I have been living in and out of Japan my whole life and I have lived here for over 15 years now.

I've been working here since 2019 and one thing that has been bothering me so much is how prevalent bullying is not just in schools, but especially in work places. Thankfully, I personally have not experienced any bullying. While I have experienced "power harrasment", it has never been a big deal.

But recenlty started working at a new company around a month ago, and I have had some collaeges open up about getting bullied both physically and verbally. They are getting bullied by their own colleauges that they have been working together for over a decade.

We all have so much to deal with in our lives outside of work and now people are scared to even go to work.

And non of them decided to say anything to the managers.

I also see a lot of bullying and just straight up harrasment on Japanese TV too.

Does anyone know why this is the case in Japan? I've heard other horror stories from some other friends.

Please share if you have any stories of your own.

Tozai line, I was seated and it was not very busy but still early evening. A woman got down on her hands and knees and started repeatedly banging her head on the floor. Hard. Without saying a word.

We all just froze. At first I was concerned it was a seizure and could need some intervention, but it seemed voluntary and no one knew what to do. Then, at the next stop she got up and walked off just before the doors closed as if nothing happened. She left her phone behind, and the man closest to her handed it to the station conductor at the next stop. No one reacted other than some glances exchanged.

The shock of this happening and the strangeness of no one reacting in any way really got to me at the time. It really didn't help that I had just moved to Tokyo when this happened, but I have never experienced anything close to this since.

I’ve been wondering about this for a while. I have some few coworkers and friends from developing countries living in Japan, and from what they’ve told me, living here has become harder for them.

I know some people have to send money back home to support their families, and with the weak yen, their savings and the money they send back aren’t worth as much anymore. There’s also the issue of xenophobia and how foreigners are treated here.

I know everyone has different opinions. Some people prefer to stay in Japan because they can still earn more here than they would back home and their quality of life is better overall. According to them But it got me thinking about how different things might be for people from wealthier countries.

For example, someone from a high-income country might earn less in Japan than they would back home. If things don’t work out here they can always return home and potentially earn more. But for people from developing countries, moving back home could mean taking a significant pay cut or having fewer opportunities, so leaving Japan might not be as easy.

I’m curious about how you guys see your future here. Do you plan to stay in Japan permanently or do you eventually want to move somewhere else? Has the weak yen affected your decision especially if you send money back home? Do you feel like your quality of life in Japan is still better than what you’d have back home?

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Do you see Japan as your long-term home, or would you rather move somewhere else if you had the chance? I’m not trying to offend anyone just curious about how people from different backgrounds see their future here.

I live in the mountains of Nagano and am looking to buy my first car. Going for somewhat of a beater because I'm poor and will probably get some dings and dents as I get used to driving in Japan and to driving inaka mountain roads. The price difference between a used car with and without turbo is significant. The only hard requirement seems to be 4WD for winter here, but opinions seem mixed about turbo - they range from absolutely necessary to "nice to have". Anyone do mountain drives without turbo? If it's just a luxury then I'm willing to forego it for a difference in the hundreds of thousands in price I'm seeing on car sensor. Mainly looking at some older Hustler 4WDs for their full flat backseats for camping and because they're cute.

EDIT- Rough stats so far:

Turbo necessary : 5
Turbo nice but unnecessary: 8
Turbo unnecessary: 3

Tokyo resident. I moved out of an apartment at the end of August, and just now I just got a phone call from my former landlord to say he has finished restoring the apartment and wants me to pay the whole fee (about 25万). After 7 years there I had left some tears and small marks on the wallpaper, and maybe a scratch on the floor (might have been there already though), but otherwise in pretty good condition. However, he seems to have revamped the whole thing: new wallpaper, floor, even the inside of the closet.

I brought up the ‘useful life’ (耐用年数) of these items and how to some extent these are no longer the tenant’s responsibility and there’s a way to calculate that, but he had no idea what I was talking about. He’s a very old guy who is losing his mind a little - it sounds like he just called someone to fix up the apartment, didn’t really make a record of anything, and now the bill has arrived he wants me to pay it.

He says he will hand me that bill, but I’m not sure where to go from there. It’s kind of difficult to start negotiating with someone who doesn’t even realise negotiating is an option. Any advice?

I've been running a business in tokyo since 2008 at the same location was on a 5 year contract until corona when they suddenly shortened it to 3 years,

But this time, 2 weeks before my renewal date, my landlord contacted the estate agent and told them he's insisting on a 100,000 yen PCM price rise from the current 290,000 to 390,000 PCM!! seriously, wtf!

She had already brought the renewal letter around on the first of this month and the same price 290,000 was written on that renewal notice.

I know this is not on and there are some protections for tennants. next week I will get advice from the city hall because it's absolutely impossible for me to move out within 2 weeks and I can't afford the new rent.

Anyone faced anything similar... note this is not a residence.

My 2019 Toyota built-in navigation is sooo good. It even shows what lane should you be in through multiple intersections beforehand. And it shows detailed scheme of complex intersections so you won't accidentaly take a side road. Makes driving in big cities a breeze.

I'm planning to get an older car and I would hate to go back to Google maps after that. Any recommendations?

anyone knows how or where to fix bidet in japan? i might accidentally use a cleaner with an “alkaline” in it and it probably got inside the machine. it is not working anymore

I am moving to a new apartment in Tokyo and it's a small building with only 2 other residents. I want to make a good impression because of the small community situation and because I work from home, so want to give omiyages to each neighbor. I am coming back from the US and I want to know if there are any particular American snacks or goods that Japanese natives tend to like or want more than others or any insight into a good gift from the US. Thank you!

I have ahamo and an iPhone. I traveled to the US and utilized their international plan for its allotted time. I did the same exact thing last year since I know it only works for two weeks so I bought another eSIM for data.

When I came back, I had to reset my network settings a few times because my data wasn’t working. I eventually got it to work.
The bad part was I ate through my data within the first 10 days of the month and that has never happened before. I don’t think I had WiFi assist on but I make sure it’s off now.

What’s weird is that I have WiFi at home and at work so my data usage is usually 10gb out of 30gb. The only change this year was ahamo added more data as a test which started in August. Regardless I still burned those 40gb in those 10 days.

I ran out of data in September as well. I made it to the 20s this time around but it’s still strange.

Looking at my current data I’m at 24/40gb but my mail app used 2.3!

Did they know this in advance and that’s why we were given more data? I have turn off cellular for every app if I want to make it through the month.

Edit: case closed

Good morning! Is anyone experiencing problems with Rakuten cell towers? They must’ve recently built one in my city because it’s the only cell service I connect to.

It’s over my entire city. It would be fine if the data actually worked. It says I have full bars and 5G but I literally can’t search for anything on the internet. The only thing I can do is send text messages and that takes a while too.

I’ve tried switching to LTE, turning off my phone, and turning on airplane mode. Nothing seems to work and I can’t connect to any other cell service.

Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem because it feels like I’m getting cheated out of a data plan.

I will paste the image in the comments because of the rules, but I saw several of these trucks in a row both with these tiny trash bags in the bottom left of the back of the car, looking full of like curry or something.. is this just something dumb and random, or is there like a system I’m unaware of for these trucks?

Apparently it happened in the kuril islands, must be pretty big considering I got a notification down in Tokyo.

Seems like there's nothing on NERV and nothing mentioned on the internet. Wondering if it was a glitch

Edit: Just got another alarm saying they're cancelling the earthquake warning

Trying to decide on bed options for my guest room. If it's mostly single guests a semi double seems fine, but I will get the occasional couple. Can a couple fit on a semi double? Should I get a double or some other solution? I hate to fill so much of the room with a bed that only gets used every few months.

Hi! wondering if it’s possible to reach Minami-Iwakuni Station from Fukuoka Airport via train? My family is planning to visit us. or would it be better if they got off from Osaka Airport instead? They can’t land in Iwakuni Airport or Hiroshima Airport due to connecting flights and long layovers.

Just overheard a discussion about whether people say please and thank you to AI, whether it's okay to be impolite etc.

This made me wonder... In my language, there is no difference between whether you speak to a friend or a stranger or your boss, apart from the please and thank yous and content of course. In Japanese, there are many different levels of politeness which use completely different words sometimes. What level do Japanese people use when addressing an AI like ChatGPT or Claude?

Not trying to mount anybody. Just curious.

Like anybody with eyes can see that everything in Japan is getting expensive really quickly. Prices are going up in everything from food to electronics. Luckily 100 yen shops still exist and I hope those never go away.

However the part of the conversation I don’t understand is that salaries aren’t keeping up with the inflation.

I came to Japan in 2019, right after college. And I started with a pretty low salary of 300,000 a month.

But ever since then my raises have been pretty consistent. On average 7% raises annually, and a larger 30% bump for title changes like when I jumped from Analyst to Associate. And when I went from Associate to Senior Associate. I also do have discretionary bonuses that’s counted in number of months, some years I only get 1, some years i got as many as 9. Most years about 3.

My college degree was in Greek History. I atleast went to a top 20 us school. But it’s not like I’m a lawyer or a finance guy. My field is market research.

So I don’t want to live in a bubble. How has your field been.

After pregnancy loss, found out my boyfriend is married and have a kid, I suffered depression here in Japan. I cant go to work because I break down during work. (tried to work twice). I told my boss that I will leave for good but told me I can have vacation to relax and refresh my mind. But, in my mind, I don't know if how long will I be okay or if I will be okay after going back home. I dont want to be a meiwaku for them and if I go on vacation, I would still continue paying taxes and insurances here. I have been on leave( including maternity leave) since July and no income since then. I am just tired. I dont know what should i do

Edit:
I have read all your comments and advices. I cant reply to everyone individually, but I’m truly grateful for every piece of advice.

I am seeing a psychiatrist and on medication now.

I didn’t expect to feel a little lighter just by venting and sharing what I’ve been going through. Thank you so much 🤍

Hello everyone,

My visa renewal is coming up and i would like to hear from people who have used the online system. I have it set up and i was considering using it this time, however i have seen quite a few comments recently (or heard from people at work) saying they wish they had gone in person instead, that it was taking longer online etc.

If there is anyone who has used the online system for renewal, i would really appreciate sharing how it went, if it really were much different from going in person.

Thank you so much.

I joined a Japanese company this year and after the 3 months training period, I got enrolled into my team within the technical department.

I am 25F, one of the very few foreigners within the company. I was assigned the work for a subject I never learned in school or college, my japanese level is N2 and most of the time I rely on translation apps for complex technical words that even japanese don't understand.

All the new hirees were assigned an instructor to guide them through the work.

I was never asked for JLPT but I don't struggle with my work as such.

Ever since I got assigned to my department, I have always been very quick to finish my projects. Sometimes I did miss to do the non work related stuff but I have become more mindful about it now so no one else, especially my instructor has to cover up for me.

Recently I have noticed that my instructor has started to publicly humiliate me by talking down on me in front of everyone else.

Every question that I ask him would lead to him getting super annoyed and giving backhanded comments.

I have become scared to even ask him for help but when I google or use Gemini, he gets angry and is never satisfied with my answer or approach. None of my work is ever approved until I write the answer that he gives.

It is scary to even come to the office because I sit next to him.

I have a coworker who is always up on my business, I used to be annoyed by it but now he has become a life saver. Whenever he sees me struggling, he would just come to help me.

And before anyone assumes, he is not into me I am sure. It's just his nature to want to help people.

My instructor has started asking him to not help me whenever he does, but he does it anyway by giving some excuse or other.

Today the printer wasn't working so I did my best to fix it myself, but my coworker ran to me to help and fixed it.

Ever since that happened, my instructor has been giving me cold shoulder and silent treatment.

I am holding back my tears, writing this inside the women's toilet. Afraid to return to my seat and face him again.

So THAT happened. I was working from home in Ibaraki. i quickly pulled up my phone when it did that *alert* tone, opened NERV and just stared as the ring as it traveled through hokkaido and eastern japan. I was paralyzed in anticipation (?), but also couldn't think of what to do... I don't have a bousai bag... I don't know what to grab... even if it said a 9.9 quake is here??? So my instinct was to shut my eyes, lay in bed, AND WAIT FOR THE QUAKE??? WHEN I HAD >120s to FLEE??

I need better instincts and contingencies. Hope y'all have it too.

Hi guys! This is the first time I'm ordering something to ship to my address instead of a locker because I did not have the choice. The site I ordered on uses Sagawa Express to deliver packages and my package got sent on the 12. On the site, it says that my package is in delivery for a few days and I cannot track my package at all on Sagawa as the service is suspended.

So far, I don't think they tried to deliver it to my address because I have no notification of a visitor on my interphone but I also read that Sagawa Express is very fast regarding deliveries. I got no email saying that my package was delivered on anything and the brand doesn't send emails apparently when you're supposed to receive the package as you're supposed to check on Sagawa Express tracking site.

The closest Sagawa Sales Office is more than one hour away via public transportation and I'm afraid that if I call, they won't have anyone that speaks a little bit of English.

Should I worry about not receiving anything while it's been days it's the same status on the site where I ordered from or should I try to call anyway to ask about my package? Or should I wait for a few days ? I just want my clothes 🥀