you probably can't expect much anyway. The Halloween Pokémon Pan is available in most supermarkets and comes with a random Pokémon sticker that unfortunately is not Halloween-themed.Mister Donut Halloween DoughnutsMister Donut already started selling their Halloween themed doughnuts for 2020. This year you can choose from 5 different doughnuts that look like ghosts, bats, mummies, and cats. I tried the pink mummy and the ghost doughnut. The mummy doughnut is a fruit stick with strawberry taste and the ghost doughnut is covered in white chocolate and coconut flakes. Both have no filling. They did not taste bad but not exactly amazing either. I did like the mummy doughnut better but they basically had no Halloween twist to their flavour and could have been sold as normal doughnuts if not for the chocolate eyes. They are priced at around 150 yen each and have been available since September 4.Sweet Potato Set from the SupermarketI got this sweet potato sweets set from a local supermarket. It contained sweet potato cakes and daifuku. The cakes were filled with regular anko and the daifuku with sweet potato anko. I like both but if you are not a fan of sweet potato flavour you might want to stay away from sweets like this. If you do like the taste, there are more variants of sweet potato daifuku that you can try out, e.g. ones that are filled with whipped cream or ice.Chestnut Mochi from the SupermarketThis set of chestnut mochi is also from a local supermarket. They are cut in small pieces, so they were easy to eat. They were filled with chestnut-anko which tastes nothing like regular anko. They might be a nice alternative for those that don’t like the taste of anko. Unfortunately, when it comes to autumn sweets most are either chestnut or sweet potato flavour so if you don’t like these tastes you might want to wait until the winter season starts.So far the Halloween-themed sweets I've tried in Japan were a little underwhelming but a lot of places have not yet started with their Halloween menu yet, therefore I am hopeful to find something nice in the future. Until then I might stick to the Japanese-style sweets. Have you found anything nice so far? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2l4n-food_autumnfood2020Tue, 08 Sep 2020 17:03:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2l4n-food_autumnfood2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0v0K-living_healthNovel coronavirus cases are rising again in Japan which could possibly result in new emergency measures. People are already requested to stay at home during the summer vacation and on top of that we got a very long rainy season this year -- all aspects that can have a negative impact on mental health. Here are some methods that I tried for myself to keep my mental health in balance during these times.Working Out at homeSports are not only good for your physical health but for your mental health as well. I once heard that muscles can release serotonin and thus increase your happiness. I personally found that doing muscle building workouts definitely helps me to get negative thoughts out of my head even if that might only be due to the exhaustion I feel after a workout. You don’t even need a lot of equipment. A yoga mat and some water bottles can be enough.My husband and I have a nice dumbbell collection by now.Doing work with my handsThe place we currently live in has a small garden and I have been doing some garden work since the state of emergency was announced. We have some vegetable plants now and can harvest self-grown veggies. I found that it gave me something useful to do around the house and some kind of purpose during the lockdown. Also, I spent time outside and did work with my hands. Most Japanese houses do not have a garden but maybe you can get some plants and flowers for your balcony.Our garden from aboveEating nutritious and fresh mealsI think eating nutritious food is also important for mental health. With restaurants being closed or only open for limited hours and more and more people working from home, chances to eat out have probably decreased for many people. In the past I used to eat a lot of processed food and deep-frozen foods when eating at home but recently I have managed to change my eating habits into eating more fresh foods. Most processed foods come with a lot of sugar and other ingredients that can have a negative impact on both mental and physical health.Cooking most meals on your own is not easy and can be time-consuming but I am sure your body and mind will appreciate it. For lazy people like me, Japanese supermarkets also come with options of pre-cut vegetables that you can use for salads or simple stir-fry dishes. How are you coping with your mental health during the pandemic? Do you have any good methods?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0v0K-living_healthMon, 17 Aug 2020 17:17:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0v0K-living_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1b05-livingNow that the rainy season is over and the hot summer is here in Japan it is hardly possible to survive without air conditioning. Previously you might not have considered the energy expenses for your air conditioning too much as most of the time you might have been at work but with more people working from home due to the virus pandemic maybe it's time to consider how to use air conditioning at home more efficiently. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry in the summer at noon the energy used by the air conditioning can make up more than half of energy usage.Don'tset the temperature too lowThe lower the temperature, the more energy the air conditioning will use. By increasing the temperature by one degree you can save about 10%. When working from home you don't have to wear business clothes and so a slightly higher temperature should not be too problematic. Also, in general, the difference in the temperature outside and inside should not be more than 5 degrees in order to not confuse your body too much when you go outside.I usually have my air conditioning at around 28 degrees.Clean regularly and keep the area of the outside unit freeThe filters of the air conditioning should be cleaned once every two weeks. If the filters are dirty the energy cost can increase by 5% to 10%. Dirty filters can also lead to smell or water leakage.Also, make sure to not put any items close to the outside unit of the air conditioning as items that block the openings can also lead to an increase in energy usage.Keep doors closed and use curtainsWhen using air conditioning make sure the keep the door of the room closed as an open door means that warm air from other rooms can come inside and decrease the cooling effect. Also, if you use curtains, you can stop a certain percentage of sunlight from coming inside and keep the temperature lower, to begin with. You can even get special thermal curtains that are more effective at keeping the heat out. They are a little more expensive but you can save on energy costs in the long run.Use circulators or fans to distribute the cold airCold air tends to drop to the floor of the room, whereas warm air rises to the top of the room. A circulator or fan can help to mix up the warm and cold air better which helps to increase the cooling effect of the air conditioning. A fan can also help to decrease the felt temperature so that you can have the air conditioning set to a higher number and still feel comfortable.This circulator was only about 2.500 Yen.Don't switch the air conditioning on and off frequentlyThe most energy is used after switching the air conditioning on until it reaches the desired temperature. Keeping the temperature at this point does not use as much energy. If you feel that it has gotten too cold do not turn off the air conditioning, rather set the temperature to a higher number.I hope that some of these tips can help you to decrease your electricity bill while working from home. Do you know additional tips? Just leave a comment.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1b05-livingThu, 13 Aug 2020 12:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1b05-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MEPy1-living_howtoDuring the summer last year I started playing trading card games with actual cards for the first time since I came to Japan. During the recent state of emergency due to the outbreak of the coronavirus however, a lot of card shops were closed, but now many are open again. Nevertheless, things have changed when it comes to playing trading card games due to COVID. Here is my experience so far.A lot of shops in Japan have reduced the number of players they can accommodate in order that people can keep their distance and that the shops do not get too crowded. So, if there is an event or tournament you would like to play at, try to reserve in advance. Also, as there are still shipping delays due to the pandemic if you are looking for non-Japanese versions of cards, I would recommend to make double sure with the shop that they have enough stock. Card shops are vulnerable to all the three "mitsu" (crowded spaces, closed spaces, close contact -- the 3Cs) the government tells us to avoid so you might want to be extra careful. Make sure to disinfect your hands when entering and always wear a mask. Some shops have taken measures to have players sitting at larger distances than before to avoid close contact, while others have installed plastic boards to separate players. You might want to check in advance what measures the shop you would like to go to has put in place. When I last went to the Pokémon centre in Ikebukuro, in Tokyo, I had a look at the Pokémon Card gameplay space close by and they seem to have a pretty decent anti-corona setup.In certain situations, you might want to have a look at your opponents’ cards to confirm what they say. In such situations, you might want to ask your opponent to show the card to you instead of asking for permission to touch it to avoid any potential risk. Similarly, if you are supposed to shuffle your opponent’s deck, you might just want to trust their shuffling unless you are playing at a very important tournament. If you concerned and would still like to avoid closed spaces like card shops, you still have the possibility for online game play. Most trading card games have online versions but even for those that don’t with the right camera setup playing online via discord has recently become an option as well. Several shops in Japan have set up discord servers for that purpose and are holding online events as well. Stay safe when enjoying trading card games in times of corona. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MEPy1-living_howtoTue, 11 Aug 2020 12:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MEPy1-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mdvpe-foodKakigori is a Japanese type of ice desert. It is made of crushed ice that is covered with sweet syrup. Usually, it is eaten at Japanese summer festivals. In the current times of pandemic most summer festivals have unfortunately been cancelled this year but there are still some cafés in Japan where you can enjoy even better kakigori.I recently went to the Kakigori Café KumoKumadou in Chofu, in western Tokyo, that is famous for its nicely decorated kakigori.Café KumoKumadou they decorate their kakigori so that looks like cute bears, rabbits or penguins which are almost too cute to eat. Also, they have rather unusual flavours like kakigori covered with corn soup. The prices are at around 1,000 yen per kakigori dish which is not cheap but the kakigori tastes good and the portion size is quite voluminous.When I went there together with my husband we tried the corn soup kakigori and a zunda milk kakigori. Both looked really cute. I did like the zunda kakigori as the zunda taste went really well with the milk. The corn soup kakigori was not really my cup of tea -- you might want to be cautious with ordering such unusual flavours.Café KumoKumadou serves only kakigori so if you feel really hungry you might want to grab lunch somewhere else first. The café is situated north of Chofu Station and can be reached on foot in about 6 minutes. If you want to check out the menu and look at some photos you can do so at their Instagram page. In terms of the coronavirus, they have put a lot of measures in place. On weekdays only groups of four people are allowed and on weekends groups are limited to two people.At the moment only customers with a reservation are allowed inside the cafe but you can reserve conveniently via Line. I would recommend reserving at least a day in advance as you might not get a reply right away. You can also check their Instagram stories for information regarding open tables.Customers are required to wear masks and disinfect their hands when entering. Also, customers are requested to talk in a small voice and to leave once they are done eating. Customers with fever or who are not feeling well are not allowed inside. Also due to the coronavirus, they stopped offering free water and tea at the cafe so you might want to bring your own drink with you.All these measures do not sound like the most comfortable thing to do but I feel that they are necessary especially with the increasing number of new coronavirus cases in Tokyo in mind and also they make me feel safe when eating there. If you are missing the kakigori you would usually have eaten at summer festivals or firework events, getting a nice bear kakigori at KumoKumadou instead is a decent option. I guess we all have to make the best of this summer and hope that things will be closer to normal next year. What you do you think about the corn soup kakigori? Would you like to try it?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mdvpe-foodFri, 07 Aug 2020 17:08:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mdvpe-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gl5AQ-living_workYou might have heard of the Japanese phrase "Kuuki wo Yomu / 空気を読む" which literally translated means "reading the air." The phrase refers to the social skill of being able to understand things that are not actually being said from the atmosphere or based on facial expressions and other nonverbal signs from the people around. You often hear from foreigners that they have trouble with this as some things, that maybe every Japanese person understands without them needing to be said, are not as obvious for foreigners who grew up in a completely different culture.Have you had experiences with this at your workplace in Japan? I have had some experiences with "kuuki wo yomu" that I would sort in that kind of category, although I am not sure if that is appropriate.At my first workplace in Japan, a lot of my colleagues used to do overtime. On the contrary, I managed to finish my work on time, most of the time, and as the company had a weird policy in regard to overtime payment (the first hour of overtime each day was unpaid overtime) I did not have an incentive to work overtime and so left on time where possible. As I kept my task deadlines I did not see any problems with my behaviour. Before coming to Japan I had heard that in Japan it can be considered rude to leave work before your boss does, however, in the office I worked at my boss was usually not actually at the office but working at home or visiting clients, so I figured that would not apply here. After a few months in the job, my boss said that they wanted to talk to me and I was told that several colleagues had been complaining that they were doing overtime and I was not. My first reaction was that I did not understand why that would be my fault. If there was a discrepancy of workload causing that, it would be the fault of my boss not having distributed the work evenly. However, it seemed that my colleagues were not looking to decrease their workload. Instead, my boss told me that they wanted to me to ask them before leaving if there was something I could help with. As I wanted to keep the job and wanted to try being nice I did that, however I never got any tasks from my colleagues and still left on time most of the time.Until this day I am not sure what problem my colleagues had. As after my boss talked to me nothing really changed but I never got any similar complaints at a later stage. I assume that in that situation I was not able to read the air correctly. How would you interpret this situation?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gl5AQ-living_workThu, 06 Aug 2020 10:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gl5AQ-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1bYn-livingRecently I visited the Okutama region in western Tokyo. As this region is not so popular as a tourist spot, spacious and an outside location I figured the corona risk was acceptable. Nevertheless, I made sure to wear a mask and keep my distance.First stop: Kamameshi NakaiMy first stop was at a famous Kamameshi Restaurant, called Nakai. The Okutama region is famous for Kamameshi and according to some online top lists this restaurant is one of the best. Kamameshi is a Japanese dish where rice is cooked together with vegetables, fish and meat and spices and sauce are added for flavour.The restaurant can be reached from the JR Kawai station but it takes about 20 minutes on foot. The food is slightly expensive but very good. On weekends the restaurant can get crowded during lunchtime so you might have to wait a bit.Hatonosu Valley – Great View and Lost PlacesAfter that, I took the train to the Hatonosu station where you can enjoy a beautiful view of the Hatonosu valley. When going down the way from the station to the valley you come across a cute little café where you can enjoy a nice view while getting some coffee and a dessert. Also along the way you can find the ruins of several abandoned hotels and Ryokans. Although entering is not allowed these are nice for taking photos and maybe taking a peek through the windows to see a bit of real-life history. If you like visiting lost places I would suggest this is a nice place to start in Japan.When I went there I also saw some people swimming in the river that goes through the valley however I would not recommend that as this area is not officially designated for swimming so it is probably not safe and there is no one coming to rescue you in case you get in trouble.Final Stop: Okutama LakeMy last stop for the trip was the Okutama lake. The lake can be reached by bus from Okutama station. The bus ride takes about 15 minutes. The buses are not that frequent so you might want to check the timetable ahead of time. On the day I went the lake was very clear almost like a mirror and great for taking photos. Around the lake, you can find several souvenirs stands. The Okuma region is also famous for wasabi so you can buy all kinds of wasabi related products and plushies and figures of their wasabi mascot. They even have wasabi icecream. I tried it and must say it didn’t taste as bad as expected but in general, I would prefer regular ice cream flavours.If you are looking for day trips from Tokyo and you like good food, nature and lost places I can recommend a visit to the Okutama region. While you can get around by train and bus I assume a car would be the more comfortable option as trains and busses are not as frequent as in central Tokyo. Also, a car would reduce your contact with other visitors to further decrease infections risks.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1bYn-livingMon, 03 Aug 2020 09:38:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1bYn-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z3B8Y-living_money_howtoDo you want a nice hair cut and colour but don’t like spending large amounts of money? You could try to find hair salons in Japan that are looking for hair models.Salons in Japan need hair models for a variety of purposes, e.g. to train new stylists, to take pictures for their website and social media, to participate in hairstyle competitions, etc.When being a hair model usually the price you pay for a hair cut, colour and other treatments is a lot cheaper than the regular price, and sometimes even free.In return, you might have to agree that the salons take pictures of your hair and use them for promotional purposes. Also, when being a model your hair might be done by a stylist with only a little experience so you should not be looking for a perfect outcome. Although in my experience less experienced stylists have paid more attention than veterans. If you would like to try being a hair model here in Japan you might be able to find salons near you that are looking for models on apps like Minimo or Katomo which are available to download for free. Some salons also post ads on their homepages or through their social media accounts. On Twitter and Instagram, you can search for the hashtag, #ヘアモデル募集 (hair model boshu / recruiting hair models)In many cases, hair model ads come with a lot of restrictions, e.g. only certain hair colours and hair cuts are eligible, as well as age and gender restrictions, etc. You might have to search for a while until you find one that fits your needs.Usually, there are also time restrictions. A lot of hair salons in Japan only take models after regular opening hours and on certain days of the week, so even if you found an ad that works for you, it might not be easy to find a time slot that works for both you and the salon. If you did manage to find a suitable ad and work out a time you maybe lucky enough to get your hair done for a fraction of the regular price. I recently found a hair model ad on Minimo, got my hair cut and coloured in two colours and only paid 2,000 yen. In exchange, the salon took some photos and uses them on their Hot Pepper listing page. As a foreigner you might be a popular hair model as salons in regions with few foreign residents have equally few chances to experience working with non-Japanese hair. That’s the final results.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z3B8Y-living_money_howtoTue, 21 Jul 2020 18:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z3B8Y-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MxLbv-living_workHow is your work-life balance when working in Japan? Do you have to do a lot of overtime?Since I started working from home my work life has improved quite a lot and thinking back I am quite shocked about how bad it was when I was still commuting.When I was still commuting to the office, I would usually get up 6:30 and leave the house 7:30 in order to reach the train station a few minutes before 8:00. My work starts at 9:00 and the office was about a 40-minute train ride but as the line that I took to work is delayed almost every day I had to leave somewhat early to factor that in.I did not do much overtime and usually finished work at around 17:30 to 18:00. Depending on whether I did some grocery shopping on the way home I arrived sometime between 19:00 and 20:00. I would then eat dinner, do some cleaning and take a bath leaving me around 21:00 when I can finally have time to do things that I like or things I want to do for myself. As I try to get 8 hours of sleep I used to go to bed at around 22:30 so then I did not have a lot of free time on weekdays and most of this time was spend watching YouTube and Netflix. No wonder I was dealing with back pain at that time.Now that I work from home I have a lot more free time. With no commuting time, I can sleep until 8:00 and even have time for some morning stretches and a nice breakfast. I can use lunch break to wash the dishes and do my laundry and other things in the house so that once I finish work I am actually free to do whatever I want until dinner. In the past few months, I have been filling this time with exercises and going for walks and guess what back problems hardly ever come up now. I probably would have never been able to establish an exercise routine while commuting but I successfully managed to work out 3 times a week since August last year with only two weeks I took off for health reasons.Also as I now go to bet at around 24:00 I have more time do things that I enjoy and productive things which allows me to enjoy my hobby gaming more and also to be more productive in my side hustles. I really hope that I never have to go back to commuting again.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MxLbv-living_workMon, 13 Jul 2020 10:38:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MxLbv-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWOJJ-livingI have spent about 9 years in Japan now. In this post, I would like to give advice on how to survive the Japanese summer based on my experience.Staying hydrated on a budgetIn summer it is especially important to stay hydrated. In Japan you can find vending machines for drinks everywhere so staying hydrated itself is not a problem, however, these drinks usually cost 100 Yen and more and if you buy several each day it can become costly. It is cheaper to get a water bottle that you can fill with your favourite drink at home. In some parks in Japan, you can find drinking water fountains where you can refill your bottle for free.Wiping of SweatI am not a person that sweats a lot but in Japanese summer just walking to the station gets me drenched in sweat at times. Therefore I usually bring a small towel that I can use to wipe off sweat. In convenience stores and drug stores, you can also buy special sweat sheets that you can use for that purpose. They usually come with some form of deodorant and make you smell less sweaty.Mosquitos will be coming for youMosquitos can be quite a nuisance in summer in Japan. For me, it is not uncommon to have 10 or more bites at the same time. In drug stores, you can buy mosquito spray that helps to keep the insects off. Especially if you plan to spend a long time outside in nature I would definitely recommend using some. This is the one I found most effective so far.Sunscreen spray for quick protectionIn summer it is recommended to wear sunscreen but putting on sunscreen every day can be time-consuming and bothersome. In Japanese drugstores, you can get sunscreen spray with which you can put on the sunscreen in a fraction of time. The spray is not as protective as regular milk and cream type sunscreen so I wouldn't recommend it for a day on the beach but I find sufficient for a regular workday. I like using this kind of sunscreen spray.Parasols help tooI was never a user of parasols until last summer when I went to see a fireworks festival and it was so hot I ended up buying one. In general, I don't like carrying umbrellas around and I always wondered why so many Japanese women used parasols in summer. But when I tried one myself I actually felt somewhat cooler under the parasol. In the current situation where you have to wear masks in the summer heat parasols can help to prevent the mask from heating up, too. In Japan, you can get parasols in all kinds of cute designs and recently parasols aimed at male customers have become more popular as well.Be aware of the temperature differenceIn summer when you go inside a building with air-conditioning or board a train the temperature can sometimes be quite different from the outside temperature. If the difference is higher than 5 degrees the body has difficulty to adjust which can lead to all sort of issues, like headache, tiredness, sleeplessness, back pain, etc. Recently airconditioning is not set as low as it used to be, but I can be handy to bring a light cardigan or a blanket that you can use in case it gets too cold.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWOJJ-livingFri, 10 Jul 2020 20:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GWOJJ-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNWN7-living_medical_healthWhile wearing a mask can protect you and others from infections masks can also pose a health risk in a hot and humid climate and as we all know Japan can get very hot and humid in summer.When wearing a mask it becomes a little harder to breathe, especially with thicker masks. Also, you rebreathe some of your own air which causes it to heat up a little.I usually don’t wear masks in summer in Japan but this year wearing masks seems unavoidable. So far I didn’t have any problems when going out for a short time but when being outside for longer periods and when walking uphill I have encountered some breathing difficulties with my mask on.On TV in Japan I already saw a few experts recommending taking off the mask when not in crowded spaces. Tourists spots like Tokyo Disneyland announced that staff might not be wearing masks all the time in order to help prevent heatstroke. Also, one should pay attention to the colour of the mask as some colours heat up faster than others. Light colours like white or yellow heat up slower, darker colours like black or blue heat up faster. It was also recommended to avoid direct contact with sunlight by using parasols. As I am not an expert in either disease prevention or heatstroke prevention, I find it hard to decide when I should wear a mask and when it would be OK to take it off. While I am still young I assume that my body is able to deal with the heat and wearing masks to some extent but I am worried about the elder population. Every year there is news about elderly people dying of heatstroke in Japan. Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo recently started selling their own reusable masks branded under their AIRism mark that stands for lightweight and breathable clothing. AIRism is a well-known and popular brand in Japan, so it was no surprise that these masks were very popular. They resulted in enormous queues in front of the Uniqlo stores and were sold out immediately.Where masks that help people to cope with the heat more easily sound like are a good idea, people queuing up to buy them during the coronavirus outbreak is probably not as it will result in close-contact situations. We can only hope that Uniqlo will come up with a better method to sell them. Were you able to get one of the Uniqlo masks? What kind of masks do you like using in the summer? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNWN7-living_medical_healthTue, 07 Jul 2020 15:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNWN7-living_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M96a1-money_familylifeLuckily my main job is not yet affected too much by the corona crisis and I still get my regular salary. However, I did see a change in some of the things I do on the side. I always have a few things for sale on eBay, mostly collectables that I bought once and don’t need anymore or items I got for free for attending events or going to theme cafés and that I don’t really need.So far the majority of my items was bought from buyers in the US. Japan is currently restricting shipping to the US to postcards and letters only, so I can’t sell to customers in the US anymore. On top of that several items, I shipped before the restrictions were implemented were returned to me. Luckily a lot of the buyers agreed to wait until I can ship again but as of now, nobody knows when shipping will be possible again and now I have a lot of packages piling up in my room. The post office didn’t post any update on the situation even after the emergency was lifted. In an earlier article, I talked about selling stock photos. I finally had made it so far that I made around 10 USD per month with my photo sales. Last month the agency I upload the photos to announced a change in contributor compensation. Before I made 0.25 USD per photo since June I only make 0.1 USD. I do not lose much income but after finally having built up a portfolio of around 700 pictures it makes me feel sad to see that it was kind of pointless to invest so much time into it. I will have a look into other agencies and maybe post an update if I find anything good.Luckily, City-Cost still has provides the chance of points for posts and even offered me the chance to take part in an interview for some additional points, which I am thankful for.Also, I spend less money than usual as I am staying at home most of the time, so I am still in an OK situation financially but I am worried about the future as no one really knows how my main job or my husband's main job might be affected in the future.What kind of side jobs do you have? As I might need to find a new one to make up for the lost income I would like to hear your experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M96a1-money_familylifeWed, 17 Jun 2020 17:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/M96a1-money_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvjJV-livingSo far, for me, adapting to the new lifestyle of this coronavirus era in Japan has not been too hard. I had been working from home since before the outbreak of the virus started and the only thing that changed was that our weekly in-person meetings in the office became something we did online, which is time-saving as I don’t need to ride the train for 2 hours for a 1-hour meeting but also makes communication more difficult. After not having seen my colleagues in "real life" for 3 months I wouldn't mind an in-person meeting from time to time.As far as face masks go, I used to wear face masks in spring anyway due to my pollen allergy. Having to wear them in summer is a little annoying as you sweat even more than you normally would, but that is something I can live with and you don't need to worry about make-up as much. Luckily, I don’t need to wear masks while at work, as I work from home. I feel sorry for people that need to wear them all day because their job involves a lot of contact to customers, clients, etc.Social distance is also not an issue for me. It is actually nice to have more personal space sometimes. I have not yet had the chance to take part in online gatherings so far, but it seems the Japanese population has adapted quite well and already new services like online drinking party matching services have sprung up. Another suggestion for the new "with corona" lifestyle from the Japanese government was to exercise at home, which is also something I have been doing before the outbreak started. Basically, because I am too lazy to go to a gym and to cheap to pay gym fees when a few dumbbells and free exercise videos on YouTube can do the trick as well, especially if you just want to stay fit and not try to become a bodybuilder. I do see an issue for people living in very small apartments though as you need a certain amount of space for home workouts. Something that I am quite curious about is how trading card game shops will adapt to this new lifestyle.Before corona, I used to participate in smaller tournaments from time to time. In most card game shops seats are very close to each other and there are situations when you need to touch the cards of your opponent. I don’t think that this is covered in the guidelines by the government, so I wonder how the shops I used to go will deal with it.All in all, it was easy for me to adapt to the new lifestyle as I already had been working from home and am more of an indoor person anyway. Nevertheless, I am still unsure of what is OK to do and what is not after the state of emergency was lifted. A few days ago I saw a news show on TV where a scientist said it would be OK to go out drinking with people if you have to go by all means. I personally cannot imagine a situation where you have to go drinking by all means. Can you?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvjJV-livingFri, 12 Jun 2020 11:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvjJV-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnxJO-living_workI had been working from home for a while already when the COVID situation started. Before that, I used to go to the office once a week for a department meeting. Since February these meetings have been changed to online meetings. In this post, I would like to talk about my experience.Online meetings save timeWhen going to the office for a meeting I would go to the meeting only and leave after the meeting is over. I would not do any work at the office but work at home before the meeting and continue working once I was back home. As a one-way commute takes slightly over an hour I would spend about two and a half hours of my workday on the train. As I can't really get work done on the train on busy days I ended up doing some overtime in order to finish the work that was due for that day. Also, I did find it a bit inefficient to commute two hours for a meeting and that takes about one hour. Now that I don’t need to commute to meetings anymore, I can work in a more relaxed way on meeting days and usually don’t need to do overtime anymore.Communication is difficultOn the other hand, I find it more difficult to communicate during an online meeting. We do meetings with audio-only and without any eye contact or gestures to read I find it hard to find the correct timing for making statements or asking questions. So, I end up saying less during online meetings. Also, I find it harder to concentrate on what the other members are saying and more often then not start doing other work while not really paying attention to what is being discussed especially if the topic is not directly related to my job. As a final point, I would like to say that offline meetings were a nice occasion to leave the house and go for lunch with my colleagues. When working at home I usually eat my lunch alone at home as there are no restaurants close by. It was a welcome diversion to go to a restaurant with colleagues once in a while and you also had the chance to talk about non-work-related things, which I don’t do at all at the moment. Have you had a lot of online meetings recently? What was your experience? Any advice on how to better concentrate is appreciated. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnxJO-living_workThu, 11 Jun 2020 10:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnxJO-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6q7V-living_food_healthIn order to improve the results of my muscle building workouts, I recently started to use protein powder. So far I have tried two different versions from the Meiji protein powder brand Savas.The first one I tried is this weight down protein powder in yoghurt flavour. Compared to other powders I had looked at this one is very high in protein content and low in fat and carb content.It is made of soy protein which gives it an interesting taste. I found it was easy to dissolve in milk. I personally like putting protein powder in my oatmeal or mixing it into my yoghurt better than making protein shakes, though and this powder is not the best option for mixing with yoghurt. It worked fine for the oatmeal. The second one I tried is this matcha-flavoured protein powder for muscle growth. This has a little less protein and a little more carbs and fat compared to the yoghurt-flavoured one and is made of Whey protein. I found that this powder is good for mixing with yoghurt or oatmeal, but it forms lumps if you dissolve it in milk. The matcha taste is quite nice and can turn your plain yoghurt into a matcha yoghurt.The Savas protein comes in bags of 1,050g which are around 4,000 yen and bins of 315g that are around 2,000 yen each. I found the bins are more convenient for storage. Both come with a measuring spoon. Besides the above-mentioned flavours, so far I have also seen a banana, cacao, chocolate, berry and vanilla. You can get them on amazon or places that sell workout and fitness equipment, like Don Quijote or Yodobashi Camera.So far I am quite satisfied and might try other flavours in the future. If you consider trying out protein shakes don’t increase your protein intake too rapidly as that might upset your stomach. Also, when choosing a protein powder I like to take a closer look at the nutrition tables. There is a lot of protein powder on the Japanese market that contains quite a lot of sugar. For some reason that is mostly the case for protein shakes targeted at women who are trying to lose weight.The Savas protein is sugar-free but does use artificial sweetener so if you want to be on the safe side, you should probably try to look for plain protein powder without any flavours. Have you tried Japanese protein powder so far? Feel free to recommend products you liked in the comment section.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6q7V-living_food_healthTue, 09 Jun 2020 18:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6q7V-living_food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrVJR-food_howto_tokyoSummer is coming and in Japan summer means kakigori. I recently found a café in Kichijouji that offers a very unique version of kakigori, flambeed kakigori.It is called Café Lumiere and easily accessible from Kichijouji station. When I went I was able to get a seat immediately but there were notes on the wall on where to line up, so I assume the café can get quite crowded.Flambeed ice might sound contradicting at first but they found a way to make it work. The kakigori is covered in a layer of meringue that is shortly flambeed. The Café has several different versions of their flambeed kakigori that change seasonally.I recently tried the Sakura version. When you order a flambeed kakigori the café staff will flambee it directly at your seat. Get your phone or camera ready to take photos and videos.The inside of the kakigori looks like this. Besides the typical water ice, it is also filled will all kind of yummy things, like mascarpone, cream cheese, raspberry mouse and cookies. You could also say it is a kakigori parfait. I personally found that flambeeing did not add to much flavour, so I guess it is done for the visual impact.The kakigori is served with different sauces that you can pour on top according to taste. What kind of sauces you get depends on the flavour of the kakigori you ordered. The price of the flambeed kakigori is between 1200 Yen and 1370 Yen which is not exactly cheap.But you do get to enjoy a unique eating experience and the portions are quite large as well. Nevertheless, I didn’t fill full after eating one as it mostly is just water ice.Café Lumiere does only offer a limited choice when it comes to main dishes so you might want to grab something before you enter if you feel hungry. When it comes to drinks they offer a huge selection of coffee and tea. Besides the flambeed kakigoori you can also get regular kakigori that is a little cheaper but still decorated with a lot of detail to make look stunning.If you have eaten enough of the standard Kakigori you can get at summer festivals why not try this new approach that is not only very instagramable but also tastes really good.Café Lumiere address:〒180-0003 Tokyo, Musashino, KichijojiMinamicho, 1 Chome−2−2ＨＩＧＡＳＨＩＹＡＭＡ ＢＬＤＧ ４ＦHow do you like to eat your kakigori? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrVJR-food_howto_tokyoSat, 06 Jun 2020 12:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wrVJR-food_howto_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPoO-livingA while ago Universal Studios Japan in Osaka announced plans for a Nintendo-themed area in the park. As someone that has loved Nintendo games since childhood, I was extremely excited when I heard the news from USJ and already started making travel plans for a trip to Osaka, saving up some money and I even buying a used Harry Potter wand so I could enjoy the Harry Potter-themed area of the park as well. By the way, if you plan on buying a wand for USJ, don't buy it at the park, they are way too overpriced there. You can find cheaper offerings of used ones on Amazon or stores like Hard-Off and as most people only use them in the park anyway the used ones are almost as good as a new one.I got this wand for only 1,000 yen at Hard-OffOriginally the Nintendo park at USJ was planned to be opened before the 2020 Olympic Games began. But then corona happened, the Olympic games got postponed and USJ had to close down for several months.USJ will open again in June but only people living in the Kansai region and holders of an annual pass will be allowed to visit for an undefined time period.I have not yet heard any news on the new opening date for the Nintendo park but with the current restrictions, I assume they will postpone it until the park allows visitors from all over Japan and overseas again. Something as big as opening a new area of the park is probably something the people behind USJ want to celebrate with as many visitors as possible.I personally do not mind waiting as even though the coronavirus emergency was lifted in Japan travelling to other prefectures and going to a theme park seems like one of the things that should not be a high priority. USJ did put certain measures into place to make the park safer, like only letting a certain number of people inside, checking the temperature of visitors, setting up hand disinfection sprays at the entrance and at the attractions, asking visitors to wear masks and asking visitors to line up with enough distance between each other at the attractions.A park with a limited number of visitors does seem kind of appealing as, usually, USJ is very crowded. On the other hand, there are also a lot of children visiting the park and with many children it gets harder to stick to the hygiene measures. As for me, I will just wait for a new announcement regarding the Nintendo park. With the Olympic games postponed it could be that the opening gets postponed until next year as USJ was probably expecting a lot of foreign visitors that came for the Olympic Games to come to visit the park during their time in Japan.Do you think it is OK for Universal Studios Japan to open again so soon after the coronavirus emergency was lifted? Disneyland and DisneySea, on the other hand, are still closed and have not yet announced any reopening dates so far.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPoO-livingFri, 05 Jun 2020 14:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPoO-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpOPY-food_healthWhile in general sweets tend to be unhealthy, a healthy diet can contain a moderate amount of sweets. Japan offers a great variety of sweets and recently some healthier versions with reduced sugar or reduced carb content have shown up. I would like to introduce a few I tried recently.Sunao biscuitsThe Sunao brand from Glico offers biscuits with a reduced carb content. I recently tried the cream sand biscuits of these series. They come in two different flavours; lemon-vanilla and almond-vanilla. They come in a package of 6 separately wrapped biscuits. One has 65 calories. The taste was alright, and I don’t think that they taste any different than similar non-low-carb biscuits from other makers. Sunao products are available in most supermarkets. They also have low-carb ice-cream.Chateraise low-carb sweetsThis Japanese sweet shop has a whole collection of low-carb sweets. They offer different cakes, chocolate, dorayaki, caramel nuts pudding and different types of ice-cream. I recently tried some of their ice-cream and cheesecake.The ice-cream only has about 80 calories per cup which is quite low compared to regular ice-cream. The taste was alright, but the texture is a little different to regular ice-cream.The cheesecake has 162 calories per piece, which is also quite low compared to regular cheesecake but the slice is not very big. The taste was not much different from a regular cheesecake taken into consideration that it is a deep-frozen product. Chateraise sweets can be bought in the Chateraise shops that have locations all over Japan and also from their online shop. As the low-carb sweets are all deep-frozen they last pretty long.Low-sugar cookies from GupitaGupita offers different cookie variants with reduced sugar content. The cookies are filled with some sort of cream and come in boxes of 3 pieces. One piece has 56 calories. I don’t really anything to compare them to, as I hadn’t eaten anything similar before.The cookies come in different tastes: blueberry cheesecake, crème Brule, and chocolate banana cake. They have an interesting taste that is hard to describe. I think you should just try them once to see whether you like them. They are available in a lot of supermarkets and drug stores. These cookies have the added benefit that they come with high fibre content. If you want to try any of these make sure to not eat too much as the artificial sweeteners used in low-carb sweets can have a bad impact on your tummy.Have you tried any of these sweets? Did you like them or do you prefer sweets with sugar?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpOPY-food_healthThu, 21 May 2020 10:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpOPY-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk5Y8-living_sustainablelifeWith Japan being in a state of emergency people have been spending more time at home. This extra time at home has also meant more domestic garbage. I recently saw a report on TV that garbage collection workers are having a hard time at the moment due to the extra amount of garbage that they need to handle so I thought of ways to reduce your garbage while staying home.Give items away or try to sell themA lot of people use their time at home to declutter their closet or other parts of their apartment. If the things that don't "spark joy" are still in a useable condition, instead of throwing them away you could try to sell them on Mercari or at Japan's many second-hand shops. If you think that no one would pay money for these items, you can try to give them away for free on sites like Jimoty or Craiglist.In a lot of cities in Japan you need to purchase special garbage bags to throw away trash so giving things away for free might actually save you some money.Make your own teaInstead of buying PET bottles, you can buy a reusable bottle at one of Japan's 100 yen stores and make your own tea. You can find tea bags at most supermarkets in Japan that you just need to put in cold water and leave for a few hours. By doing this you have fewer PET bottles to throw away and save some money as well.Use reusable masksIt has been difficult anyway to get disposable face masks in Japan since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, so buying or making your own reusable masks is a nice option that produces less trash.You can create and make masks with your favourite designs and enjoy it as a new kind of fashionable item.By the way, when throwing away masks it is recommended to put them in a separate bag before putting them in the garbage bag so that garbage collection workers don't get exposed in case the garbage bag tears apart.Use your own shopping bagWhen doing grocery shopping bring your own bag so you won't have to get a plastic bag from the supermarket. Also, make sure to refuse chopsticks, spoons or other items that the cashier person might try to give you.Try to find alternatives with less wasteIn Japanese supermarkets a lot of the things you can buy come with a lot of packaging. When you buy chocolate every piece is wrapped in plastic, when you buy sliced cheese every slice is wrapped in plastic, etc.Although it is not easy to find alternatives with less packaging maybe instead of just buying the brands you are used to it might be a nice idea to check what other options are available.Order items combined when shopping onlineMore "at home" time means more online shopping. But every order comes with cardboard and other wrapping materials. If you order several items together, you will have less trash resulting from packaging. As an Amazon Prime member, I would order items right away when I realize that I needed something.Instead of doing that now though, I put the items in the shopping cart and wait until I have several of the things I need. This also helps to reduce impulsive shopping!Do you know other methods to reduce domestic garbage?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk5Y8-living_sustainablelifeMon, 18 May 2020 18:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wk5Y8-living_sustainablelifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5nvv-living_workRecently more companies in Japan have implemented home office policies for their workers due to the new coronavirus crisis. On social media though you can often see people complaining that their bosses don't allow them to work from home. I thought of some arguments (besides corona) you could bring to the table when trying to convince your boss to let you work from home?No commuting allowanceIn Japan the train fees for commuting to work are usually paid by the employer.If you work from home then, no train fee is needed and the company can save some money.Less office spaceThe more employees that work from home the less office space is needed. With more employees working from home moving to a smaller office might be a possibility to save some money on rent and utility costs.It is easier to concentrate at homeI assume this differs from person to person but I find it hard to concentrate in open plan offices that are pretty much standard in Japan. People near you that talk on the phone or talk to other colleagues can distract you. If you can see the monitor of your colleagues from your desk, you might find yourself wondering what they are working on and also get distracted. Also, as an introvert, I found it quite stressful to constantly be surrounded by people.At home, you can prepare your workspace in a way that has as little distraction as possible and maybe listen to music that helps you focus better which should result in better concentration, and thus improved performance.At home, you can use your own desk and chairAs a foreigner of a certain height, you might have encountered the issue that desks in Japanese offices are designed for Japanese workers and tend to be too small for tall people. Using a desk and chair that do not fit your height can result in back pain, neck pain and other health issues over a long time.When working from home you can buy furniture that fits your size preventing health issues and reducing the risk that you have to call in sick.Better mental stateCommuting to work can be stressful especially when you have to ride crowded trains. Sometimes you already feel tired when you arrive at the office. When working from home you can start into the workday with a clear head. Also, the time you save by not commuting can be invested in activities that promote a better mental state like sports, a hobby you enjoy, meditating, etc.With a better mental state, you can be more productive at work.I hope some of these arguments are helpful to someone. If you can think of more arguments feel free to comment.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5nvv-living_workTue, 12 May 2020 10:15:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5nvv-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQoO2-living_howtoDue to the current state of emergency people in Japan are being asked to stay at home as much as possible. With so much more time to spend at home, some of us are wondering how to spend that time, but once you think about it there is so much you can do. Here are some ideas.1.Do that osoji you have been postponingIn Japan, there is a tradition of doing osoji (thoroughly cleaning) of the house in the new years break. As I usually spend New Year’s at my parent’s house in Germany, I never have time to do much cleaning at my own place. Now I finally have enough time to clean everything.2.Do home workoutsIf you used to go to the gym before corona you might be missing your workouts. While not as effective as the equipment in the gym there are many free workouts on youtube you can do with just a pair of dumbbells or water bottles to stay fit. If you haven’t been working out regularly now is a perfect time to start with a healthier lifestyle. 3.Learn somethingInstead of just watching another show on Netflix you might as well watch something educational. If going out too much has kept you from studying Japanese so far, you can finally start working your way to the next JLPT level. There are many free resources online you can use to study Japanese also amazon Japan has a great variety of study books you can order. Often also with used copies available for cheap. 4.Find a new side hustleWith more spare time on your hands, you might as well look for new ways to make some money on the side. There is a variety of options available that you do remotely in your spare time. One of them, of course, is writing articles for CityCost or other websites. Depending on your language skill freelance translation jobs might be an option as well. Also who about finally putting also these clothes and other things you don’t need anymore on Mercari or Jimoty.5.Make backups and sort your dataMost of us know how important it is to backup your computer and phone regularly. But do we really take the time for it? Now you can finally get a new external hard drive to backup all of our important data. While you’re at it you might also start sorting all of the travel pictures that have accumulated over the years. Do you have any suggestions on how to spend the time at home?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQoO2-living_howtoTue, 05 May 2020 14:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQoO2-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXQr1-living_familylifeEven prior to a state of emergency being declared for all of Japan my husband and I had been trying to stay at home and only leave the house when necessary. It's been a few weeks already.Since April my husband's company told him to stay at home and not come to work. He still receives his full salary for now which we are very thankful for. As I have been working from home already before the corona crisis started we now both spend most of our time at home. I have read some articles about corona divorces in Japan because people now have to spend more time together, or due to financial problems, etc.In our case, I am actually happy that my husband is at home at the moment. The home office can be lonely at times and since the coronavirus outbreak my company meetings were switched from real-life meetings to online meetings which further reduced my social contacts. Now I can talk to him when I want a short break from work and we can eat lunch together every day. I have not yet felt any negative impact on our lives.I must say we are in a privileged situation though. We do not (yet) have to worry about financial problems as we both still get our full salaries. Also, we live in a quite spacious apartment so that if we want to be alone we can spend some time apart in different rooms. I must say that I am really glad we moved last December because spending isolation time in our previous apartment might have been harder.We also have a veranda and a nice park close to where we live so we can still enjoy some time in the sun. Furthermore, we both like to do home workouts so we can keep up our exercise routine during these times as well.The only thing I miss is eating out and meeting friends on the weekend.For other couples, the situation is probably a lot harder to manage. I hope that everyone will get through the crisis safely and without too much emotional and financial damage and wish everyone strength.It seems that Japan is just at the beginning right now and things will probably get worse from now on but let's hope for the best. How are you coping with the current situation?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXQr1-living_familylifeWed, 22 Apr 2020 10:43:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXQr1-living_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAqnN-living_money_howtoMercari is a nice app you can use for selling items you don’t need anymore. It is very well known in Japan and works like a flea market. You post the items you want to sell with a fixed price, and buyers can either buy them right away or try to haggle for a lower price.Selling on Mercari is pretty easy. You will need a Japanese phone number for registering an account though. After you have your account you just open the app, and click on the 出品 button. It leads you to a form where you can upload pictures, describe your item, set a price, shipping time, your location, etc. Most items on Mercari are sold with shipping cost included in the item price. You can select to charge shipping separately but then your chances for selling are lower. The lowest price you can charge for one item is 300 Yen.The item will be published immediately, and potential buyers can purchase it or contact you via the comment function if they have questions or want to haggle. Even though haggling is not very common in Japan in general on Mercari it is rather common. Most people will try to ask for a price reduction. Whether you will go down with the price is up to. If you are unsure about your price you can search for similar items and compare what other sellers are selling for.If your item was purchased, Mercari will send you an e-mail. You will then need to send out the item. For shipping, there are several options. The post office and most convenience stores offer a special Mercari shipping option where both the seller and the buyer can stay anonymous. However, the regular mail option from the post office is the cheapest option in most cases. After you shipped you need to send a shipping notice to the buyer via the app. After the buyer received the item they confirm receipt and give you a review. Then it is your turn to review the buyer and the transaction is finished. The amount you sold the item for will be credited to your Mercari account after deduction of 10% Mercari fee.The money in your Mercari account can be used for purchases on Mercari or you transfer it to a bank account. However, a 200 Yen fee will be charged for the money transfer. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAqnN-living_money_howtoThu, 16 Apr 2020 10:27:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAqnN-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPPd-food_kobayashicityThanks to a promotion from City-Cost regarding Kobayashi City I recently had the chance to try a cheese gift set from Daiwa Farm. I have always liked cheese, but good cheese is quite expensive in Japan, so I was excited to try it out.Kobayashi is a city located in Miyazaki Prefecture. It is a nice place for hiking and farmhouse stays. I have not yet had the chance to visit Kobayashi City but looking at photos from tourist websites it seems like a place with nice landscapes and perfect for outdoor activities. I hope I will have the chance to visit it someday soon. As I have never been to a Japanese farm, it would certainly be interesting to stay at one.Daiwa Farm is a small farm in Kobayashi City that is well known for cheese, ice-cream, yoghurt and other dairy products. The gift set I received looked like this.It contained the following items and came with a pamphlet that offered some explanation and suggestions on how to eat them.1 piece of “Tomadaiwa” cheese 1 piece of “Robidaiwa”1 piece of Mozzarella cheese2 cups of drink yoghurtFirst, I tried the Tomadaiwa cheese. It is a hard cheese with a mild but nice taste to it. As the recommendation was to eat it with bread, I cut slices and put it onto German dark rye bread. By the way, I recommend having a cheese knife as cutting with a regular knife was not easy. Unfortunately, it did not go too well with German dark bread as this kind of bread has a very strong taste on its own and with the mild taste of the cheese you don’t taste a lot of cheese anymore. I think it might be better suited for baguettes or for just eating it on its own.The next item I tried was the Drink Yoghurt. It had a rich and sweet flavour. As I usually eat cereal with yoghurt in the morning, I used the yoghurt for my cereal. As it is smooth it works quite well for cereal, however, I found it a little too sweet. I have been trying to reduce my sugar intake recently, so I usually eat yoghurt without sugar but this one seems to contain quite a lot. Later, I tried the mozzarella and made mozzarella cheese as suggested in the Daiwa Farm pamphlet. The mozzarella also has a very mild taste and does not have the typical aftertaste of a mozzarella. You might want to cut back on seasoning a little, as you cover up the original taste of the mozzarella pretty easily.The last item left to try was the Robidaiwa cheese. It was a soft cheese that was also laking the aftertaste that I was used to. As recommend, I put the Robidaiwa into a cream dish and made cream chicken with mushrooms. The cheese helped to enrich the flavour. All in all the three types of cheese had a very mild and light taste that was quite different from the cheeses I used to eat when in Germany. If you are looking to try cheeses that offer an alternative taste to what you might be used to then, I can recommend the Daiwa Farm cheese.This post is supported by Kobayashi City Promotion Company Inc., one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPPd-food_kobayashicityMon, 13 Apr 2020 13:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPPPd-food_kobayashicityhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLQbP-living_workWith the current situation, many might be working from home for the first time. I have been working mainly from home for over a year now and would like to share some advice in order to be productive from home.1.Have a workspaceIn an ideal world, you have a separate room just for working. However, with a lot of Japanese apartments being quite small most people won’t have that extra room. But you could try using partition screens or similar items to separate your workspace from your living space.Also never work from your bed. It messes not only with productivity but also with your sleep schedule and is probably the worst thing you can do to your back. Depending on whether you have the possibility to keep working from in the future investing into a decent chair and/or desk might be a good idea.2.Have fixed timesMy company requires to log into our timekeeping system in the morning and log off in the afternoon. I also have a fixed time period for my lunch break. This helps me to get up at the same time every day and have my meals at fixed times every day. If your company does not provide such a framework set up your own and keep to it as best as you can. 3.Go out from time to timeStaying inside the whole day is bad for your health so try to go out and get some fresh air from time to time during your break time even if it is just a short walk to the next convenience store. Going out alone should still be ok in the current situation if you keep your distance from others and practise basic hygiene. 4.Manage your social contactsWorking from home means fewer social contacts and can be lonely from time to time. If possible, you can try to set up regular online meetings or conference calls with your colleagues. You could also make plans for a virtual coffee break together. 5.Enjoy the virtues of home officeFinally, you can listen to your favourite music/podcasts while working. You don’t have to wear suits or uncomfortable office casual clothing anymore and have more personal space while working. Also if like most people you spent a lot of time commuting until now you will have a lot more free time that you can spend doing all these things you usually don’t have the time for.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLQbP-living_workThu, 09 Apr 2020 10:41:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLQbP-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0vVZ-living_medical_healthIn my previous post about the coronavirus, I was still one of these people that believed it was just like the normal flu and nothing to worry about. I must admit that I was wrong.*Editor's note: This post was submitted prior to the declaration on April 6 of a state of emergency for some parts of Japan.Seeing what impact it has in America and Europe at the moment I definitely underestimated the virus. It indeed is something to worry about. Even though I do not worry about my personal health as I am not in a risk group and enjoy the luxury of working from home, I am worried about other things.For once I am worried about my family in Germany, especially the elderly members.Also, the lockdown already is affecting businesses of family members negatively.But I am also worried about my personal situation. As for now, the company I work for is not affected as much as others but the situation might get worse. Also, my husband has been told to stay at home for now. He is still getting paid so, for now, he just gets some extra vacation but if the situation continues he might get laid off.What also confuses me is the way the virus situation is handled in Japan. For the past few days, we have seen increases in new infections every day but all the government does is to ask people to stay at home on weekends and don't go out for clubbing or drinking at night.Restaurants are still open and a lot of people are still going to work by train just like they used to only to sit in crowded offices.I believe the Japanese medical system can probably deal better with an increasing number of cases than Italy and Spain, but shouldn't Japan also go into lockdown before things get worse? According to what experts say on TV there is no legal basis for a lockdown in Japan, though.Also, social distancing doesn't seem to be a thing here yet. When I see the government conferences people are sitting pretty close to each other. When I go to the supermarket people line up just as closely as they used too and trains in Tokyo are still so crowded it is impossible to keep a safe distance.How do you evaluate the way Japan is dealing with the situation? Do you think lockdown is necessary? Are worried about the impact the pandemic will have on the economy? How is your family doing at home? I would like to hear everyone's thoughts.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0vVZ-living_medical_healthWed, 08 Apr 2020 09:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0vVZ-living_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GO9Yx-living_food_work*Editor's note: This post was submitted prior to the escalation of the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Japan.I recently had the chance to take part in a monitor tour and would like to share my experience. As a foreigner in Japan, you sometimes have the chance to take part in monitor tours as part of the testing process that travel companies do when creating new tours for foreign tourists.I had found the offer on the app “Shuumatsu model” that mainly is an app for modeling jobs but somehow this offer had ended up there. As had no plans yet for the time the trip was planned, I applied and was accepted quickly. When going on a monitor tour your job is to experience the tour and point out what you liked, what you did not like, how they could improve the experience from the point of view of a foreign tourist. In my case participants were asked to take notes during the tour and at the end of the trip, we were all asked for our opinions over a lunch meeting. Other jobs might request to submit your opinion in a written form later. Additionally, there might be a photographer that takes pictures of the participants during the tour that later might be used for promotional materials. In the tour, I took part all foreign participants spoke very good Japanese, but I don’t think that this is a general requirement. Some companies might be looking for participants with limited Japanese knowledge for their monitor test.When becoming a monitor usually the company that requested the monitoring will pay for your travel expenses, your food, accommodation and any entry fees etc. You basically get to go on a trip for free.I have seen offerings that also offered payment for taking part in the tour but the one I recently participated in was not paid.The trip took me to the town Mihara in Fukushima prefecture. I had never heard of that town before and probably would not have visited it if it hadn’t been for the tour. We did several cultural experiences, visited a few temples and spent the night at a temple. For dinner, we had food that was prepared like food in the Sengoku Period without using soy sauce or sugar.The tour had the overall theme “samurai” and participants could experience the daily life of a samurai.Overall it was a really interesting experience and I was glad I had the chance to take part. I hope my comments and opinions will be helpful to improve the tour.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GO9Yx-living_food_workWed, 01 Apr 2020 09:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GO9Yx-living_food_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mvrk9-food_familylifeThis year my husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. I chose a cafe in Koenji, Tokyo, for our anniversary meal. It is called All C's Café and it is one of my favourite cafes in Tokyo. The cafe has an Alice in Wonderland feeling to it and they also offer an Alice in Wonderland-themed course menu. We chose this menu for our anniversary.The menu was 2,500 yen per person. You can add all-you-can-drink for 1,500 yen per person, too. For 500 yen per person, you can add an order-made character cake.If you would like to try out the course at All C's Café you need make a reservation in advance, and pay in advance as well. The menu contains five dishes. The first one was a salad with cut out bread that was shaped like playing card symbols. It was a nice starter.The next dish was a baked pie wrap filled with vegetables, cheese, noodles and potatoes. It was yummy and pretty filling.The next dish from All C's Café was fried potatoes with some kind of sour cream. The potatoes were covered with a sort of sweet and spicy dressing that I didn't like too much.After that, we were served a cheese pizza that was designed to look like a clock. At that point, I was pretty full already because most dishes were pretty carb-heavy.The final dish was "omurice" made to look like the Cheshire cat. It was really cute but I was a little disappointed because the photo on the homepage of the cafe had a different design that I liked better.Both of us were really full at this point but we still had a dessert waiting for us. I had chosen a Pikachu for the character cake. It was made of different coloured chocolate. The cake was a small strawberry shortcake with lots of cream. We only finished half of it.All in all the course was pretty cute and most dishes tasted good but it was just too much for two people. If you would like to try it out I would recommend going with four people unless you are really hungry. The order-made cake is a nice addition if you have a special occasion to celebrate and also pretty reasonable for 500 yen per person. I can recommend it for everyone that likes Alice in Wonderland and enjoys the atmosphere of a relaxed cafe.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mvrk9-food_familylifeTue, 24 Mar 2020 17:13:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mvrk9-food_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31gP-living_howtoJimoty is a Japanese platform for classified ads of all kinds. You can look for jobs, sell things you don't need anymore, search for friends and a lot more. It's kind of similar to craigslist.A lot of people use Jimoty to sell or simply get rid of furniture they don't need anymore. In Japan it costs money to throw away furniture therefore it can be nice if you find someone to take your furniture for free or for a small price. Unlike other platforms where you usually ship out the items, on Jimoty most people insert their furniture as "pick up only" which is convenient for the seller but means that the buyer will need some kind of means to transport the item.I would not recommend this platform if you are looking to sell a high prices as most people on Jimoty are looking for cheap or even free stuff. As communication on Jimoty is in Japanese you will need enough Japanese skills to communicate without problems.First, you need to register an account, which is free of charge. Then you can post your item (also free of charge).You just need to take a few photos of the item, select the correct category, describe the condition of the item, and then enter your price and the closest train station. If you want to sell your item as "pick up only" you need to mention that in the description.This is how the screen looks like for posting items.If someone is interested in the item they will contact you via Jimoty message. Then you need to talk about when they will come to pick the item up and maybe negotiate the price etc.I recently sold a sofa on Jimoty and was in contact with three people. The first two said they would come to pick it up but never appeared and suddenly stopped replying to my messages on the day of the scheduled pickup. In that case, you can report the accounts to Jimoty. I don't know if it helps much because they could just make new accounts.The third person luckily arrived on the day of the scheduled pick-up, paid the price we agreed upon and was very happy with the sofa. I only sold it for 1,000 yen but the other option would have been to throw it away which would have cost a few hundred yen so I was satisfied with the transaction.I just hope they will find a better way to deal with people that just cancel without leaving a message.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31gP-living_howtoFri, 20 Mar 2020 11:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31gP-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0V5R-medical_healthRecently it seems the whole country is freaking out because of the novel coronavirus. Masks and disinfection sprays are sold out everywhere, supermarkets look like they were raided because everyone wants to stock up food, schools are closed down, concerts and big events are cancelled and the only topic on the news is the coronavirus.I must say I am not a medical professional, so it is difficult for me to judge the situation correctly. But I don’t really understand why there is so much panic out there. As far as I understand most people only have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all and the virus is only a real danger for people with a weak immune system. I totally understand that these people are afraid and need to take special measures, but they would have to do that anyway in the winter because the flu is dangerous for them as well.From my perspective, healthy people shouldn't be more afraid of corona than they are of the flu.There is not yet any special medication for corona but with a healthy immune system your body should be able to fight it. So, instead of buying a ton of masks that don’t really protect you at all, I think people should rather focus on strengthening their immune system. That means eating healthy, working out, sleeping enough, reducing stress, going outside to get enough Vitamin D, etc. And of course regular hygiene practices like washing your hands thoroughly, sneezing and coughing into your elbow etc. are helpful as well. If you panic your body will produce stress hormones that have a negative impact on your immune system therefore it actually makes things only worse. One positive effect of the coronavirus I noticed is that many companies switched to a work from home style to protect their employees. This is a change that Japan had needed for quite a while. Whereas the government had already recommended implementing home office systems with the upcoming Olympic games most companies had not started.I hope that after the virus is managed that some companies keep the newly implemented systems in place in order to reduce passengers during the rush hour times and to improve their employees' work-life balance.Are you afraid of the coronavirus? Are there any special measures you are taking to protect yourself? Have you stocked up on toilet paper and food?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0V5R-medical_healthFri, 06 Mar 2020 10:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0V5R-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj7W8-food_healthJapan offers a large variety of healthy drink choices when it comes to green tea, however, there are also a lot of drinks you can find in vending machines and convenience stores that contain quite a lot of sugar. Best Choices - Water and TeaYour best choices for healthy drinks are water and tea. You can usually find mineral water in all vending machines and convenience stores. Water hydrates your body without any calories or added sugar. But beware of flavoured water as these usually come with some sugar, e.g. the flavoured water from Irohas has around 18 to 19 calories per 100ml most of them being from sugar.Most green tea that you can buy in Japan comes without added sugar. There are some variants of black tea in pet bottles that come with added sugar and all milk tea variants usually come with sugar as well. Green tea has a lot of health benefits, but you might not want to drink too much as it also contains caffeine. You can also find tea options without caffeine, like Mugi-cha (barley tea), Soba tea or decaffeinated variants of green tea. Most teas can be purchased ready to drink in pet bottles but you can also get tea bags to make your own tea at home, which usually is cheaper. Sometimes OK choices - Zero variantsIn Japan, you can also find zero calories variants of some drinks. The most popular is probably Cola Zero. Pepsi also has a zero-calorie variant of their cola. You can also find zero calories variant of Clapis drinks, some sports drinks and C.C. lemon. With these kinds of drinks, you don't consume any calories or sugar but the science community is still not sure about how the sweeteners affect the human body. Also, with drinks like coke, the sugar is not the only health risk. Coke has a very low ph-value, and the acid contained damages your teeth. Coke also contains caffeine but you can find a non-caffeine variant in supermarkets. In general, I think zero variants are not as bad as their sugar counterparts but should still only be consumed in small amounts.Coffee and coffee productsMost vending machines offer a variety of coffee products. Whereas coffee is ok in small amounts, a lot of coffee products come with added sugar and/or milk. If it says 無糖 on the package it does not contain any sugar. You should also watch out when ordering Starbucks blended coffee drinks. Some of these contain around 500 calories and over 20 grams of fat, which is about as much as a normal meal contains. What are your preferred drink choices in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj7W8-food_healthWed, 04 Mar 2020 11:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj7W8-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvrQk-living_workSometimes you might have to meet a Japanese client for work. Japanese business manners can be different from what we are used to. Here are some Japan-specific things that I learned while working in Japan so they might help you to make a good first impression.Business cardsBusiness cards are very important in Japan so make sure to bring them. If you hand your business card to the client try to hold it lower than the business of the client to show that the client has a higher status. Take the business card from the client with both hands and have a good look at it before putting it away.If you have a seat at a table you can also put the business cards in front of you so that you can have a quick look when necessary.Also always stand up when exchanging business cards.DrinksIf you meet the client at their company you might be offered a drink. I heard that it actually is impolite to drink and that one should just ignore the drink. In case it is a pet bottle and the client tells you to take it with you when you leave, taking the bottle is alright though.I find this custom rather strange and if it isn't a pet bottle but a drink in a cup or glass it seems quite wasteful.CoatsIf you are wearing a coat you should take it off at the entrance of the building instead of taking it off in the conference room.KeigoWhen talking to the client try to talk in a polite manner and use Keigo if possible. But do not stress too much about your Japanese. Most Japanese people don't mind it when a foreigner makes mistakes. SeatingBased on how far a seat is from the door, they are assigned a certain ranking in the Japanese business culture. The seat that is farthest is the Kamiza and the seat that is closest is the Shimoza. When visiting a client the client has a higher status therefore you should choose seats that are close to the door. However most of the time you will be told where to sit so this is nothing to really worry about.Entering a room as a groupIf you visit a client together with colleagues when entering the conference room you should enter the room according to the status in the company, i.e. the highest ranked employee enters first and is followed by lower-ranked employees in order.Do you know anything else to pay attention too when meeting clients in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvrQk-living_workSat, 22 Feb 2020 15:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvrQk-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2o2b-living_howtoWe recently moved to a new place and moving usually means purchasing new furniture. Furniture can be quite expensive but if you don’t mind used or slightly flawed furniture there are a few places to find it cheaper in Japan.Used ShopsYou can find cheap used furniture in Japan's used shops like Off House. I recently found a nice shelf for only 800 yen at Off House that had almost no signs of usage. The problem with many used shops in Japan is that they don’t ship and you will have to carry the item home in some way. If you live close enough you can probably rent a cart to carry items home. Some shops also have trucks for rent in case you have a driver’s license. JimotiJimoti is a Japanese website similar to Craigslist. You can find cheap furniture or even furniture for free there. The problem is that usually people that list items on Jimoti do not ship either and you have to go and pick up the item yourself. For bigger furniture items that might require some planning, but if you save a lot, it might be worth it to invest in a rental truck for transport. As communication on Jimoty is in Japanese you either need Japanese skills or someone with Japanese skills who can help you.Nitori OutletNitori is kind of the Japanese equivalent to IKEA. You can find all sorts of furniture in Nitori for relatively cheap prices. But if you want to buy your furniture items for even an cheaper price you can check their outlet sales. You can find the same items as in the regular sale but with slight flaws. Mostly it is items that were returned by the previous buyer. If you don’t mind that, you can save around 20-30% on furniture items from Nitori.Items from Nitori Outlet are shipped like regular items. Huge items will be set up for you by Nitori construction workers.*Note that most items in the outlet section of Nitori are one-offs and if someone else buys it the item will be gone. As new items are added regularly it is worth checking back later if you didn’t find anything.We recently got our new sofa from the Nitori outlet and you can hardly see any of the flaws as most are on the backside.Sayonara sales If you are a member of foreigners-in-Japan groups on social media, you will come upon "sayonara sales" from time to time. If someone leaves Japan for good, they will usually try to get rid of most or all of their furniture. These are nice chances to find cheap furniture or even free furniture in Japan. Unlike the Japanese platform Jimoty where Japanese skills are required, you can usually communicate in English.Where do you buy your furniture in Japan? Do you know other cheap options?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2o2b-living_howtoTue, 18 Feb 2020 11:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2o2b-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mqjop-living_familylifeLast year I filed an extension request for my spouse visa. At the time I was already married for 3 years and thereby eligible to apply for permanent residency. I did not have high hopes as I had heard you needed to be on 5 years visa first before you could get a permanent one and I was still on a 1-year visa at the time.Nevertheless, as the documents, you submit for the renew request can be used for a request for permanent residency as well if you fill both at the same time I did not have to submit too many additional documents and figured I could just give it a try.The only additional documents I had to submit were proof that my husband and I work at our respective companies which you can easily get from your company if you request it.I also submitted some voluntary documents. I once heard that it might have a bad influence on the visa decision of you didn't pay insurance for some part of your stay in Japan. As I was on a working holiday visa for my first year here I had an overseas insurance policy so I didn't join the Japanese insurance immediately. It would have been possible to pay the insurance later but in my case, too much time had passed already.So I had my insurance payment records printed at an insurance office and added an explanation of why I didn't pay for my first year.Furthermore, when applying for a permanent visa you can add an explanation of why you would like to get permanent residency. There you can explain why you came to Japan and why you want to stay and also try to make yourself look like a "good acquisition". You can mention any volunteer work you did, special achievements you had in Japan, etc.After I submitted the request I didn't hear back from the immigration office for over 7 months even though the immigration office website said it takes about 4 months. If you want to apply for permanent residency make sure that your current visa is still good or can be renewed in case the visa procedures take longer than expected.On the weekend I finally received a postcard asking me to come and bring a 8.000 Yen revenue stamp so I can go pick up my new resident card soon.I had expected to be rejected on the first try because I had heard about all sorts of inofficial requirements for a permanent visa that I wouldn't have met, but in the end, it worked out and I wasn't even asked to submit any additional documents.I am happy I won't have to worry about visa renewal any more now.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mqjop-living_familylifeTue, 11 Feb 2020 19:10:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mqjop-living_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zayjE-food_healthAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO) one should not eat more than 25g of sugar per day. As I have been eating quite a lot of sweets up until recently here in Japan, I was very likely eating more than that.As I was never overweight though, I didn't care too much about my sugar intake. However, since autumn last year I have been trying to live healthier and that also includes cutting down on sugar.The obvious thing to do was to cut back on sweets. Whereas I ate pretty much all the sweets I wanted to before, I now limit myself to a smaller portion as a dessert after my lunch. Surprisingly, I did not have too much difficulty with that and did not feel cravings for sweets too often.However, just cutting back on sweets is usually not enough to meet the 25 per day as a lot of food you buy in the supermarket, including those in Japan, comes with hidden sugars.The best option here is obviously to cook for yourself as much as possible so you can control the amount of sugar you put into your food, but that is not always possible especially when you work full-time.The main issue that I encountered is that in Japan not all foods state the amount of sugar that is contained in them. In Germany, for example, when you look at the nutrition information of food you will find how many carbohydrates it contains per 100g and also information on how many of them are sugars. In Japan, a lot of the time you can only find the amount of carbohydrates like on this label of a drink bottle.In such a case the only thing you can do is look at the ingredients and see in which place sugar (砂糖) is listed. The earlier it is listed the more sugar is contained. Here sugar is in the first place.Some foods in Japan provide more detailed nutrition information, as with this low-sugar snack.It lists the amount of carbs and gives a detailed distribution. Please note that 糖質 is not the amount of sugar. It is just the overall amount of carbs minus the amount of fibre. The amount of sugar is stated in 糖類 and for this snack, it is only 0.1 g per serving. Unfortunately, such detailed information can only be found on very few foods here in Japan.So when buying processed food in Japan the only option I see is avoiding food that lists sugar early on the ingredients list in general.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zayjE-food_healthFri, 24 Jan 2020 11:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zayjE-food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvrnK-living_money_workIf you work as an employee in Japan and you only get your income from the company you work for they will usually take care of your taxes. If you receive income from multiple sources you will usually have to care of taxes on your own and file a Kakutei Shinkoku.In the former case, you will only be asked to fill out a Nenmatsu Chosei form. Nenmatsu Chosei means year‐end adjustment and is a process to adjust the taxes you paid during the year to your actual taxable income for the year.You will receive the form from your company at the end of the year. In the simplest case, you only have to write your name and address. If certain circumstances apply to you we will have to write additional information.Private insuranceIf you have any private insurances like private medical insurance or life insurance in Japan you are asked to write down the amount of insurance fee you paid in the current year. The insurance providers will send you a small piece of paper of the size of a postcard at the end of the year. Make sure to keep those as they will inform you of your insurance fees and also need to be pasted on your Nenmatsu Chosei form. Based on the amount of insurance fees you paid you will receive a tax exemption. There are two different insurance systems which come with different tax exemption and need to be filled out differently. Your insurance provider should inform you which system applies to your insurance. If you are unsure about how to fill in the form just ask the person in your company that is responsible for the Nenmatsu Chosei.DependentsIf you have children, a spouse that does have a yearly income below a certain threshold or other dependents you will have to fill out their information and their income. Depending on the number of dependents and their income you will receive tax exemption. Again if you are unsure if this applies to you just ask the person responsible in your company.You will have to submit the filled out form until a certain deadline that differs from company to company. The company will take care of the rest. After the Nenmatsu Chosei is done you will either receive a tax refund or are asked to pay additional taxes. I have always received a refund up until now. The refund is usually paid out with your next regular salary.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvrnK-living_money_workThu, 23 Jan 2020 10:38:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvrnK-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlX31-living_foodIn December the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo went through some changes and now offers a whole lot of new entertainment. I checked it out recently and would like to report here.As everything is located inside the department store Sunshine City in Ikebukuro it is perfect for exploration in winter as you can get out of the cold weather and warm up a little. Mainly three attractions were added to the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo, an extension of the Pokémon Café that offers sweets for take-out, a place dedicated to the Pokémon trading card game and a Pokémon Go lab.Pikachu SweetsPikachu sweets is an extension of the Pokémon Café in Nihonbashi. It offers a completely different menu though. Unlike at the Pokémon Café, you do not need a reservation.Pikachu sweets offers sweets and drinks for take-out. You can find cupcakes, pudding, ice cream and cake. They also have a selection of hot and cold drinks. Everything is quite pricey, similar to foods and drinks at the Pokémon Café.I tried the cupcake, pudding and strawberry white chocolate drink and paid about 1,800 yen. Actually I only wanted to get one cupcake but you can only purchase them as a set of two cupcakes or as a set of a cupcake and a pudding.The food was OK but nothing spectacular. The drink tasted like normal strawberry milk. If you like Pokémon it is a nice experience but otherwise, I would prefer going to a café with better food and drinks where you can also get a seat.If you are wondering whether to visit the Pokémon Café or the Pikachu Sweets I would always prefer the Pokémon Café.It was not too crowded. I went on a national holiday and waited about 5-10 minutes in line and another 5 to 10 minutes until my order was ready. The Pikachu Sweets doesn't offer any seats, so you either have to take your order home with you or find a space to sit in the shopping centre which can be difficult on weekends and holidays.Together with your order, you can also purchase limited goods like tumblers or drink sleeves.Pokémon Card StationNext to Pikachu Sweets you can find the Pokémon Card Station. This place is dedicated to the Pokémon card game. Every day some kind of card game event takes place.On weekends there are events where you can learn how to play the game and receive some free promo cards. Unfortunately, everything is Japanese only.Besides that, you can also purchase all kind of Pokémon card related goods, like play mats, sleeves and deck cases and of courses booster packs.Pokémon Go labIf you play Pokémon Go this is the place to go to in Tokyo. Here you can buy limited Pokémon Go merchandise and different Pokémon Go related events will take place from time to time. When I went there I saw people looking for trade partners. They were holding up small pieces of paper saying which Pokémon they are looking for and which they want to trade.It looked like a really nice way to find trade partners and make friends but might be difficult to participate if you do not speak Japanese. Maybe they will come with methods of using pictures instead of writing the Pokémon names, so visitors from overseas can join as well.All three new Pokémon attractions are open from 10 AM to 8 PM with no closing day. If you visit the Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo make sure to check out these new additions as well and don't forget your phone charger if you want to play Pokémon Go.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlX31-living_foodThu, 16 Jan 2020 10:03:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlX31-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mx1Ev-living_healthI have been mainly working from home in Japan for over a year now and here is my takeaway on how to stay fit.You might think that when working from home with a job that mostly done while sitting down it can be hard to stay fit, however I have found that it is actually easier than while I was still working in the office.Using the time I saveWhile I was commuting to work here in Japan a one-way trip would take about 1 hour. So now that I'm working from home I have 2 hours every day that I can use for activities other than standing on the train. In the mornings I use some of that time for a stretching session. It helps me to get awake and also prevents back and neck pain which a lot of office workers have problems with. In the evening I recently started to use some of my free time to do workouts at home. I mostly do workouts based on videos on YouTube that don't need equipment, or at least not much of it, so I didn't have to purchase a lot of items. One thing I did purchase though was the Ring Fit Adventure game for the Nintendo Switch to make my workouts more fun. Personally, I do enjoy the game and usually feel pretty tired after just half an hour of working out. However, you need a certain amount of space for it so if you live in one of these really small Japanese apartments, it might not be a good choice.Staying active while workingI think that when you do a job that is mostly sitting down it is important to get up from time to time to move around for a few minutes. While working in a Japanese office I was mostly limited to walking around said office and as Japanese offices can be quite small there was not a lot of space to walk around in. Now that I am alone at home and nobody cares what I am doing I can walk around the house, do some stretches or even do some short exercises. I can also leave the house for a quick walk to the convenience store, etc.I have more options to stay active while working from home and there are no superiors to complain about why I am not at my desk.Using the help of gadgetsIn order to help me stay active working from home in Japan, I recently bought a fitness tracker. It tracks my step and if I didn't reach a certain number of steps per hour the device will send me a reminder. According to my research, there is not much data about how many steps you should walk per day and the 10,000 steps that many people claim are only a marketing phrase on the part of Japanese companies that made the first step counters. Some people may find these reminders annoying but I find them helpful as I tend to forget about staying active when I am busy or very focused on my work. I don't think you necessarily need a fitness tracker though. An alert on your phone or computer will probably work as well.Got any tips of staying fit while working from home here in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mx1Ev-living_healthTue, 14 Jan 2020 14:36:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mx1Ev-living_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GW49x-living_howtoIn Japan, you can currently watch the new Star Wars series the Mandalorian on the Japan-only streaming service Disney Delux. Currently episodes one and two are available with more episodes coming in the future.Disney Delux is 770 yen per month, with the first 31 days being free of charge. Registering for Disney Delux is a bit tricky so I will walk you through the process. Please note that you will need a credit card to register.You will need to create two accounts for the registration process a D-account and a Disney account. A D-account is a Docomo account and if you are using a DoCoMo cellphone you might already have one. Otherwise, just follow the instructions to make a new D-account. Click one "ドコモのケータイ回線をお持ちでないお客さま " and enter your e-mail address to proceed with registration.You will receive a one-time password via e-mail that you need to enter on the next page. You will then be asked to enter your name, birth date, and credit card information as well as choose a password. Please note that your credit card will be charged after 31 days if you do not cancel your membership beforehand.After you are done registering the D-account you will need to create a Disney account. I totally do not understand why they would make a new client go through this unnecessary long process of registering on two platforms but this is Disney after all. If you have purchased in the Japanese Disney online store before or reserved Disney tickets online and made an account for that you can log in with your account information. You will at first be asked which e-mail address you would like to chose and then you will have to enter your birthdate again.After you logged into your Disney account the registration process is over. Please note that logging in does not work when you are not in Japan.You can now use the Disney theater app or the Disney theater site to watch Disney Delux. Rember to use your Disney account information and not the D-account information to log in.The Mandalorian is available in English and Japanese dub and sub. A download function is available in the app.If you would like to cancel your subscription you can use this link.https://deluxe.disney.co.jp/unsubscribe/confirmYou will have to complete a short survey before you can cancel. If you cancel before the 31 days run up your credit card will not be charged.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GW49x-living_howtoSun, 12 Jan 2020 13:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GW49x-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0Vnn-living_foodThis winter I traveled to Kusatsu for the first time. The small town in the Gunma Prefecture is perfect for anyone who likes to bathe in onsen (hot springs) making Kusatsu perfect for a winter trip. Kusatsu can be reached via train and bus from Tokyo. If you don't want to plan the trip yourself you can find several travel agencies offering trips to Kusatsu. If you travel from Tokyo you can actually go there on a day trip but I would recommend staying for a night so you can enjoy the hot springs at your hotel. Most hotels in Kusatsu have hot springs for their guests and there are also several hot springs around town that you can use for a few hours without having to stay at a hotel.The main attraction of Kusatsu is the Yubatake, a construction of several wooden pipes where the hot spring water flows through. Kusatsu's Yubatake is used to cool down the water and to filter insoluble components before it reaches the several onsen hotels.It's nice to look at the Yubatake during the day and also at night when it is lit up. Close to the Yubatake there is a small theater where you can watch a yumomi show. Yumomi is a traditional method used to cool down the hot spring water. As the shows are quite popular you might want to line up early if you want a place in the front rows.There also is a small pool that can be used as a foot bath in the center of town. Watch out though, as the hot spring waters in Kusatsu are really hot compared to other hot springs in Japan.Around the Yubatake you can find several souvenir shops for your omiyage shopping and many restaurants and cafes in case you are hungry. I can recommend the Yakitori shop Shizuka. It is a small place that has no seats and offers food to take away only but as it is quite popular among tourists and locals there is usually a long waiting line. The yakitori here was not cheap but it was worth the price.As for hotels, I have tried two different hotels in Kusatsu. The first was called Misago. They have three really nice private hot springs baths in the hotel that you can use freely during your stay as long as they are not occupied. This hotel is a little far from the Yubatake so you have to account for about a 10-minute walk.The second one I tried was called Nakamuaraya. This one is a traditional Japanese ryokan. I can recommend it for everyone that likes cats as they have a few cats roaming the hotel that you can pet and play with. The hot springs baths here were rather basic and nothing too special but the food was really good. For dinner and breakfast you can expect a Japanese ryokan-style menu consisting of a lot of small dishes. Drinks need to be ordered separately. The menu was quite limited though. This hotel is really close to the Yubatake. Depending on which room you are in, you can see it from the window.If you are looking for entertainment besides the hot springs of Kusatsu you could try visiting the Nettaiken, a small tropical zoo. The zoo is within walking distance from the Yubatake and has a lot of tropical animals, like capybaras, crocodiles, turtles, several different kinds of monkeys and much more.Overall I can really recommend Kusatsu for anyone that likes onsen. As most tourist spots are within walking distance you can get by in Kusatsu without a car without any problems. As Kusatsu is a popular vacation spot it tends to get crowded on weekends and national holidays but if you take a relaxing bath in a private onsen you can easily forget about the other people. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0Vnn-living_foodMon, 06 Jan 2020 13:49:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0Vnn-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31QY-food_japan2020Here are some of the cafés in Tokyo I recently discovered and recommend for you to try out in 2020.Panda Café in AsagayaThis café is situated north of Asagaya Station in Tokyo's Suginami ward. It is about a 10-minute walk. The café is rather small and only has a few seats. I went on a weekday during lunchtime and could get a seat right away.The Panda Café interior is quite simple and it is decorated with all kinds of panda plushies, figures, and other items. You can also purchase some panda goods there. They offer a few main dishes and some desserts with a lot of them having panda decorations. If you go during lunchtime you can make use of some special offers to save a few yen. During lunchtime, it is slightly cheaper than what you would pay at other theme cafés in Tokyo. The food tasted quite nice. This café is not as impressive as the Pokémon Café, for example, but I can recommend it for everyone that likes pandas and everyone who has become tired of the typical theme cafés in Tokyo as this one has a slightly different flair. You can combine it with a stroll through the shopping streets of Asagaya where you can find traditional Japanese sweets, tea, and other interesting items.Café Momobukuro in IkebukuroA friend recently introduced me to Café Momobukuro. It is situated north of Ikebukuro Station and is only a short walk from the station building. This café specializes in parfaits and has really perfected them. The parfaits at Café Momobukuro look really artistic and they use a lot of interesting ingredients you would not expect in a typical parfait.I tried this Disney princess themed parfait. It contained avocado ice cream which at first may sound a little strange but it actually worked out pretty well. Also, it felt not as heavy as parfaits in other places I had eaten before.The parfaits at Café Momobukuro are a little expensive but I think the many ingredients and the artistic arrangement make them worth the money. I went on a Saturday afternoon and had no trouble getting a seat but at the entrance there was a sign mentioning entry number tickets so I assume the café can get crowded at times.They change their menu from time to time so it is nice for going to several times as well as you can discover new parfaits and flavors each time.Café Henteco in MeguroCafé Henteco can be reached by bus from Meguro Station or by foot from the stations Gakugeidaigaku or Toritsudaigaku. It is about a 10-minute walk from both. The café is famous for its animal-shaped cookies and a natural atmosphere. You can either purchase the cookies for takeaway or order parfaits and drinks that come with these cookies for decoration. Unfortunately, they tend to sell out pretty fast. I went in the early afternoon on a Saturday and they were already sold out. You might want to be there at lunchtime or even a little earlier. As there are not too many seats you might have to wait in line for a bit, too. But even if the cookies are sold out you can still get cute main dishes that are decorated to look like animals. The prices are pretty reasonable and similar to what you would pay in other Tokyo cafés. The food tasted pretty good as well. The downside is that is that it is quite far from the station and located in a place where there is not much else to do nearby.Bar Zingaro in Nakano BroadwayAlthough being named a "bar" this is actually a café with a flower-power theme. They have a cute flower character that you can find as a print on pancakes and hamburgers or as a latte art on your drink.You can also purchase goods based on this character. Bar Zingaro is perfect for everyone that likes flowers and cute characters.The café is decorated with all sorts of colorful items and plushies and is nice for taking pictures, too. The food, though, was not too exciting. The pancakes that I tried were pretty basic. For better pancakes I would recommend the pancake shop Shiawase no Pancake that has several shops in different locations in Tokyo. Nevertheless, as this café is situated in Nakano Broadway and it is nice for a short break after shopping.Bar Zingaro is situated on the second floor of the Broadway and is open from 11:00 to 21:00.I personally would not recommend buying video games or game merchandise in the Broadway as prices are quite high. You can find items a lot cheaper in shops like Hard Off or Hobby Off, especially when you go to shops a little further away from the city center or in other prefectures.Did you find any of these Tokyo café recommendations interesting? I definitely want to visit the Momobukuro Café in Ikebukuro again and see what new parfait creations they invented.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31QY-food_japan2020Sat, 04 Jan 2020 08:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31QY-food_japan2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6Ybl-living_japan2020Based on where I have been so far here are my travel tips for day trips and weekend trips from Tokyo in 2020.KusatsuKusatsu, in Gunma Prefecture, is a great place for everyone that likes onsen. Most hotels have hot springs and there are also a lot of hot springs that you can enter for a few hours for a small fee. There are also a lot of private hot springs in case you don't like to bathe with strangers or would like to bathe just with your partner. You can travel there throughout the year but winter and autumn in Kusatsu are especially nice.Besides enjoying the hot springs (onsen) you can look at the famous Yubatake, a traditional facility for cooling down hot spring water. They also do shows where you can see traditional techniques that were used to cool down the bathing water here.Around the Yubatake in the center of town you can also find a lot of souvenir shops for your omiyage needs. Kusatsu can be easily accessed by train and bus from Tokyo and as everything is within walking distance you will not need a car around here. I would recommend staying one or two nights so you can try several different hot spring baths.Yubatake in Kusatsu, Gunma PrefectureNasu KogenThe Nasu region in Tochigi Prefecture is also very nice for onsen lovers. It is not as focused on onsen as the above mentioned Kusatsu but you can find a lot of small pensions (B&Bs) that come with private hot springs. I personally have enjoyed the pension called Nemurin Oriental the most. They have four really nice onsen baths and all-you-can-eat Japanese beef for dinner.The Nasu region can be reached by bus and train from Tokyo however as most tourist spots can only be reached by car I would recommend coming by car or coming by train and then renting a car nearby. Without a car even going to the next convenience store can be quite an endeavor.Besides the hot springs in Nasu there are several tourist attractions you can enjoy here. There is a zoo, a safari park, an alpaca farm, an amusement park, several museums and a lot more to discover. You can easily find enough activities for several days.I personally like that the Nasu region is not as crowded as other travel destinations accessible from Tokyo so you can enjoy your time without too many other people and because of this you really feel like you are in nature.Onsen bath in the pension Nemurin Oriental, Nasu, Tochigi PrefectureMother Farm in ChibaThe mother farm in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo, is a nice spot to visit especially if you have children but it is nice for adults that like animals as well. The farm is quite huge and there are a lot of activities to do so you can easily spend a whole day here. If you take part in the farm tour that costs a little extra, they take you on the bus to see parts of the farm that are accessible for regular visitors and explain how the farm work is done. Besides that, that are several petting zoos with goats, bunnies, capybaras and other animals. You can also try riding a horse, watch a sheep show where different kinds of sheep from all over the world are introduced or attend a pig race and try to bet on the winning pig at Mother Farm. There is even a small amusement park within the farm, so I am pretty sure most kids will find something they enjoy. For food, you can choose from several restaurants but be aware that they might be crowded during meal times.Ashikaga Flower ParkAshikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture is a nice destination for everyone that likes flowers. It is especially popular in late April and the beginning of May as the wisteria flowers are blooming. The park is well known for its beautiful wisteria tunnels and light up events. During that time the park is pretty crowded, especially during Golden Week. The entry fee for the park changes every day based on the current state of the flowers. It is usually at its highest during the Wisteria bloom and gets a little cheaper later in May. Day and night tickets are available.Ashikaga Flower Park can be easily reached by train as a new train station was opened directly in front of the park. Trains don't stop there as frequently as in Tokyo so you might want to check which train you want to take home beforehand.Depending on how many photos you want to take, whether you want to see the illumination or not etc. you can spend a whole day or only a few hours. Food is available from several restaurants and food stalls. I would recommend the limited cold stone ice bars with flower decoration that are only available in Ashikaga Flower Park. There are also several souvenirs shops throughout the park where you can purchase your omiyage.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6Ybl-living_japan2020Sat, 28 Dec 2019 16:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6Ybl-living_japan2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31xY-living_japan2020If you travel to Japan and are a fan of Japanese pop culture I would recommend these places and events to visit in Japan in 2020!Tokyo Game Show 2020If you travel to Japan in September you might have a chance to attend the Tokyo Game Show which is the biggest event for gaming in Japan. It is being held in the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, near Tokyo, for 4 days every year. On public days at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) there are always a lot of people attending so if you want to actually play some games be prepared to wait in line for quite a while. The slots for the really popular games usually fill up right after doors opened so people who want to play them line up even earlier. But TGS is also nice for just looking at the booths of different publishers and grabbing some of the free promotional goodies that are being handed out everywhere. You can also find some nice photo ops and, of course, there are many cosplayers to photograph as well. Tickets for TGS are a little cheaper when you buy them in advance but they are also available at the door. In 2019 the advance tickets were 1,500 yen per person.Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama in 2020This event takes place in Yokohama, near Tokyo, in August every year and I think is a must for Pokémon fans. Over the course of several days you can enjoy different kinds of Pikachu parades and dance shows where actors and dancers dressed up in Pikachu costumes will perform.Over the past few years, the shows have become more and more refined. There are more Pikachus and where there were just a few Pikachus on a stage a few years ago now they incorporate all kinds of technology to make the shows more spectacular. The event is completely free of charge to attend.With the popularity of Pokémon Go, the number of people attending the Pikachu Outbreak has been increasing in recent years and last year there were so many people that you actually had to be at least one hour early to get a decent seat for a show. So, instead of trying to see many shows, you might want to limit yourself to a few and get a nice spot.In the past two years, there also was a Pokémon Go event taking place together with the Pikachu Outbreak so don't forget your power bank.Pokémon CaféAlso, a must for Pokémon fans in Japan in 2020 are the two Pokémon Cafés in Tokyo and Osaka. Here you can get cute food in the Pokémon design and meet Chef Pikachu himself.You will need a seat reservation for the cafés. Seats can be reserved a month in advance. Both Pokémon cafés have a regular menu and a themed menu that changes over time, e.g. during Halloween there will be a Halloween menu, for the release of a new game there will be a special menu with new Pokémon from the game etc.Prices are slightly expensive but not more than other theme cafés you can find in Japan.During the Chef Pikachu performance please note that taking selfies with Pikachu is not allowed, however, you are allowed to take photos and videos of Pikachu as much as you want.After you are done eating you also have the chance to buy limited merchandise that is only available in the Pokémon Cafés.You are also allowed to keep your luncheon mat and for every drink you order you will get a random coaster. By the way, every person in your group must order at least one item from the menu.Square Enix CaféFor fans of Square Enix games, I would recommend a visit to the Square Enix Cafés in Osaka and Tokyo. Here you will not necessarily need a seat reservation but it is better to have one. Unlike the Pokémon Café where reservations are free, reserving at the Square Enix Café costs around 700 yen per person. However, you will receive a free drink for that fee.The Square Enix Café is themed around a certain franchise for a certain amount of time and that changes to another franchise. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest themes are popular but you can find other games as well. The time when reservations start also differs for each event so you will have to check the website for the most recent collaboration.The cafés have a standard menu and a limited menu that changes for every collaboration. The food here is slightly pricey as well. Depending on the collaboration you will receive coasters or luncheons mats with your order.The Square Enix Cafés also have a merchandise store where you can purchase all sorts of Square Enix related items and some limited items for the current collaboration. Sometimes the limited items sell out pretty quickly though.Have you already visited some of these places or attended some of these events?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31xY-living_japan2020Mon, 23 Dec 2019 17:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31xY-living_japan2020https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8rox-living_workI recently moved to a new place here in Japan and since I am mainly working from home, I would like to talk about what you have to pay special attention to when moving with a home office job.Internet connectionAlmost every home office job will require an internet connection. However, when moving in Japan usually it takes a few days until the connection is set up at the new place.When moving you can choose to keep your current provider if they are available at your new place, or you can choose to cancel your current contract and chose a new provider. When cancelling a lot of Japanese internet providers will charge cancellation fees.In most cases, some kind of construction work will be necessary for your new place which, depending on your contract, can cost you a construction work fee.If you manage to get an early date for the construction work, you might be able to to use the Internet on your first workday in your new place but in a lot of cases you will be without internet for a few days.Note that most companies in Japan charge extra if the construction work is done on the weekends, so if possible have them do it on a weekday.In the latter case, you can either try to work out with your employer whether you can come to the office for that time period or try to work with a mobile WiFi router. In Japan, you can rent these pretty easily for a few days for around 300 to 500 yen per day. These mobile Wifi routers do not have the fastest connection though. It will work alright for emailing and browsing the web but if you need to upload large files you might run into difficulties.Some providers even provide a rental WiFi router for free for new clients so make sure to check that before you rent one.If you work with a notebook, Japan's co-working spaces and cafes that provide internet access can also be an alternative so you might want to check out what is available close to your new place.Working equipmentAs you will need to have your working equipment ready on the next working day after your move I would recommend marking the boxes you put it in, so you can find them easily and set up your workspace without having to go through a ton of boxes.FurnitureIf you are considering ordering new furniture for your home office, try to order it early as with furniture sometimes delivery times in Japan can be quite long. I recently ordered a new desk about a month before I moved and it still couldn't be delivered on the moving day.Post officeIf your job requires you to ship out things, make sure to check where the closest post office is and confirm the opening hours.Most post offices in Japan are only open from 9 AM to 5 PM. Some post offices in busy areas have longer opening hours though.If you have any other things to care about when moving while working from home, feel free to comment.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8rox-living_workFri, 13 Dec 2019 16:37:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8rox-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MP7qV-living_howtoMy husband and I recently moved to a new place in Japan with the help of a moving company. I will explain how this process works in Japan. There are several moving companies in Japan you can consider. Most of them have online forms where you can request a quotation.You will be asked from where to where you will moving and to list-up the furniture you want to take with you and how many moving boxes you will require.Shortly afterwards the moving company will contact you to make an appointment to come and view your current apartment. If you live in a small space and do not have a lot of furniture this appointment might not be required.At the appointment a salesperson will have a look at your belongings and confirm several things like; whether you will take any air-conditioning units with you; if there is any large furniture that might need special vehicles in order to be transported, etc.Usually, they will also hand you a moving guide book that explains their service and has a nice checklist of things you need to do when moving like; arrange the change of address for water, electricity and gas, inform your bank and insurance provider, etc.A few days later you should receive a quotation for the moving cost. I recommend getting quotations from a few different companies and comparing them. In general, moving on weekdays is cheaper than on weekends. Also, in March and April moving costs in Japan tend to be high due to a lot of new grads moving at this time.Most companies offer different plans. The cheapest plan is usually the one where you pack up all your smaller belongings into moving boxes yourself and the company only moves everything to the new place where you unpack.More expensive plans offer the option of the company packing and unpacking the boxes for you. After you decided on a company and a date the moving company will provide you with moving boxes if you decided to pack your items yourself. You have to make sure that everything is packed up and ready for the day of the move. Also, make sure to write in which room a box should be put. Usually, the boxes have checkboxes with the typical kinds of rooms printed on them.On the moving day, the moving company will come to pick up your belongings and transport them to your new place. It is advised to prepare a floor plan indicating where which piece of furniture should be put.The moving company will make extra sure not to cause any damage to walls and flooring, covering them with blankets and plastic sheeting during the move.After everything is transported to your new place you now only have to unpack and you are done. I have moved with moving companies in Japan twice already and have experienced them as efficient and professional. The move was quick and none of my belongings were harmed.If your budget allows you to use a moving company, I would recommend it over renting a truck and carrying everything on your own or with the help of friends.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MP7qV-living_howtoTue, 10 Dec 2019 15:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MP7qV-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRZY-living_workEarlier I wrote about the advantages of working from home (here in Japan). Now that I have been working from home for about a year I have come to realize the disadvantages of this. Overall, I still prefer this work style but as always it comes with pros and cons.Limited options for lunchThis point depends on where you live but if you live in a residential area that is a little far from a train station there are not too many options on where to get lunch. My current options are cooking, lunch boxes from the supermarket, lunch boxes from the convenience store or ordering food as there are no restaurants close to where we live. Luckily my husband prepares lunch for both of us most of the time.Only little human contactAs I work from home 5 days a week and only meet my colleagues about 2 times per month for a meeting I don't really get into contact with other people during the week except for my husband. Sometimes that can get a little lonely.No commuter passAs a regular employee in Japan usually, the company will pay for your commuter ticket to work. The ticket can only be used to commute from your home train station to your work train station but it can also be used on weekends or when you on vacation. If a part of the train ride is covered by the ticket you only pay the difference.Depending on where you live and where your workplace is some train fees for going out on weekends/vacations are covered by the commuter pass which can save you money. When mainly working from home obviously your company won't pay for a commuter pass. Train fees have become a bigger expense for me since I started working from home.It takes more effort to go out after workWhen I was still commuting getting off at a station on the way to do some shopping or to meet up with friends for dinner didn't require too much effort. Now when going somewhere after work first having to walk to the station and being on the train for 30 to 60 minutes depending on where I want to go can become a reason to stay home, especially during Japan's cold seasons.No separate workspaceAs Japanese houses are quite small it can be difficult to find an affordable place that has enough rooms so that you can turn one room into a home office. For now, I am working in my bedroom which is definitely not ideal but still, I have more space than in the tiny office I worked at before.Luckily we will move into a bigger place soon where I can turn one room into my workspace.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRZY-living_workFri, 22 Nov 2019 10:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRZY-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRqpe-medical_healthGoing to a big hospital in Japan might be confusing if you go for the first time as some things are quite different than at a small clinic.First of all, it is recommended to come to a big hospital in Japan with an introduction letter from a smaller clinic. Without a letter, you will be charged a higher fee for your first medical examination at the hospital. Usually, if a smaller clinic does not know what the problem is or does not have the resources to do the required examinations they will give you an introduction letter for a bigger hospital.The letter of introduction, however, does not include a reservation so you will have to prepare for some waiting time on your first visit. Most hospitals in Japan only take new patients in the morning so try to go early. In general big hospitals from around 9 AM to 4 or 5 PM on weekdays and in the morning on Saturdays.At first, you will have to go to the hospital's reception and register as a new patient. You will be asked to present your introduction letter and fill in a registration sheet. Hospital staff will then send you to the department your previous doctor wanted you to go. You will then have to go to the reception of this department and fill in a registration sheet for the department before staff tell you what will happen next. You might have to undergo some examinations before the doctor will see you.If a second appointment is required at the big hospital in Japan you can make a reservation for a certain time slot so that you won't have to wait as long. After you are done with your examinations and doctor consultations you will go to the billing counter. It is usually on the first floor close to the reception. You hand them your patient card and they will hand you a number.When your bill is ready for payment your number will be called. You can go to the payment counter and pay your bill. Some hospitals in Japan also have vending machine-like machines were you can pay as well. Most big hospitals accept credit cards nowadays.After you have paid you are ready to go home. When you come for your next appointment you can go to one of the automatic reception machines. Just put in your patient card and the machine will print your schedule for the day. You can head straight for the department or examination room you are booked for.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRqpe-medical_healthMon, 18 Nov 2019 10:08:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRqpe-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2odJ-shopping_money_howtoIf you like Pokémon you might want to buy Pokémon goods from time to time. Whereas the Pokémon goods that are offered at Pokémon centres in Japan are quite fairly priced compared to other character goods there are some budget options and ways to buy them cheaper.Pokémon T-shirts from UniqloOnce every few years Pokémon does a collaboration with fast-fashion chain Uniqlo, usually with a collection of several T-shirts. Whereas a T-shirt from the Pokémon Center costs around 3,000 yen the Uniqlo T-shirts are only 1,500 yen, or even cheaper if you can get them during sale. Popular designs sell out quickly so you might not want to wait until they go on sale though.Pokémon items from 3 CoinsThe 300 yen shop 3 Coins did a collaboration with Pokémon last year and is doing another one right now. You can get special items that are only available at 3 Coins, for only 300 yen per items. These items tend to sell-out quickly so make sure to go early if you want certain items.Sale at the Pokémon Center online shopWhereas Pokémon Center brick and mortar stores usually do not sell items for cheaper than the regular price, the online shop sometimes does sell items at a reduced price, e.g. when Christmas items are still in stock after the Christmas season or as a special event for an anniversary. These sales are irregular and might not be announced in advance. The best way to stay informed is to sign up for the official newsletter.Pokémon lucky bagsEvery time for New Year's the online shop and Pokémon Center stores in Japan will sell lucky bags. They usually cost 4,000 yen and contain items of a collective value of around 30,000 yen. Even though you cant choose which Pokémon items you buy the price is so cheap that it is worth it already if you find a few items you like. The rest can be given away as gifts or you can try reselling. However, the resell value of lucky bags makes them a popular target for resellers which makes the lucky bags quite hard to get in the first place. Used Pokémon itemsBesides the above-mentioned options, you can also look for Pokémon bargains online at sites like Amazon Market Place or Mercari. Popular items Pokémon of the past usually are being sold at a premium price but especially those items that were contained in Japan's lucky bags drop in value due to a lot of people selling them. You might also find cheap Pokémon items at stores like Book-Off or Hobby-Off but you may have to invest some time in looking for treasures.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2odJ-shopping_money_howtoThu, 14 Nov 2019 10:07:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2odJ-shopping_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRby-livingThis year I finally managed to visit Tokyo Disneyland during the Halloween season. I had plans to do this for a while now but sometimes always messed them up.Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky in regards to the weather as it was raining pretty much all day but nevertheless, it was a fun day.For this trip, I tried the Tokyo Disney Resort app for the first time and I really liked it. The Tokyo Disney Resort app offers several nice functions -- you can scan your tickets to reserve fast passes for rides, take part in lotteries for shows and special seats for parades, you can use the app to navigate and check the waiting time for restaurants and rides at the park.Usually, to get fast passes for Tokyo Disneyland you would have to go to the ride and insert your ticket into a machine. With the Tokyo Disney Resort app, you can save time and energy by not having to walk around so much. The waiting time was shown pretty accurately for rides, whereas for restaurants it was either more or less than what I actually waited. As for now, the app is only available in Japanese but it should be manageable with just little Japanese knowledge. It is also possible to purchase tickets via the app, however, it rejected both my credit cards so I had to buy a ticket at a convenience store.Anyway, on a rainy weekday in October, waiting times are quite short, so I only got one fast pass for the Winnie the Pooh ride which is always quite popular. Restaurants tend to be quite popular on rainy days so I ended up waiting for about one hour for lunch.During the Halloween season at Tokyo Disneyland, the whole park is decorated with pumpkins, ghosts and other spooky things. Also, the parade during the day is Halloween themed. On rainy days however the dancers and Disney characters all wear raincoats which kind of ruins the atmosphere. Nevertheless, it is something you won't get to see every day. I even was lucky enough to win a reserved spot for the parade so was able to see it from very close without having to reserve a good spot.This year during Halloween season at Tokyo Disneyland the Haunted Mansion ride was redecorated into a Nightmare before Christmas-themed ride. I am usually not a fan of spooky rides but I did enjoy this one.Some of the restaurants also offer Halloween-themed food. You might want to check the Disney Resort website in advance to see which food you like best. I tried this Nightmare before Christmas themed menu. For 2,000 yen it contained a soup, a main dish, a dessert and a drink. Food, in general, is not cheap at the Disney Resort but I think this was quite reasonable.Also, the souvenir shops offer special Halloween-themed souvenirs that are only available during Halloween season.In general, if you happen to visit Tokyo Disneyland on a rainy day bring an umbrella or a raincoat unless you plan on buying one of the Disney-themed raincoats. Also, make sure to wear shoes that keep your feet dry. You might also want to bring a towel so you can wipe your cellphone or camera dry.Some of the waiting areas for rides and the shop area at the entrance to Tokyo Disneyland are roofed so you can get away from the rain, but in some places, you might have to line up outside. A big plus is that the park is not as crowded as usual so rainy days are perfect to go on the rides that you tend to avoid because of long waiting times.I would definitely like to go to Tokyo Disneyland again during the next Halloween season.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRby-livingTue, 05 Nov 2019 11:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRby-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2oJe-living_workWhen preparing your job application in English you usually only have one CV or resume. In Japan, there are two documents covering your employment history that are submitted with a job application -- one is the 履歴書 (Rirekisho) the other one the 職務経歴書 (Shokumukeirekisho).RirekishoThe rirekisho usually consists of two pages. The rirekisho covers your personal information, like address, phone number, age, etc. Then it is used to list your education and employment history in chronological order, however, it only lists the names of the schools you attended and the companies you worked for and the time frame you were there. There are no details about what you studied or what your position at the company was.The rirekisho also has a table where you can list any qualifications or certificates obtained like a JLPT or TOEIC test, for example. Some rirekisho also have space for you to write about why you applied for the job or your hobbies.Rirekisho are usually in a certain table-style format. There are slight variations but most Japanese rirekisho look basically the same. You can find templates online or printed templates at most stationery or 100 yen stores in Japan. I think it is OK to slightly alter a template to fit your needs but you should stick to it as much as possible.ShokumukeirekishoThe shokumukeirekisho does not have a specified format. It can be any number of pages long depending on how much work experience you have. You are allowed to format and design it any way you want. Shokumukeirekisho are used to list your employment history in greater detail. This usually starts with a short summary of your employment history. Then you list the companies you worked for in chronological order including some details about the company, like the number of employees, technical field, annual revenue etc.You also use the shokumukeirekisho to describe your position and tasks in detail and list any special achievements you have completed during the time you worked there. You can also list any skills gained while working in this position.Additionally, linguistic skills, PC skills or any other skills you find relevant that didn't fit on the rirekisho or that you want to emphasize by listing them again, can be entered into a shokumukeirekisho.If you work in a job that has a portfolio you also list it here, e.g. if you work as a translator, you list relevant documents that you have translated, and so on.Have you ever prepared application documents in Japanese? How do like the system of dividing your CV in two documents?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2oJe-living_workWed, 30 Oct 2019 12:46:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2oJe-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1mdv-foodAfter I published my first post about Halloween themed food for 2019 in Japan I discovered a few more delicious things I would like to share.Halloween Crepe in KoenjiClose to the north exit of Koenji station you can find a small crepe stand called Crepe Cake Cookies. They currently over a limited-edition Halloween Crepe.I really like the cute cookies and chocolate pieces on the top. The filling of the crepe is mostly whipped cream and chocolate but nothing too fancy though.I would put this Halloween crepe into the category "nice for Instagram" but it's not really exciting on the flavour end. It is also quite pricy.Lawson Rilakkuma Halloween SweetsConvenience store chain Lawson has done several collaborations with Sanrio for Rilakkuma themed sweets. Currently, you can find Halloween themed Rilakkuma sweets in the Lawson shops.These are mainly made of sugar and with a pumpkin-flavoured filling. Rilakkuma Halloween sweets should be available in every Lawson across Japan but they tend to sell out fast, so you might have to check back later. They cost 280 yen and have 98kcal each.Halloween Cake from FujiyaThe Japanese bakery chain Fujiya currently has several Halloween themed cakes for sale. I tried this one that looks like a little monster.This is a Mount Blanc Cake made of sweet potato mash. In the centre is a sponge cake with matcha sauce. As I like matcha and sweet potatoes I did enjoy this cake from a visual and flavour perspective. The price of 430 yen is reasonable, I think. Fujiya also has a few more Halloween cakes available. Fujiya has branches all over Japan. You can check here where the branch in Japan closest to you is.Halloween ManjuA few days ago I came across a special limited shop at my nearest train station. They were selling a lot of cute sweets -- mostly cat-themed. They also had a few Halloween themed Manju.Manju are traditional Japanese sweets made of flour that are usually filled with anko, the sweet red bean paste made of azuki beans. Taste wise these Halloween manju tasted like regular manju but I think it was worth buying them for the cute Halloween design. Unfortunately, the shop has closed already and they are not available anymore.So far I think I have tried quite a few things this Halloween in Japan. The great finale will be a visit to Tokyo Disneyland where I plan to go this week. I will try as much Halloween food as I can find. Happy Halloween everyone!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1mdv-foodTue, 29 Oct 2019 15:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1mdv-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlXad-foodI must admit that this year I am a little less enthusiastic about the Halloween themed-menus in Japan as they tend to be similar to what I have seen last year but nevertheless I did try a few Halloween-themed food already in 2019.Pokemon Cafe Halloween menuAs with last year, the Pokemon Cafe has a Halloween limited menu for 2019. There are three different menus at the Pokemon Cafe you can choose from. I decided to try the Celebi Pasta. The Halloween menu is also available at the Pokemon Cafe in Osaka that just opened in September.I must admit, the only thing Halloween about this particular dish is the little carrots on the top but I liked the taste of the pasta -- it was pasta with pesto and the Celebi head was probably made of some sort of bread.The Halloween menu at Pokemon Cafe is available until October 31, 2019 and if you order the Pikachu Halloween dish you can purchase the limited Halloween Pikachu plate that it comes together with the dish. The Halloween plate is only available during Halloween season. If you order a drink, you can also get the limited Halloween coaster.This is not food related but I also did like this year's Halloween Pikachu plush, because it is a Pikachu dressed up as a Mimikyu. Unfortunately, it is already sold out on the online shop but you still might find it at a Pokemon Center or Pokemon Store.Halloween sweets at HattifnatHattifnat is a really sweet little cafe that has stores in Kichijouji and Koenji, Tokyo.The cafe is characterized by all interior items being a little too small so take care when walking through the front door, especially if you are tall. This year Hattifnat offers a Halloween limited pumpkin cake that looks like a little ghost.This is really nice if you are afraid of the huge Halloween themed desserts that you can find in other places. Hattifnat's pumpkin cake is a perfect dessert for one person after a regular meal or as a snack in between meals. If you try to visit one of the cafes on the weekend you might have to wait in line for a while but during the week they are usually not too crowded.Halloween desserts from local bakeriesThese are two Halloween desserts from local bakeries here in Japan that I have tried so far. The good thing is that the recent tax increase in Japan does not apply to take-out food so you can still enjoy your Halloween treats at 8% consumption tax.As with most Halloween desserts the taste was pumpkin, which I personally enjoy as I really like all kinds of pumpkin dishes, from pumpkin salad to pumpkin soup.Similar cakes are available at most bakeries and patisseries in Japan. Just check the next big department store and you will most likely find some.Usually, they start selling the Halloween desserts in Japan at the end of September or the beginning of October and they will likely by available until October 31, 2019.With still a few weeks to go, I am looking forward to even more Halloween themed foods in Japan. If you have any recommendations for places in the Tokyo region, please leave a comment.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlXad-foodFri, 11 Oct 2019 16:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlXad-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj70E-living_money_howtoI bought a DSLR in march and started to get into photography as a hobby. I found videos of photographers on youtube talking about how they were selling photos on stock photo sites and decided to try it out for myself. Here is my experience so far.I am currently using the site Shutterstock to upload my photos. I started uploading in April and made 39,34 USD so far with slightly over 500 photos. That is not much but once uploaded photos can keep creating passive income. To be able to upload on Shutterstock you need to first submit a few samples. My samples were accepted without any issues and I am still very far from being a good photographer.You will also need a Paypal account to receive payments once your income is over the 35 USD threshold.On Shutterstock, you can submit editorial and commercial pictures. For commercial pictures you will need a model release if you work with models or property releases if you take photos of somebody`s (intellectual) property. For editorial pictures you do not need any releases. Once you submit a photo it will be reviewed within a few days. If it gets accepted it will be available for download. If your photo did not get accepted you can resubmit it. I had several photos rejected first and accepted later.For editorial pictures, in general, the reviewers are less strict so it is easier to get photos accepted when you are still a beginner. Also, I found that there are not so many photographers submitting Japan-related editorial content on Shutterstock. Less competition means higher chances for sales so I found that Japan-related editorial content is selling best for me. As you can imagine there are already many pictures of Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Station and other famous places but if you visit lesser know spots or spots that just recently opened chances are good that the market is not yet saturated. My best selling editorial picture so far is this photo I took in the Pokémon Café.As for commercial pictures, I found that it is quite difficult to get sales if you do not have the skill and equipment of a professional photographer. There are many good pictures for the most popular themes out there already so I can not really compete with my budget camera and no studio.Therefore I think I will stick to mostly taking editorial pictures of Japan content.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj70E-living_money_howtoFri, 11 Oct 2019 10:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wj70E-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6Yv3-livingIn Japanese there are several sayings about autumn, e.g スポーツの秋 (autumn is for sports), 読書の秋(autumn is for reading), 趣味の秋 (autumn is for hobbies). Although the weather is still very nice in autumn and you can enjoy the autumn leaves in Japan, a lot of autumn activities tend to be indoors. For me personally, this autumn will be for hobbies. I recently started playing the trading card game "Magic the Gathering." I mainly play "Magic" online but I recently attended my first event a card store.Over the course of the year, several new expansion sets for Magic are released. One is usually in autumn. With the release of a new set prerelease events will be held all over Japan where you can play with the new cards one week before the official release. These events are perfect for new players as they are rather casual and as everyone is playing with new cards for the first time everyone makes mistakes.If you used to play Magic in your home country you might want to continue doing so in Japan. When you are in Tokyo there are a ton of different stores to choose from. I decided to attend the Magic the Gathering prerelease at Tokyo MTG in Suidobashi and would like to share my experience. Tokyo MTG is kind of a bilingual store with a lot of foreign players attending events there. The staff speak English and Japanese as well. A heard that some Japanese players dislike playing against foreigners that don't speak Japanese but at Tokyo MTG most of the Japanese players are fine with foreigners. The store advertises its events as bilingual so Japanese players that attend know they might run into foreigners with little or no Japanese-language skills.At the event I attended I would say about 40% of the players were foreigners. I was quite surprised to see quite a few female attendees as well since Magic events are dominated by male players most of the time.At a prerelease you get a special prerelease kit with 6 booster packs and a promo card and make a deck out of the cards you pulled. Then you play against other players and can receive prices if you win matches. In most Japanese card shops you will play with Japanese cards but at Tokyo MTG you can choose between English and Japanese cards for your kit. But even if you chose English for your cards you might have to play against someone with Japanese cards. I saw matches between Japanese players with only little English knowledge and foreign players with only little Japanese knowledge and it mostly worked out fine. In cases of miscommunication, you can call a staff to help out.I would say you can enjoy events at TokyoMTG without any Japanese knowledge but the more Japanese you speak the easier it will be playing against Japanese players and the more friends you can possibly make.Tokyo MTG is a small store and prerelease events tend to be popular, therefore I would recommend reserving a spot. The fee for attending an event is 3,000 yen and it usually lasts 3 to 4 hours.As the theme of the new expansion was fairy tales the store was decorated really nicely. Overall the atmosphere is nice as they have a lot of magic illustrations on the walls and also a corner with comfy couches where you can rest between matches.All in all, I enjoyed the event, especially the atmosphere at the store but I think the price is quite high. Most card shops in the Akihabara and Shinjuku area charge 3,000 yen for a prerelease but there are other shops that include little extras like a free pack of sleeves etc. You can also find stores that only charge 2,500 yen, especially if you look in minor areas like western Tokyo, for example, but I don't think you can get English cards there.I can definitely recommend this store for non-Japanese speakers. If your Japanese skill is good enough to play with Japanese cards I guess it is best to compare prices, location and prizes at different stores and choose the one that fits you best.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6Yv3-livingTue, 08 Oct 2019 10:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6Yv3-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6YV3-medical_healthSince I have moved to Japan I have gone through several bladder inflammations. Last week I was again feeling the familiar symptoms so I would like to share my experience.Typical symptoms of a bladder inflammation are pain in the lower abdomen, pain when urinating, feeling the urge to go the toilet very frequently and a bad smell of the urine. For women, it is a very common issue that most of us have undergone once or even several times already. Men only rarely get bladder inflammations.If you are not pregnant and there are no complications chances are the inflammation heals after a few days. Try to keep your abdomen warm to reduce the pain and drink a lot. When at home I find electric blankets nice for warming. When outside I usually use Kairos, the Japanese pocket warmers. There are versions available that you can stick on the inside of your clothes. I find these pretty convenient.For drinks water, tee and cranberry juice are preferred. You should stay away from alcohol and coffee though. In Germany, there is special bladder tee that is perfect for such a situation but in Japan, it might be hard to find. But green tea is recommended as well. Also, try to stay close to a toilet so you can empty your bladder as often as possible.In drug stores there also is prescription-free medicine for bladder inflammation available. I tried it once but did not find it very helpful.If after 2 to 3 days you do not feel that the symptoms are getting better it is advisable to go to a doctor. The best option would be a urologic clinic (泌尿器科 Hinyoukika in Japanese) but a clinic for internal medicine should be able to help as well.You will most likely be asked for urine test. If the test is positive the doctor will most likely prescribe antibiotics. If usually find these very helpful as I already feel better after 1 or 2 days of taking them. Make sure to take them according to the instructions you got from your pharmacists and do not stop taking them even when you feel better. I usually get prescriptions for around 5 days.If you tend to get bladder inflammations regulary you might also want to inform your doctor as this might be the symptom of a more severe illness.Get well soon.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6YV3-medical_healthFri, 04 Oct 2019 10:14:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G6YV3-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnmXE-medical_healthRecently I discovered a small bulge on my husband's back. At first, I wasn't worried but when I realized that it was growing in size I urged him to see a doctor.On the following Saturday, we went to a skin clinic close by where he was diagnosed with 粉瘤 (Funryu) or atheroma in English.The doctor suggested having it removed by surgery as it would keep growing. Usually, the surgery is not performed on the day of diagnosis but as the clinic wasn't full at that time they performed the surgery on the same day. It was done under local anaesthesia and after the wound was stitched up my husband could leave the hospital.He was not allowed to shower or take a bath or do any sport until the next day. The fee for this surgery was around 2,500 yen. He also got a prescription for antibiotics so we ended up with a total cost of around 3,000 yen after he got the medicine at the pharmacy.After surgery, he had a small dressing on his shoulder. He was supposed to keep it on for a day and then remove it and use regular band-aids for about a week afterwards.The doctor also offered an optional laboratory test of the atheroma to check whether there was any malignant tissue. The fee for this test was around 5,000 yen. It takes around 10 days until results are received. To be sure we requested the doctor to perform test.A week later my husband had to visit the doctor again to have the stitches removed. The fee for this doctor's visit was only 500 yen and this included the fee for an ointment that he received directly from the clinic.He will see the doctor again another week later for a check-up of how the wound is healing and to hear the results of the laboratory test.It was a skin clinic that none of us had tried before so we were glad everything went so smoothly and that the waiting time at the clinic was quite short even on the weekend. I previously had visited a skin clinic where I had to wait about 2 hours. Now we just hope that the test does not come back with bad results and that the wound heals without any complications.Have you visited a skin clinic in Japan before? How was your experience?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnmXE-medical_healthThu, 26 Sep 2019 10:14:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnmXE-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLyV7-living_money_education_workAccording to recent news, several foreign students in Japan got their student visas revoked because they did not comply with the regulations for working part-time as a student. So before taking up any jobs on a student visa make sure you are familiar with regulations.You need a permit to workA student visa does not make you eligible to work in Japan by default. You need to file a request for permission to work first. You can file the request at your local immigration office or if you have not yet entered Japan you can submit the request at the airport when your passport is checked. Filing the request is free of cost.When submitting the request at the airport you will receive your work permit immediately whereas when submitting it at the immigration office it will take a few weeks until it is processed.You can only work a limited number of hoursAs a student, you cannot work full-time. You are only allowed to 28 hours per week.During break season you can work up to 8 hours per day. If your employer requests you to work more inform them that you are not allowed to and might lose your visa.You cannot work in the adult entertainment industryAs a student, you are not allowed to work at night clubs, host clubs, hostess clubs, bars, etc. Even a job as a dishwasher at a bar is taboo. Working at Pachinko parlours is forbidden as well.Otherwise, there is no restriction as to where you work. Freelance work is ok as well as long as you do not exceed the hour limit.Your work permit is only valid while you are enrolledThe work permit is valid only while you are enrolled in classes. If you arrive in Japan before classes start you are not allowed to work until your school or university starts. You also are not allowed to work after you finished your classes. Working during semester breaks is only possible if you registered for the following semester.As you can see there quite a few things you need to pay attention to when working as a student. If you are not sure whether the work you want to take up is in alignment with regulations it is best to consult with your school or university or inquire at the immigration office directly.Have you been in Japan on a student visa? Did you take up any part-time jobs?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLyV7-living_money_education_workWed, 25 Sep 2019 10:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLyV7-living_money_education_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MP75d-livingAs always in September the Tokyo Game Show took place at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba. The Tokyo Game show usually takes place from Thursday until Sunday on the 2nd or 3rd week of September. Thursday and Friday are business days and the weekend is open for the public.Makuhari Messe is a huge convention centre that is used for all kinds of trade fairs and concerts. The Tokyo Game Show takes place there every year. It is easily accessible from the Kaihimmakuhari station.On public days the Game Show is open from 10:00 to 17:00. This year the ticket price was 1.500 Yen for tickets purchased in advance and 2.000 Yen for tickets purchased at the door.At the Tokyo Game Show, you will find booths a lot of famous game publishers, hardware makers and also booths of a lot of indie publishers.If you are a Nintendo fan I have bad news though. Nintendo traditionally does not have a booth at the Tokyo Game Show because they don't want to participate in events that charge an entry fee.At the booths, you can try not-yet-released games, get free merchandise and take photos at photo spots. But note that on the public days the Game Show is extremely crowded and there are only a few things you can do without having to wait in line first. Especially if you want to play some of the popular games you will have to arrive before opening hours and wait in line. Most publishers will hand out tickets for test play that assign you a certain time when you should come to the booth. For popular games, these tickets are gone right after the gates open.For less popular you might be lucky even if you arrive later but always plan for a long waiting time.This year some publishers started to conduct special lotteries for special test play. If you were one of the lucky winners you were allowed to play without having to wait in line. If you plan to visit next year make sure to check the website of the booths you want to visit.For the photo spots, the waiting lines are usually around 30 to 60 minutes. This year Square Enix had a photo spot where you could get on Cloud bike and take a photo. If you like taking photos there are always a lot of cosplayers at the Tokyo Game Show to photograph. There is a special Cosplay Area situated slightly afar from the main halls where cosplayers pose for the photographers.If you are looking for video game merchandise the Tokyo Game Show is the right place for you. Most publishers have a special merchandise booth in the merchandise area. But beware because popular items will sell out fast. Also for some booths you might have to line up just to enter the booth so don't go to the merchandise area in a hurry.At most booths, you will also receive some free giveaway goodies. Clear files and plastic fans are usually very popular. If you visit every booth you probably will have enough clear files for the rest of the year. Some booths even give out free drinks.All in all, going to the Tokyo Game Show means spending a lot of time waiting. If you have never been to such an event before it is surely an interesting experience but if you compare the waiting time to the time you will actually spend playing games it is quite a time investment. I personally didn't play a single game this year because I arrived at around noon and all test play tickets were gone already.Have you ever visited the Tokyo Game Show?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MP75d-livingSat, 21 Sep 2019 12:13:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MP75d-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zayPD-living_howtoSometimes you might want to send presents to your family overseas or a friend asked you for a Japan-only item. In my experience, the best option for shipping overseas is the Japanese post - Japan Post. I want to introduce what kind of shipping options are available to send things overseas from Japan.EMSEMS is the fastest option but also the most expensive. It starts at around 1,500 yen for documents. Your shipment will take about 3-5 days to reach Europe or the U.S.EMS is insured by default and comes with a tracking number by default as well.Regular airmailIf you are not in a hurry to send your items overseas from Japan, regular airmail is a nice option. It usually takes about 1 to 2 weeks to reach Europe or the U.S. Airmail is not insured and has no tracking number by default but you can get insurance and a tracking number by sending it registered which costs an extra 410 yen. If you do not choose the registered option there is nothing you can do should your parcel get lost. Therefore I would recommend it when sending important or valuable items.SAL airmailSAL airmail is a cheaper option for airmail shipping overseas from Japan. The prices are lower than regular airmail but it usually takes 1 or 2 weeks longer. Sometimes it can be just as fast as regular airmail. Similarly, it is not insured by default but you can get insurance by choosing the registered option.If you want to send items by airmail or SAL airmail you can use these labels that are available at post offices in Japan which make communication between you and the post office clerk smoother. You just check your preferred shipping methods and write the sender's and receiver's address on it.The left side is a customs declaration. Here you have to write the content of the package and its value. If you choose registered shipping your package will only be insured for the value that is mentioned in the declaration. However, if the value exceeds a certain amount the receiver might have to pay taxes. The amount differs from country to country.Also, make sure that all the items in your package can be shipped to the country of destination. Which items are allowed or not depends on the country of destination so make sure to look it up or ask at your post office beforehand.Have you ever sent something overseas from Japan? Which postal service do you prefer?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zayPD-living_howtoFri, 13 Sep 2019 10:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zayPD-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmxYg-livingAt the end of August, the Akebonocho Festival takes place in Tachikawa. This year it took place from August 23 to August 25. You can enjoy traditional Japanese festival foods sold at food stalls, traditional dances, a music program and mikoshi being carried through the streets.The highlight is a parade on the evening of Sunday starting at 6:00 PM.Tachikawa is situated in the west of Tokyo out of the 23 wards. A train ride from Shinjuku takes about 41 minutes. It can be reached with the Chuo Line.During the parade, you can see several mikoshi being carried through the streets. A mikoshi is a sacred religious palanquin that you can often see during Japanese festivals. It is believed that it serves as a vehicle to transport gods. The bearers of the mikoshi will chant in Japanese and people in the crowd will cheer. For this parade, every mikoshi has a different design so it is nice for taking pictures.The Akebonocho festival thereby is not very different compared to the larger and popular festivals, e.g. the festivals in May in Kanda and Asakusa, however, Tachikawa is not as crowded. If you like festivals but fear large crowds of people the Akebonocho festival might be just right for you. You won't have to line up long to buy food and you can get quite close to the mikoshi without having to fight your way through a large crowd.On Saturday and Sunday, there is also a program of different artist performing on the festival stage. It is mostly local artist covering a wide range of genres, like jazz, classical music, traditional Japanese music and modern pop music. The festival stage is situated on the San San Road only a short walk away from the north exit of Tachikawa station. The parade will start close to the stage and then proceed towards the station. In front of the station, it will turn around and return.Close to the stage there several stalls that sell food, drinks, toys for kids and other goods. However, buying drinks and food at a supermarket close by might be the cheaper option. You can also find the infamous kingyo-sukui (goldfish scooping) here. kingyo-sukui is a traditional Japanese game where you scoop goldfish from a small pool with a scooper. If you manage to successfully scoop a fish you can keep it and take it home. The fish will be carried in a plastic bag filled with water. This practice is being criticised as most of the fish die within a few days due to the large amount of stress they are under when being scooped up and carried around. Nevertheless, you can still find kingyo-sukui at Japanese festivals.All in all the Akebonocho festival might be not as glamorous as the larger festivals but still worth a visit especially if like to stay away from crowds or if you live in western Tokyo.Have you ever visited a festival in Japan? How did you like it?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmxYg-livingMon, 09 Sep 2019 17:27:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmxYg-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvroE-living_familylifeIf you are on a spouse visa you will have to renew it regularly. Visa duration terms can be 1 year, 3 years or 5 years. Usually, you will only get a one year visa when you first apply for a spouse visa. When renewing the immigration office might grant longer terms for your next visa.A visa can be renewed from 3 months before the expiration date. Make sure to file for renewal before the visa expires to avoid trouble with the immigration office. If everything is in order with your renewal request it usually takes about one month until it is granted. If your request is successful you will have to pay a 4.000 Yen fee.For the renewal you will need the following documents:1.A family register of your Japanese spouse2.A copy of the residency register of your Japanese spouse3.A tax certificate and tax payment certificate for your Japanese spouse4.A personal guarantee from your Japanese spouse5.A renewal request form with a recent photo 6.Your passport and your residence cardDocuments 1 to 3 can be requested at your ward/city office. If you also do have a taxable income it is advised to submit the tax documents for yourself as well. The documents need to be issued within the last 3 months. Usually you submit the tax certificates of the most recent year. If the most recent tax payment certificate shows any open payments the immigration office is likely to request a tax payment certificate from the previous year (with no open payments) as well.Document 4 is available on the website of the immigration office. You spouse needs to fill it out and put their stamp on it. (http://www.moj.go.jp/content/000007381.pdf)Document 5 is also available on the website or at your local immigration office.(http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001290232.pdf) You need to fill it out attach a recent ID picture of yourself. It needs to be a photo taken in the last 3 months.Depending on your specific situation the immigration office might request other documents in addition to above-mentioned documents.Once you have all the documents you can go to your local immigration office. An appointment is not required. Your spouse is not required to accompany you to the immigration office.If everything is alright with your application, they will accept it and attach a receipt to your passport. If your renewal request was successful you will receive a postcard asking you to come to the immigration office again with your passport, your residence card, and a 4000 Yen stamp. The stamps needed for visa renewal are available at all post offices, but they are not sold at the immigration office itself so make sure to buy one in advance. You can then pick up your new residence card with your renewed visa.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvroE-living_familylifeThu, 05 Sep 2019 10:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvroE-living_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJomk-money_medical_healthMost foreigners that live in Japan for long-term have the Japanese national health insurance. In fact, if you plan to stay longer than a year you are obliged to apply for the Japanese health insurance. If you stay shorter it is optional, so e.g. foreigners on a working holiday visa can choose whether they want to join or not.The Japanese health insurance covers 70% of your medical cost. If you are 70 years or older it may cover more depending on your income. The remaining 30% must be paid the patient.How much do you actually have to pay?From my experience, medical cost can amount to quite some money over time. If you visit a doctor because you caught a cold you will usually pay something between 2.000 to 3.000 Yen including medication. But if a blood test is required for the diagnose you will pay around 5.000 Yen.I have a chronic disease that requires me to get my blood tested 4 times a year. These blood tests alone accumulate to 20.000 Yen each year and this does not include the money I pay for the medication I have to take every day.If some more complicated test needs to be done like e.g. an MRI you will have to pay something around 10.000 Yen. Imagine having a disease that is not found easily and having to visit several doctors and doing several tests. You can easily end up spending several 10.000 Yens.I luckily never had to stay in a hospital before but I heard that you have to pay around 20.000 Yen per day you are hospitalized.Limit for medical costsIf your medical cost in one month exceeds a certain limit you can apply for a reduction of your medical cost. The limit depends on your income. For people with an average income, it is around 80.000 Yen. But imagine having to pay 80.000 Yen for several months. Not easy to handle unless you have enough savings, especially if you cant work in that time and have a lower income than usual.Additional optional insurancesIn order to be prepared for such cases, there are additional private health insurances you can enter. There are several different options to choose from. Some covering several illnesses, some focusing on only certain illnesses, some only paying when you get hospitalized others that already pay when you have to visit a doctor regularly for treatment.If you plan to enter such insurance it is best to enter as early as possible when you are still completely healthy. You will get the lowest insurance rates. Also if you were to be diagnosed with a chronic disease most insurance providers will outright reject you.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJomk-money_medical_healthFri, 30 Aug 2019 11:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJomk-money_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnmAX-living_money_workIf your main job in Japan is not paying enough to cover all the bills or you want to save some money for a bigger purchase, considering a side job might be an option. However, as a foreigner, there are a few things you need to take into account when working a side job.1. Does your main job allow side jobs?First, you should check the regulations towards side jobs of the company you work for primarily. Some companies forbid any kind of side jobs, others allow it but you have to file for permission or there are certain limitations. Make sure not to violate any regulations.2. Does your visa allow you to work side jobs?As a foreigner there always is the visa issue when it comes to working. If you are on a regular working visa you are only allowed to work in jobs that belong to the visa category. If e.g. you have the international services visa you are not allowed to work as a cook or engineer, as these are separate visa categories. Also, simple tasks as e.g. being a shop assistant are usually excluded. You might also need to file a request for a special work permission at the immigration office for your side job. I would recommend consulting someone at the immigration office to find out whether you are allowed to work in the desired job and what documents you might need.If you are on a spouse or unlimited visa you don't have any regulations as to where you can work so you don't need to worry about this issue.3. Do you need to pay taxes?Depending on how much you make on the side you might have to pay taxes for your side job. The amount that you can make tax-free is different depending on what kind of job you are doing so when things get more concrete consulting a tax consultant might be a good idea.If you have to pay taxes you will have to file your taxes on your own. If you only have one main job usually the company will file for you however if you receive income from different sources you will have to file a Kakutei-Shinkoku (確定申告) with your local tax bureau every year. Online submission is possible as well.Have you tried working a side job in Japan? Did you have any trouble or did everything go smoothly?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnmAX-living_money_workWed, 21 Aug 2019 14:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnmAX-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GO9D8-livingThe fireworks festival in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, is one of the top 3 fireworks festivals in Japan. It takes place every year on August 2 and 3. I have seen the beautiful fireworks at Nagaoka twice already and can only recommend it. Here is some advice based on what I learned during my visits which hopefully you can use for visits in the future.Decide early if want to buy a ticketThe fireworks at Nagaoka can be viewed for free but there are also paid seats available that will offer a better view. Ticket sales start in May. Some tickets are sold based on a lottery system and others are sold first come first serve. The cheapest tickets are 2,000 yen per person. The first come first serve tickets usually sell out within a few days so make sure to buy them early if you want to invest in good seats.Reserve your spotMost of the tickets, unfortunately, do not guarantee you a certain seat but only a seat in a certain area. The venue opens at 3 PM and you can use blue sheets to reserve a certain spot for you.It works the same way for the free seats however the good free seats tend to fill up even before 3 PM.After you reserved your spot for the Nagaoka fireworks festival you can leave the paid area and can re-enter it again after.Stay hydratedIn the summer it is still very hot even in the evenings. Make sure to drink enough water. Especially if you enjoy alcoholic drinks while watching the fireworks. In a dehydrated state, you will get drunk faster than usual. There are a lot of stalls that sell drinks, however these tend to be quite pricey so I would recommend buying drinks at a supermarket.Check the train schedule and be prepared for a long queueThe Nagaoka fireworks festival is visited by lots of people every year and as you can imagine the train station will be packed after the fireworks. If you want to go home by train make sure to check when your last train leaves and return to the station early as there will be a long queue and it might take some time until you can enter and board your train. In some cases that means that you won't be able to enjoy the fireworks until the end. A better way is probably to stay in a hotel, however, they are booked out pretty soon for the two days of the fireworks.If Nagaoka is a little too far for you to visit, you can still watch the live coverage of the firework festival online, which is also worth viewing.https://nagaokamatsuri.com/topics/1347/To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GO9D8-livingMon, 12 Aug 2019 11:33:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GO9D8-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GokBv-medical_healthIn Japan there are basically two kinds of hospitals -- big hospitals that treat all kinds of conditions and small clinics that focus on a certain speciality.In Japan you cannot just walk into a big hospital when you feel sick. Well theoretically you could but in most hospitals you will not be accepted without a letter of introduction from a smaller clinic. I once went to one big hospital here in Japan without a letter and without doing much prior research and was sent back home.Even if the hospital accepts you the initial fees will be much higher without a letter of introduction. Therefore unless it is an emergency it is usually better to find a local clinic first and get a letter of introduction from them. Without a letter of introduction, the hospital will charge you a fee between 3,000 to 10,000 yen for initial acceptance. The fee for issuing a letter of introduction is only 750 yen with regular health insurance.As for smaller clinics in Japan, you are basically free to choose which one you would like to go. In Germany, for example, in most cases, you will have to go to a general practitioner first that will then send you to a specialist if they can't deal with your condition. In Japan that is not necessary. If, for example, you already know that there is an issue with your thyroid you can go to an endocrinologist straight away. It is also possible to visit a clinic for psychosomatic medicine without consulting any other doctor beforehand. In my experience, most don't do any tests to rule out physical causes for your condition and just prescribe medication, so one should be careful with that.If you are unsure which kind of clinic in Japan is right for you, you should visit a 内科, (naika) a clinic for internal medicine. Naika clinics can do general tests and point you in the right direction or if necessary, issue an introduction letter for a bigger hospital.There is also this website where you can search for hospitals and clinics in Tokyo based on condition, location, language availability etc. The English version is only a machine translation so have that in mind.If you are able to read Japanese and would like to have some opinions of former patients you can check Google Maps. A lot of clinics and hospitals have entries there with some people writing reviews.What is your experience with finding clinics and hospitals in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GokBv-medical_healthWed, 07 Aug 2019 12:19:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GokBv-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0VAR-living_food1. All C's Café in Koenji Situated north of Koenji station, this small café is a little hidden. You have to go up a staircase and enter through a door that looks the like the door of a regular apartment. Just a small signboard at the bottom of the stairs tells you that there is a café hidden here. You can check their homepage for more detailed access information.Even though it is nice to visit throughout the year in summer the people at All C's Café in Koenji will usually have limited summer parfaits that you won't want to miss out on. This is a photo of last year's watermelon parfait. These parfaits at All C's Café are perfect for the hot seasons and at around 1,000 yen are reasonably priced. However, you also have to order at least one drink. English menus are available but limited seasonal food items are usually not listed on the English-language menu so make sure to check out their Instagram or Twitter feed. The cafe is usually not crowded but you might have to wait for a short while on weekends.2. Pokémon Center Similarly, you can visit the several Pokémon centers in Tokyo throughout the year but in summer they will usually have special campaigns and events making them a top summer spot in Tokyo for fans of the anime.This year, starting from July 20, visitors will receive a Pokémon center limited novelty for every purchase over 4,000 yen. Also during summer at the Pokémon center there will be special events held on weekends where you can participate in small games and win prizes. Here you can find a detailed schedule.Pictured above is a game at the Pokémon center where players have to stack up Pikachu plushies on a big Snorlax plushie without making the Snorelax topple over. These are designed for children but adults are allowed to participate as well. Although the difficulty level is a little to easy for adults I would say.3. Shibuya 109 At top summer spot in Tokyo for shoppers! If you are looking for a bargain during the summer in Tokyo go check out 109 in Shibuya. Over several floors at Shibuya 109 you can find stores of several Japanese clothing brands mostly aimed at women in their teens and 20s. During summer they always have a big summer sale where a lot of items are reduced to around 50%. However, you might want to bring ear protection as all shop tenants try to catch your attention by screaming at the top of their lungs. This year the summer sale at 109 will go on until July 31. At certain times of the day there will be "time sales" where items will be reduced further for a limited time, usually one hour. Some shops announce them on social media. For others you will just have to be in the right place at the right time.The shopping center is easily reachable if you leave Shibuya station at the Hachiko Exit.4. Shirohige Cream Puff FactoryShirohige Cream Puff Factory sells cream puffs in the shape of the character Totoro from the anime, "My Neighbour Totoro."Shirohige Cream Puff Factory is easy to reach on foot from the station Setagaya Daita. You can eat inside or take them out. They are priced at around 400 to 500 yen. As a Ghibli fan, this is a must-visit. This cafe is also nice in every season but only in summer can you enjoy the limited flavors of peach and mango cream. The manga cream puff has a really intense mango flavor and is quite sweet, whereas the peach cream puff is a little lighter in flavor and sweetness. They also offer several kinds of pasta if you are really hungry.5. Odaiba Kaihin Koen (Odaiba Seaside Park)This place is perfect for your summer beach vibes making it a top summer spot in Tokyo. Although it is not recommended for swimming in the waters along on the 800-meter-long beach you can enjoy relaxing at the beach or all kinds of beach and water sports. If it gets too hot, you can just head for some of the shopping malls or restaurants in Odaiba and chill. You can also enjoy a great view of Rainbow Bridge. Odaiba Seaside Park is perfect if you want to go to the beach but do not want to travel too far.It is only a short walk Odaiba Kaihin Koen Station or the Daiba station.How did you like my top 5 summer spots in Tokyo? Where do you like to go during summer in Tokyo?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0VAR-living_foodThu, 25 Jul 2019 10:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G0VAR-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1me5-living_shopping_money_howtoGetting a credit card as a foreigner can be troublesome. Credit card institutions still have prejudices against foreigners and reject applications just because they have a foreign name on it. But let's go through the process step by step.1.Get a Japanese bank accountFirst, you need a Japanese bank account. You can refer to this article for more information on that.2.Choose a credit cardCredit cards in Japan are not restricted by where your bank account is. You can choose any credit card organization you like. Different credit cards come with different perks, e.g. if you have a Rakuten Card you will get Rakuten points for every purchase you make with the card, same goes for the Amazon credit card. Some bigger shopping malls in Japan also have their own credit cards that will provide special discounts if you shop in the shopping mall. Some credit cards are easier to get as a foreigner. Some are more difficult. Rakuten has a reputation for being not as strict with their screening. In general, I believe the higher your credit line, the harder it is to get the card.3.Wait for the right timingSome criteria for credit card institutions are how long you have lived in one place and how long you have been working for one employer. If you just moved or just changed jobs it might be a good idea to wait a few months before you submit your application.4.Fill out the applicationDepending on which card you apply for you can fill out the application online or on paper. I prefer online as there is quite a lot of information you must provide. They will ask for your bank account, your employer, your savings, liabilities, etc. Make sure to fill out everything correctly and get help if needed. A small mistake in the application might be your downfall as the credit card institution might not consider it as a mistake but rather that your Japanese knowledge is not good enough to understand the application form correctly.5.Provide documentsDepending on the credit card institution they will ask for certain documents to identify yourself. Make sure to submit them timely. You might also need your hanko. If you do not yet have one already you can read this article on how to get one.6.Don’t be disappointed if they refuse youAs I said, some foreigners are being refused credit cards just because they are foreigners, so don’t be disappointed when you are refused. Most of the time it will be pointless to ask for reasons as they will only tell you that you didn’t fit in their internal standards.That said, I personally have had the experience that asking for reasons can be helpful. When I applied for my first credit through my bank, I got refused at first. When I later visited the bank to ask why they didn't give me any specific reasons, and explain to them that I just needed a credit card for online shopping and did not plan on spending more money that I have, they agreed to check my application again under the condition that they call my employer to check whether I really work there or not. I agreed and after they successfully confirmed my workplace, I got my credit card a few weeks later.If you are not as lucky as I was, just wait a few months and try again later with a different company. Good luck on your credit card journey.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1me5-living_shopping_money_howtoTue, 16 Jul 2019 10:37:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1me5-living_shopping_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRjQ-living_workWhen you work for a Japanese company you will sooner or later come into contact with omiyage culture at the workplace. Omiyage are small souvenirs that, in Japan, you give to your colleagues when you come back from vacation. Omiyage might be considered as a sort of apology as you might have caused colleagues additional work during your absence. Most of the time omiyage are cookies or other sweets with ingredients that your holiday destination is famous for. You can find them in souvenir shops at almost all tourist spots. Mostly they are rather larger boxes that contain a certain number of sweets or items that are all wrapped separately so you can distribute them easily.Omiyage boxes at a shop in Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi PrefectureHowever, it is not as simple as it sounds. There are certain rules regarding how omiyage are distributed and to who you are supposed to distribute them to. Unfortunately, these rules differ from company to company, so there is no general rule that is always applicable. I have worked in a few different companies and experienced three different ways of distributing.1.Put them onto the table in a common areaAt one workplace there was a common area where you could get coffee and free drinks. There was a small table there, too. When someone brought some omiyage to work, they would simply put them on the table and leave a small note with their name and a short message. Everyone that came by and wanted to eat something could just take a piece. I liked this method because it was quick and if someone didn’t like it, they could simply ignore it.2.Hand them to everyone separatelyAt another office, it was the rule that you would go to everyone’s desk and hand each colleague a piece separately. If a colleague was not at their desk you would simply leave it on the deskThis method is quite time consuming and you also have to talk to those colleagues that you are not very fond of. Also, if someone does not like the souvenir you brought they still have to take one as it would be impolite to refuse.Depending on the size of the company there could also be a rule as to whether you distribute your souvenirs to all of your colleagues or only the people in your department.3.Handing it over to the person in charge in general affairsAt some companies, it is common practice that you just hand your souvenirs to someone in the general affairs department and they will take care. For the person that brought the omiyage, this is the most stress-free method. If you join a new company and you are not sure how omiyage are handled, just wait and see how other employees handle it. It is also perfectly fine to ask someone as nobody expects you to know how everything works right from the beginning.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRjQ-living_workThu, 11 Jul 2019 11:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zDRjQ-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gyy39-foodLast month I went to check out an owl cafe -- Fukuro Chabo Cafe in Kokobunji, Tokyo. The owl cafe is situated south of Kokobunji station. On foot, it takes about 10 minutes.Fukuro Chabo Cafe is open from 11:00 to 17:00 on weekdays (except Tuesday and Thursday) and from 11:00 to 18:00 on weekends and holidays.Kokobunji is not really a place where you would expect to find an owl cafe, and the cafe itself is situated in a residential area without any shops or restaurants close by. That is why, luckily, Fukuro Chabo is not as crowded as similar owl cafes in Shinjuku or Ikebukuro. I went on a Sunday and could enter without waiting. There only was one other visitor at that time.There is no time limit our hourly fee here. You can stay as long as you want. You only have to order one drink or food item per person. They have a few main dishes (curry, sandwiches, casserole) and pancakes. The food is slightly more expensive than in a regular restaurant but that is understandable as they probably have a higher maintenance cost. The food is nothing special but tasted alright.This is how the pancakes looked at owl cafe Fukuro Chabo CafeWhile you are in the cafe you can watch several kinds of owls in different cages around the cafe. If you want to pet an owl you can choose one and then a member of staff will provide you with a glove and put the owl on your hand. You have three minutes and the price for petting differs from owl to owl -- between 300 yen and 1,000 yen. In general the smaller owls are cheaper. If you want to, staff will also put the owl on your shoulder. However, this is not possible for the larger owls.Please note that you have to finish your drinks and meals before petting due to hygiene reasons.To pet this owl was 700 yenThe staff at Fukuro Chabo Cafe were very friendly and if you speak Japanese, they will happily provide more information and answer your questions. Their English skills are unfortunately not so good. Taking photos is permitted while you are in the cafe and also when petting an owl. However, you are not allowed to use flash.There is also the option to go for a walk with an owl. It costs 2,500 yen for 30 to 40 minutes and you need a reservation. I have not yet tried it but I think about trying it when the cherry blossoms bloom again. They had a few photo books with owl pictures in the cafe and especially the photos with owls on cherry blossom trees were really inspiring.Outside of the cafe they also have some other birds, like hawks and other birds of prey sitting on wooden pillars. It is a quite surreal scene seeing these birds in a residential area with nothing but residential buildings close by. Signs close to the birds say that taking photos is not allowed, however visitors to the cafe get special permission for taking photos.If you have some spare time after visiting the cafe you can also check out the Tonogayato Gardens close to the south exit of Kokobunji station (the gardens are especially nice in autumn) or the remains of the Musashi Kokubunji Temple, which are a short walk away from the cafe.I have not yet visited any other owl cafe in Japan so I can't compare but the staff at Fukuro Chabo Cafe seemed like they know exactly how to take care of their birds and as far as I can judge the birds were not under too much stress.For more information, you can refer to the cafe's official homepage that also has some information in English.http://www.fukurousabou.jp/sys_english.htmlTo view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gyy39-foodTue, 09 Jul 2019 10:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gyy39-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBbl7-living_galleriesRecently I visited the Sunshine Aquarium in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, for the first time. I didn't expect too much according to what I had heard about it but I was pleasantly surprised.Enjoying aquatic wildlife indoors and outdoorsAlthough the aquarium is not that huge, they have a lot of interesting fish and other aquatic wildlife to look at. There also was a show with a diver in one of the bigger pools where they introduced different kinds of fish.There are also is an outdoor area where you can enjoy watching penguins, otters, pelicans and sea lions. When I went outside there even was an ant bear being showcased by one of the animal keepers. The outdoor area is really nice for taking photos as it is not as dark as inside the building. The pelican pool is especially interesting as it is built on pillars and you can see the pelicans swimming above your head through a kind of transparent tunnel filled with water. At certain times there also are sea lions shows where you can see them do some funny tricks.The inside area of the aquarium was not much different from what I had seen in other aquariums in Japan but the outside area really had some interesting ideas. I was glad that it didn't rain on the day I visited. You might think that an aquarium is a good choice for rainy weather but in Ikebukuro, you would lose on half the fun.Turtle racesDuring the time I visited they also did an interesting event on the rooftop. There was a small green table, similar to a billiard table, which was used for turtle races. They were held twice per day and 10 turtles were racing against each other. They all had small number plates attached to their backs.The visitors of the aquarium could choose one turtle they are rooting for. If you chose the winning turtle you would get a small price. Participation was completely free.Unfortunately, the turtle I chose didn't win, but watching the race and cheering for "my turtle" was quite fun. As it didn't cost any extra money I think this event is a nice add on to the overall experience especially for families visiting with children.Unfortunately, it was a limited time event and is over by now but I guess they will do it again next year.SummaryOverall I can recommend the aquarium even for people that already went to the Sumida aquarium close to Tokyo Skytree. I wonder why it took me so long to finally visit it as I have been living in Tokyo for quite some time now.If you have some more time to spare in Ikebukuro you can also visit the Sunshine 60 Observatory. You can get a nice view of Tokyo and they also have some interesting VR attractions. There is a combined ticket for the observatory and the aquarium available that is a little cheaper than buying both tickets separately.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBbl7-living_galleriesMon, 08 Jul 2019 10:12:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBbl7-living_gallerieshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyygY-living_medicalIn an earlier article, I mentioned that I had been struggling with back pain. I am now glad to tell you I almost completely got rid of it. I tried different approaches and I am not completely sure which one was the right one or whether it was a combination of them so I will talk about all of them.StretchingI implemented a routine of doing stretches for my back and neck for 30 minutes 5 days a week. There are different ways to do stretches and I think there is no objectively best method so you should try out and see what works best for you. There are a lot of tutorials online and there also are several stretch salons in Japan. Just google for Dr. Stretch. These tend to be a bit pricey but they also teach you stretches you can do at home. Please do not expect results within days. It took a few months for me until my pain got better and I think I will have to keep up this routine for as long as I will do office work.Getting a good office chairThis option is usually only available if you work from home. As I am in the lucky position that my company made it possible for me to work from home since last December I got myself an office chair that is a good fit for my height and weight.Especially when you work in a Japanese office as a tall person the chairs can be a problem as they are usually made for Japanese people who tend to be smaller in height. If you have the option to get your own chair I would recommend going to a store where you can try the chairs and see which is the best fit. I personally decided on a gaming chair. If you are interested in one you can try chairs of different makers at the big electro stores in Akihabara.AcupunctureOne of my doctors gave me a referral to an acupuncture clinic. With a doctor's referral, a part of the cost is covered by health insurance and I only pay 1.800 Yen per session. A session is 50 minutes and consists of acupuncture and massage. In the beginning, I went once per week but not I only go when I feel the pain coming back.I hope my experience can help people that are currently dealing with back pain. I think there is no number one way to deal with it. You have to try different options and see what works best for you. Something that I cannot recommend is going to a pain clinic. There they will give anesthesia so you won't feel the pain anymore. For me, it didn't work at all and dulling the pain with medicine does not solve the problem. Back pain usually is caused by sitting in the same position for long hours and stretching and getting enough exercise usually is the best cure.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyygY-living_medicalTue, 02 Jul 2019 15:23:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GyygY-living_medicalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNYj7-living_money_howtoIn Japan, there is an interesting thing called "movie ticket." It's like a pre-order ticket for a movie but without a seat reservation. You can usually buy them a few months before the actual release. These tickets are sold at convenience stores, branches of Tsutaya, cinemas, and other stores across Japan. Details can be found at the official website of the movie you are interested in.They usually are cheaper than buying a regular ticket at the cinema. For example, I bought a movie ticket for Detective Pikachu at 1,400 yen. A regular ticket would have been 1,800 yen. Sometimes the movie tickets come with special goodies you can only get when buying the ticket. For Detective Pikachu you could get a tumbler when purchasing tickets at Tsutaya and an umbrella when purchasing them at convenience store Lawson. These movie tickets that come with special items though, are usually more expensive.After you got the ticket you have to make sure not to lose it until you can reserve a seat. The time you can reserve seats for the move differs from cinema to cinema but usually it is 2 to 3 days before the day you want to go. Just check out the website of the cinema you plan to go to. Also, make sure that your cinema of choice accepts "movie tickets." Most cinemas do, but a few do not. If you got to a TOHO cinema you are always on the safe side.During the seat reservation process at one point you will be asked whether you have a movie ticket. On the back of the ticket there are two numbers. One is behind a scratch field. You have to enter both numbers. As you have already paid for the movie ticket the seat reservation is now free of charge. This is unless you want to go to a 3D, 4D or another special showing of the movie. In this case, you will have to pay the difference in price. For a regular showing, there are no additional charges.You will then get a reservation email. At most cinemas, there is a ticket machine where you just enter your reservation number and phone number and can print your ticket there. So, after the seat reservation is completed and you got your reservation e-mail you will not need the movie ticket anymore. However, sometimes they look quite nice, with e.g. a character of the movie printed on it. Then they can make for a nice piece of decoration or a memorial item.Enjoy your movie.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNYj7-living_money_howtoTue, 25 Jun 2019 19:12:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNYj7-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31RY-living_medical_workAs you might have heard, there is a lot of discussion about women being forced to wear high heels at work in Japan right now. Personally, I do agree with the opinion that wearing high heels is not healthy and unnecessary in most workplaces. I guess if you are a model on the catwalk high heels are unavoidable but in a regular office job, no one needs high heels. As long as the shoes look not too casual they are acceptable in my opinion.I, personally, have worked in 4 different Japanese companies so far and none of them forced their female employees to wear high heels. In one company I had heard a female coworker complain that once she was told that not wearing makeup to work is a "no-go," but nothing about shoes.I also once worked in a Japanese law office that had no rules regarding clothing at all. It was totally acceptable to come to work in jeans and a t-shirt except for the days when you were meeting a client. On those occasions suits were required. It was a really small office though.All other workplaces I have worked at had a business-casual dress code for women. Men were mostly required to wear suits but for women, anything that was not too casual was generally accepted and there were no special rules regarding shoes. So, I rather had the feeling that male workers actually had stricter rules to abide by.I often saw my female coworkers coming to work in high heels because they like to wear them out of the office but then switch to more comfortable shoes when in the office. When leaving they left the comfortable shoes at their desk and went home in their other shoes. I never heard of anyone complaining about that.But this is only my experience and I am glad that never had to work in a workplace that forces women to wear high heels, as I am already dealing with back problems even though I only wear high heels occasionally.Nevertheless, I think no one should be forced to wear shoes that are clearly bad for your health when worn for a long time simply so that they look nicer in the office. The rule that male workers have to wear neckties got less strict recently so why not make the rule about women's shoes less strict as well?What do you think about this recent #Kutoo movement? Were you forced to wear high heels at work?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31RY-living_medical_workThu, 13 Jun 2019 10:08:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31RY-living_medical_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgXvY-living_galleries_ashikaga_shi_tochigiIn May my parents from Germany visited me in Tokyo and we did some day trips from the hotel they stayed at. One day we visited the Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture.From Tokyo to Ashikaga Flower Park it takes about 2-3 hours depending on whether you use the Shinkansen or local train. Recently a separate train station for Ashikaga Flower Park was opened and the park is really easy to access from there. It's just a few minutes to walk. However, the frequency of trains is not that high so it might a good idea to check the time table in advance.An interesting aspect of the park is that the entrance fee is different every day -- it will be decided in the morning depending on the current status of the flowers. You can check the official park website. At 7 AM the fee for the day will be announced. There are two different types of tickets -- a day ticket and a night ticket. The night ticket is a little cheaper and you can enjoy the light up in the evening.Ashikaga Flower Park is especially famous for Japanese wisteria. The park has a huge wisteria tunnel where you can enjoy walking below it and take nice pictures. However, the wisteria blooms at the end of April, most of the time, so when we visited it was basically over.Nevertheless, the park is still worth a visit in May when most of the roses there are in bloom. They are very pretty to look at as well. There are a lot of different kinds of roses that come in different colors. Also, do not forget to enjoy the smell of the flowers as well.When it comes to food Ashikaga Flower Park offers regular yakisoba, french fries, and karaage at different restaurants all over the grounds. However, when it comes to sweets there is a highlight that you can only enjoy in the flower park.The famous creamery Cold Stone has created two types of ice creams especially for the flower park. One is wisteria flavor and the other is rose flavor. The ice cream bars are very nicely decorated with flowers and are not only great for photos but also taste really good. 600 yen per piece is not exactly cheap but if you visit the park, I think you should definitely try the Cold Stone ice. A lot of Instagram likes are guaranteed if you take a nice picture.The park is quite huge so you can spend a few hours there. You will find benches and other places to rest at various spots so you can enjoy the flowers at your own pace. If your schedule allows staying until the evening, you can enjoy the beautiful illuminations.Although the main attraction of the park is the Japanese wisteria I enjoyed our trip a lot because the park has a lot more to offer. Also, as the wisteria blooming collides with the Golden Week, you can enjoy the park with fewer people if you visit it a little later.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgXvY-living_galleries_ashikaga_shi_tochigiTue, 11 Jun 2019 16:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgXvY-living_galleries_ashikaga_shi_tochigihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/ME8rp-living_nasu_machi_tochigiFor my husband and I, it has become an annual ritual to spend a long weekend at our favorite pension in the Nasu Kogen area in the Tochigi Prefecture. This time we went on the first weekend in June. Our plan for this trip was to visit the Alpaca Farm in Nasu Kogen. I have had a small fable for alpacas for a while a now but never had the chance to see one in real life so I was quite excited to go there.The farm is situated 28 km from JR Kuroiso station in a location that is impossible to reach on foot, so I would recommend a rental car. In general, when staying in Nasu Kogen not having a car is a big disadvantage as you would have to call a taxi all the time. There are some buses but the frequency is so low that at some stations only two buses come per day.The farm is open from 10 AM to 4 PM. Entry fee is 800 yen for an adult and parking is free. It is closed on Thursdays. We went on a Sunday and there were not many visitors there. You can take pets with you but big dogs are not allowed as they would scare the alpacas.At the farm, there are over 400 alpacas. They are in different enclosures but you are allowed to touch the alpacas that come close to the fence. As they do not like being touched on the head try touching their back and neck.As the end of May is the shearing season most alpacas had really short fur when we went. Some were still really fluffy but if you want to enjoy the full fluffiness maybe going in April or early May might be a good idea.There also is a petting zoo area where you can enter a small enclosure with three alpacas. It is 500 Yen for two people and you get a capsule of alpaca food. Then you have 10 minutes to enjoy your alpaca time. Be aware that once you start feeding the alpacas the will follow you everywhere you go asking for more food.The alpacas in the petting zoo are brushed regularly so their fur was really soft and nice to touch. The other ones tend to have dirt and straw sticking in their fur so they are not as soft.This one was really eager for more food.You can also buy food for the other alpacas from capsule toy machines, but make sure to read the signs properly as some alpacas should not be feed with this food for medical reasons.It is also possible to go for a walk with an alpaca but this attraction was closed due to renovation when we went.For me going there was a really great experience as I could see and touch real life alpacas for the first time. I also took way to many photos. Maybe not next year but I definitely want to go again when we visit the region again. The entry fee is also quite cheap compared to other animal parks in the region.Close to the entrance to the farm there also is a souvenir shop where you can buy alpaca cookies, alpaca cellphone straps, alpaca plush toys, alpaca postcards etc.They also sell alpaca wool and items made of alpaca wool such as scarfs and gloves. These items tend to be quite pricey though.Have you ever been to an alpaca farm? If not this one is defiantly worth a try.You can check out their website here. It is also partially available in English.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/ME8rp-living_nasu_machi_tochigiSat, 08 Jun 2019 20:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/ME8rp-living_nasu_machi_tochigihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31q8-living_howtoI never had much trouble getting to know Japanese people as my Japanese skills were already pretty good when I moved to Japan and so could make friends at work or through my hobby. In the beginning, I mainly wanted to be talking to Japanese people in order to further brush up my Japanese skills so I didn’t actively try to contact other foreigners.After having lived in Japan for a few years I kind of started to miss my home country Germany and tried to find German friends which turned out harder than expected. There are events held regularly through doitsu.net where German people living in Japan and Japanese people interested in Germany attend. However, the Japanese people usually make up the majority of attendees so every time I went to such events I ended up talking mainly to Japanese people. I also tried attending events of German-Japanese-Society. They do regular board game events for German and Japanese participants where a board game expert will always bring some interesting new games and show you how to play them. If you like board games attending these events is fun however here also the majority of attendees is Japanese. Besides that, I already knew some fellow Germans that also lived in Japan because they graduated from the same German university. The alumni of my university do regular meetups in Tokyo. I attended these a few times but I found that my interests and the interests of the other alumni to be quite different. They mostly talked about their job, the industry they worked in and complained that they didn’t make as much money as they could in Germany whereas most of them probably make twice as much as I do. I personally don’t really want to talk about business in my free time and I am not as invested in my job. Also, they tend to pick out quite pricey restaurants for the meetups which makes it not so easy for me to attend.Finally, I started to look at social media. In the past, I had not been active on social media for a while because I had gotten tired of it but I decided to make fresh accounts and mainly post in German/English. My old accounts were all Japanese as I had used them to practice the language. After a while, I found a few Germans that also live in Tokyo and have similar interests as I do. I started to send out private message and after I while I met some of them in real life and over time we became friends. Did you have difficulty finding foreign friends in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31q8-living_howtoTue, 28 May 2019 10:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z31q8-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgXrl-living_healthTemperatures are getting warmer and we can sense that summer is coming. As Japanese summers tend to be extremely hot and humid going to work every day in summer can be quite exhausting and too much exposure to air-conditioning can have negative health effects.Clothing rules for office workers have become looser in recent years in Japan and the "Cool Biz" movement has made short sleeves and salarymen without neckties acceptable in the office. The "Cool Biz" movement first popped up after the 3/11 earthquake as a measure to save power because of shortages. Offices were advised to lower the air-conditioning setting and allow workers to wear less formal clothing. In a lot of places it stuck and is still practiced today. Nevertheless, the air-conditioning in Japan's trains has not yet accepted the "Cool Biz" movement and air-conditioning in trains in summer is usually set at a quite low temperature. So, I would recommend bringing a light jacket that you can slip on if you feel cold on the train. Also, you should make sure to drink enough. Personally, I sometimes experience dizziness on crowded trains but usually get better once I can sit down and drink some water. As, usually, all the seats are taken in most cases that means having to get off the train which results in me being late to work. In general, the difference between the air-conditioning temperature and the outside temperate should not exceed 5 degrees as a higher temperature difference can have a negative impact on our health. If you work in a cool-biz office that should not be an issue. However, there are still some offices in Japan that set their air-conditioning to “way too cold”. Most of the time a single office worker has not much say in the office temperature so are limited to bringing additional clothes or blankets that they can use to keep warm. Also, drinking hot beverages is a nice way to stay warm.During Japanese summer air-conditioners are running without breaksAnother issue with air-conditioning is the cold wind. Usually, there are some seats in the office where the wind is directly blowing towards your head. For some people, this can result in headaches and not feeling well overall. In that case, you should ask your superior whether it would be possible to change seats or to install an additional part to the air-conditioner that will direct the wind in a different direction. These are usually not that expensive. How do you deal with the summer heat and air-conditioning in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgXrl-living_healthWed, 22 May 2019 10:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MgXrl-living_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GokPb-foodDuring this Golden Week we went to the Gyoza Festival. The festival has been around for a few years and is held at different times of the year in different locations.This May it was held in Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima. In Tokyo it took place in the Komazawa Olympic Park from May 2 to May 6. The park can be reached via the Denentoshi Line. Two years earlier the festival was held in the Showa Memorial Park in Tachikawa.At the festival, you can taste gyoza from all over Japan. Some are rather simple and others come in interesting colors and with interesting toppings. The system of the festival works like this: Before you enter the festival area you have to buy food tickets. This year one ticket was 600 yen. These tickets can then be exchanged at the different booths that sell gyoza for one pack of gyoza per ticket. The number of gyoza contained in each pack is different at each booth, but usually, it is between 4 to 6. You cannot use credit cards or money when purchasing the gyoza.As you can imagine, during Golden Week a lot of people visit the festival so you will have to line up for your gyoza. How long the line is, depends on how popular the booth is. We lined up for about 30 minutes at one booth at others it was less than 10 minutes. If you visit the festival with several people you can each line up at different booths to save time.But there is also a system for people that do not want to wait. It is similar to the "fast pass" system in Disneyland or Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. Every booth has a separate fast lane. Customers lining up at the fast lanes will be severed first and once no one is lining up at the fast lane anymore regular customers will be served.If you want to use the fast lane you will need a fast lane ticket. One ticket is 500 yen and valid for one purchase. But there also was the option of buying a wrist band for 3,000 yen that lets you use the fast lines as much as you want.They say time is money but paying almost double the price just to get your gyoza fast seems a little bit expensive to me. However, if you consider that at some booths you might have to wait 30 minutes and that the average salary of a part-time worker in Tokyo is 1,000 yen per hour, depending on what you value more buying a fast lane ticket might be the better option.Personally, I would recommend trying gyoza from Utsunomiya. Usually one or two of the booths at the festival will sell them. Utsunomiya is a city in Tochigi Prefecture that is famous for gyoza and we visit it regularly because we fell in love with Utsunomiya gyoza the first time we went there.But you can also find gyoza from a lot of other regions in Japan. The festival is a nice opportunity to find out which you like best without having to travel to a lot of different places.Soft drinks and non-alcoholic drinks are also being sold and can be purchased without the food tickets. I paid 200 yen for a 500ml water bottle which is slightly more expensive than buying it at a vending machine so bringing your drinks with you might be the cheaper option.Have you visited a gyoza festival already? What do you think about the fast lane system and what are your favorite gyoza?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GokPb-foodWed, 08 May 2019 14:20:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GokPb-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gb3PE-living_galleries_joetsu_shi_niigataEvery year during the cherry blossom season here in Japan my husband and I visit Takada Park in Joetsu in Niigata Prefecture. Takada Park is known as one of the TOP 3 spots for night cherry blossom viewing. It can be reached by taking the Shinkansen to Joetsu-Myoko Station and the local train to Takada Station. From Tokyo Station it is a two-hour ride. As parking space is limited and there are a lot of visitors in spring I would not recommend going by car. Entry into the park is free.As Niigata Prefecture is north of Tokyo cherry blossoms start blooming in the region a little later. Usually, they start at the beginning of April. This way then we can enjoy the cherry blossoms in Tokyo in March and the cherry blossoms in Takada in April.At night the cherry blossoms and the castle in Takada Park are lit up which creates a really beautiful view and a perfect opportunity for photographs. You might want to bring a good quality camera as taking pictures with a cellphone might be difficult in the dark. It is also possible to enter the castle and enjoy the view from above but a small entry fee is required for this.There also is a "sakura road" along which the cherry blossoms are lit up in a purple light. During the day they are rather white with a little bit of pink so during the night you can enjoy the cherry blossoms in a different mood. Unfortunately the spot is quite popular and visited by a lot of people so taking photos without people can be difficult.You can also enjoy the cherry blossoms during the day. If your schedule allows, I would recommend going once during the day time and once during night time. During the cherry blossom season there are a lot of small booths that sell all kinds of food and drinks as well as booths with lotteries. I would stay away from these though because you usually will not get one of the expensive looking prizes that are on display but rather a cheap one that the seller will pull from somewhere out the back.Personally, I would recommend trying one of the chocolate bananas that are sold at several places in the park. Recently they started selling bananas with character designs like Pikachu, Disney characters or the Minions. These are perfect to step up your Instagram game. As a souvenir, you can buy all sorts of sweets in cherry-blossom flavor. There are Daifuku, Manju, Dorayaki, Yokan, candies and a lot more.Near the entrance there is a huge lake with lotus flowers. This also is a great photo spot as you can see the mountains in the background when the sky is clear enough. The lotus flowers do not bloom in spring but in summer. During that time the park is also worth a visit.What is your favorite sport for cherry blossom viewing in Japan? Do you go to the same spot every year or do rather like to try new places?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gb3PE-living_galleries_joetsu_shi_niigataTue, 07 May 2019 10:26:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Gb3PE-living_galleries_joetsu_shi_niigatahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmx6K-living_badexperiencesWhen my husband and I moved together we had a very interesting experience with the cleaning service. When you move out of an apartment in Japan you usually will not have to clean the apartment yourself. Most rental contracts require it to be cleaned by a professional cleaning service. The fee therefor is either paid by the person leaving or by the person moving in. I guess some property management companies even charge both parties.As we were charged a cleaning fee when moving in we were expecting a clean apartment. The time we viewed the apartment it was still quite dirty but we didn’t question that it would be taken care of properly. On the day of moving we realized that there was a lot of dust and dirt in the entrance area but we were pretty busy with unpacking and arranging our furniture such that we didn’t check more closely. After we settled in and I had a closer look at the bathroom for the first time I saw that it had only been cleaned very superficially. I found spots that probably hadn't been cleaned for quite a while judging from the amount of dirt.As this was definitely not what we had paid for I made some photos for proof and my husband called the property management company to complain.This is how a wet sheet looked like after wiping the dirty spots.The company tried to make excuses at first, saying things like that dust keeps piling up very easily in this apartment, but they finally agreed to send in the cleaning service again.When the service arrived we were quite surprised to see an elderly man with pretty cheap-looking cleaning supplies in a bucket. Not exactly what I imagine a professional cleaning service looks like, but you should not judge books by their cover. However, when I showed him the dirty spots he was hardly able to see them because of his bad eyesight. On top of that, after a while he started complaining that he is only getting paid very little and that usually he doesn't have to clean so thoroughly. Doesn’t sound much like Japanese service culture now, does it?We realized that it was no use to have him keep cleaning so we gave up and cleaned the rest ourselves. At first I was quite upset by the behavior of the cleaning guy but in the end I felt sorry for him. He probably only does this job because he can’t find any other job and the real bad guy here is the management company. They make us pay the fee for a professional cleaning service and instead of hiring such a service they hire a poor guy that works on minimum wage and is not even qualified for the job because of his bad eyesight.We had some other issues with the property management company as well, e.g. we were promised that a few of the quite old interior items would be replaced before we moved in but they were still the same.So, I have a pretty bad impression of them by now. Unfortunately, as someone who rents a property, there is not much you can do. The company that manages the properties is chosen by the owner and you basically are first introduced to the company once you have already decided on it. We could technically complain to the owner directly, asking them to switch to another company, but I doubt that they would do so.The next time we move I will try to find out more about the management company of a property before we decide for one. Have you had similar issues when moving in Japan? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmx6K-living_badexperiencesWed, 24 Apr 2019 15:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmx6K-living_badexperienceshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVq7k-living_workIn a lot of Japanese resumes you can find sections for 自己PR (personal PR) and 志望動機 (reason for applying). It is not obligatory but as Japanese application documents usually do not contain a cover letter these sections are a nice way to highlight your strengths and explain why you are a good fit for the job you are applying for. I include these in all applications when I attach a Japanese resume, however, writing them is not always easy.自己PRThe 自己PR is to highlight your personal strengths. However, instead of just listing them up it is better to mention a concrete episode. Have you achieved something great at a previous workplace? Have you done some special projects at university? Here is the place to mention them. Make it sound like a little story, and in the end, tell the company you are applying to why this strength of yours would be beneficial for them. There is no limit on how long this can be, but the entire resume should not be longer than 2 pages.志望動機The 志望動機 is something I have problems with most of the time. Here you explain why you chose this time company (and no other company) for your application.When you look at websites that give advice on how to write it you often see that it should be something concrete instead of something abstract. Also, it should be unique towards the company you are applying for. But let’s be honest, we usually send applications to several companies and have similar reasons for applying to them, don’t we? Here it might help to look at the philosophy of the company and mention that you think the same way or highlight something that the company has achieved in the past that you found impressive. On the website https://www.nikki.ne.jp/ a lot of job seekers publish their 志望動機. You can look up the name of the company you want to apply to and see what other people wrote. Of course, you cannot just copy what others have written but I find this research nice for inspiration sometimes. You can also find some experiences on how interviews went on this website; however, as it is an anonymous forum, do not trust everything blindly. If you are unsure about your Japanese skills it might also be a good idea to have the texts checked by a Japanese friend or your Japanese teacher once you finished writing them. Do you include these sections to your Japanese resume? Have you trouble writing them?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVq7k-living_workTue, 23 Apr 2019 10:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVq7k-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wekqO-living_medical_healthA lot of us use a computer for work and look at monitors most of the day. In addition to that, we also use smartphones and tablets in our free time. Blue light emitted from these devices can be harmful to our eyes and also mess up our sleeping rhythm.Japan offers a few goodies to reduce eye strain caused by blue light.PC glasses A few companies offer special PC glasses to reduce the percentage of blue light that reaches your eye.Depending on the how much blue light they cut out your vision can become slightly yellowish when wearing them, so if you do a lot of photo or video editing where colors are important they might not be suitable for you. For text editing, writing mails etc. there is no issue.Nowadays you can even get them in the design of your favorite franchise, e.g. Pokemon or Star Wars. These are glasses from a Pokemon edition from the maker Zoff. If you have good eyesight you can get them without power. If your eyesight is bad you can also get customized ones with the power you need. If you do not like glasses there also blue light filters for monitors or software that adjusts the color setting of your monitor. Special eye drops These are special eye drops for heavy PC users. I do use them personally but to be honest I am not sure how much they are different from regular eye drops. But at least you have to feeling that you do some special care for your eyes.You can buy these at most drug stores.Chocolate to reduce eye strain This is something I saw quite recently; new chocolate from the Libera series which is known for chocolate with special health benefits. This one is supposed to help reduce eye strain. According to the package, it contains a special ingredient that is good for your eyes. Whether you believe in the effect or not is up to you I guess.I personally do not see the need for putting it into chocolate. There already are several supplements for eye care on the market so why putting it in food that contains lots of sugar and fat.But I guess they want to target customers that want to buy sweets but still do something good for their health to calm their bad consciousness.Do have problems with eye strain? Do you know any goodies that help? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wekqO-living_medical_healthFri, 19 Apr 2019 11:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wekqO-living_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4yZp-living_howtoHost clubs and hostess clubs are a quite unique aspect of Japanese culture. Although I don’t see the point in visiting such places on a regular basis, a one-time visit can be an interesting experience for a foreigner.Host clubs are expensive in general but not when you visit them for the first time. By using coupons a first-time visit is about 500 to 1,500 yen for 1 or 2 hours of all-you-can-drink. Coupons can be found e.g. on the website Hos Hos. Please note that these offers are usually only valid for female customers. Male customers might have to pay a higher price.Just check the website's coupon section, find a club that you like and show them the coupon on your phone when you enter. You will then be asked to show some ID. Your residence card should work fine for this.Host club bill-boards in ShinjukuA first-time visit (初回 / shokai in Japanese) to a host club will always follow a similar procedure. At first, you are shown to your table and the waiter will bring your drinks. The coupon offers usually only include all-you-can-drink for a certain type of drink so you have to pay attention to what you order. You can order food as well but it is way too overpriced so I would recommend getting something to eat before you enter the club if you are hungry.Then a host will come to your seat and introduce himself. You can talk to him for about 10 to 15 minutes and then he will leave to make room for another host. This rotation will continue until your time is up. You will then be asked whether you would like an extension. I would not recommend that either because now the regular expensive prices will apply. If you haven't had enough yet you can just go to a second club and use their first-time offer.When you leave the club you will be asked to name the one host that you liked the most. He will walk you to the door and usually ask for your contact information. It is up to you whether you give it to him but be aware that he will probably contact you to ask you to come to the club again. Keep in mind that if you go again you will have to pay the regular prices which are at least several tens of thousands of yen for one evening.As most hosts in the clubs of Japan do not speak English the level of your experience kind of depends on your level of Japanese. However, on a first time visit a foreigner usually only gets asked the same old question we get asked by every Japanese person we meet for the first time.If you are not currently in a relationship or your partner is fine with you going, and you are not the type of girl that easily falls for a pretty guy, going to a host club can be an interesting experience and insight into this part of Japanese culture.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4yZp-living_howtoFri, 12 Apr 2019 10:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4yZp-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mx3oP-living_badexperiencesBefore I moved to Japan permanently I had spent a year as an exchange student in Japan. After the year was over I moved back to Germany to finish my studies and came back to Japan after graduation. During the year at the Japanese university, I found a few Japanese friends. At least I thought they were my friends. We stayed in contact through e-mail and social media while I was in Germany and I even stayed at their places when I went to Japan for vacation during the semester break.When I moved back to Japan after graduation we were still in contact and also met up from time to time. It was mainly a group of four girls. After a while, I realized that the other three started excluding me. They stopped inviting me when they planned activities and ignored my e-mails and messages. I asked them why but I either got no answer at all or answers that didn't say anything concrete, which is quite typical for Japanese people as they want to avoid conflict.When I would randomly meet them at events we used to go to together they would straight out ignore me.I was quite shocked as I didn'tknow what I had done wrong. From my point of view, I was trying to be a good friend and did nothing bad to them. I really wanted to know why theysuddenly decided to ignore me. However, I never got an answer to that question. In the beginning, I was pretty sad as I had just lost three friends. After a while, I started to realize that they might not have been my friends all along and I decided they were not worth being sad about. At that time I thought that I was just unlucky and had met the wrong people, however, a few years later a similar thing happened.Through a project Ihad been working on, I had met a Japanese girl close to my age. We got along well right from the start and after a while we would be texting with each other every day and also hang out together on weekends. Without any substantial change in the relationship, from one day to another, I was blocked by her on all platforms and had no means of getting in contact.Again, from my point of view, I hadn't done anything wrong and was again left wondering why someone suddenly decided to ignore me.At this point I was starting to think that such behavior might be common in Japan. I did some research and found similar stories from foreigners with Japanese friends. I am still not sure though whether this is something that also happens in solely Japanese friendships.I understand that friendships do not last forever and that people might not want to keep in contact with each other forever, however, until I moved to Japan I had experienced this only as a process of slowly fading out or when it ended suddenly there was a good reason for that. The experience of a friendship ending so suddenly without knowing the reason was completely new for me.Intercultural friendship is probably not easy as some things that we do without thinking about it might be weird or even hurtful for the other person. However, sometimes you need to help the other party understand what they are doing wrong. I wish Japan will become more open about intercultural friendships and relationships in the future.Have you had similar experiences with a friend from a different culture? Did you find out the reason? I would love to hear about your experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mx3oP-living_badexperiencesTue, 02 Apr 2019 15:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mx3oP-living_badexperienceshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G09NZ-medical_healthJapan has a lot of dentists. Especially in Tokyo where the number of dentists is higher than the number of convenience stores. As a patient in Japan, you can choose from a large number of doctors but it is not always easy to find a good dentist.A lot of dentists in Tokyo are open on weekends and until quite late in the evening on weekdays. So you can go without having to take a day of work which is quite convenient. However, rivalry among dentists becomes quite harsh especially as there are so many of them.When you go for a regular dental checkup (every 6 months) a cleaning of your teeth is included in most cases. This is covered by Japanese health insurance and will cost you about 3,000 yen.However, for some reason, a lot of times the cleaning is split up into two appointments -- one for your upper jaw and one for the lower jaw. As a patient this is quite inconvenient. You have to go to the dentist twice for a treatment that could easily be done in one session. According to my dentist in my home country, there is no medical reason for having separate sessions for each jaw. In Japan though, apparently this due to some regulations of Japanese health insurance. However, I have found dentists in Tokyo that will do the cleaning in one session. So, either these regulations are not valid everywhere or not every dentist sticks to them.This made me wonder whether the unnecessary splitting into two appointments might have financial motivation as the checkup gets more expensive when it is split up in two sessions. After all, with so many rivals, it might be hard for dentists in Tokyo to make enough money.As a patient, you should try to find a dentist that does not split the check-up into two appointments or ask them whether it would be possible to do it in one session for you. Otherwise, you will just waste time and money. Nowadays you can find a lot of information and reviews about doctors online, which helps you to choose from the large number.Luckily I found a dentist close to where I live who doesn’t split it up, however it is not easy to get an appointment there. You usually have to reserve about a month in advance.Have you visited a dentist in Japan? What experiences did you make?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G09NZ-medical_healthFri, 29 Mar 2019 17:36:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G09NZ-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNbv-living_workInternships are different from country to country. In Germany, for example, internships usually have a duration of several months and the objective is for the intern to make their first experiences in the given field.In Japan you will find a lot of internships that only last a few days. They are basically part of the recruiting process and the objective is for the applicant to get a better understanding of the job. These internships are not limited to Japanese interns, however they are hard to take part in if you are not a student in Japan and don't have pretty good Japanese skills.However, there are a few companies that offer long-term internships aimed at foreigners. You can find some of them at kopra.org. If you are lucky, these internships can even lead to a job offer.The Japanese skill required is different for each offer but a lot request JLPT N2 or higher. In general, the better your Japanese is the better your chances are.There are paid internships and non-paid internships. I personally would not recommend the non-paid internships as even though an intern is not very experienced they will still do actual work. Also, you would be better off taking a part-time job that is paid unless you really want the company you intern for on your CV.The salary range for internships in Tokyo is usually between 100,000 to 150,000 yen a month. This can be enough to cover your living costs if you find a very cheap apartment or live in a share house. Most internships have a duration of 6 months and some can be extended after the initial 6 months. If you are lucky, the company may offer you a regular position after the internship. I have seen this happen for a lot of fellow students from my university.Make your dream come true through an internshipAs for visas, there are different options when it comes to interning. Some companies only take interns that are still enrolled in a university. These interns will usually have a "student visa." Another option would be a "cultural activities visa." For both these visa options you will need support from the company you are interning for. Also, please note that these visas have limits for side jobs, so make sure that your salary is enough to support your lifestyle or bring enough savings with you to Japan.If your company of choice doesn’t offer visa support you can apply for a "working holiday visa" yourself if that is available in the country you live in. On a working holiday visa, you have no limit on how much you can work so you can do side jobs if the intern salary is not enough.Have you done an internship in Japan or would you like to?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNbv-living_workWed, 27 Mar 2019 11:22:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNbv-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Md8LB-living_howtoA lot of people that like Japan also like Japanese video games. Once you live in Japan you have easy access to Japanese games, but depending on how good your Japanese level is there are a few things to consider when buying games.Nowadays a lot of games are released as a global version that contains several different languages. So if you buy the Japanese version you will still be able to play in the language you are used to. This is this the case for most Nintendo games so you can buy these without worrying about the language.However, for some games, there are different versions for Japan and overseas. For example, the recently released Kingdom Hearts 3 was released in two versions. The Japan version only contained Japanese language and voices and the overseas version contained English voices and game text in English and several other languages. This apparently was due to the fact that it was not possible to fit both the English and the Japanese voice data on a single DVD.If your Japanese is good enough to play games you will not have to worry about this too much but otherwise before buying a game you might want to check whether it does contain your preferred language. Unfortunately, when researching games on Amazon or the website of the publisher in some cases there is no information about languages which leaves you no other option than contacting the publisher. This is especially tricky when it comes to preordering because sometimes it is still unsure which languages will be included in the Japanese version when preorders start.In case the Japanese version does not contain your preferred language you will either have to import the overseas version which is quite pricey or you can buy it from the e-store of your country but then you will only have the digital version and might miss out on limited goodies that come with the physical version.The back cover does not provide any information either.You might think that nowadays it would be easy to simply offer additional language files as a download so you can play in any language no matter which version you have, but I assume the average Japanese gamer doesn’t care much about languages besides Japanese so this something some Japanese publishers do not put a lot of effort into. I personally would even mind paying a small fee for additional language files but I guess the demand is just too small.Which language do you prefer for games? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Md8LB-living_howtoSun, 24 Mar 2019 12:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Md8LB-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR46g-living_money_familylifeMy husband and I are already married for 3 years but we didn'tdo a wedding ceremony/party at the time for financial reasons, and the fact that organizing the whole thing seemed like a lot of stress. Now the company Escrit is offering a Pokemon wedding plan and I was starting to reconsider. So we went to check out the bridal fair that they are currently offering.The bridal fair is free of charge and you can attend it in several different locations in the greater Tokyo area. It included a tasting of the wedding menu, an explanation of the Pokemon plan and you can have a look at the actual wedding location.Also, everyone that attends receives this Pikachu-style marriage registration form.For us, the whole fair took about 3 hours. At first, you will fill out a questionnaireasking for your budget and preferences for the wedding. Then they will show you pictures of the Pokemon plan.The highlight of the plan is a meet & greet with two wedding-style Pikachus, just like you see them at events at the Pokemon Center and the Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama. In Japan, theseevents usually work in the way that at first they tell you about the product/event they want to sell and at the end they will show you the price. For some reason, however, they told us the price of the Pikachu meet & greet right away. You will see why later. The fee for the meet & greet is supposedly 600,000 yen.After that, we had the food tasting. It was three courses and theywere all pretty good in taste and the amount was such that we decided against going out for something to eat after the fair. Eating the same food at a restaurant would probably cost at least 3,000 yen so getting this for free is pretty nice.Finally, we could have a look at the location itself. It was fashionable but not too fancy. Then they presented us with a first quotation which was quite high. As we were still unsure they presented a second quotation pretty quickly where the fees for the Pikachu meet & greet were reduced to 0 yen. That'sthe price you get when you sign the contract on the day you visit the bridal fair.Do you rememberthat the price for the meet & greet was the only price information we got right from the start? I am pretty sure the number of 600,000 is quite unrealistic and they just tell you a high number so that it has a larger impact on you when you hear that these fees get wiped.I mean, thinking realisticallyyou have the cost for the two people inside the costumes and a part of the fees for the costume manufacturing and maintenance.The people inside are probably part-timers on an average wage and considering the fact the there are already so many Pikachu costumes used for events where you can attend for free the costume cost cannot be that high.Nevertheless, the final price that they presented us was actually on the same level as a regular wedding ceremony would have been, but even though it was tempting I cannot make decisions about such a large amount of money on the spot so we didn't sign the contract.If you are currently considering your wedding ceremony and you like Pokemon this might be a nice option to check out. And if not you can just gofor the free food.You can register for the bridal fair at this website.https://pokemon-wedding.escrit.jp/Did you attend a bridal fair in Japan? How was it?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR46g-living_money_familylifeTue, 12 Mar 2019 19:32:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR46g-living_money_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbK1W-living_money_workIf you come to work in Japan for the first time you might not be familiar with salary structures here as they may be different from what you are used to in your home country.There are different types of salaries in Japan, the most common are hourly, monthly and annual. The hourly salary is mostly found in part-time work. You get paid for each hour your work. If you work overtime (more than 8 hours per day) you should get an increase of your hourly rate according to overtime regulations. Usually hourly rates are higher for jobs that you work during nighttime. In most jobs you only get paid for the days you actually work but some part time jobs offer paid holidays as well.For full time jobs monthly or annual salaries are common. When you get a monthly salary you will get a fixed amount each month no matter how many work days the month actually has. According to your contract you will also have a certain number of paid holidays. If you take unpaid leave a corresponding amount will be subtracted from you salary. If you work overtime you will get paid according to the overtime regulations of your company. Some companies pay you for each hour, others already include a certain amount of overtime in your base salary and only pay for each additional hour.A lot of companies also offer bonus payments. These can be paid several times per year, usually it is twice -- in summer and winter. The bonus amount can differ from less than your monthly salary to several times your monthly salary. How it is determined is different from company to company. Some base it on the company results for the past half-year, others on your personal results and others on a mix of both. Also, the bigger the company is, the larger the bonuses tend to get. The big issue with bonuses is that the company has no obligation to pay them and you have no right to receive them. So if the company is in not performing well, management can decide that no bonuses will be paid and there is nothing you can do except, perhaps, start looking for a new job. The problem with that is that when you join a company in Japan you will usually be presented with a salary offer that includes these bonus payments and most employees plan their spending with these bonuses in mind. If at one point your company stops doing well, your annual income might drop quite a bit and you will have to make do with less money. This can be especially problematic for people with loans as in a lot of loans it is possible to include a bonus payment, where you repay a certain amount out of your bonus and thereby reduce your monthly rate or shorten the loan term. On the other hand if your company is performing really well, you might also get more than expected, however this is less often the case I believe.An annual salary gets rid of all these bonus issues. You will have a fixed annual salary that is simply divided by 12 and paid to you every month. With such a salary structure there are no bonus payments and in a lot of cases no overtime payment as well but you can be 100% sure about the amount of money you will make in a given year.Have you worked in Japan already and how were you paid? Were you satisfied with the payment structure?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbK1W-living_money_workWed, 06 Mar 2019 13:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GbK1W-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zD0yx-living_food_familylifeMy husband and I recently celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. For a foreigner married to a Japanese national the 3rd anniversary is also important from the visa point of view. After being married for three years (and having spent a certain amount thereof in Japan ) you can apply for an unlimited visa.Last year we spent our anniversary at a metal concert as just on the day of our anniversary there was a live in a small club in Shibuya with several metal bands from Europe. That is not the most romantic way to spend your anniversary but we enjoyed it a lot.Nevertheless this year I wanted to go for something more conservative. I had found a nice cafe and diner place in Kichijouji called Altbau last year that offers cake illustration plates. Your cake will be arranged nicely on a plate with a illustration of your choice drawn in chocolate. I had seen several pictures on their Instagram feed and definitely wanted to try it out.The illustration plates need to be reserved one week advance so I called the restaurant early enough and reserved a plate for our anniversary. I requested a Pikachu illustration. From what you can see on their Instagram feed they can draw almost any kind of Anime, Disney and Sanrio character.The price starts at 1.500 Yen for a plate with one cake and 500 Yen are added for each additional cake.The interior of the Altbau is quite stylish and it is not noisy so you can enjoy a romantic evening there. The prices of foods and drinks are not exactly cheap but I assumed that once a year it was OK to spend a little more on food. They offer pizza, pasta and a lot of appetizers.After we had enjoyed our main dishes we requested the desert and it was just as cute as I had imagined. Perfect for the occasion there was couple of Pikachus, one wearing a wedding dress and the other one a vest and a bow tie.On the right it said "Happy 3rd anniversary" in Japanese.It came with two pieces of matcha and chocolate cake. I really liked the matcha cake. It was not too sweet and had a very intense matcha flavor.All in all I was very satisfied with our anniversary dinner and maybe we will go to the same place next year. I want to try out a lot of other illustration requests.You can request cake plates for other occasions as well, so if you like cake and cute illustrations I can highly recommend this restaurant.How do you celebrate your wedding anniversary in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zD0yx-living_food_familylifeMon, 04 Mar 2019 11:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zD0yx-living_food_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLbRN-living_food_howtoCherry blossom season is a big event in Japan. Depending on where you live the blossoms start blooming at different times. In Tokyo, it is usually in March but the exact dates differ from year to year. The first forecasts come out in January and once the date gets closer you can hear about the current state of the cherry blossom on TV every day. There are a lot of ways to enjoy this season. Here are a few examples.DecorationYou can find decorative items in sakura style in all sorts of shops starting in January. There are little figures, decorative items for your window, candles, and basically everything you can imagine. The cheapest option is to check your local 100 yen store. You can turn your whole place into a sakura heaven if you'reup to it.Food & DrinkIn February and March, you can find sakura-themed foods and drinks everywhere in Japan. I guess the most famous is the Sakura Latte from Starbucks. They usually start selling it on February 15 and it tends to sell out pretty fast so make sure to get one soon.But Starbucks is not the only coffee shop that sells Sakura Latte, so you can try your luck elsewhere too.You can also find all kinds of sweets with sakura flavor.I am still unsure of how to describe the sakura flavor in foods. It tastes a little like cherry but also different. If you have never eaten anything sakura flavored, I would recommend to just go ahead and try it.Enjoying the flowersObviously, the main attraction is the flowers themselves. Most people bring blue sheets and meet up with friends and family to have a picnic below the cherry blossom trees. This may sound like a nice experience but if you go on a weekend, the parks are usually so crowded it is hard to find a spot. In really bad cases the cellphone services stop working properly and you can't even contact the rest of your group.I personally enjoy just looking at the flowers, taking photos and getting food from the food stalls occasionally. In most of the bigger parks you will find a lot of food stalls during hanami season, but prices are not cheap and you will probably have to line up, so it might be a good idea to bring your own food and drinks.Do you like the hanami season in Japan or do you want it to be over fast because you have hay fever?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLbRN-living_food_howtoSun, 03 Mar 2019 20:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLbRN-living_food_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr3m0-living_badexperiencesYou hear that Japan is a safe country quite a lot. Here is a little story to the contrary.After graduation I decided to go to Japan with a working holiday visa. I found an internship at a company situated in a rather rural part of Japan about 1.5 hours from central Tokyo. The company provided apartments for interns so you didn't have to go through the trouble of finding one.The apartments were small but sufficient for a 6-month internship. Unfortunately, they didn't have an auto lock function and the doors would have to be closed manually from inside. I had only lived in places with auto lock before so in the beginning I was not yet used to locking my door by hand.One night I came home from work and was quite tired and slept right away without looking the door. At about 3 AM I woke up because there was some sound. When I opened my eyes I saw a person wearing one of these typical burglar masks where you can only see the eyes standing next to my bed. I was shocked and started screaming reflexively.Once the person realized I was awake they ran immediately and I was left in shock.I first checked my valuables to see what was stolen and luckily only the cash from my purse was missing. As an intern this was still quite hard to deal with but stolen credit cards or a passport might have ended even worse.But the most frightening thing I found was that my own kitchen knife was lying next to my pillow. They must have taken it from my kitchen, but I didn't want to think about what they were attempting to do with it.Unsure of what to do next I tried to call the HR person in charge of the interns. Luckily they answered their phone even though it was still pretty early in the morning. I explained the situation and they contacted another employee that lived close to the intern apartments who then came over and contacted the police for me. I was quite relieved because at that point in time my Japanese was not good enough to talk to the police on my own. The police asked some questions and took some photos. They also let me know that in this area such robberies were quite common as elderly people tend to leave their doors open because they think it is safe enough. I never heard from the police again afterwards though.Without me mentioning it the company assumed that I would not be able to sleep in this apartment anymore and the employee living close by offered me to stay at his apartment for the weekend as he would go on a trip anyway. After that the company had booked a room at a hotel for me until they were able to find a new apartment. A few weeks later they had found new apartments for all interns and we could all move in. The new apartments were even equipped with an alarm system that the company paid for.Even though this experience was quite shocking I was pretty surprised how well the company handled it for me. I wouldn't say that every company would pay a hotel for you, find you a new place and even equip it with an alarm system.Thanks to that I was able to recover quite quickly and could enjoy the rest of my internship. Also now I always make sure to check twice whether my door is closed before I go to sleep.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr3m0-living_badexperiencesFri, 01 Mar 2019 10:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr3m0-living_badexperienceshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAn4v-living_medical_healthWhen you work full-time for a Japanese company your company is obliged to pay for a health check for you once a year. This health check is called Kenko Shindan in Japanese. The purpose is to assess your current status and to find about (possible) diseases early so that they can be dealt with before they become real issues. In some a cases a similar health check is requested by new employees when they join a company.The check usually comprises checking your height, weight and blood pressure, a blood test, a urine test, a hearing test, an eyesight test and x-ray scans. It usually is conducted at a big hospital designated by your company. Most hospitals also offer further tests that are not covered with the general health test that can be requested depending on your individual situation but have to be paid out of your own pocket. If you choose no optional tests the whole health check is completely free for you.On the day prior to your health check you are usually not allowed to drink alcohol. On the day of the check you are usually not allowed to eat until after your check is finished and some places even forbid drinking water. Once you arrive at the hospital you will change into hospital clothing and receive a number. There are several stations for the different test and your number we will be called for each. Once you’re done you can go back to the waiting room and wait for your next test. The hospitals are used to these procedures so it is pretty quick most of the time. You should be done in about 1 or 2 hours with the mandatory tests. Once everything is done you can go home or back to work depending on when you took the health check.After about a month you will receive your results. There are different categories that your body is divided into and each will be assigned a score from A to E. A is perfect health and E needs to be checked by a specialist as soon as possible. There are also details that tell you why you got which score.This was my score last year. I got a C because of my weight being too low.If there is something serious you should consult a doctor for further diagnosis soon, otherwise you can show the results to your regular doctor the next time you go there. It is also recommend keeping the results so you can compare your status over the last few years. If you got to the same hospital they will usually send you a print with your previous results next the newest ones every year, so you’re fine, but if you change jobs and have to go a different hospital that won’t be possible. Have you done a health check in Japan and what do you think about this system? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAn4v-living_medical_healthSat, 23 Feb 2019 18:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MAn4v-living_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G09pR-foodRecently in Japan there is a trend called Jibun-Yo Choko, which refers to "Valentines Chocolate for oneself." Instead of giving chocolate to someone else you just buy it for yourself which I find a very nice trend because this way everyone gets the chocolate they really want.I usually make chocolate for my husband but I also like chocolate so I usually also get some chocolate for myself. The chocolates sold during the valentines season are always way too cute to not buy them anyway. My favorite chocolate maker is Goncharoff because I like the taste and love their cute designs. I got three different pieces of their Valentines collection this year. You can get them at most Takashimaya shopping centers. Goncharoff is not cheap but among the high-class chocolate makers it is still within the affordable range.This one is part of the animal chocolate series. There are several different sized boxes you can choose from. This set of 3 was about 1,000 yen. All are filled with nougat.If you go to the 11th floor of the Takashimaya in Shinjuku you can watch how this chocolate is made.This is from the 4 seasons series. It is the spring version that comes with sakura flavored and themed chocolate. There are 3 other versions for autumn, winter and summer available as well.I love all the small details and the sakura chocolate tasted amazing. This set was about 700 yen.This series is called Sharegram Cafe. It is a series with several animals bathing in tea cups. A little bit of a strange idea but cute anyways. This piece was about 700 yen.If you are looking for cute chocolate either as present or for yourself I recommend checking out the 11th floor of the Takashimaya Shopping Center in Shinjuku. There you can find chocolate from a lot of different makers in all sizes and price ranges.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G09pR-foodFri, 08 Feb 2019 13:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G09pR-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNJm-food_chiyoda_ku_tokyoIn Japan, January and February are "strawberry season" and you can find strawberry sweets everywhere. Another popular thing in winter time in Japan are the strawberry buffets. Most famous hotels will hold such buffets for lunch or dinner, offering a great variety of strawberry themed sweets.Last year my husband and I decided to try out one of these strawberry buffets as the pictures always look pretty stunning. We had quite a hard time finding an affordable one as in a lot of places you pay 4,000 yen or more for a dessert-only buffet with drinks. Luckily I found the XEX Nihonbashi in Tokyo that offers an affordable strawberry buffet. Last year we paid 3,000 yen on a weekday for an Italian lunch buffet with salad, pasta, rice and pizza and a sweets buffet with a lot of different strawberry sweets. This year it seems the price was increased to 3,200 yen. On weekends the price is a little more expensive.The restaurant is very close to Mitsukoshimae station but can also be reached from Nihonbashi station or Tokyo station.You have 90 minutes to eat and soft drinks are included as well. The buffet is available during lunch time from the end of December until the end of May. If you want to go on Valentine's Day or White Day it might be difficult to get a reservation but if you are not limited with that specific date it should still be possible. Nevertheless these buffets are quite popular so it is best to reserve early.Even though XEX is not as fancy as, say, a Hilton hotel it had a nice atmosphere and was suited well for a romantic Valentine's Day lunch. There were some couples but also groups of women enjoying the sweets so it would also work well for a Valentine's lunch with your female friends for those that are not currently dating.The strawberry buffet offered a wide variety of sweets from macaroons over small cakes to Japanese style mochi sweets. Everything was cut into small portions so it was easy to try a lot of different sweets.They even had a strawberry chocolate fountain with a lot of items to dip into the pink strawberry chocolate. I had seen regular chocolate fountains a few times but strawberry was new for me. Usually the chocolate used for chocolate fountains is not that sweet so I am not such a big fan but here it was white chocolate with strawberry flavor which is very nice and also kind of romantic.The sweets were being refilled constantly so there was enough for everyone and everything was arranged very nicely. They tasted quite nice as well but it was nothing too special. I assume that at the more expensive places you might get more exquisite food but it was perfectly fine for us.I would recommend to not eat much for breakfast so that you can try all the sweets and the main dishes of course. We were so full afterwards that we skipped dinner that day.These buffets are perfect for everyone who loves sweets and strawberries but even if your partner does not have such a sweet tooth, they should find enough at the salad and main dish buffet to not leave with an empty stomach.If you have never been to a strawberry buffet it is something you could try during this years Valentine's season. There are also a lot of other themed buffets held at hotels in Japan all over the year, so if you are not into strawberries just check out what else is available.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNJm-food_chiyoda_ku_tokyoThu, 07 Feb 2019 14:08:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNJm-food_chiyoda_ku_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rDv-living_howtoMarring a Japanese national as a foreigner in Japan can be quite complicated and involves a lot of paperwork. How long it takes depends on a lot of factors. In my case, it took about 6 months from when I sent the first inquiry to the ward office until I held the Japanese marriage certificate in my hands. If you plan to apply for a spouse visa after marriage it is important to take this time into consideration.The process and required documents differ depending on which country you are from so please note that this is only a rough explanation of the process.At first, you have to inquire at the city or ward office you want to get married as to what kind of documents will be required. These differ from office to office. You can get married wherever you want to, it does not have to be the office that is responsible for your area. In most cases, a set of documents from Japan and one set of documents from your country will be required.For the documents for the Japanese partner, you can usually get them all at the ward office that is responsible for your area and/or the office of the area where their parents live. You usually pay about a few hundred yen per document. Some ward offices also have an online request form for documents so that you won’t have to visit the ward office yourself.As for the documents from your country, you will most probably request them through a registry office in your country or the embassy depending on who is responsible for you. If you have to submit Japanese documents to your country for the documents requested you might require a translation. Depending on the regulations you might provide a translation that you did yourself or a certified translation could be required. A certified translation can only be made by translators with a certain degree and is not cheap. For our wedding, we paid about 30,000 yen for all translations. Your embassy can help you find translators that provide the required translation.As translation can take a while and documents have to be sent overseas and then back to you, so, again, this process can be lengthy. In our case, it took several months until we had the documents from Germany. Everything else was pretty quick though.As for Japanese translations of foreign documents at most ward offices self-made translations will be accepted. If not, ask the ward office what requirements they have for the translation.Once you have all the documents that your ward office asked you to provide you can bring them to the ward office together with a completed marriage request (Konin Todoke). The request forms can be found on the homepage of your ward office or at the ward office itself. Some marriage magazines also come with colored forms or forms with special designs if the regular form is too boring for you. The marriage request needs to be signed by two witnesses. Usually, it is signed by the parents of the Japanese partner.When everything is alright you just submit the papers and you are done. The procedure is quite quick and simple and you don’t need to wear any fancy clothing. Please note that the day you submit the papers will be your wedding date. If you would like to get married on a date the ward office is closed you can check whether they have a Sunday/Holiday counter. If yes, you can submit the documents there as well.Now your marriage is registered in Japan. Depending on the local regulations you might have to register it in your country as well. This process again will be handled by a registry office or the embassy.Happy wedding!!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rDv-living_howtoTue, 05 Feb 2019 10:10:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rDv-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLbEy-living_workLast year the company I work for implemented a work from home system. In December I could finally also profit from this system and have been mainly working from home since. In the future, I will probably come upon the disadvantages of working from home but for now, I enjoy all the advantages.No CommutingNow that I work from home I do not have to spend 2 hours a day in overcrowded trains anymore. The line that I took was especially crowded and riding it was always a fight for survival so I am glad this time is over. I now also have 2 extra hours of free time every day that I don’t have to spend on the train but can rather spend doing something useful or with an activity I enjoy.These days are finally over.No getting up earlyWhen I took the train to work I would get up at 6:30 to be in the office at 9:00. The train line I took was delayed for about 10 minutes every day in the morning so I would have to take an early train to not be late. Now that I work from home I can sleep until 8:00 which works a lot better with my natural sleep rhythm because I can hardly fall asleep before 24:00. Usually, I would pile up a sleep deficit over the week and balance that out by taking long naps on the weekends but now I am not as tired anymore.Working in a quiet environmentWe have an open plan office with little space so the desks of my colleagues were right next to my desk. The office is rather quiet in general but still, you hear the sound of other people typing or talking on the phone and when the monitor of your colleague is right next to you it will distract you somewhat. Now I can work in a room where I am alone and there is no one to distract me. I can also put on my favorite music. I realized that for tasks that require a lot of concentration I finish them a lot faster when I work in a quiet environment.Working in comfy clothingIn our office, we have the business casual dress code but it is not taken too seriously. Nevertheless, you have to look somewhat decent. Now I can work in any clothing I like which basically means that I will be wearing jogging pants all the time. That is comfy and I also save money on clothes because I don’t have to buy office clothes anymore.Have you already tried working from home? With the commuting situation in Tokyo, I think a lot more companies should offer the possibility to work from home, as chances are high it will have a positive effect on the employees’ health and performance. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLbEy-living_workWed, 30 Jan 2019 14:20:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GLbEy-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4r9q-living_medical_workChanging jobs is getting more and more normal in Japan nowadays. If you are not happy with what you have right now, go start looking for something new. Once you found a new job there are a few things that are good to know.Check your notice period In most jobs, you are required to give notice a certain amount of time prior to leaving. Usually, your contract or the work regulations of the company say one month. The Japanese labor law says two weeks and that is applicable even if your contract mentions a longer period, so in the worst case you can leave with a two weeks’ notice. However, you never know when you might need the help of your former boss so it is always better to leave in good faith. Therefore, make sure to check the notice period and give notice in advance so that the company has enough time to find a replacement.When there is a gap between two jobs When you leave your job on one day and start the new job on the next day you don’t have to worry about insurance or your visa. If there is a gap between two jobs you will not have health insurance for that period even if it is only a day. If it is a few days you might be willing to take the risk but in case it is a longer period you should goto your ward/city office and apply for Kokumin Kenkou Hoken. It will cover the period of unemployment between the jobs.Also, make sure that the gap between jobs is no longer than 3 months if you are on a work visa. A work visa will expire 3 months after you quit your job unless you start a new one that also qualifies you’re for a visa within three months.Inform the Immigration Office Depending on the type of visa you have you might have to inform the immigration office. If you are on a work visa you usually have to. This can be done pretty comfortably through their website by filling out a form. You have to give notice within two weeks after you left your job and within two weeks after you start the new job.Health insurance When you change jobs and your health insurance is covered by your employer you will get a new health insurance card. It usually takes about two weeks for your new card to arrive. However, your insurance is covered from day one. If you need to visit the doctor you can ask your company to issue a document that proves you are insured. By showing this to your doctor you will only have to pay the regular 30% of medical costs. If you don’t have one you will have to pay 100% but you can go back to the clinic once your insurance card arrives and receive a refund.Have you changed jobs in Japan? What is your advice? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4r9q-living_medical_workThu, 24 Jan 2019 10:33:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4r9q-living_medical_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GW6W8-living_familylifeFor couples, and girls that have a crush on someone, Valentine’s Day is a big event in Japan. However, it is pretty different from what I knew about Valentine’s Day in Germany.Only girls give gifts on Valentine’s DayIn Germany usually, the guys give presents to their girlfriends/wives on Valentine’s Day. Most of the time it is flowers or chocolates, so you see a lot of guys lining up at the flower shop on the evening of the 14th of February.In Japan, only the girls give gifts on Valentine’s Day and usually it is chocolate which can beself-made or bought at a store. This is chocolate I made for my husband on Valentine’s Day this year.Already in January, you can find special Valentine's areas in several big department stores across Japan where all the famous chocolate brands sell their Valentine's collection. This chocolate is usually pretty pricey but looks quite amazing.Valentine's chocolate from the brand GoncharoffGirls give chocolate to their boyfriend or the guy they have a crush on. In the latter case, the chocolate is considered as a confession of love. This chocolate is called Honmei-choco. There also are other kinds of chocolate you give to others on Valentine’s Day like Tomo-choco (chocolate you give to your female friends) and Giri-Choco (chocolate you give to your coworkers as a social obligation), but these are not related to romantic feelings at all.You get a present back on White DayThe Japanese culture of gift giving is quite complex and one aspect of it is that if you receive a gift you always have to give a gift in return. For Valentine’s Day, the return gifts are given one month later on White Day on March 14th. White Day is popular in several Asian countries but is not celebrated elsewhere. Typical White Day gifts are cookies, jewelry or white chocolate. There is a social rule that guys have to give a return present of double or triple the value of the original present, which makes the whole thing quite complex for guys. In the case of romantic feelings this might be understandable but I doubt that a lot of guys want to give expensive presents to female co-workers they received Giri-Choco from. Since the whole Valentine’s Day/White Day issue causes quite some trouble at the workplace some companies started forbidding the gift-giving completely. Some girls even try to abuse this social construct and give “fake Honmei-choco” to several guys hoping for expensive return presents.Have you experienced a Valentine’s Day in Japan? If yes, did you give or receive any gifts?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GW6W8-living_familylifeTue, 22 Jan 2019 12:22:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GW6W8-living_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqeNp-living_medical_healthIn winter it is quite common to catch a cold; however, as most Japanese employers don't offer sick days, many employees have to use their vacation days to stay at home when they come down with a cold. As we do not want to waste our few vacation days on doing that it might be a good idea to take precautions that can reduce the chance of catching a cold.Use humidifiers at home and at workIn Japan the air tends to get really dry in winter and in dry air bacteria can stay infectious for longer so it's a good idea to use humidifiers. You can get a regular humidifier in Japan for a few thousand yen. There are also several smaller models available that you can put on your work desk. Usually, they are charged via USB so you won't need a socket. During the winter months, when at least one of your colleagues is coughing and sneezing, you should be more careful at the workplace. Especially in Japanese open-plan offices where your colleagues work pretty close to you.Wash your hands Washing your hands regularly is said to be more effective than wearing face masks. If you want to be extra safe you can also take portable disinfection sprays with you to work or when you go out. Wearing face masks can help protect the people around you if you have already caught a cold, but there is no need to wear one for your own protection. Nevertheless, a lot of Japanese people do so.Vitamin C intakeWhile vitamin C cannot prevent you from catching a cold, it can help to shorten the duration. Unfortunately, most fruits that contain vitamin C are pretty expensive in Japan. If you are worried about your vitamin C intake, drinks that contain extra vitamin C and other supplements are available.Clean your air-conditioning A dirty air conditioner can be a good place for bacteria to breed. You can find air conditioner cleaners in your local supermarket or home center for less than 2,000 yen. Once every few years, it might also be a good idea to have your air conditioner cleaned professionally. Such a service can be found at around 10,000 yen in Japan.Stay warm As temperatures can be quite low during the Japanese winter make sure to wear proper clothing. Additionally, warm drinks and taking a hot bath in the evening can keep your body warm and improve your blood circulation so that bacteria will have a harder time infecting your body. Especially ginger is said to have a warming effect. You can get warm drinks with ginger at every convenience store.These are few tips to avoid catching colds here in Japan. What are your strategies?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqeNp-living_medical_healthThu, 10 Jan 2019 18:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MqeNp-living_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1BD5-shoppingThis year I got the Ingni lucky bag for the first time. Ingni is a rather casual clothing brand that has a slight feminine touch to it. Depending on how strict your office dress code is a lot of their items should be acceptable in a business casual environment, too.When you research the past years' lucky bags you will find that Ingni is famous for putting a lot of items in them. A lot of the items are basic items and are easy to wear.I ordered this year's lucky bag online at fashionwalker.com. The reservation started in the middle of December and the bag was sold out in a few hours. It was 10,800 yen and shipping was free. The Ingni lucky bag is also available at their stores.It arrived on time on January1st. It contained a coat and 11 other items.The total original value of all clothes was 48,300 yen. You should, however, consider that lucky bags contain leftovers, so that means this clothing was probably on sale before it ended up in the lucky bag.The bag contained a lot of basic items that are useable but it didn't contain anything that sparks joy for me, to say it with the words of Marie Kondo.I think this bag would be nice for someone that does not own a lot of clothing and wants to increase their basic items. If you have a lot of clothing you might probably already own similaritems.The bag also contained a few items that I am quite sure I won't use.In Japan, you can find shirts with a random English print that doesn't make a lot of sense. I personally would never wear them. From what I have seen on YouTube and Twitter these two shirts were in every lucky bag.I think I won't get it again next year as I already own a lot of basic items and rather get a lucky bag from a different brand.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1BD5-shoppingWed, 09 Jan 2019 10:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1BD5-shoppinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQmal-living_foodGoals for 2019I usually do not have any New Year's resolutions because I think you can start anytime when you want to change something, but as I have been suffering from back pain since August last year, I want to keep on working on this issue in 2019 so that I won't have to suffer as much.As of now, I have adopted a routine of doing stretches for 30 minutes every day and going to acupuncture and massage once a week. As the pain has gotten a lot better I want to keep up this routine in 2019 as well.As I will be working mainly from home in 2019, I also bought a gaming chair so that I can keep the burden of sitting for long hours at a minimum. I would recommend it for everyone that does a lot of desk work. In Tokyo e.g., you can try out different types at the big electronics stores in Akihabara.Working from home is really nice on the one hand because you won't have to commute for long hours in way-too-crowded trains. On the other hand, you stay at home all day and do not leave the house. In order to still get enough exercise, in 2019 I also want to establish a routine of going for a walk for at least 30 minutes every day after work. With the time I save from commuting lack of time should not be an issue but I am generally a person that likes to stay at home unless I have an objective for leaving the house, so it might not be easy for me.What I am (not) looking forward to in 2019There are already a few events in 2019 I am looking forward to. I managed to get a reservation at the limited Kirby Cafe that you can visit currently at the Tokyo Skytree. As the Cafe is quite popular, it is not easy to get reservations, however, the time period was extended and it will be available until June 2019. If you are interested, reservations for the next month start on the 10th of each month at 18:00.I hope the food at the Cafe will be as cute as the Kirby sweets that Lawson sold earlier in 2018.The next big event will be the release of Kingdom Hearts 3. I have reserved the game already at the Square Enix store and plan to take the release day off because I probably wouldn't be able to work anyway after the game arrives. The next big event will be our third wedding anniversary that is coming up in February. We plan to go to the Cafe Altbau in Kichijouji to celebrate. The cafe offers cake plates with very cute illustrations for all kinds of anniversaries and birthdays so I am looking forward to finally being able to try one.Interior of Cafe AltbauWith the 3rd wedding anniversary, I will also be eligible to apply for a permanent visa. However, I am not sure whether I can get one as I currently only get spouse visa with a duration of 1 year. I plan to do more research on this topic next year to find out whether it is worth a try.One thing that I do not look forward is the Golden Week in 2019. Because of the inauguration of the new emperor, the Golden Week will have some additional public holidays in 2019 so that there will be a period of 10 consecutive days off. The regular Golden Week is already bad enough when it comes to crowds and increased hotel prices but I assume that this year it will be even worse. Therefore my plan for the Golden Week will be getting a nice video game and only leaving the house for my daily exercise.Do you have any plans for the Super Golden Week already?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQmal-living_foodFri, 04 Jan 2019 18:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GQmal-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpVqZ-shopping_fashion_howtoA typical Japanese New Year custom is the sale of lucky bags (fukubukuro). A lucky bag is a bag that contains random items from the store that sells it. They are usually sold from January 1 or January 2 depending on whether the store is closed on January 1.You will get a lot more value than what you pay for the bag, but you won't know what is inside. Earlier luck bags were mainly sold by clothing stores but nowadays you can find lucky bags for almost everything. There are lucky bags for food, toys, electronic devices and much more.Nowadays it is also possible to order lucky bags online so that you don't have to go to the store. However popular lucky bags sell out pretty fast so you have to quick when it comes to ordering or you have to line up before the store opens on January 1 or 2 to have a better chance of getting your lucky bag of choice.Early research is importantIn order to make sure you get the bags you want, you should start with research early. Some clothing brands start with lucky bag reservations as early as November. Find out what kind of bags will be sold and when reservation starts so that you can reserve early. Popular bags can sell out within minutes. Some shops have also started to do a lottery for reservation because too many people access the site when reservation starts, e.g. there was a lottery for the Bic Camera, Starbucks and Muji lucky bags this year. In that case you can only count on your luck though.Traditionally lucky bags contained items of the last season that didn't sell well, however, today a lot of clothing brands produce clothing specifically for the lucky bags that cannot be bought in regular sale. Depending on the brand the lucky-bag-limited clothes can be pretty good but some brands also produce clothes with lower quality for their lucky bags. If you look up the contents of the lucky bags for the past years you can get an image of what kind of items are included.If you failed to reserve you have to line up If you didn't manage to reserve online or your lucky bag of choice is only available at the store it is best to line up before the store opens. Most lucky bags are sold in limited quantities and therefore sell out quickly. You can ask shop assistants for information on how many bags a store will sell and at which time people start lining up. Sometimes the official websites and blogs provide more information on how and when you can line up.In case you were also unlucky with lining up you can also try to find your lucky bag of choice at auction sites, however, you should be prepared to pay a higher price.Do you have a favorite brand whose lucky bag you always try to get? I buy the Pokemon Center lucky bag every year. This year it was sold out in about 2 hours at the online store but I managed to get one and look forward to opening it. Last year the lucky bag looked like this.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpVqZ-shopping_fashion_howtoThu, 03 Jan 2019 10:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpVqZ-shopping_fashion_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/we8R5-living_familylifeFor us Germans, Christmas is one of the biggest events of the year. In Japan Christmas is not celebrated traditionally. Nowadays it is mostly used for marketing purposes to sell limited Christmas editions of goods or food, but some families, especially those with small children, celebrate Christmas as well. My husband told me that when he was little his mother would buy a Christmas cake for him and his brother and they would get presents. A Japanese Christmas cake is, in general, a strawberry shortcake with Christmas decorations on top.Christmas cakes available for reservation at a department storeOnce the children get older Christmas becomes more a couple event and you spend it with your partner going out for a romantic date. Young Japanese girls tend to obsess about this and those with no boyfriend try everything to find one until Christmas so that they do not have to spend it alone.So, with me being German and my partner being Japanese, there is the issue of how to celebrate Christmas. The Japanese way? The German way? A mix of both?If possible I usually take a long vacation in December so that I can spend Christmas and New Years with my family. When he can also take vacation my husband joins me and we celebrate Christmas at my parents’ house the German way. He was a little startled at how many presents we exchange at first but overall he seems to enjoy it, especially the food. He once told me that if it wasn’t for me he would have never experienced that celebrating Christmas as an adult can be fun. His family had stopped celebrating once their children grew older and since then Christmas was just a normal work day for him.When my husband can’t make it I end up going to Germany alone, but I still want to celebrate Christmas with him. So we do a kind of early Christmas celebration on one of the December weekends. We buy a Christmas cake and will go somewhere nice for dinner. This way I can celebrate Christmas with my husband the Japanese way and with my family the German way, too.This year we plan to go to Germany together, however, is still do not want to miss the Japanese Christmas cake so I think we will get one before we leave for Germany.At first, we also exchanged presents with each other but after a few times we realized that we were only sending each other Amazon links of the things we wanted, so we figured it would be faster to just buy them ourselves. How would you celebrate Christmas in an international marriage?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/we8R5-living_familylifeSat, 15 Dec 2018 11:54:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/we8R5-living_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXkZL-livingWhen the Christmas season starts in Japan you see Christmas decoration in train stations, in restaurants and shops, ... basically everywhere. I am not sure of how much Japanese people decorate their homes but my German family traditionally has a lot of Christmas decoration so I try to keep this tradition alive even though we have very limited space here in Japan. However, in contrast to my family in Germany that put up rather traditional decorations, I have a slightly different taste and celebrate my Christmas in a more nerdy kind of way.Obviously, there are branded Christmas editions of most franchises that you can simply buy and you are done, but these tend to be quite expensive, but there is an easy way for people on a budget, and with almost no handicraft skills, to add a little Christmas flavor to what you already have.Your best friends in this regards are the many 100 yen stores across Japan. Starting on November 1st you can find all kinds of Christmas items there, ranging from Santa hats to decorative items and much more.If you happen to own some plush toys or action figures already the easiest thing you can do is to buy a Santa hat in the right size and your generic plushy or figure turns into a Christmas figure at once.This e.g. is my Christmas moogle.If you are collecting gachapon figures or other figures of a smaller size, you may find some nice items to display your figures on to add a little Christmas flair. I found this sleigh last year at Daiso and use it to display some of my Pokémon figures in December. It's also nice for toy photography.Your second best friend in this regard is the chain store 3 Coins that basically is a 100 yen store with slightly better quality items, all costing 300 yen instead of 100 yen. They have a collection of Christmas outfits for dogs and cats every year. Even though I find dressing up your pet questionable, these items can also be used for plush toys or figures to dress them up for Christmas. Last year I found this Santa hat with an attached beard that was the perfect size for my Porg toy. So now, every year in December, it turns into Santa Porg.If you are not on a budget and want to go for the official Christmas items you should find out when they go on sale and buy them early as popular items tend to sell out pretty fast. The Pokémon Christmas collection, for example, always goes on sale at the beginning of November and popular items are usually already sold out by December.Another option is checking out auction sites or Amazon Marketplace for items from past collections. Some increase in price over time because of their rarity but other items decrease in price because the newer collections are more popular. If you are lucky you might find a nice bargain.If you are into Disney, you should check out their online store, currently, a lot of Christmas decorations are on sale there.If you're skilled with ufo catchers you might also want to check out some arcades. At this time of year you will find some limited Christmas or winter-themed items. If you are not so skilled just check out sites like Mercari, where you can usually find someone listing the arcade prizes.These are just a few options for obtaining limited Christmas items or adding a little festive flavor to the items you already own. If you are unlike me and thus skilled in handicrafts, you can also make your own little Christmas accessories and outfits to add the seasonal touch to your collection.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXkZL-livingMon, 10 Dec 2018 10:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXkZL-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mqe5A-living_tokyo_osakaDuring Christmas season there a lot of events in Japan. Today I am introducing a few events that are perfect for a trip with your kids, and for adults that still enjoy their fandoms from childhood.Pokémon Christmas On the December weekends, there are special Christmas greetings held at the Pokémon Centers all over Japan every year. The Pokémon character that comes to visit differs every year. This year it is Santa Pikachu and Eevee. The exact schedule for all Pokémon centers can be found on the official homepage.These are the dates for the Pokémon Centers in Tokyo:Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo: December 15/16, December 22/23/24/25, December 29/30/31Pokémon Center DX: December 22/23/24/25, December 29/30/31Pokémon Shop Tokyo station: December 8/9, December 22/23/24/25The greetings take place three times a day at 11, 13 and 15 o’clock. If you want a good place for taking photos, it is advisable to arrive about 15 minutes early, as it tends to get pretty crowded. The greetings are about 15 minutes long and there is no entry fee. You can take as many photos of the Pokémon as you want but it is not possible to take two shots. If you plan to also buy some Pokémon goods prepare yourself for a long queue because the Pokémon centers are especially crowded on the days of such events.If you plan to visit the Pokémon Center DX or the Pokémon Shop Tokyo Station, you can also make a small detour to the Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters (1 Chome-7-１ Ōtemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō-to 100-8055). They have a Pokémon themed Christmas tree in front of the building every year. A lot of fans come here to take photos.Christmas in Disneyland and DisneySeaThe Christmas season in these two theme parks already started on November 8 and will last until December 25. In both parks, there are special Christmas shows and parades. As the parks tend to be very crowded some people already save their spots several hours before the shows and parades start.Also, every year during the Christmas season, limited Christmas food and Christmas merchandise will be available that can only be purchased in the parks, and of course you can enjoy the Christmas decorations.I would definitely not recommend visiting either of the Disney parks on the 24th or the 25th because they are even more crowded than usual. The entry fee does not change over Christmas season and is 7,400 yen for adults and 6,400 yen for middle and high school students for a one-day pass.Sanrio ChristmasOf course, Sanrio also holds special Christmas events every year in December. This year there will be a signing session with the Sanrio designers at the Sanrio World Ginza where you can get an autograph from the designer of your favorite character.The event will be held on December 22nd, 23rd, and 24th several times a day at 12, 15 and 17 o’clock. In order to participate, you will need a ticket that you can get by buying goods to the value of 4,320 yen or more at the Sanrio World Ginza.At the Sanrio store in the Daimaru Shopping Center Umeda in Osaka, there will be an event where you can take photos with the characters Cinamoroll and Milk. In order to participate, you will have to line up in front of the shopping center at 9 o’clock to receive a reservation ticket. When you purchase Cinamoroll goods for 1,080 yen or more you can then exchange your reservation ticket for a participation ticket with a time written on it when you can come back for the photo shoot.Do some of these events interest you or have you visited a similar one already? I would love to hear your experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mqe5A-living_tokyo_osakaThu, 06 Dec 2018 15:49:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mqe5A-living_tokyo_osakahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvvWX-foodTraditional Christmas food like you are used to from your home country can be hard to find in Japan. But there are some places that sell items quite similar, however they are expensive most of the time. Also, Japan offers a lot of great Christmas themed foods that you might not know from home but definitely should try, especially if you have a sweet tooth.Christmas themed foods in restaurants and cafesIn December a lot of restaurants and cafes in Japan offer Christmas themed foods. Especially theme cafes, like the Sanrio themed cafes, offer special Christmas dishes but also regular cafes do too.This was the limited Christmas dessert at the Cinamoroll Café in Shinjuku 2017.This is one of the limited Christmas desserts currently available in the All C Café in Koenji. It was 1,200 yen and one of these plates is more than enough for two people.They also offer different Christmas courses with a lot of cute food for two and more people starting from 3,000 yen per person. If you are in the Tokyo area in December and like cute food this is something you should definitely check out. The courses need to be reserved in advance. You can check their Twitter for more information. For souvenirs, they also sell Christmas themed frosted cookies that make a nice gift as well.Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea also offer special Christmas themed dishes every year. But during holiday season the parks are even more crowded than usual.Japanese Christmas cakesWhen a Japanese family celebrates Christmas they usually buy a Christmas cake for their children. A Japanese Christmas cake is usually a strawberry shortcake, with Christmas decorations, but nowadays different cakes are available as well. In most cases, you will have to reserve them in advance and can then pick them up shortly before Christmas or they are delivered to your home.Christmas cakes available for reservation in a showcaseYou can reserve Christmas cakes at department stores, at convenience stores, at supermarkets and online. There are different sizes and variations so everyone should find something they like. Popular cakes might sell out quickly so make sure to reserve early.If you don’t need a whole cake, you can find smaller Christmas themed cakes at most bakeries across Japan for around 400 to 500 yen a piece. No reservation is needed for these. The Christmas cakes I have tried so far pretty much taste like the regular cakes you can get in Japan all year round, the special thing is mainly the decoration.Finding German Christmas food in and around TokyoIf you are looking for the German Christmas experience you can visit one of the Christmas markets in Tokyo. The one in Roppongi or in Yokohama in front of the Akarenga Warehouse (Red Brick Warehouse) are quite famous. The Roppongi Christmas market is inside Roppongi Hills so it does not really feel like an authentic Christmas market, but at least it isn’t cold. They have some foods that are similar to what you can find in German Christmas markets but everything is quite expensive. For example, you can find stollen here.The Christmas market in YokohamaThe Christmas market in Yokohama has a more authentic flair to it and you can find a greater variety of food. Prices are expensive as well but it is one of the few places in Japan where you can eat Bratwurst and enjoy Glühwein (hot wine).I personally prefer going home to celebrate Christmas because while some things in Japan can get close to the German foods, it is not the real thing. Nevertheless, I also enjoy the Christmas themed food only Japan can offer. Do you miss the traditional Christmas food from your home country?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvvWX-foodTue, 04 Dec 2018 10:20:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvvWX-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mna0q-living_sustainablelifeAfter the Fukushima nuclear disaster nuclear power has been discussed a lot in Japan, however unlike other countries Japan has not decided to drop out of nuclear power altogether. After the disaster, several nuclear power plants in Japan were shut down, however gradually they started operating again.The Japanese government is of the opinion that nuclear power is necessary for Japan, but researchers say that the country could make a lot better use of their environmental-friendly energy. With a long coastline, Japan has large capacities for wind generation, but you rarely see wind turbines in Japan, do you? Also, with a large number of hot spring areas geothermal energy would be ideal for Japan as well, but there are concerns that the number oftourists would decrease if generators were built.As a foreign resident in Japan, you do no get the right to vote unless you apply for citizenship, so our ways to have an influence on political decisions here are quite limited, but we can still try to decrease our personal energy consumption and thereby also decrease our electricitybills.Smart use of air-conditioningWhen you use yourair conditioning in winter maybe you can set it a few degrees lower and instead put on warmer clothing. In summer it is recommended to have the air conditioning set between 28-30 degrees. This also helps you to avoid air conditioner-related diseases that occur when the difference between the inside and outside temperature is higher than 5 degrees. It also helps to regularlyclean the filters and, of course, make sure to not forget to switch it off when you leave the house.Regularly cleaning your air conditioning filters helps to save energy.Things to keep in mind when using the refrigeratorTry to make the time the refrigerator door is open as short as possible. When you want to put your groceries away, first take them out of your pack and put them on a table so that you can put them in the refrigerator more efficiently. Also, make sure to throw away unnecessary items timely. The more stuff you have in the refrigeratorthe more energy it uses. When you want to store food in the refrigerator that is still warm place it somewhere else for a while so that it can cool down.Do not keep the refrigerator open longer than necessary.Make sure to switch off lightsWhen you leave a room for a longer period of time, make sure to switch off all the lights. Also, if you use a remote control to switch your light on and off it will use extra energyjust for the remote control function. It might be a bit inconvenient but when you leave the house to go to work it is a good idea to switch the lights off at the switch to save some extra energy.Instead of using the remote try using the switch when you leave the house.Other thingsMost rice cookers have a function to keep your rice warm. This is very convenient, however it constantly uses energy. Instead, it would a better idea to reheat your rice in the microwave.When cooking you can make sure that there are no water drops left on the stove before you turn it on, to save energy.These are just a few things you can do to reduce your energy consumption here in Japan. It might not be easy to watch out for unnecessary energy consumption every day, but if we all watch out a little more, the numbers might add up.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mna0q-living_sustainablelifeTue, 27 Nov 2018 10:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mna0q-living_sustainablelifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Md80m-medical_healthWhen you have an office job where you sit most of the time, you might have already experienced back or neck pain. In Japan this is also a common issue and there are several approaches on how you can deal with it.Items from the pharmacy without prescriptionThe most obvious method is probably using pain killers. The problem with pain killers from Japanese pharmacies is that they are quite weak compared to what you can get in Europe or America. Another option are medial pads (湿布). These are pads that you directly apply to the body part that is in pain. They come in different sizes and with different ingredients. I would recommend trying a few and seeing which one works best.The medical pad section at the pharmacyVisiting an orthopedic clinic (整形外科)When you visit an orthopedic clinic in Japan they will most likely do an X-ray or CT scan to see if there are any issues with your bones or spinal discs. In some cases an additional MRI scan might be required for the diagnosis. In that case your doctor will probably make an appointment for you at a larger hospital where the MRI will be conducted and you will be handed the results. You can then take them to your doctor for analysis. In the case that the doctor finds something, they will treat you accordingly. If they do not find anything wrong they will most probably tell you that you do not do enough sports and prescribe you some pain killers. If do some research you might also find clinics that offer physical therapy but this is not really common in Japan.Visit a pain clinicIf pain killers don’t do they trick for you and you can’t stand the pain anymore, another option is visiting a "pain clinic." At a pain clinic the doctor will use injections to numb your nerves so that the pain signal cannot travel to the brain anymore. These injections are a little bit painful but the effect is said to last about a week. I tried it a few times and it never lasted longer than a day for me. Also do not forget that the injections might numb the pain but do not deal with the cause of the pain.Visiting an osteopathic clinic (整骨院)At an osteopathic clinic they have a slightly different approach than at the orthopedic clinic. Instead of looking for issues with the bones the approach focuses more on muscles -- trying to relieve your pain by reducing muscle tension. This is mostly done through massages or acupuncture. Some clinics also use electric stimulation or special heath lamps. In some cases your health insurance covers visits at an osteopathic clinic in Japan, but in my experience every clinic handles the insurance issue slightly different so it might be a good idea to check whether in your case insurance is applicable or not. There are also clinics in Japan that only offer treatment that is not covered by the insurance. When you can use your insurance a visit to an osteopathic clinic will cost you about 1,000 to 2,000 yen, otherwise it will could be around 5,000 to 6,000 yen. An osteopathic clinicHave you experienced back pain? How do you deal with it in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Md80m-medical_healthThu, 22 Nov 2018 18:47:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Md80m-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZN0a-living_workIf you have worked in your home country before you came to Japan you might be surprised how little vacation days workers in Japan get. Unless you have a generous expat contract that grants you more vacation days.In general when working for a Japanese company full-time you will start with 10 vacation days per year and you get an additional day per year you keep working at the company until a maximum of 20. Usually, you first get vacation days after having worked for 6 months. That means that if you want to take a day off during your first 6 months it will be unpaid. Depending on the company you work for these regulations can be different though.Most of my friends and relatives in Germany get something between 20 to 30 vacation days per year, so compared to that it is quite hard to make do with the little vacation days you get in Japan. However do not forget that Japan has a lot of national holidays and there also is the nice regulation that if a national holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be a holiday. This, of course, is only relevant if you work in a job where holidays are off, depending on the industry or company regulations you might have to work on holidays.When you look at a Japanese calendar you will find a lot of national holidaysIn most companies, you will also get additional holidays to your vacation days. Most companies are closed for a few days over New Year’s and employees get these days off without having to use their vacation days. Also, there are summer holidays in many companies. Depending on the company there either is a fixed time when the whole company is closed or you get a certain number of extra holidays that you can take during summer timer. My husband gets a whole week off in August and I get 3 days for summer vacation that I can take anywhere from July to September.Now Japan does not sound as bad, you might think. But do not forget that in most companies you do not get sick days. So that means you should always have a few vacation days to spare in case you catch a cold and want to stay home. Otherwise, you will either have to go to work even though you’re sick or take unpaid leave.Also for us foreigners that might want to visit our relatives once in a while, vacation days need to be used very carefully. When I visit my family in Germany I usually go there for at least two weeks, because the flight is long and expensive. With only a few vacation days I usually would use the majority of my annual vacation for my trip to Germany and had only a little left for vacation while I am in Japan. Now I luckily work at a company that offers extra vacations days for foreign employees when they visit their home country so that I do not have to stress out about vacation days anymore. However, companies that offer such extra benefits for foreign employees are quite rare.Have you had trouble managing your vacation days in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZN0a-living_workTue, 20 Nov 2018 14:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZN0a-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVR0P-living_howtoIf you live in Japan for a longer period of time you will probably have to rent your own place to live at some point. If you are lucky your company provides an apartment for you or assists you with the renting process. During my first internship in Japan, the company provided private apartments for all interns so we did not have to go through the hassle of renting on our own. When I found my first “real” job, however, I had to get my own apartment.For renting an apartment in Japan you can either use one of the many Japanese real estate agents or you can also go to real estate agents that specialize in foreigners, depending on your language skills.When I wanted to rent my first apartment I was already sure about the area so I just visited a few real estate agents in the area. Usually, you can find them close to the station. The agent will have you fill out a form regarding what kind of place you are looking for and then the agent will show you some of the properties that are currently available. If you like a place and would like to visit it, the agent will then call the owner to see whether foreigners are accepted for this property.Unfortunately, there are some owners that reject foreigners and others who have certain conditions, like a certain level of Japanese, a certain income etc. regarding foreign tenants. When the owner agrees you can visit the place, and if you like it, you can start with the application process. You will have to provide your personal information, an emergency contact and possibly also information about where you work.You will also need a guarantor for renting a place. When a Japanese person rents a place usually their parents will be their guarantor, however, that does not work when your parents live overseas so you will likely have to use a guarantor company. You simply pay a yearly fee and they become your guarantor. Nowadays a lot of real estate agents make it mandatory to join a guarantor company, for Japanese tenants as well.Once your application is accepted you will see yourself confronted with quite a large sum of money you have to pay before moving in. Usually, you pay a deposit, a fee for the real estate agent, a fee for the guarantor company, a fee for cleaning, a fee for insurance and the first month of rent. Together this amounts to about 3 to 5 times the monthly rent, but depending on the place it can also be cheaper or even more expensive. After you paid you will make an appointment with the company that handles the property so that they can hand over the keys. Congratulations. You have now rented your own place in Japan.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVR0P-living_howtoTue, 20 Nov 2018 11:35:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zVR0P-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBgR3-livingRecently the company I work for moved offices to another location and as you all know right after you moved, your new place will still be messy for a while there will be boxes here and there waiting to be unpacked and maybe you are still waiting for new furniture or electronic devices that you ordered for the new place. It is no different when an office moves.So right after the move, we had no microwave in the new office. As I usually bring my own lunch to work and heat it up before eating I am someone that kind of relies on a microwave in the office. But I, of course, understood that it might not be the top priority for the company so I was patient.After about 2 weeks I asked my Japanese superior why we do not yet have a microwave and I must admit my choice of wording at that time was not best because I was not in a good mood and kind of pissed off as well, but their reaction was even worse. I was told that the companyis not obliged to provide a microwave anyway and that the company does not really care about their employees at all. As I had had a different image of the company until then I was quite shocked to hear that. A talk with the superior of my superior helped to clarify the situation, and it turned out that a microwave had already been ordered and it also had arrived at the office. I wonder why I wasn't told that when I had inquired about the microwave. The microwave was now sitting in the conference room.The poor little microwaveUnfortunately, no one was allowed to use it, even though there was a socket in the conference room, where it could have been connected to. I was told that a new table to put the microwave on was required as there was no place to put it. In my opinion, there was more than enough space on top of the fridge though. But I was told the table is already ordered and the superior of my superior promised to deal with the issue on that day or the next day. So I was hopeful and waited.As I don’t really like to spend money eating out during lunch break and a cold lunch box does not really taste good so I had started to bring cereals and yogurt to the office to have something for lunch that also tastes good when eaten cold. I thought it was alright for a few days but unfortunately, the situation lasted longer.About two weeks after my superior promised to deal with the issue the microwave was still sitting in the conference room and I was still eating cereal for lunch and started to get tired of that. I tried several things then. I pointed out that the microwave in the conference room could also have a negative impact on clients that visit our office since usually you do not have microwaves in conference rooms, but apparently, nobody cared. I then printed out a speech bubble saying: “Don’t forget about me” in Japanese and attached it to the microwave but nobody noticed it. It had been forgottenAs a last resort, I emailed the superior that had promised to deal with the situation 2 weeks ago to remind them of their promise and finally about one month after the office had moved the microwave was moved to the office and put on a provisional table as apparently no table had been ordered yet. But nevertheless it was then connected and now we had a working microwave in the office again, so I was happy.However, I think a little more communication would have made the whole situation a lot easier to deal with. I assume the person responsible in the general affairs department was just too busy to deal with it. Had anybody communicated that information to me I would have understood the issue and been happy to offer my help, but since I was promised this issue was going to be dealt with while it actually wasn’t I kind of stopped trusting what my superiors say to me.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBgR3-livingSat, 17 Nov 2018 14:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBgR3-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rer-living_money_familylifeIn a traditional Japanese household usually the wife manages the money. In a lot of cases, the husband works full-time and the wife is either a housewife or works part-time but nevertheless, the task of money management is in female hands.The husband will bring home a pay check each month and the wife will keep a household book, or similar, to keep track of income and expenses. In a lot of households, the husband will get a certain amount of pocket money that he can use freely. How the rest of the money is used is decided by the wife. In general, I find this traditional model quite debatable and would probably not be satisfied with pocket money if I was the working husband. But when my husband and I first talked about how to deal with money when we moved in together I was surprised to hear that he had never kept a household book and was not aware of how much savings he had. Maybe Japanese men do not like dealing with such things?I had been keeping a household book since I moved out of my parents’ home so that I would know how much I spend on what and also how much money I have left for the month. So for me,the thought of not having a household book is pretty scary as it would leave me in a state where I have no idea how much money I have left for the month.As my husband and I both work full-time and make a similar amount of money we came to the conclusion that we would both keep our own bank accounts, pay 50% each for common expenses like rent, food, and utilities and are free to do what we want with the remaining money from our respective salaries.Nevertheless, I started to keep a household book for my husband as well, since he didn’t have one yet and left me to do the task as I was already used to doing it. So, we basically have 3 household books; one for each of our personal expenses and one for common expenses. It might not be the most efficient way, but until now it has been working well for us. Also, I use the term "household books" here but in our case, it is actually just 3 Excel files, so it doesn’t take up any space and all calculations are done automatically, which is quite convenient. How do you manage money in your household? Do you have a traditional Japanese approach or is it rather different? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rer-living_money_familylifeThu, 15 Nov 2018 16:34:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rer-living_money_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnaLV-living_money_familylifeWork-life balance is still a big issue in Japan. A lot of Japanese companies still expect their employees to work a lot of overtime and come into the office on weekends as well. On the one hand, that might be positive for your earnings but on the other you will have less time to spend with your partner.A few years ago my husband wanted to work as much overtime as possible, so he could make more money. Fortunately he didn't work on weekends but he would always come home late on weekdays so we did not have a lot of time to spend together.Recently his company introduced a new anti-overtime policy and instead of working 20 to 30 hours overtime per month he only does about 5 now. Although his earnings decreased I am really happy that we now get to spend more time together and I am sure it will also have a positive effect on his overall health.Another issue is taking vacation days for going on vacation with your partner. When I first met my husband he was someone that didn't go on vacation at all and only used his vacation days when he was sick or had a really important appointment.This is probably an issue a lot of foreign women married to Japanese men have to deal with.However, over time I managed to convince him to go on short weekend trips with me from time to time and so he started to find enjoyment in traveling as well.Traveling with your partner is a really nice experienceThe next step was to convince him to go on a longer trip to Germany with me. At first, he was scared to take a longer vacation because he feared to lose his job. He told me that some of his superiors were not amused but he didn't get into trouble at work. Now he joins me almost every year when I visit my family in Germany over Christmas and his company also got used to him taking longer vacations without any negative consequences for him.Overall I am glad that I made him see the enjoyment of traveling and that he also realized that work is not everything. Nevertheless, when I talk to foreign friends married to Japanese men I usually hear that they do not get to spend as much as time as they would like to with their husbands because of work.Work-life balance is still a big issue in Japan and I hope that it will keep improving in the future.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnaLV-living_money_familylifeMon, 29 Oct 2018 10:25:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MnaLV-living_money_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8817-living_food_healthWhen I was still living in Germany I was used to eating a lot of dark bread and in general my diet contained enough fiber. When I came to Japan I started to eat a lot of rice, which does not contain a lot of fiber, so I had to look for ways to make up for that.It would actually be an option to buy German bread. In Tokyo there are several German bakeries that sell bread which is pretty similar to bread you can find in Germany, but these bakeries are all pretty expensive so it is not really a practicable option, but I found different ways to increase my fiber intake.Adding a little something to your riceIn most Japanese supermarkets you can find little bags likes this.These contain several small bags which you can simply add to your rice when cooking it with a rice cooker. They contain a variety of grains that will help to increase the fiber content of your rice and also add other important nutrients like vitamins and minerals. This helps you to turn simple white rice into a more nutritious meal. There are a lot of different variations available so you can choose whichever fits your personal needs and taste best.Adding these grains will also change how your rice tastes so it might not work for all meals but I prefer the grain rice over regular plain rice over all.Chia seedsChia seeds are also a nice and simple way to increase your fiber content and add nutrients to your meals.You can get them for quite cheap on Japanese Amazon and use them for a lot of different purposes. I usually add some chia seeds to the yogurt I eat for breakfast and I also add some when I make salads at home.Adding fiber to your drinksIn most drugstores you can find fiber in powder form that you can add to your drinks. I usually put it into the mineral water I drink and I did not realize any difference in taste. According to the details on the package you can put it into tea and juice as well but I haven't tried that yet.Over the years I found ways to adjust my fiber intake according to my diet in Japan.This helps me to eat healthier in general and also helps with issues like constipation.Did you have problems adjusting your diet when you came to Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8817-living_food_healthSun, 28 Oct 2018 19:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8817-living_food_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlpAd-shopping_howtoI am big anime and video game fan and also like to collect merchandise of my favorite franchises. However I do not like to spend a lot of money on it. Luckily with a bit of searching and bit of luck you can find items for pretty cheap.When thinking of anime and game merchandise the first thing that comes to mind is probably Akihabara or Nakano Broadway. These places are great when it comes to variety but no so great when it comes to prices. Usually when I go shopping there I compare all prices with online stores or flee market sites and in most cases they are a lot cheaper. Therefore I hardly ever buy anything in Akihabara or Nakano.So, if you are looking for a specific item the first place you can look are large online shopping sites like Yodobashi or amazon. They tend to have low prices most of the time. For amazon it is also good to consider the market place option where private sellers can sell items. You can find nice bargains there, however you do not get to see any pictures and have to rely on the description of the condition of item.If your Japanese is good enough to use flee market sites like mercari, you should check these as well. You can find pretty cheap offers there a lot of the time, however cheap items tend to sell fast so you do not really have time to ponder. Other issues are that there is no guarantee and most sellers do not accept returns. Also, mercari does not offer buyer protection so in the case you receive an item that is not as described you will have to resolve it with the seller on your own. Therefore I would be very careful with expensive items.Another option is checking your local hobby stores. In general hobby stores in remote places in Japan tend to have good bargains. If you are in Tokyo, you should try stores that are located in western Tokyo, outside of the 23 districts. You will not a have as good a selection as in Akihabara or Nakano, so if you are looking for something specific it might be difficult to find, but I have seen prices a lot cheaper than on amazon in such stores.If you live close to a store and can check it regularly you might also want to check sale items. My local book store has a small anime merchandise corner and sometimes when they have to get rid of older stock to make room for new items they sell them at incredibly cheap prices. I recently found these Full Metal Alchemist key chains for 100 Yen each which have regular price of over 700 yen each.Where do you like to go for your merchandise shopping?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlpAd-shopping_howtoFri, 26 Oct 2018 16:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GlpAd-shopping_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zD01n-living_workA lot of people that work in Japan commute to work by train and especially when you work in a bigger city the commuting time is probably quite long and the trains can be pretty packed. I am spending about 2 hours on the train everyday so am trying to make the best of this time.If your company doesn't offer flexible working time you will probably end up commuting during the rush hours on very packed trains. In general, this is not a very pleasant experience but there are some ways to make it less painful.For example, in some train stations you can see such posters that show you which wagons or carriages of the train are very crowded and which are less crowded. When you take the Yamanote Line you can also check the this information on the JR app.This might not be completely accurate but there definitely is a difference between wagons. You can try different wagons every day and check which ones are less crowded. There can also be a difference between trains, so if you can take a train earlier or a train later you should also compare these to your regular train.In order to make the best of your time spent commuting there are several different options. If you are one of the lucky ones to get a seat you have a variety to choose from. You can bring a book, your handheld console, your tablet or just browse the Internet on your phone.Most people, however, have to stand and depending on how crowded the train is space is also quite limited. In such positions sometimes even looking at your phone can become difficult so you are basically limited to your headphones for entertainment. But recently there is such a wide variety to choose from it is not difficult to fill several commutes. For people that like music streaming services offer access to a lot of songs for a small monthly fee. For people that like audio books there are similar services as well.I personally like to listen to podcasts during my commute. Most of them are completely free and you can find podcasts for every topic you can think of. You can stay updated on the most recent developments in your fields of interest or also listen to podcasts related to your field of work in order to learn new techniques. There are also a million podcasts for language learning so you can also brush up your Japanese skills will on the train.Do you have a long commute? How do you spend your time on the train?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zD01n-living_workWed, 24 Oct 2018 10:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zD01n-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/za5rW-living_money_badexperiencesA few years ago I had an unpleasant surprise when checking my credit card billings. I found several billings for purchases made in the US in several home centers in different cities made over a weekend. The total amounted to several thousand dollars. This was my first experience of credit card fraud in Japan and unfortunately it was handled pretty poorly by my bank.Of course the first thing I did was to call to the emergency hotline to immediately block the card. During the call I was asked several times whether I am really sure that I didn't make purchases in question and the service guy explained to me that nowadays you can make purchases overseas online, treating me like an idiot who doesn't know how online shopping works. Also, when looking at the billings, it was obvious that they were made in actual stores and not online.The service hotline you have to call to report fraud was already closed at the time so I had to wait until the next day. I called right at 9:00 AM but after I explained my issue I was informed that the person responsible for such issues would not be in the office until 10:00 AM and was asked to call again. I called again at 10 and explained my issue again. They asked me again several times whether I am really sure I didn't make the purchases and also whether it is possible a family member had done them. I explained that I had never been to the US and that my whole family is in Germany and Japan and that the card was in my possession at the time the purchases were made.They then told me they would start an investigation into the case and said it would take about 2 to 3 months. The billings would be put on hold until the the investigation was over. If, after the investigation, they found it was indeed credit card fraud they would cancel the billings, otherwise I would be charged for the full amount.I was, of course, sure that it was credit card fraud but I was unsure of they would investigate this matter and overall the phone experience left behind a lot of insecurities and worries as they didn't tell me anything concrete.I also felt a little like they had a suspicion that I was the fraudster because I was asked to so many times whether I was sure that I hadn't made the purchases. I am not sure if that was a general policy of the bank or whether this is how they treat foreigners.Also I was wondering why my bank hadn't noticed the fraudulent billings on my card. As I had never used the card overseas and my usual monthly billings were only between 30.000 to 50.000 yen someone should have at least noticed that these billings were very different from how I usually use the credit card and maybe confirmed that with me. I have heard several stories of credit card fraud from relatives in Germany or friends and coworkers in Japan and in all of them the first one to notice the fraud was the bank and not the client. The website of the bank I used at that time also claims that they are checking the billings for unusual actives 24/7.I am not sure whether they just overlooked it or whether when you have a foreign name all kinds of purchases overseas are regarded as usual even when they totally differ from you regular usage.In the end I received a letter from the bank about 4 months after I reported the fraud. In very few sentences and without any word of apology they informed me the billings would be canceled. I was relieved but in general very unhappy about how this was handled so I opened a new bank account at a different bank and got a new credit card as well.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/za5rW-living_money_badexperiencesTue, 23 Oct 2018 10:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/za5rW-living_money_badexperienceshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1BJ4-living_sustainablelifeIn my post last month, I talked about how too much paper is used in Japanese offices. Japan has a similar issue with plastic that is not only limited to the office area.Everything is packed separatelyWhen you buy a bag of hard candy in Japan, every candy will be wrapped in a small plastic wrapping. This is probably nice to prevent them from sticking to each other and makes it easier to give candy to others but it is it really necessary?There is a similar issue with all the sweets that are made for souvenir purposes. Because you usually buy them for your colleagues at work every cookie, chocolate, etc. is wrapped in a separatewrapping, so you can easily distribute them to your coworkers. The whole souvenir giving and gift-giving is an important part of Japanese culture but maybe it is time to come up with more environment-friendly souvenirs.You get a plastic bag for everythingWhen you buy something at the convenience store you will get a plastic bag with it by default, even though it is just a pack of chewing gum. If you don'tneed a bag you have to specifically tell the shop assistant not to give you one, which might be not so easy when your Japanese is still not very good. Also, when it comes to foreign customers some shop assistants get so nervous they will give you a bag anyway even if you say you don't need one in perfect Japanese.There is also an issue with items you order online. I recently ordered a pack of wet sheets for cleaning that already has packaging and it was put into another clear plastic bag for reasons that are beyond my understanding.Fortunately, some supermarkets in Japan have started to charge customers for plastic bags and others give you a small discount on your shopping for bringing your own bag, which is a nice incentive, but still, too many shops give out plastic bags for free.Konbini lunchesSome office workers bring self-made lunches in reusable bento boxes, which is a great thing for your health and the environment, but many worker just buy something at the convenience store. The lunch will be packed in a plastic package and the chopsticks and oshibori (wet towel) you get along with it also are packed in a separate plastic packaging.You can get such cute lunch boxes at the 100 yen stores in Japan, so there is really no excuse for not bringing your own lunch anymore.Wouldn't it be great if there was an option to buy lunch in a reusable lunch box, that you return later, so it can be washed and used again? Actually, there is. In a previous workplace, my coworkers and I would order lunch from a service that delivers lunch boxes to the office. The lunch boxes are made of reusable plastic and once you are done eating you just leave them there and on the next day the delivery guy will pick up the dirty boxes so they can be washed and used again.It was sufficient if you ordered 3 meals per day, they had a variety to choose from and the prices were really cheap as well. Also, there was no delivery fee. Unfortunately, I couldn't find their website anymore, so I am not sure if they are still in operation but I really liked this approach.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1BJ4-living_sustainablelifeWed, 10 Oct 2018 15:13:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z1BJ4-living_sustainablelifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBgQY-medical_healthIn Japan when your doctor prescribes you medicine you take the prescription and pick up the medicine at the pharmacy. The will only give you the number of the pills prescribed in a small paper bag without any packaging or the leaflet that usually comes with medicineand unfortunately most doctors do not inform their patients about possible side effects and interaction with other medication.I was recently prescribed medication for my back pain and when I took it my blood pressure dropped to such a low level that I couldn'tget out of bed for a whole day. When I looked it up online I found that women on oral contraception are not supposed to take this medication because the drop in blood pressure is a very common side effect. Unfortunately, my doctor failed to inform me about that even though he knew I was taking the pill.If you ever get prescription medicine in Japan, I would recommend researching it online and checking for possible side effects and other issues that might come up, before taking it. Most of the time, somewhere on the medicine's information sheet the English name is mentioned so you can search for further information in English or other languages.When you get prescription medicines in Japan for the first time, you will receive a small notebook called a "Kusuri Techo". Every time you receive new medicine you are supposed to hand it to the pharmacist, together with your prescription, and they will put a small sticker with some information on the drug in the notebook. This way you can keep track of things easier and also the pharmacists can check for possible drug interactions when you get new prescriptions. In general, this sounds like a good system if you only take Japanese drugs.My somewhat messy looking Kusuri TechoAs a foreigner, especially if you are only in Japan for a limited time, you might have some medicine that you brought with you from your home country. Obviously, that will not be mentioned in your techo, so it is important to inform your doctor and pharmacistsabout it. However, there is some medicine that is available overseas but not in Japan so Japanese doctors might not be very familiar with it.Therefore I would still recommend checking every prescription medicine before taking it. In my experience, Japanese doctors love to prescribe all sorts of medicine but most of the time they fail to properly educate their patients about it.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBgQY-medical_healthFri, 05 Oct 2018 12:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GBgQY-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNVV-living_food_fashion_howtoHalloween season is a big thing in Japan. It basically starts in the beginning of September and lasts until the end of October, when the Christmas season starts. There are many different aspects of Japanese Halloween you can enjoy.Halloween SweetsA lot of bakeries will sell special limited Halloweens cakes and sweets during Halloween season. These are not only cute but also taste good so make sure to check them out. Mister Donutsand most other big franchises will also have some limited-edition Halloween items.Halloween sweets at my local bakeryHalloween DecorationsIf you would like to decorate your place according to the season, just check out your local 100 yen store. You can find a lot of cute decoration items on the cheap. Places likeDon Quijote will also sell Halloween decorations.Limited MerchandiseMost famous Japanese franchises will stock a special Halloween goods collection. If you enter the Pokémon store, Hello Kitty store or similarplaces youwill be greeted by Halloween decorations and Halloween merchandise. Most franchises have a new collection every year and these limited seasonal items sell out pretty fast, so make sure to buy them early.In arcades, you can also find limited Halloween plushies.Halloween Pikachus at my local arcadeHalloween FoodA lot of restaurants and cafés will also offer a limited Halloween menus during the season. This year my favorite café in Koenji, Tokyo, the All C, offers a Halloween waffle plate dish with pumpkin ice. It was really yummy and the whole café is also decorated for Halloween.Character cafés like the Pokémon Café also offer a limited Halloween menus so make sure to eat as much of the limited food as you can.Halloween Costumes & ClothesDuring the Halloween season, a lot of regular clothing brands will start selling Halloween costumes. You can check out the 109 in Shibuya for example. However, these tend to be quite expensive so if you are on a budget you can check Don Quijote for cheap costumes and accessories.If you are into Lolita fashion, the Halloween season in Japan is also a highlight. Most brands will sell limited-edition Halloween dresses during this time, however, these are usually so popular that you will have toline up a few hours before the store opens in order to still get one.Halloween PartiesOf course, Halloween parties are also an important part of the season here in Japan. In Tokyo, usually, several parties are held on all weekends of October, so you are not limited to October 31 and can party as much as you want. The biggest party, however, is traditional on the night of October 31 in Shibuya. The station is massively crowded with costumed people enjoying Halloween every year. No matter if you dress up yourself or if you come to take photos, it will be an event to remember.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNVV-living_food_fashion_howtoThu, 04 Oct 2018 12:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZNVV-living_food_fashion_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJ5eJ-living_workRecruit agent is one of many recruiting agents in Japan that helps you find a new job. I tried it a while ago and would like to share my experience.Recruit agent is mostly working with Japanese clients. The agency website is only available in Japanese and I assume that the agents only talk Japanese as well. Respectively, the job adverts are also aimed at Japanese applicants. However, if your Japanese is good enough, you can also use their services as a foreigner. If your Japanese knowledge is still limited you might want to use one of the recruiting agents that specializes in recuiting foreigners. The process starts with registering at the website. You will then get access to your personal desktop where you have to fill in your personal information and all the information on your resume, so it is useful to have a Japanese resume prepared. The next step is a telephone interview with your personal agent. You can also schedule one on a weekend or in the evening if you are currently working fulltime.During the interview, they will ask you questions about your previous work experience, your studies, your future career plans and what kind of job you are looking for. They will also inform you if you made any mistakes during registration and how to fix them. At the end, you can also ask questions about the process and get some advice about your job search. After the interview, you will get job adverts sent to your personal desktop and you can choose whether to apply or nor.Your personal desktop gives you a target of how many job adverts you should apply for.All job ads are in Japanese only. In the beginning, I had the impression the ads were chosen by the agent personally but it rather seems that they define a certain set of keywords and just send you all ads that contain them because I got a lot of ads that didn’t fit my profile at all but contained keywords of the jobs I said I was interested in.The application process is pretty easy -- if you like a position you just press apply and the agent will apply on your behalf. You will be notified of the result by e-mail at later stage. When new positions turn up you also get e-mail notifications that are a bit annoying because they send you several emails per day.Unfortunately, the chance of getting an interview is pretty small because they send you so many positions that do not fit your profile. I applied for 13 positions over the cause of a few weeks and was rejected for all of them. Overall I didn’t find the service very helpful and was starting to get annoyed by the many e-mails pretty quickly, but maybe this service is not supposed to be working well for foreigners.Have you had any experience with this service?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJ5eJ-living_workMon, 01 Oct 2018 10:37:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MJ5eJ-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mg6gA-living_medical_badexperiencesI think when I had my most negative experience in Japan it was during my first real job. After I finished an internship I found my first real job as a seishain in a small Japanese company with rather traditional values. At that moment I didn't really care a lot where I worked as long as I had a job that would get me a long-term visa. My plan was to get the visa, build up a little work experience and then take my career to the next step from that.At first, everything was fine. I had a nice senior co-worker who would show me how to do the job and I got the hang of it quite fast. Also, I was able to finish work without much overtime most of the time.After a few months, the senior co-worker announced that they would leave the company. My bosses decided that I would be in charge of all the work we did together now, which basically meant doing the work of two people alone when I was still learning some of the processes.My bosses said they would hire a new colleague as soon as possible. Some people came for interviews but either the interviewee or my bosses didn'tlike it, so no one was hired and I had to somehow manage the workload of two people.It worked out for a while but I became more tired and stressed every day. But as my bosses realized I could handle the workload alone they gave up hiring altogether.I must say that I did receive an increase in salary of about 20,000 yen but that didn't make up for the medical bills that were to follow.Because of all the stress, I started grinding myteeth, which in the beginning I didn't even realize until my dentist told me during a regular checkup. I also had trouble sleeping a night, but I found a doctor who gave me pills that helped with that.After a while, another employee decided to leave the firm which further increased the workload of those that stayed behind and this kept happening again and again.More interviews with candidates were conducted but I had the feeling my bosses were looking for a superhuman with all the abilities and experience you could wish for. Unfortunately, they didn't want to pay much.So we kept doing the work with a very small number of employees. In the meantime I started to get headaches from time to time until they became more persistent and I had to fight headaches at work almost every day. I went to several doctors and tried several kinds of pain medication but nothing helped. I also got a night guard for my teeth to stop the grinding, as headaches can be caused by that as well.The night guard helped for about a month, then it got worse and I went to a different dentist where I got a more stable night guard that cost me quite a lot because it wasn't covered by insurance. This one also didn't help much.During that time, because of the constant pain, going to work was really hard for me, nevertheless, I tried my best, but on some days I was just feeling so bad that I couldn't leave the house and so called in sick. This happenedmaybe once or twice a month for a few months so one day my boss called me and told me to take better care of my health. Being sick so much is a burden for the company. I felt really betrayed at that point because what made me sick was the stress at work and I was just taking my annual holidays for the sick leave.Working with a constant headache is tiresomeIn traditional Japanese thinking, a worker is responsible for their own health and should make sure to not get sick. I can understand that to a certain degree but some sicknessesare just unavoidable no matter how much you take care.At that point, I already saw no future for me in that company and told my boss that if me being sick "all the time" bothers him so much, they are free to hire someone else instead of me.I had already been looking for alternatives at this point and after a while a found a new job with a nicer boss who didn't complain about employees being sick but rather worried about their health.I hope your first working experiences in Japan will be better.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mg6gA-living_medical_badexperiencesFri, 28 Sep 2018 12:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/Mg6gA-living_medical_badexperienceshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr3qe-living_sustainablelifeIn my opinion, a big issue with sustainability in Japanese offices is the use of paper. I used to work in Japanese offices that basically printed out everything and kept big files with all the print-outs. Every e-mail that was received or sent needed to be printed out on a separate sheet of paper even if it was a one-line e-mail saying “received with thanks”. Additionally, all e-mails were all saved on a shared server.The file storage room looked somewhat like this.By doing that the files for each case grew bigger and bigger and sometimes needed to be refiled into a bigger case. By doing this you not only waste a lot of paper, in my opinion, this is also a lot of unnecessary work. When everything is saved digitally why would you need a paper copy of everything?The answers I received when asking these questions were basically twofold.1.What if the data suddenly disappears ?When you have your IT set up correctly, take back-ups regularly and take security precautions that actually should not be the case.When you back up regularly a crash of your computer should not be a big issue.2.I like working with paper.That was an answer I often received from older coworkers. It is kind of understandable that for someone who has worked with paper most of their life getting used to the digital work style is not easy but work styles are changing all the time and everyone needs to get used to new technology at some point.When it comes to books I can understand the love for paper but for work e-mails I prefer the digital version.So for me, these two arguments don’t count, however, the opinion of a single office worker is hardly heard in Japanese offices. Even though getting rid of the paper would not only be beneficial for the environment it would also save cost. Less paper would be required for printing and also less storage space would be required for the case files. They filled up about one third of the office space and in Tokyo, the rent for office space is pretty expensive. Also, of course, work efficiency would increase as the time required for printing and filing would decrease dramatically.The weirdest thing in this office was that sometimes you had to print a text document so you could later send the scan by e-mail. When sending letters to clients they would be prepared in word and every letter needed to be hand signed by the person responsible. So, after typing the letter it would be printed out then signed and then scanned. The scanned PDF file would then be attached to an e-mail and sent to the client. This process was so inefficient I suggested improvements, like using a picture file for the sign or using digital signatures, several times but all I got as feedback was: “We always did it like this, so we will keep doing it like this.”All of these thing ended up frustrating me so much that I changed workplaces to a company that does not print out every single e-mail and I feel a lot better now.However, I think it will still take a long time for traditional Japanese companies to adapt to the digital work style. A friend of mine works for a Japanese law firm and they print out every e-mail they receive by default, even the spam e-mails that the spam filter didn’t catch.Have you worked in such companies before? What was your experience? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr3qe-living_sustainablelifeWed, 05 Sep 2018 17:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr3qe-living_sustainablelifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNxrK-living_healthBefore I met my husband I was using a Japanese dating website to meet Japanese guys. It was pretty easy to find someone to meet with, however meeting them again turned out as quite complicated.Of course, some of the guys were just not interested in a second date, but for the others, it was pretty hard to find a date where we could meet again because Japanese guys tend to be pretty busy, which is somewhat understandable considering the long working hours. Especially in Tokyo, you also have to take distance into consideration. Even if you both live in Tokyo there might be a distance of over an hour by train between both houses, which is also a factor that makes meeting a little more difficult.When looking at Japanese websites with dating tips you often see the advice that you should not ask the guy out too often because that makes you seem too interested in him and he thereby loses interest. Some sites say that meeting about twice a month should be sufficient and that you should make sure that you still maintain your hobbies and meet with your friends. This goes not only for someone that you just met but also for couples that are dating already. A German friend of mine was once dating a Japanese guy and they only met about twice a month.When dating Japanese guys you need to be patientYou also see the advice that sending too many text messages is not a good idea, because it also makes you seem too interested.From a German perspective that is quite hard to understand. When I like someone I want to spend as much time with them as possible. Maybe not during the initial process of getting to know each other, but in my mind, a dating couple usually spends several days per week together unless it is a long distance relationship. Also, during the times we cannot be together I want to stay in contact through texts or phone calls.For me, meeting my boyfriend twice per month would never be enough. So at one point, I was almost ready to give up because I was sure I would never find a guy that thinks the same way, but just at this point I met someone who would turn into my husband a few years later and he was different from the other guys I met before.We exchanged numbers after the first date and started texting back and forth for a while. A few days later I asked him for a second date and he was available immediately. After that, we kind of naturally started meeting almost every weekend and officially started dating a few weeks later. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNxrK-living_healthTue, 21 Aug 2018 10:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wNxrK-living_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmVQv-living_workIn Tokyo, there is probably at least one job fair every other week. You can see adverts for job fairs on trains a lot. I guess because a lot of people think about changing jobs while on the train in the morning.When I was job hunting I participated in several job fairs. Most of them are aimed at Japanese clients but sometimes there are job fairs especially for foreign job seekers as well, e.g. the Job Haku from Pasona. It will be held again this month.At a job fair you will find several booths of several companies, where these companies try to promote themselves. As a job-seeker you can visit booths of companies that interest you and talk to the person in charge of recruiting. If they like you, you can give them your CV and contact information so they can contact you if they would like to invite you for an interview. Therefore it is a good idea to bring several printouts of your CV with you when you visit a job fair. If you have them, bring copies in Japanese and English.There are basically two different kinds of job fairs in Tokyo. One aimed at new graduates and the other aimed at people that want to change jobs. Make sure not to visit the wrong one. The fairs for new graduates will usually say shinsotsu (新卒) or something to that effect, and those for job changes will say something with tenshoku (転職).The dress code differs from fair to fair but in general, I would advise wearing a suit.Even if the dress code says "casual," it is always better to wear a suit. I would also recommend checking the participating companies and their job offers beforehand so that you know where to go and can ask more informed questions. Besides the company booths, most job fairs also offer seminars where they provide advice for job interviews, how to write a good CV and similar topics. Job fairs are, in general, free of admission for job seekers. Sometimes you even get a Quo card or something similar when you attend.My personal experience with job fairs is rather negative. For me, it seems these are just big events to promote companies. My visits to job fairs have led to several interviews but during the interviews, I mostly got the feeling the company is not really interested in hiring me. The seminars usually provide pretty general information that you can find with a simple Google search so they are not really worth attending. But if you are interested in some of the companies that have booths it might be a good way to talk to the person in charge and maybe learn more about the company and their hiring policy. Have you visited a job fair in Japan? What experiences did you have? To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmVQv-living_workWed, 15 Aug 2018 09:44:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wmVQv-living_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXkO5-living_howtoThe two Disney parks inTokyo are among the most crowded theme parks in the world. Be prepared to stand in a queueif you plan to go there. But with a little planning you can make the whole experience more pleasant.Check crowd calendar and waiting timeWhen planning your trip there are two helpful websites. This one shows you a prediction of how many people will visit the park on a certain day. It takes things like summer vacation, special events and public holidays into consideration. Try to pick a day with a low number of visitors and avoid weekends if possible. This site shows the waiting time for certain rides at the park. You can check the current waiting time and a graph for how waiting time has changed over the day for the last few days. This way you can prepare a strategyof when to go for which ride.Understand how fast passes work and prepare a strategyIn Disneyland and DisneySea you can get fast passes for free. A fast past allows you to get on a ride with a shorter queue. You can get the fast passes at vending machine like apparatuses that are situated close to the entry for each ride. You simply put your park ticket it and receive the fast pass. The fast pass sets a specific time you have to come back for the ride if you want to use it.However, you cannot go from one ride to the next and collect fast passes. Once you received one there is a certain time frame, in which you are blocked from getting new fast passes. The time frame is printed on the fast pass. The earlier you start collecting them the shorter is the waiting time for the next pass, so it is recommended to visit the parks early. I once came to Disney Land at around 10 AM and most fast passes were gone already. Try to decide which rides you would like to go for and think of a strategy how to get as many fast passes as possible.Without a fast pass, you will have to wait long for the popular rides.Bring something to kill timeEven with a good strategy on when to ride which ride you will probably end up standing in line sooner or later. Therefore make sure to bring something to kill time. Download something on Netflix and bring your tablet to watch, bring a book, bring you Nintendo Switch or your iPod with some podcasts. It doesn’t matter what you bring, just don’t forget it.Reserve restaurant in advanceSome of the restaurants in the parks can be reserved in advance. Reservation is possible one month before the planned visit. If you would like to eat at one of these restaurants make sure to get a reservation in, otherwise, you will have to queue up for food as well.I hope these tips will help someone on their next trip to Disney Land or Sea. Enjoy your time there.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXkO5-living_howtoMon, 13 Aug 2018 07:53:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXkO5-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR4R2-living_food_galleries_nasushiobara_shi_tochigiLast year my husband and I made a 3-day-trip to Nasu Kogen, which is a rural region in the Tochigi prefecture. When you live in a big city like Tokyo with a lot of people it is really nice to go to the countryside from time to time to enjoy less crowded areas and of course nature.Nasu Kogen is a great place for a trip if you live in Tokyo as it can be reached by train in a few hours and has several tourist spots you can visit. It is also a region famous for onsen so that you can also enjoy a nice relaxing bath.Nevertheless, I would recommend going by car or renting a car in Nasu Kogen as this area is quite inconvenient for train/bus travelers. In some places, the bus only comes twice a day and other places can only be reached by car.For your stay, I would recommend some of the severalonsenpensions in the area. They are quite small and most are run by a family. Some also offer private onsen. Our favorite pension is called Nemurin Oriental. It has four private onsens that you can use as much as want during your stay and the dinner is really delicious. After an appetizer plate with Japanese dishes, you can enjoy all you can eat Japanese beef for one hour. The interior style reminds you a bit of the orientjust as the name says. You can stay for about 10.000 Yen per night, but avoid Japanese holidays like Golden Week or Obon as in these times the pricegoes up.In the Nasu Kogen area you have several places you can visit for entertainment and sight-seeing. There is a monkey park, a safari park a theme park, a zoo, an alpaca farm, a musical box museum and much more. Unlike tourist spots in Tokyo, it is way less crowded in Tochigi.During our trip last year we visited the Monkey Park. It has several enclosuresthat you enter to directly interact with the monkeys. Some will just ignore you but some will jump on your head and shoulder and might even try to eat your hair, so be careful. There also is a monkey show that is held several times per day and for an optional fee, you can ride an elephant. Although the park has got up in years a little I really enjoyed the visit and I would recommend it especially for children.On the way home from Nasu Kogen we made a short stop in Utsunomiya, the capital and largest city in Tochigi prefecture. If you visit Tochigi you should definitely go to Utsunomiya to try the Gyoza there becauseUtsunomiya Gyoza are the best Gyoza in Japan. There are many small Gyoza restaurants in Utsunomiya and all taste a little different. For your first trip, I would recommend the store called Kirasse because there you can try different Gyoza from several stores and see what you like best.Do you enjoy trips to the countryside or do you rather travel to bigger cities?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR4R2-living_food_galleries_nasushiobara_shi_tochigiSun, 12 Aug 2018 07:58:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR4R2-living_food_galleries_nasushiobara_shi_tochigihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2Xvb-living_familylife_tokyoIn Japan a wedding ceremony is quite costly. If you look up the average spending of Japanese couples you will find anumber at around 3.000.000 JPY for a ceremony with about 70 to 80 persons. In the case of international couples, you will have to deal with even more cost as you might want to hold a ceremony in both countries.When my husband and I decided to get married we were both sure that we didn’t want a ceremony, simply because we couldn’t afford it without using most of our mutual savings. It seemed stupid to me to start a future together without any financial reserves. Apparently a lot of young Japanese couples have similar thoughts so right now the so-called "photo wedding" is becoming more and more popular in Japan."Photo wedding" is basically a photo shoot for wedding photos without a ceremony and just with the couple. We didn’t want to do a ceremony but we still wanted wedding photos as a memory so we were quite intrigued by this concept.Photo weddings can be held starting at around 50.000 JPY, but the price greatly depends on where you shoot, how many outfits, which outfits etc.We started to research several photo studios and made appointments with these studios that seemed interesting. The first appointment is usually free and they show you the locations and you can try on some of their dresses or wedding kimono. For a photo wedding, you usually rent all the outfits from the studio so it is an important factor which outfits they offer. Depending on the studio, you can do photos inside or outside. Some studios also offer location shooting. You can either decide between a western wedding outfit wearing a dress and tuxedo and a Japanese outfit wearing wedding kimono. Some studios also offer packages where you can take photos in different outfits.After we found a place we liked and decided on a package where we can make Japanese and Western photos we made a second appointment for consulting on hairstyle and makeup and which locations we would like to use. The day before the shoot I went to the hairdresser and nail salon to be perfectly prepared. We arrived at the studio in the morning and it started with hair and makeup. First, we took the pictures in the wedding dress. After about an hour several employees helped me change into the wedding style Kimono and adjusted my hair and makeup. I had never worn a kimono before and I felt really tied up with all the layers of clothing on me. After 30 minutes of shooting my back started to hurt and I had trouble breathing so we decided to call it a day so I could get out of the kimono.In the end, we ended up paying about 200.000 JPY for the shoot and the photos because of some options we had chosen and because we wanted a lot of pictures in digital form. All in all, I really enjoyed the experience. I felt a little bit like a famous model with so many people dressing me up and doing my hair and makeup. The photos also turned out really well and I am glad we have such a nice memory even though we couldn’t do a ceremony.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2Xvb-living_familylife_tokyoTue, 07 Aug 2018 10:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2Xvb-living_familylife_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/ME5k0-medical_healthIn my early 20s, I was suffering from insomnia, muscular tension, palpitation, mild depression and several other issues. I journeyed from doctor to doctor from hospital to hospital and no doctor could find anything. I was told to reduce stress and do more sport. I tried but it didn’t help. One day I remembered that my mother and other female relatives were suffering from the thyroid disease called Hashimoto. I did some research and found that chances are high that you also get this disease when your relatives have it, however until now during the annual checkup that every employee in Japan undergoes there were no irregularities so I always thought everything is alright. Unfortunately, the annual health checkup does not cover a check of the thyroid hormone levels.So I started looking for places that specialize in thyroid diseases and found the Wakamatsu Kawada thyroid clinic. It was easy to get an appointment online. When I arrived the waiting room was quite full and I had to wait for about an hour. They took a blood sample and I was told to come back a week later for the results.The doctor told me that I have Hashimoto due to the increased number of antibodies, however as my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was still within the regular levels so the doctor told me it is not yet necessary to take medication and that I should come back in 3 months.However, my overall situation still didn’t improve so I decided to get a second opinion and made an appointment at the Iidabashi Wellness Clinic, a women’s clinic that also covers thyroid diseases. When I showed them my blood sample results the doctor told me that according to the most recent standard values it would be appropriate to start with medication in my case. So I started taking thyroid hormones and became a patient of this clinic and slowly my condition improved.That's the medication I have to take every day.The main issue with this clinic was that even with a reservation the waiting time was quite long and because of the short opening times, I always had to rush there after work. Also, the doctor wanted me to come in at least once a month even when my medication dose became stable and usually patients come in once in 3 months when the dosage is stable.When I changed jobs I had to look for a new clinic, because I wouldn’t be able to make it to the Wellness clinic on time after work and found the Navitas Clinic in Shinjuku, which is the clinic I am most happy with. It is possible to reserve online so no need to phone and waiting time is really short even if you come in without a reservation. The clinic is open until 9:00 PM on weekdays so I still can go even if I work overtime. The clinic is not specialized in thyroid diseases so it might not be the best place if you were just diagnosed but if you have been taking your medication a while and are looking for a new doctor I would recommend this place.Finding a good clinic for thyroid diseases is not easy, but don'tgive up until you find a doctor that you are happy with.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/ME5k0-medical_healthSun, 05 Aug 2018 10:12:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/ME5k0-medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpV3B-foodSince Monday, July 2nd you can buy the new Pokémon Soda in Japanese supermarkets. This product is a part of the Project Eevee that was started last year to promote Eevee and its several evolutionary stages.This is how they look lined up at the storeThe maker is Itoen and one bottle costs about 100 Yen. (In the shop where I bought it was 102 Yen.) The recommended price from the maker is 140 Yen though.There are 4 different designs, each with differentevolutions of the Pokémon Eevee. The taste is the same for all variations. It is a soda with Mango taste.Here you can see the Umbreon/Espeon version and Eevee/Sylveon version. I arranged them with Pikachuplush from the Pokémon Cafe. There is also a version with Leafeon and Glaceon and one with Vaporen, Jolteon and Flareon, but this one was already sold out at the shop I checked. Apparently, the older Pokémon are still popular.I had a pretty hard time finding them. I looked in several convenience stores and supermarkets but they were nowhere to be seen. I finally got lucky at an Itoyokado supermarket. I would recommend checking bigger supermarkets if you want to find them.The slight mango taste is very refreshing and I have never seen any similar drink so far. I think they are great for summer. The percentage of mango juice is 1% and here you can see the full list of ingredients.If you like Pokémon you should definitely go and look for these. After you finished the drink you can also keep the bottle as a souvenir. They are also great as a drink if you want to watch the Pokémon Movie that will come to theatresthis month.What do think you about the Pokémon Soda? Would you like to try it?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpV3B-foodFri, 20 Jul 2018 18:54:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MpV3B-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7vpN-food_shopping_howtoJapan offers so many nice things for fans of the franchise that you might have never seen at home. I will introduce some of the not so common ones.1.Check your local supermarket for Pokémon goods You might be surprised but you will find Pokémon goods at most supermarkets in Japan. A famous one is the Pokémon bread.There are several different types of sweet bread that come with a Pokémon package design. Also, a random sticker is included with each.If you luck further you might also find Pokémon chewing gum and other items.2.Buy Ichiban Kuji Ichiban Kuji is a lottery for goods and merchandise of a certain franchise. You can buy a lottery ticket for about 600 Yen and will get a random item.If you’re lucky you can get big plush toys and figures, but also the lower prizes are nice, too. Usually, the lower prices are small plushies, mini towels, and keychains.Usually, there is about one new Pokémon lottery every month and the prizes are always limited to a certain lottery and cannot be obtained anywhere else. You can buy them at bookstores, the pokémon centers, and convenience stores.This is how the Kuji are lined up in the store 3.Visit the Pokémon Center on your birthday month When you visit the Pokémon Center on your birthday month you can get some free goodies and discount tickets for purchases at the center.Just visit the birthday counter and show them a document where your date of birth can be confirmed. You will receive a birth crown, a birthday card and a download option for a special Pokémon you can download to your game cartridge.You will also get a 5% discount ticket that you can use for purchases at the center. It is only valid for one day, so be sure to go on a day when actually want to purchase something. Another niche gimmick is that when you wear the crown the Pokémon center staff will say their congratulations.4.Try the Magikarp Taiyaki In some areas in Tokyo, you can get taiyaki that are shaped like a Magikarp. Taiyaki are a traditional Japanese sweet, a fish-shaped waffle filled with red bean paste. Usually, they are formed like a regular fish but the store Kuriko-an has started selling a Pokémon version of them.You can get these Magikarp taiyaki at the stores in Yokohama, Asakusa, Kichijouji and Akihabara. They basically taste like regular taiyaki and you can choose between chocolate, custard cream and red bean paste for the filling.I hope some of these ideas help you to enjoy your Pokémon fandom in Japan even further.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7vpN-food_shopping_howtoThu, 19 Jul 2018 21:35:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/G7vpN-food_shopping_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rZr-living_money_workJob interviews in Japan can be different from what you are used to in your home country. Therefore preparation is even more important.Preparation is everything when it comes to job interviewsPreparation in different languagesWhen preparing for job interviews you usually look up a list of common interview questions, think of good answers for them and maybe also practice talking in front of a mirror. As a multilingual foreigner in Japan, however, the issue is that sometimes you cannot tell in which language the interview will be conducted in. I speak German, English and Japanese fluently and have had interviews in all three languages until now. Once I applied for the same company twice and the first time the interview was in German, the second time it was in Japanese. There is also the option that the main interview is conducted in one language but for a part of the interview, you are asked to use another language.Therefore when thinking of good answers to common questions I make sure that I can phrase them properly in all three languages. For my mother tongue that usually is not a big issue, but for other languages I sometimes have to look up special terms or phrases. If, for example, you work in a certain technical field as an engineer and would not be able to explain that in Japanese because you don’t know the terms, that might leave a bad impression with the interviewer.The most common questionsThere are two questions you will be asked in almost every interview in Japan. 1.Could you please introduce yourself? (自己紹介)2.Why would you like to work with us? (志望動機)For the first question, you should make sure to not just give a summary of your previous careers but also highlight experiences and achievements that might be beneficial for the company. Do not just prepare a generic answer that you use for all interviews, try to make a connection between your experience and the company you applied for.For the second question you should have a convincing reason why you chose exactly this company and not any generic reason that could be applicable for all companies in the same industry. This can be difficult to come up with, especially if you also applied for similar companies. But as long as it sounds good and it is convincing you can basically make up your answer. No one will really remember it anyway once you joined the firm.It is also important to have a detailed vision of the job and the things you would like to do at the company as such questions also come up a lot.Once you’re done with going through the questions you might also want to familiarize yourself with Japanese interviews manners, as they might differ from want you learned at home.Good look for your next job interview.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rZr-living_money_workTue, 17 Jul 2018 10:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z4rZr-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2EQ2-living_food_galleriesI have had a sweet tooth before I came to Japan, but I have the feeling I am eating more sweets since I came here. This might be caused by the fact that you can find very cute sweets all over Japan. They are sold at convenience stores, at your local bakery or in cafes that are just as cute as the sweets they sell.Some are themed after certain characters, some look like cute animals and others are just arrangedin a very cute way. I love how much detail the Japanese sweet makers put into their sweets.Some of the pictures in the gallery are taken in some of my favorite cafes in Tokyo, which are Cafe Tint in Shimokitaza and the All C Cafe in Koenji. You should try these out if you like cute sweets. However, Cafe Tint is very popular, so you will have to turn up about 30 minutes before they open if you want to get a seat. Otherwise, you will have to write your name down in a list and wait. In the worst case, the wait can be several hours. At the All C Cafe, it is easier to get a seat, as it is rarely crowded even if you go on weekends.But you don't really have to go far places. Just check your local Lawson. They sell character themed sweets there from time to time. The Kirby and Rillakuma one in the gallery are from Lawson. The issue here is that the character themed sweets sell out fast and you might have to check several stores before you find one.Also, your local bakery is a good place to look. You might not find character are animal themed sweets here, but you can find really cute looking small cakes that are arranged very nicely.Do you like sweets as much as I do? Go check out the amazing sweets Japan has to offer.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2EQ2-living_food_galleriesMon, 16 Jul 2018 17:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2EQ2-living_food_gallerieshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR41v-living_food_kawagoe_shi_saitamaOn the long weekend in February my husband and I visited Kawagoe. Kawagoe is a town in Saitama (埼玉), also known as Little Edo or Koedo (小江戸) because many buildings there look as if they were from the Edo period.Kawagoe is introduced as "Toki no kane to kura no machi" (時の鐘と蔵のまち) at the train station. That means roughly, the city of department stores and the bell of time. Could almost be from a J-RPG.Kawagoe used to be an important trading center, so many traders have built up their department stores and shops there. Some are still there, which gives the shopping street in the north of the station a historical flair. The Toki-no-Kane (Bell of Time), located in a large bell tower on a side street of the shopping street, is Kawagoe's landmark. As the name suggests, it was rung to indicate the time.If you leave Kawagoe station to the north, you will soon reach the shopping street, where you can see the historic shops and department stores. One feels a bit like being going back in time if only the many cars and tourists were not there. Especially on weekends and holidays, it is unfortunately very full.If you turn right just before the end of the shopping street, you will reach the side street where you will find the Toki-no-Kane. If you walk a few meters further, you will find a ramen restaurant where you can taste a specialty of Kawagoe, the purple Gyoza. The restaurant is not particularly large, so waiting times may occur on busy days. We were there on a Sunday and had to queue for about 30 minutes to get a place.With Ramen, Yakisoba, Chahan and Gyoza, the restaurant offers the typical menu of a Ramen restaurant. The prices are very moderate. Here you can enjoy the specialties Kawagoe-Ramen, Futomen-Yakisoba and the purple Gyoza.When you walk to the end of the shopping street and then a bit to the left you come to Kashiya-Yokocho (菓子屋横丁), a side street where you can mainly buy sweets. Here you can find all kinds of traditional Japanese sweets.Kawagoe is well suited for day trips from Tokyo and the surrounding area. If you have the time, you should rather go during the week. Make sure to go with an empty stomach and a lot of storage space on the SD card, so you can enjoy many of the local specialties and take pictures of the historic buildings.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR41v-living_food_kawagoe_shi_saitamaWed, 11 Jul 2018 11:35:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GR41v-living_food_kawagoe_shi_saitamahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvPRd-living_shopping_money_howtoLive in Japan, especially in the bigger cities can be expensive. But there are few tricks to save money.1.Buy bentos in the evening As the sell-by date for bento lunch boxes is quite short, most shops sell them cheaper in the evening, because they can’t sell them on the next day anymore. Look out for little stickers that show the percentage the items is reduced.These are reduced by 30％.2.Buy clothes during sale or at second-hand shopsIn Japan there are two mayor sale times, summer and winter. That is basically due to the fact that companies give out bonus salaries in summer and winter. During sale, you can find clothes at 50% OFF and even more. The sale period is different for each department store so it is useful to look it up online, e.g. 109 in Shibuya usually does their sale at the beginning of July and Lumine rather in the end of July. It is best to go on the first days of sale, because good items sell out fast.Second-hand shops are also a good way to get cheap clothes, however, you need to do some digging. Sometimes you can even find brand new clothes with a price tag for a lot cheaper.3.Compare prices with online stores In my experience, online stores have cheaper prices than real stores a lot of times. I order all of my video games on Amazon because they are cheaper about 99% of the time. Especially if you use Amazon prime you don’t have to worry about shipping fees and items arrive on the same or the next day. But recently the online shop of Yodobashi Camera has good prices as well and they also offer free shipping for a lot of items without having to be a paying member of an additional service.4.Look out for closing sales Sometimes a shop closes down and needs to get rid of the remaining inventory, so they sell everything pretty cheap. Just recently a shop for used anime/game goods near me closed down and everything was sold at half price.5.Use coupons You can find online coupons for all sorts of things. Hot pepper is a pretty famous coupon site. They offer coupons for restaurants, hairdressers and nail salons. If you want to go to certain places just check if they have any coupons available or use the search function to find a place that offers coupons. Usually reserving through the site or showing your phone screen is enough, so no print-out is required.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvPRd-living_shopping_money_howtoTue, 26 Jun 2018 11:32:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MvPRd-living_shopping_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXq5X-living_moneyRecruiting agents are very common in Japan. I assume most of you have seen an advert for a recruiting company on the train already.What is a recruiting agent or headhunter?An agent basicallyis someone who is paid by a company, that is looking to fill a position, to find suitablecandidates.As a job seeker, an agent can help you find a new position when you are looking for one. When you have a LinkedIn profile it sometimes happensthat agents contact you with positions that might be interesting even though you weren't actively looking for anything.When you are looking actively you can also register at agencies so that they will contact you everytime a suitable position comes up.Usage of agents is completely free for the job seeker, but the employer pays a fee for every candidatethey hire.How to register?Registering at a recruiting agency is pretty easy. Most of the time you fill out an online form on their website and upload your CV. They will follow by e-mail or call you. Then you meet one of the agents, either at their office or a cafe and have a short talk, where you tell them about your strengths and experiences and what kind of job you are looking for.When the agent comes up with positions that might be interesting for you they will contact you and you can decide whether to apply or not. If you would like to know more they can also answer your questions about the job advert.How to apply?When you decide to apply, all you have to do is tell the agent. They will handle all the application process for you and will also schedule interviews in case you are invited. Some agents even provide helpfulinformation before the interview e. g. information about the interviewers or questions that these interviewers usuallyask. Others just send you a standard sheet with interview questions you can find with a simple google search.After an interview, you provide feedback to the agent and they give you the feedback of the company, which in rare cases even actually is helpful, but most of the time it is just something like, another candidate was better suited for the job.The issue with agentsThe main issue with agents is that their salary depends on how many of their candidates got hired and the annual salary of hired candidates. Usually, the agent fee is about a third of the annual salary of the candidate so obviously, the agent is more interested in finding jobs for candidates with high salaries.Therefore if you don'tbelong in that category you will be a low priority client for the agent, they will cancel meetings last minute, not answer your e-mails and ignore your calls.I have worked with several agents until now but it never led to any good results. Have you tried recruiting agents before?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXq5X-living_moneyThu, 21 Jun 2018 10:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wXq5X-living_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8QN7-living_galleries_tokyo_yokohama_shi_kanagawaI am a big fan of the Pokémon Franchise since I am a kid. I played Pokémon red in elementary school and have loved the games and characters since then. Of course, this hasn't changed after I moved to Japan. No, it even got worse. In Japan, you can basically get Pokémon related merchandise everywhere, even in the supermarket.And then there are events. In the Pokémon Centers almost every weekend some kind of event is held. Most of the time some people dressed up as Pikachu appear in the entrance area and do a little dancing and posing. Recently Eevee also started showing up for events. Althoughthese events are mainly aimed at children a lot of adults come to enjoy them, too. Same goes for me, so by now, I have a pretty good collection of all kinds of Pikachu photos.Based on the occasion the Pikachu costumesare dressed up, too. At Halloween Pikachu wears a spooky costume, at Christmas, it wears a Santa Outfit.The Pikachus that appear in the Pokémon Café, of course, wear waitress and chef outfits. And they come up with new ideas all the time.For special events like the anniversary, they do Pikachu dance shows, where several Pikachus appear on a stage and perform. Recently there was a big event in Sunshine City Ikebukuro for the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon Center where 20 Pikachus dressed up in ponchos celebrated the anniversary.The biggest of all Pokémon events is the annual Pikachu parade that is held in August in Yokohama every year. For a whole week the whole area around Minatomirai-station is decorated with Pikachus and several shows are heldon several stages in shopping centers and other places. On one day there is a big parade where several Pikachu parade along a street with music and dancers. For this year they even announced that there will be a night parade with light up, too.I am really looking forward to that and to what they will come up with next.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8QN7-living_galleries_tokyo_yokohama_shi_kanagawaMon, 18 Jun 2018 11:02:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/z8QN7-living_galleries_tokyo_yokohama_shi_kanagawahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr8je-livingThe application process for a job in Japan is quite lengthy and often involves several interviews and other tests. For foreigners that are not used to the procedure, it can be quite tiresome. The bigger the company the more interviewsIn general, you can say, the bigger the company is the more interviews you will have to go through. In smaller companies, a single interview can be enough whereas in bigger companies you might have to go through 5 or more.In some cases, the application process starts with so-called Setsumei-Kai (説明会). This is an event applicants can attend to learn more about the company. Usually, HR people and other employees tell you more about the job and the application process via presentations, you can ask questions and sometimes you can even bring along your CV and undergo the first interview if you still want to after what you’ve heard.Otherwise, you will have to send in your CV by e-mail or postal mail or complete an application form on the company website.After the CV screening, you might be invited for an interview or for an SPI test preceding the interview. SPI is an online test that you can do on your home computer. It usually asks math questions and Japanese language questions. Whereas the math questions are still doable with some practice the Japanese language questions are way more difficult than the hardest level of the JLPT and I find them almost impossible to do good on as a non-native speaker.Bookstores sell a lot of SPI preparation books with practice questions.But depending on the company you might not need a perfect score for passing or they put more focus on the math questions. Some companies even put English language questions in there, which can help you raise your overall score.If you passed the test you will be invited for a first interview. First interviews are usually done by an HR person and maybe also someone already working in a job similar to the one you applied for. The questions are still pretty basic and not too specific. You should definitely prepare a self-introduction and a good reason why you applied for the company and the job.The final interview is usually with the CEOIf you successfully passed the first interview you might have to go through several more interviews and tests depending on the procedure of the company. The further you go the higher the positions of the interviewers will be until you finally have an interview with the CEO.Depending on the number of interviews and your personal schedule it might take a few months until you finish the whole process. If you are currently working fulltime you might have to take time off for each interview as some companies don’t offer interviews on weekends or late in the evening.I think it has pro and cons to have such a lengthy hiring process. On the one hand, it will feel like a huge waste of time when after the 4th interview you are told that they don’t want to hire you after all. On the other hand, such a process gives you plenty of opportunities to learn about the company you applied for and this might help to avoid companies that are not a good fit for you.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr8je-livingMon, 30 Apr 2018 13:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr8je-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZPZm-living_shoppingHave you heard of the Japanese Kuji lottery, like e.g. Ichibankuji? This is a lottery where you can win mostly merchandise of a certain franchise.There are Kuji from Star Wars, Pokemon, Hello Kitty, various animes and almost all popular franchises. Banpresto with its "Ichibankuji" (一番くじ) and Furyu with its "Minna no Kuji"(みんなのくじ) are two well-known companies that sell such Kuji.The lottery ticketsare usually sold in certain Konbinis, bookstores or manga shops and are priced between 600 and 800 yen each.You simply tell the shop assistant how many tickets you want to buy and then you can draw them out of a small paper box yourself.Different categoriesThere are usually about 50 tickets in a box and with each, you win a prize. There are different categories of prizes, which are named with letters. Mostly it ranges from category A for best prize to category F or G for smaller prizes.The A-prizes are rarest. In a box there are usually only 2-3 tickets with an A-prize, so the chances to win it are pretty small. For the B-price there are a few more tickets and the number increases the further you go down in category.A-prizes are usually larger plushies or larger figures. B-prizes are smaller plushies or figures and the other prizes are rather small stuff, like mini towels, small plates, drinking glasses or key rings.So you have a smaller chance to win one of the higher prizes and a larger chance for the lower prizes. The A prizes are generally worth much more than the ticket price, but the lower prizes are usually worth less. But if you're a fan of the franchise, you're probably happy about most of the prizes. Except for the mini towels and clear files maybe. They tend to pile up.Here you can see the prizes of the Mario Odyssey and Mimikyu Lottery that were held at the end of 2017, the higher prizes are large plushies, below there are mini towels, small plates, and key rings.Mimikyu Kuji at the Manga storeMario Oddyseey Kuji at the KonbiniFor the lower prizes, there are often several motifs where you can choose from. But sometimes it's also random.The last one gets an extra prizeThere also is a "Last One" prize. That's a prize you win automatically when you buy the last ticket out of the box. I haven't managed that yet, because you probably have to go to the shop every day and check how many tickets are left. This can usually be checked with posters displayed in the store.With 5 or fewer tickets left it is then worthwhile to go for it. Last-one-prizes are usually of similar or even higher value than A-prices and are usually traded online for 5,000 yen and more.My best winnings so farSince I buy Kuji too often, here is a small gallery of my best prizes so far.This is a Mastersword umbrella and a Hylian Shield backpack. They came from the Zelda Lottery in March 2017, which was held to celebrate the release of Breath of the Wild, and were an A and B prize. Unfortunately, I've never used them, because they're too valuable to me. But they also look nice as a decorative item on my shelf. If you played Breath of the Wild, you will know why they chose an umbrella.That's a Pikachu with a slowpoke swim ring. It comes from a Pokemon edition with special summer motifs. It was a C-prize.This is a Mario Odyssey Gumba from the above mentioned Mario Odyssey Lottery. It was a B-prize. In my opinion, Nintendo could make an entire collection in the design.Information can be found hereInformation on when new Kuji go on sale can and where they can be bought be found on the official pages (linked above). Unfortunately, the sites are in Japanese only.Kuji of popular franchises sell out quickly, so don't wait too long.Pokemon kuji are generally available in all Pokemon shops and centers in Japan.If you are in Japan, enjoy a good surprise and collect merchandise, you should definitely try your luck.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZPZm-living_shoppingMon, 16 Apr 2018 22:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wZPZm-living_shoppinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaN19-living_medical_howtoIn Japan, hay fever is a prominent issue in spring. If you suffered from hay fever in your home country, chances are high you will also suffer from it in Japan.If you only stay for a year or less, it might be the best to just bring your allergy medication with you if you take any. If you stay longer it might be necessary to look for suitable medication that is available in Japan. Besides allergy pills, Japan also offers a lot of other goodies to help you deal with your allergies.Allergy medicationSome allergy meds are available in drug stores without a prescription. You can find a wide variety of allergy medication in drugs stores.In my experience, these either don’t work or make you feel very tired. Therefore I would recommend going to a doctor and get prescribed meds. Usually, these are cheaper as well, as 70% of the cost is covered by your health insurance. If you buy at the drug store you have to pay the full price out of your own pocket. You can get allergy meds at internal medicine clinics (内科) or special allergy clinics (アレルギー科).Sprays and crèmes Besides the pills, you can also buy sprays and crèmes that are supposed to prevent the pollen from sticking to your skin and clothes. I have tried several of these but none of them really seemed to help.Don'twaste your money on these.Other goodiesOf course, we cannot forget about the go-to item in hay fever season, the mask. You can find a great variety for all occasions in drug stores.It helps to prevent the pollen from affecting your nose and mouth, but as the pollen sticks to the mask it will now affect your eyes even worse.But don’t worry, there are also special hay fever glasses that you can wear to protect your eyes. You can buy them at most convenience stores, drug stores or even the 100 Yen store.Hay fever glasses for childrenThe only issue here is that if you wear mask and glasses together the glasses will fog up pretty easily.If you buy some of the more expensive ones (e.g. the hay fever glasses from JINS), you can also get glasses with fog-up protection.Now you’re only left to deal with the issues that you will look like a complete weirdo and that your iPhone X face recognition won’t work anymore.Hay fever season in Japan can be pretty nasty so it is important to prepare accordingly.But there is also some good news. In Japan, tissues are handed out almost everywhere for promotion purposes, so at least you will never run out of tissues.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaN19-living_medical_howtoThu, 12 Apr 2018 12:24:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/zaN19-living_medical_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRvx2-educationJLPT, the four letters that probably every Japanese learner hates. What exactly is tested in the JLPT and does it make sense to take the test?What is the JLPT? JLPT stands for Japanese Language Proficiency Test. In Japanese, it is日本語能力試験 (Nihongo Noryoku Shiken). It is divided into 5 levels from N1 (most difficult) to N5 (simplest) and tests the level of your Japanese by asking questions about grammar, Kanji, listening comprehension, vocabulary and text comprehension.It takes place twice a year, in summer and winter. In Japan, there are examination sites all over the country. It is held in several other countries all over the world as well.The test is structured in a way that you have to choose one of four answers for each question and is thus similar to the TOEIC test for English.Unlike the TOEIC test, where you end up with a score, the JLPT is all about passing or failing. To pass, a certain number of questions must be answered correctly, which varies according to level. You get an exact evaluation with the results, butyou don't put the details on your CV.How meaningful is the JLPT? I don't really think it is meaningful in terms of how good your overall Japanese level is, because for me also the ability to speak a language and the ability to write texts are important for the overall assessment. These are neglected completely in the JLPT questions.It just tells you how well you have mastered grammar, vocabulary, etc at the time of taking the test. I have learned a lot of vocabulary and many grammar structures for the most difficult level, but I have forgotten most of them by now because I do not need them in everyday life and I work in a company where internal communication is almost entirely in Japanese.Ultimately, in my opinion, the JLPT tells you how good someone can prepare for a test.Who should take the JLPT? Basically, it is recommended for any foreigner who wants to work in Japan or graduate from a Japanese university. Jobs often require a certain JLPT level. Of course, you can prove your Japanese skills in other ways, but the JLPT is the most common way.This does not mean that passing the N1 will automatically get you a job, but it should increase your chances. In general, certificates of any kind, insofar as they are related to the position sought, are well received by HR people in Japan. In my opinion, anyone who is looking for a full-time job that requires knowledge of Japanese should have passed at least N2.Many Japanese universities require N1 if you want to graduate as a foreigner. For short-term stays, however, a lower level can be sufficient.For all those who do not use Japanese in their profession, the test is not really necessary. It can be used as a measure to evaluate your learning efforts in certain aspects, but otherwise, it doesn't do much for you.In Japan, it costs 5.500 Yen to take the test. So if you want to save money, skip levels N4 and N5, because they are not really important. However, it could be helpful to have experienced the whole procedure with simple questions so that you already know how everything works and are used to the time pressure when taking the more difficult tests. Language schools also offer mock exams.A passed JLPT test does not lose its validity. Depending on the employer, however, you may be expected to take it again at certain intervals.Is N1 difficult? In my opinion, N1 is not difficult, but that is always relative. You should not expect to pass the N1 after a year of learning unless you are a genius. There should be a certain basic level and you have to invest a lot of time in learning.Especially with the N1 there is a lot of vocabulary and many grammar structures which are not very common and which you have to learn especially for the test. But it should not be an issue if you have enough time for preparation.There are many textbooks and exercise books written especially for the JLPT, containing a lot of practice questions that you should definitely work through in order to get a feeling for what is asked and how the questions work.In bigger Japanese bookstores, there is a large variety of JLPT study books.At the end, a positive message for all Otakus. Watching Anime can pay off at the JLPT. According to this article, there was a listening comprehension question in 2006 where a scene from Neon Genesis Evangelion was used. But please don't use that as an excuse to put away the textbook and watch anime instead.Have you ever taken the JLPT and how useful do you think it is?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRvx2-educationWed, 04 Apr 2018 11:05:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/GRvx2-educationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPOxy-money_medical_healthLong-term illnesses affect many aspects of your life. As a foreigner in Japan, depending on your contract and visa type, it might have negative consequences for your job and visa as well.In this article, I will talk about how long-term illnesses are handled for full-time employees with the Japanese social insurance "Shakai-Hoken" (社会保険). For self-employed workers, part-time workers, etc. conditions are different.Sick notes are expensive in JapanIf you have a cold, headaches or other minor illnesses, you usually do not get a sick note in Japan. If you want to recover at home, you can take paid or unpaid holidays, unless you work for one of the few companies that offer paid sick days.You won't get a sick note for a cold.In the case of more serious illnesses that require hospitalization, for example, you also get a sick note (診断書) in Japan. These are issued by your doctor. But since in Japan you have to pay 30% of the doctor's fee yourself, the cost for a sick note is about 5,000 JPY.Sickness allowance from the 4th dayFrom the 4th day that you are ill, you can request sickness allowance from your health insurance company. Sickness allowance from the company is only available if the company offers it voluntarily, but it is not required by Japanese law. For the first 3 days you can request paid holidays if your company allows it otherwise, they are unpaid.The amount is about 60% of your average gross monthly wage for the last 3 months (including travel costs and overtime pay). Bonus salaries are not included in the calculation. This is a relatively big limitation and since you have to pay 30% of the treatment costs yourself, it could become financially scarce.However, there are also private supplementary insurance policies that can cover treatment costs and loss of earnings. Unfortunately, most insurers only take applicants that have never been seriously ill and have no chronic diseases."Hoken no Madoguchi" is an insurance specialist that can help you find the right insurance for you.A lot of bureaucracySickness allowance can be claimed for any period of time, but it is usually applied for monthly. You can only apply for money for a previous period and not in advance.The application form consists of four pages. You fill in the first two yourself. They ask for things such as account details, address, symptoms, etc. The other two pages are completed by your doctor and your employer.When everything is filled in, you send it to the health insurance and two to four weeks later you receive the money by bank transfer.Sickness allowance is paid for a maximum of 1.5 years for the same illness.Possible consequences for job and visaIf you are sick for several months, you might also have to worry about your job. In Japanese law, if the illness is work-related, it is unlawful to dismiss the employee during the treatment period. However, if it is not, this restriction does not apply and the reason "the employee is mentally or physically incapable of working" is regarded as an allowable reason for dismissal.The sickness allowance can still be received after you left the company/were dismissed.If you are in Japan on a work visa, you should also worry about that when you are ill for a long time. As long as you're employed, it's valid. If you leave the company, however, it is only valid for three months from that date and then loses its validity if you do not take up a new job that also qualifies you for a visa. However, there are also special visas for foreigners who are in treatment, which you can switch to in an emergency.There could also be problems with the extension of your work visa after overcoming an illness and working again. If you are sick, you do not receive a salary and do not pay taxes for that time period, which the Immigration Office will notice, because you have to submit documents that explain how much tax you paid in the last couple years to renew your visa.However, it is possible to enclose an informal document explaining the circumstances. Whether the visa is extended, however, depends on the assessment of the person in charge of your application.As you see, in Japan you are somewhat covered when worst comes to the worst, but additional private insurances might be a good idea, especially when you have a family.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPOxy-money_medical_healthTue, 03 Apr 2018 10:10:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/MPOxy-money_medical_healthhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2Emb-livingFinding a full-time job in Japan and thereby obtaining a visa is the dream of many foreigners, but it is definitely not an easy task. I have some experience with job hunting in Japan and would like to share some of it as it might be helpful for others. Please note that everything is based on my personal experience and might not be universally applicable.Conditions for finding a full-time job in Japan A basic requirement to find a job in Japan (except as an English teacher) is a good knowledge of Japanese and English. It is recommended to take the JLPT (at least N2) and the TOEIC test if you’re a non-native speaker of English, as these are always well received by HR people. Furthermore, it is advantageous to have a bachelor's degree or better, as nowadays most Japanese job seekers also have a bachelor's degree and in the end, they are your competitors. In most cases, a bachelor's degree is also a requirement for the visa application, although it is not necessary in all cases.When I graduated high school I decided to do a business-oriented bachelor's course with a focus on Japan. I would not recommend pure Japanese studies since it narrows down your job chances.Using Working Holiday for job hunting In general, you have a better chance of finding a job if you are already in Japan than if you are trying to find a job from abroad, because you can come in for a personal interview and possibly also start working directly if you already have a suitable visa (e.g. working holiday). If not, it is usually easier to change an existing visa than to apply for a new work visa from abroad. Some job advertisements also indicate directly that candidates who are already in Japan are preferred.As a German, if you are under 30 years old, you can easily obtain a Working Holiday Visa, which allows you to stay in Japan for a year and work in almost any job for as many hours as you want. There is the assumption that you can only work part-time with a working holiday visa, but this assumption is not correct. You can also work full-time and have almost no restrictions on what kind of job you do, only the so-called “night jobs” such as host/hostess, work in massage parlors, etc. are taboo. In this respect, the Working Holiday Visa is even better than a regular work visa, because these are always limited to a certain type of job.However, the working holiday program was not designed for people coming to Japan to look for long-term jobs, so you should not mention that in your visa application. But once you got the visa, no one cares about what you do in Japan anymore, as long as you don’t do anything illegal and pay your taxes. Working holidays Visas are also available for a lot of other nationalities, but conditions for applying may vary.So for example, you can take on a part-time job and look for a long-term job or do an internship with a possible chance to get a job offer at the end. It is also relatively easy to change from a working holiday visa to a work visa. But you can only get a Working Holiday Visa once in a lifetime, so you should make good use of the time and consider whether you would like to use the year to look for a job or rather to travel the country. The latter can also be a very good experience because once you start working in Japan, you don't have that much time to travel anymore.Internships in Japan If you come to Japan as a new graduate, internships might be a good option for you, as taking part in the regular job hunting process for new graduates is pretty difficult if you didn’t study at a Japanese university.Long-term internships are pretty rare in Japan but still, some companies offer internships with a duration of several months especially for foreigners usually with a chance of receiving a job offer at the end of the internship.The best place to find such internships is Kopra.org. Many of my fellow students got a permanent job after an internship they found there. Companies that are likely to offer jobs after an internship are e.g. Bosch, Tüv or Mitsubishi Fuso. I myself also found an internship via Kopra but unfortunately, I was not offered a job but a German colleague who started an internship at the same time still works for the company today.Internships are paid pretty well in Japan As an intern with good Japanese skills, you can earn quite a good salary, on average 130,000-150,000 yen per month. Some companies also provide company apartments for interns, so you don't have look for an apartment yourself.In my case, the company also supported me with dealing with the authorities and opening my bank account, which was very helpful at the beginning.I wouldn't recommend internships without remuneration or with very low remuneration, as you can make more with a part-time job. In Tokyo, the minimum wage is 932 yen per hour and most part-time jobs pay slightly more.In contrast to full-time jobs with internships, you also have a realistic chance to find one from abroad. When applying from abroad the interviews are conducted via telephone or Skype. Some of my fellow students have managed to find an internship that way.Don’t graduate too early! For some internships, however, it is mandatory that you are a student, so if you want to do an internship after graduation, you should check beforehand what requirements the company of your choice has and maybe delay the submission of your thesis a little bit.I find such internships a good opportunity to get to know work life in Japan. If you are lucky and offered a job, you also know what to expect, and if not, you already have some work experience in Japan, which can facilitate your further job search.After the end of my internship I applied for further internships, but also permanent positions and immediately was accepted for an internship at Mercedes, however, shortly afterwards I received an offer for a permanent position, decided to go for it and thus had my first full-time job in Japan.Have you experience with internships or working holiday in Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2Emb-livingWed, 28 Mar 2018 17:19:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w2Emb-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Kr9-shopping_chiyoda_ku_tokyoAt the same time as the new Pokémon Café, the new Pokémon Center DX in Tokyo has opened as well. For the opening, there are many special events and limited goodies up for grabs.The new Pokémon Center DX is directly connected to the café. When you enter the center, the entrance to the café is on your left. It is located on the 5th floor of a separate building of the Takashimaya department store in Nihonbashi, but can only be entered via the main building. First, you have to go to the 8th floor and then follow the arrows and staff of the Pokémon Center pointing you in the right direction.Snorlax welcomes you in the entrance area.The largest Pokémon Center in JapanThe new DX is the largest Pokémon Center in Japan and has a huge selection. Where other centers are cleaning up older merchandise because space has to be created for new collections, there will probably never an issue with space here.The center has a very futuristic style. There are video walls with scenes from the games and a huge touch screen wall with a kind of Pokédex where you can look up information about Pokémon. This is also available in English. On weekends and holidays, however, you will probably have to queue up. A waiting area has even been set up especially for the touchscreen.Pikachu on the touchscreen PokédexOn the occasion of the opening of the new center, three new Pikachu plushies were released, but apart from the firefighter Pikachu they can be bought in other Pokémon centers, too.Hakama PikachuFirefighter PikachuGentlemen PikachuIn the first few weeks, visitors of the Pokémon Center DX have many goodies to catch. In March and April, visitors to the center can get three different plastic cards printed with Pokémon motifs, depending on the period of time during which they visit the center.If you also buy something, you will get this Gentlemen Pikachu promo card for the trading card game and if you buy goods exceeding an amount of 5,000 Yen, you will get a mini fan with Pokémon motive. You can only get these goodies while stocks last.Digital goodies have also been prepared. In the period from March 14th to April 22nd, you can get a special Snorlax with the attack Sunny Day if you bring along your 3DS with Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon.Pikachu GreetingsFrom March 17th to April 22nd, Pikachu Greetings are also held every weekend at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. Two people dressed as Pikachu come into the entrance area of the center and wave and hop around happily. For good photos, you should be there about 15 minutes earlier to get a good place. Matching the new plushies, of course, these are no simple Pikachus, but Gentleman Pikachu and Hakama Pikachu.The Takashimaya is also participatingThe department store in which the new Pokémon Center was built of course also takes part in the opening ceremonies. In the entrance area, you could find a huge Pikachu monument until March 27th and limited merchandise was being sold. However, as the Takashimaya is rather a department store for luxury brands, prices are not exactly cheap.Can you find the Pokémon that sneaked in?They also sold sweets with Pokémon motifs, which were a bit more affordable. I've had some Pikachu macaroons.A life-size Pikachu statue made of gold was also exhibited from March 14th to March 19th. This one could not be purchased, but smaller versions were for up for sale. The cost was just 432,000 yen.A "shiny" PikachuAlso, the shop windows on the outside of the Takashimaya were populated by many Pikachus for about a week.The opening of a new Pokémon Center is always a big deal and is celebrated accordingly. But that doesn't mean it's all over in the end of April. In April the 20th-anniversary celebrations of the first Pokémon Center, where events will be held all over Japan, will begin.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Kr9-shopping_chiyoda_ku_tokyoTue, 27 Mar 2018 22:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/w5Kr9-shopping_chiyoda_ku_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr8dg-food_chiyoda_ku_tokyoOn March 14 the new Pokémon Café opened in Nihonbashi. It is located on the 5th floor of the west building of the Takashimaya department store. It is the first ever permanent Pokémon Café in Japan.Reservation is required and can be obtained online at the official website.Due to the Café being pretty popular it’s quite difficult to get reservations for table seats. As for counter seats is easier, but still the early the better. One slot in the Café is 90 minutes and every person needs to order at least one drink or food.Food and drinksAll food and drinks are Pokémon themed. There are a few main dishes, a lot of them Pikachu inspired. The pikachu plate for the dish can be purchased to take home as a souvenir.Despite the looks it's actually a bit spicy.I’d advise not to go too heavy on the main dishes, as the real highlight is the desserts.Eat this Jigglypuff cheesecake and you'll fall asleep.This Mimikyu Crêpe is filled with fruits, cream, and a pancake. The ears are filled with bananas and cream. Sounds delicious? It is.The Lapras parfait also is pretty good.For drinks, you can order several lattes, floats, a fancy Gengar drink and regular soft drinks.There are 3 different floats, one for each eeveelutionof the first gen.The mugs for the lattes can be purchased. They have a Pikachu and an Eevee version.Prices are quite expensive, like in most character Cafés. But for fans of the franchise, it’sdefinitely worth a visit. A main dish is around 1,500 Yen and drinks are at around 900 Yen.No need to worry about your Japanese skills for ordering, as all orders are placed via tablet, thatis available in English as well. With this tablet you place orders, check your history and request your bill.Pikachu comes to visitOnce during your time slot, Chef Pikachu will come to visit. He will walk through the Café so that everyone can take photos and wave their hands at Pikachu.The interiorThe Café design is inspired by the Pokéball design that you can find in several elements. In the middle, there is a huge glass display where you can see a lot of rare plushies.There also is a huge snorlax plushy just chilling next to a huge Pikachu, which are nice for taking photos. Feel free to ask the staff, they will happily assist you.The background music is, of course, all the Pokémon soundtracks you love.Free goodies and merchandiseEvery visitor gets a random lunch mat with one of the first 151 Pokémon that can be taken home.Geodude lunch matFor every drink you order you get one out of 6 random plastic coasters. Mew is rarest apparently.The Café also sells special merchandise, like chef and waitress Pikachu plushies, clear files with Pokemon Café design, mugs, tumblers, and Pokemon themed sweets.These doughnuts look delicious but are a bit pricey.All in AllIf you like Pokémon, you will probably love this Café. For adults that played the games as a child, it will bring back all the good old memories and let you leave with a nice feeling of nostalgia. You can also enjoy the Café with your kinds, that will probably go crazy, when Pikachu turns up.If you're on a budget you might want to keep a close eye on your order history, so that you won't be flabbergasted, when you see the bill.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr8dg-food_chiyoda_ku_tokyoMon, 26 Mar 2018 22:12:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Eli/wr8dg-food_chiyoda_ku_tokyo