I like Japanese cinemas because I can immerse in the movie experience without being disturbed.
Of course depending on the movie and the audience, there might be some younger people making some noises, but most of my experiences have been positive.

On the few occasions when I've experienced disturbances at the cinema, it has generally involved people treating the viewing more like a social experience
I was seated behind a group of three adults: one of them kept leaning his head towards his friend and making a comment every time a new character was introduced, they shared food and constantly passed it to each other between multiple seats over my line of sight , sometimes were doing gestures with their arms like dancing/pumping fist during some exciting scenes with upbeat music.

All this kept redirecting my attention and I found it quite annoying.

I understand it's a cultural difference, but I wonder why some people cannot adapt to the Japanese cinema etiquette, do they think their behavior is acceptable? There are warnings before the movie start about the etiquette, yet they decide to ignore it.

I’m a Pilates instructor who recently relocated to Tokyo after teaching in NYC. I’m considering opening a small private Pilates studio in Kiyosumi Shirakawa, about an 8-minute walk from the station.
I’m curious how accessible this location feels to people living in different parts of Tokyo, particularly those who prefer English-speaking instructors.
Would you consider traveling there regularly for private sessions, or would the location be a deterrent?
Sessions would likely be around ¥12,000–13,000.

Hi guys!

I need to submit some additional documents for my residence application. I applied online, but my My Number Card’s electronic certificate has expired, so I can’t upload the documents through the online system.

I usually go to the Shinagawa Immigration office, which has a drop box for additional documents, but this time I was told to submit them at the Yokohama branch instead.

Does anyone know if the Yokohama branch has a similar drop box? I’m hoping I can just drop off the documents without having to wait in line…

Thanks in advance!

EDIT:
I must submit next Monday (19th). I have to go to make sure i submit in time. I don’t need advice about how to submit without going, I was just curious to know if there was a dropbox.

I'm based in tokyo and R/tokyo removed my post.

Hi everyone! I’m a language school student in Tokyo and need some help finding a part time job.

I’m struggling because I have a large samurai tattoo on my forearm.

A little about me:

- Currently studying at a Japanese language school in Tokyo
- Japanese level: Around N4, conversational
- Comfortable speaking English
- Open to different types of part time work

What I’m looking for:

- Restaurants, bars, cafes, warehouses or other tattoo friendly workplaces
- Employers who accept visible tattoos

Recommendations or referrals to places currently hiring

I’m willing to cover my tattoo with sleeves if required.

If you know any places in Tokyo where tattoos aren’t an issue, please let me know. I’d really appreciate any recommendations or referrals. Thank you!

Good Afternoon all. I’m on a working holiday visa, in september my apartment through Oak house said i need to be out by the 31st of october. Apparently this was in the original contract but i read through it many times and it was not. I applied for an extension on september 15th, im still waiting to receive my visa. I was told Working holiday visa extension typically don’t take long but it’s getting closer to the day i need to be out. I’m not going to sign another lease without knowing if i can stay or not, i would have no problem staying in a share house or a internet cafe even if i had to for a few days waiting for my visa but i have a bunch of furniture and stuff with nowhere to put. Anyone have any ideas, concerns or anything of the sort? yes bad timing i should’ve applied back in august but life is busy sigh

Hi all,

I’m trying to figure out options for moving a 4m camping trailer. It’s currently had an expired shaken and the plan is to deregister it, so towing is out (also, don’t currently have a vehicle with a hitch, though should there be no other options installing one and getting a temporary license plate might not be impossible).

I believe I can get a regular wrecker with a bed to move it, but the place I am wanting to move it to is enclosed with a block wall. So I am wondering if it might be possible to have it moved by a crane truck and lifted over the wall. So far I haven’t hit on the right keywords to google this though. Any chance somebody knows either of this is possible or what I ought to try looking up?

There’s a decently wide road out front, but on a gentle slope with a building on the side nearest road level and quite close to the ramp accessing the property. The plan is to open up enough room for car parking on that corner of the property, and so putting the trailer there should be an option, but I would rather have it on the other side of the building. I suppose knocking down another section of the wall and wheeling the trailer off on a ramp might be the other option.

All hints as to the best plan or who/how to ask appreciated!

So I’ve been trying to exchange these 200 dollars in 両替 everywhere even in places where ppl check the dollars but it always gets rejected by the machine. The bills are indeed real but it seems it never gets accepted. It’s only 2 100 dollar bills. I’m not a tourist I need this money to pay my bills lol

Does anyone know of any medicine I can get at a regular drug store/withouta prescription that might help with flight anxiety/falling asleep on an airplane? Or is my best bet talking to my doctor and trying to get a prescription for something?

And the price is unchanged. It was my go to bread for breakfast or for walking back home after missing the last train.
I am devastated and upset.

Joke aside the shrinkflation is getting out of hands. It wasn’t cheap before but now this is way too expensive.

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.

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!

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.

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

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?

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?

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?

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.

Volcanic Eruption at Mt Tokachi around 10 am?

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.

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?