Have you ever experienced, or imagined, not living in your home? In Tokyo, sometimes people are seen sleeping outside or inside train stations at night. They will disappear in the morning, moving to parks or elsewhere, carrying their belongings or leaving them behind. A national survey reported around 4,000 people living in homelessness in Japan in 2018 (when I was living there) – that accounts … Continue reading Second Harvest Japan
1. Walk fast, really fast. 2. Sprint a block to outrun a blinking green street-crossing light. 3. Run towards the closing train door (there’s a word for this : kakekomi-josha). 4. Squeeze into the fully packed subway. Push your way through with a poker face. 5. Fit all of your stuffs in your 20 m2 “cat’s forehead” apartment. Have a try at minimalism and fail. … Continue reading Living Japan #7: How to be a Tokyoite (A Non-exhaustive List)
My note on finding a home in Japan (Living Japan #3: Mission Apartment) remains as the most-read post on this blog, so there must be many of you who had the same questions and struggles as I did. Hope that note helped you. I’ll continue with the next steps: filling up the house and actually making it a home. 1. Buying new electronics As I … Continue reading Living Japan #6: Mission Apartment, Part Two
If you’re considering moving to Japan, be ready to get on board the major first mission. I didn’t have to do too much for moving to Italy and Malawi, for having found good places to live in before arriving. But moving to Japan was different because my company let us live in the dormitory while finding by ourselves a place that fits our taste. So … Continue reading Living Japan #3: Mission Apartment, Part One
Today after lunch, a department staff kindly took me to the Hayama Town Hall to register myself as a resident. The building was familiar; I remembered seeing its image when googling about the town. There, I was comforted by the system and people’s efficiency. Registering as a new long-term resident is convenient. Let me explain from the start. Weeks before my arrival, I was asked … Continue reading Living in Japan: Eating with Chopsticks #2 – Non-Alien Registration
amellina's journal 