Daily Life

Free Japan Life Setup Checklist Moving to Japan involves dozens of steps — in a specific order. Get the sequence wrong and you’re waiting weeks for things that should take days. This checklist covers everything from the day you land to the end of your first month. What’s inside: ✅ Week 1 essentials: address registration, SIM card, bank account ✅ Month 1: health insurance, My Number, driving licence conversion ✅ Money setup: bank → credit card → remittance apps ✅ Healthcare: insurance card, clinic registration, emergency numbers ✅ Housing: key documents, guarantor options, utility setup ✅ Language: JLPT planning, conversation school options Get the Checklist Enter your email and we’ll send you the printable PDF version — plus a short weekly guide covering Japan’s bureaucratic system in plain English. ...

What you'll learn in this guide How to set up and use Amazon Japan (Amazon.co.jp) as a foreigner Navigating the Japanese interface with and without Japanese skills Amazon Prime Japan benefits vs US/UK Prime What you can and can’t ship internationally from Amazon Japan Best deals, Prime Day, and sale strategies How Amazon Japan compares to Rakuten Ichiba and Yahoo Shopping Amazon Japan (Amazon.co.jp) is one of the most useful tools for foreigners in Japan — it delivers almost anything the next day, accepts foreign credit cards, and has a surprisingly usable English interface. Here’s everything you need to know to use it effectively. ...

Quick Answer First 30 days in Japan: register your address at city hall within 14 days (required by law) → get a SIM card → open a bank account → enroll in health insurance → get a My Number Card. Do them in this order — the bank account and insurance enrollment both require your residence card and address registration certificate. You just landed in Japan. You’re jet-lagged, everything around you is in a language you may not read, and somewhere in the next few weeks you need to figure out your address registration, your phone, your bank account, your health insurance — and ideally not in the wrong order. It’s a lot. ...

Quick Answer In a May 2026 Japanese government survey, 47% of foreign residents reported experiencing discrimination in daily life. The most common forms: service refusals (restaurants, onsens), apartment rejections, and persistent “outsider” treatment regardless of how long you’ve lived here. Overt hostility is rare — systemic and ambient discrimination is common. Japan has no comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Knowing what to expect, and what your options are, makes it significantly easier to navigate. ...

Living in Japan without the right apps means guessing your way through train changes, menus you can’t read, and services that assume you speak Japanese. The right tools make daily life dramatically easier. Here are the apps that actually earn their place on your phone. Navigation & Transport Google Maps Still the best for general navigation in Japan. Walking, cycling, driving, and public transit directions are accurate. Download offline maps for areas with poor signal. ...

What you'll learn in this guide The best apps for learning Japanese in 2025 — honestly reviewed Which app is best for different goals (survival Japanese vs JLPT vs fluency) Free vs paid: where the paid tools are actually worth it How to build a Japanese study routine that fits around work What actually works for foreigners living in Japan vs studying from abroad Learning Japanese while living in Japan is both easier (immersion everywhere) and harder (work takes priority, brain is exhausted by 8pm) than studying at home. The right app makes a real difference. Here’s an honest look at what’s available in 2025. ...

What you'll learn in this guide The best neighborhoods in Fukuoka for foreigners — with honest pros and cons Real 2025 rent prices by area Why Fukuoka is Japan’s most recommended city for expats on a budget Best areas for digital nomads, families, singles, and English teachers How to find foreigner-friendly housing in Fukuoka Fukuoka has a well-earned reputation as Japan’s most liveable city for foreigners. It’s Japan’s fastest-growing major city, it’s compact enough to navigate easily, rents are 40–50% lower than Tokyo, and the food scene (ramen, mentaiko, hakata udon) is arguably Japan’s best. Here’s where to live. ...

What you'll learn in this guide The best neighborhoods in Osaka for foreigners — ranked by lifestyle and budget Real 2025 rent prices by area Which neighborhoods have the biggest expat communities Best areas for families, singles, students, and working professionals How Osaka neighborhoods compare to each other (and to Tokyo) Osaka is Japan’s most affordable major city after Fukuoka — and its most underrated for expats. The food culture is legendary, the locals are famously friendly, and rents are 30–40% lower than Tokyo for comparable apartments. But Osaka’s neighborhoods vary enormously. Here’s where to look. ...

Choosing the wrong city is a mistake that takes a year to undo. Japan’s major cities are more different from each other than most people expect — in cost, pace, foreigner infrastructure, and job market. Here’s a clear-eyed comparison to help you decide where to actually land. 1. Tokyo — Best for Career and International Community Population: 14 million (metro: 37 million) Why foreigners choose it: Largest English-speaking expat community in Japan Most job opportunities, especially in finance, tech, and international business World-class food, entertainment, and transport Easiest city to live in without Japanese Downsides: ...

Learning Japanese is hard. Choosing the wrong resources makes it much harder. After years of living in Japan and watching what actually works, some patterns become clear. Here’s a practical guide to the resources worth your time. Start Here: Learn Hiragana and Katakana First Before anything else, learn the two phonetic alphabets: Hiragana (ひらがな) — 46 characters, used for Japanese words Katakana (カタカナ) — 46 characters, used for foreign words Both can be learned in 1–2 weeks with daily practice. Once you can read these, everything opens up — menus, signs, apps. ...