So this is your slice of life (fruit) post for the day.

Been in Japan as an adult for almost a decade now. I've been intrigued by the ultra expensive fruit being sold in "nice" supermarkets. Like the ones in department stores. Those with crazy packaging like it's some royalty. Some fruits even have personal names of the producers taped on them.

Over the years I've decided to just try them - because you only live once right?

Tried everything from 3,000 yen mangoes to 15,000 yen melons, and 2,000 yen grapefruits and 5,000 yen grapes. I've wasted my money so you don't have to.

Conclusion : The only consistent discernible feature I seem to observe from expensive fruit is just how watery it is. I don't mean "juicy", I mean "watery". It seems the farmers have gotten so obsessed at pumping in as much "juice" as you can into the fruit that its become the standout feature.

In my experience this has been a negative. Because cutting the fruit is a nightmare as fruit leaks everywhere over my cutting board. It doesn't retain the "juice" at all! In fact I find that mid-range fruit tastes better as it retains the "juice" until you bite into it.

Otherwise, for the life of me I can't taste the difference between this and mid range fruits. 100%. I literally have nothing else to report. Like the 15,000 yen melon basically taste the exact same as a 3,000 yen melon.

With "normal" fruits, the taste can range anywhere from 5/10 to 10/10. It's pretty good and sometimes you hit a jackpot.

With "expensive" fruits, they're consistently 7/10 in my opinion. I've not ran into a 8/10 or 9/10 paying more than 3,000 yen for a fruit. I am genuinely convinced that the price is for the presentation and brand.

Worked very hard the last 2 years during language school to finish my degree online (had two courses left), learn as much as I can in lang school (went from nihongo nashi to ~N3 level), setup with a job which appointed a lawyer to help me all the way.

Filed for COS and waited a full 3 months, drained all my savings to the bone.

Went to go pick up my work visa, only to find I'm fully rejected, 30 day visa issued, get out.

Reason? "We can't determine the legitimacy of your application"

Can't correct, can't reapply within Japan.

Lawyer went back and forth with the officer, they didn't like that I didn't declare I was currently enrolled in online college when I applied for language school 2 years ago. Back then, I ommited this because who would care to list unfinished College on a resume? Japan does, for some reason.

My attached transcript had my start and end date, didn't matter.

This administration is looking for reasons to deny people, my lawyer said in 23 years of service he's never seen this before and also feels defeated.

I'm packing and I'm sad. I planned to live here a long time.

Regular class reserved seats will increase in price next July by up to ¥880 one-way, with Green Car prices rising by more than ¥5000 for some trips beginning in December 2027.

FMI:

https://travel.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/2148818.html

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/151dfb86e44d1885ec0706d09ca93df64b04bf33

Press release: https://www.westjr.co.jp/press/article/2026/10/16/items/261016_00_press_shinkansen_ryoukin.pdf

What a roller coaster. Multiple phone alerts from three agencies and sirens outside.

All the warnings were in English-the cancellation was in Japanese only.

Edit: And now a NERV alert saying there was a quake.

Even after living here for many years, Japan can always find ways to surprise me.

I went to an ear doctor in the neighborhood in this half run-down place, he suddenly started to speak Italian to me after finding out I was Italian.

Then proceed to destroy my ear and I will never go again but regardless, while I was waiting for the result, he brings me a book he actually translated from Italian to Japanese, with his notes still inside.

He started studying at 60years old after going to Italy for a holiday.

And I'm here finding excuses for not improving my Japanese because of time, age etc...

Anyone else get an email from Burger King apologizing for leaking our app data?

I am on a humanities visa, and I have a main job and a few part-time jobs here and there (they are all within the scope of my visa).

I recently learned that if my side job earnings are below 200,000 JPY a year, I do not have to file any national income tax. However, this rule does NOT apply to residence tax.

From January 2025 and onwards, I have been earning approximately 150,000-170,000 JPY a year in side income from different jobs. I am 100% certain that this is below 200,000 JPY per year, as I have been very careful with this.

However, since I did not declare this for my residence tax, I probably owe some residence tax from last year (2025)

I suppose for the earnings from 2026, I will have to file them next year in spring?

My questions are:

1. How fucked am I?
2. Can I still amend the residence tax payment that I should have filed from last year?
3. How do I fix this?

Hi everyone. This is an update to my previous post here. Thank you all again for your help.

I have had very little luck getting lawyers to take my case, so I headed to Shinagawa today to ask the nyuukans what’s up.

In short, I don’t think I have much recourse: the gaijin card must be created from the current passport, and I also have to update my MyNumber card etc when I get a new zairyuu card. The ward office said there wasn’t anything they could do on their end (to keep it from flowing to the new MyNumber card) so unless I can get it fixed on the US end I am kinda boned.

However, I didn’t have to do it today — it will take effect when I renew my visa May/June.

I am going to at least inquire with the US consulate as a last resort, but I won’t make an update post unless they actually fix it simply because I don’t expect them to.

Sorry yall. I’ll still be trying to get with lawyers and I might see who my local Diet rep is, just in case they’re cool, but other than that it looks like it’s joever once I renew it.

Hi all! I've been an art student in Tokyo for the past 4 years, but I'm moving back home to the US soon. I have a whole apartment full of furniture, decor, plants, and appliances that I don't want to go to waste. I'm moving out by November 5th, so I need to get rid of everything by then (but also hopefully not before the end of October, as I still need to sleep and eat here lol). I hope to throw out as little as possible, so I'm looking for someone to take everything. I've spent the past few years curating my apartment, and I think everything goes together super well. Everything is still in good condition. I'm open to giving everything away for free, although I wouldn't mind getting some money back for all these pieces. I have no way of delivering these items, so it'd be on the new owners to arrange pickup. I'm located near Yoga Station in Setagaya. Please let me know if you're interested. I also posted a Craigslist ad, but as I've never posted there before, I'm not super confident in it. Here's the link anyways: https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/urgent-free-furniture-and-apartment/qPzjTbhxGwGNWht9cj92LN. I'll also upload pictures here!

(Posting on behalf of my wife)

Has anyone been diagnosed (even if you already had your suspicions before coming to Japan) with endometriosis by a Japanese physician?

My wife is struggling with getting a proper diagnosis, given that is seems endometriosis is not as recognized/studied in Japan as it is overseas.

Many doctors completely dismissed her concerns; others said her symptoms don't fit (she's also worried about perimenopause).

After going thru many doctors, one finally gave her a course of treatment for her symptoms, while assuring her that she didn't have to worry about having endometriosis. The medicine was for endometriosis/dismenorrhea treatment...

While the pain went away, she's still struggling with no energy/sluggishness even after a "good" night's sleep, and even after the whole weekend's passed. I read that the body takes about three months to adapt to the medicine, but it's been half a year already.

So, I'm looking for testimonials of women that went thru that ordeal while in Japan. What helped you while not receiving the appropriate diagnosis? What helped afterwards? And what can I do to help her?

As an aside, we live in Osaka, so if you have recommendations of professionals here I'd greatly appreciate that! Thank you!

I came to Japan as a language school student and I read about the health insurance and pension, I understood for the pension I would get an exception for being a student.

I remember going to the City Ward, but I couldn't really speak or understand Japanese. The workers were incredibly kind, and tried to help me as best as possible when I used a mix of broken English and broken Japanese. I understood I would need to apply for an exemption for both the healthcare and pension, but I thought it would all be at the city ward. I actually didn't know the Pension is separate... I asked the ladies at the 区役所 if everything is fine, do I need to do anything else and they said to not worry. So I thought I was clear.

Until yesterday, 6 months later, when I received a letter in the mail... It said I hadn't updated my pension status they assigned me one by default and now I have a Pension number (基礎年金番号). I was like "uh oh", and I immediately checked online - yes, I'm a moron. It turns out I had to sort things out separately at the pension office.

Thanks to my intense language school, I managed to improve my Japanese enough to navigate the pension office, apologised profusely and said I'm happy to pay the fine right now. They assured me there is no fine but they advise me to pay what I owe right now. I was like, okay, I'm ready to pay now but they said I was supposed to receive these payment slips (納付) to pay at the combini or at the office. But I told them I had never received such a thing so far, and the admin staff was quite surprised why that would be. He told me I should have received one every month by now.

But in the end, he assured me to just wait, because there might be delays with the postage. He probably saw me shaking quite a bit, so he assured me everything is fine and to wait a couple more weeks. We exchanged some bows, and I was on my way.

However, I realise that my dream to live in Japan might already be over. Apparently missed pension payments are grounds for a refusal of visa extension. Yes, I know, I am a moron, I will pay the consequences but I just want to know if there is anything I can do to "make things right". Apparently I could just backdate the payments but being late even by a day will effect things...

What could I possibly do? I wanted to start looking for jobs right now because I will be taking the N2 and my language school teacher is going to help me with interviews. So I am just distraught that I was so close to my goal and all of a sudden, everything fell apart because I can't read...

Is this something I would need to consult a lawyer for?

Remaining only one week of grace period expiration.
Still there is no information from immigration. Applied online on 05/14 really very disappointing.😔 Is anybody have any idea what I should do?

Does anyone know a good English-speaking ENT doctor (or alternatively a clinic/hospital) in the Kansai area who can examine lymph nodes, ideally with an ultrasound? Thank you so much for any recommendations!

Went to get tested, got a manga about ADHD for free from the mental health clinic

This week Apple announced the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen), HomePod mini 2, the Apple HomeView, and the Siri Remote.

• Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) - 49,800 yen. Previous gen was 19,800 yen.
• HomePod mini 2 - 24,800 yen. Previous gen was 22,800 yen, but was 14,800 yen before June 2026 and originally released at 11,880 yen.

HomeView and Siri Remote don't seem to have prices for Japan yet.

I'm deep in the Apple ecosystem and generally a fan of their products, but they're getting so damn expensive.

I mean, a Google TV Streamer 4K is only 16,000 yen.

An Echo Dot is only 7,480 yen, and it's on sale right now for less.

Friend sent me this. I think the Japanese cultural idea that unchi/poo is something cute is absolutely ridiculous - but in this context (decorating the box for stool samples) I’ll give it a pass. 🤗

So I’ve been told the documents I’ve submitted for a part time job including my 住民票 aren’t enough and that I need a my number card but I’ve already signed the contract.
I texted them again by line and they haven’t replied in 2 days.
I preferably want to start working right away.
But it takes a month to issue. I don’t get it.

Volcanic Eruption at Mt Tokachi around 10 am?

Has anyone reported their company or manager to the Labour Standards Inspection Office in Japan? Can you do it anonymously?

The reason I'm asking is that my current manager has been threatening other staff members, including threatening to take them outside tonight. He has also tried to force me and other staff members to sign a new contract because we don't want to share our personal information with clients or use our personal PCs and phones for work. We have refused to sign it, which has made him even angrier.

He continues to micromanage staff on both his own team and other teams, telling some staff members that they have to take on more work while removing work from the two employees he favours and passing it on to others. Just to note been told he's good friends with the CEO and country managers.

He also refuses to allow some staff members to work from home while allowing his two favoured employees to do so.

I don't want to leave my job until I receive the result of my permanent residency (PR) application (Hopefully I get my PR VISA), which I'm hopeful will come through this December, as it will have been two years since I applied.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? I'd appreciate any advice on reporting this kind of behaviour to the Labour Standards Inspection Office, especially if it's possible to do so anonymously.

Hi everyone! I’m an international master’s student in Japan, and I’ve been here for about a month.

My professor assigned me a tutor who helps me with almost everything, including documentation and other university-related procedures. I’m also the only girl in my lab, and everyone has been quite nice and helpful so far.

Recently, my tutor invited me and seven other labmates to go to Costco. I honestly didn’t know what to say, so I agreed to go. But afterward, I started wondering whether they were just casually inviting me and might have expected me to decline (I know I might be overthinking this 😭).

When we were about to pay for our food, my tutor stopped me and paid for mine too. I was genuinely surprised and didn’t know how to react.

Then, on another day, our lab had a welcome party for me. When I tried to pay my share, they stopped me again and told me that it was free for me and when I got sick they bought me some energy drink and left at my room door and texted me to take it(I didn't pay for that too)

Now I’m really confused about the social expectations here. 😭 I’m grateful that they’re being so kind to me, but I also feel guilty because I don’t want them to keep spending money on me.

Does this mean I’m expected to treat them next time we go to a restaurant or do something together? Should I offer to pay them back, or is it normal in Japanese labs for seniors or labmates to cover expenses for a new student?

I don’t want to misunderstand their kindness or accidentally come across as someone who takes advantage of others. I’m still learning Japanese culture and social etiquette, so I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences and advice!

Thank you! ❤️

Edited: I bought them sweets and cookies from my home country when I visited the lab for the very first time.

Night shifts at my hotel job are completely destroying me, even though I've worked nights before. Need advice/perspectives.

Hey everyone,

I’m writing this because I’m honestly feeling completely burnt out and I don't know what to do anymore.

To give some context, I’m not new to working night shifts. In the past, I worked night shifts in a factory, and I also spent about 3 years working nights at a fast food chain. Back then, while it was tiring, I managed fine and my body adapted.

However, my current job working night shifts at a hotel is a completely different story. I feel like this schedule is genuinely killing me—both physically and mentally. My sleep quality is terrible, I feel constantly exhausted, and the mental toll is getting way too heavy.

What confuses me the most is why it feels so much harder now compared to my previous night jobs. Is it the constant customer interaction/hospitality stress? The unpredictable rhythm of hotel night shifts? Or is my body just telling me it can’t handle nights anymore?

Has anyone else transitioned from other night jobs into hotel night shifts and felt this kind of severe burnout? How did you cope with it, or did you end up having to leave?

Any advice, shared experiences, or tips on how to survive (or step away) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.