With spring round the corner, people are gearing up for the pollen allergy season. Man-made pine forests emanate huge amounts of pollen, making those with allergies suffer a lot.

Any ideas or hints...

posted by  Yubi | 6 months ago | 2 comments

About 1,200 people have taken part in a snowball fight in Uonuma, Niigata Prefecture, on the Japan Sea coast.

Sunday's event was the 29th contest held in the city.

This year 240 teams that included...

posted by  Yubi | 6 months ago | 2 comments

For avid anime watchers, it is common to see anime characters living in an apartment and learning that space is a premium in metropolitan areas in Japan. Though sometimes anime does show actual hou...

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 months, 1 week ago | 0 comments

When working in Japan, it is mandatory for an employee to make payments to Japan Pension Fund.

If you are leaving Japan for good, you can take back what you paid, but there is an upper limit. Let's...

posted by  Yubi | 6 months, 2 weeks ago | 1 comment

Death from overwork and ceaseless overtime are closely related to the rise of what in Japan are known as burakku kigyo, loosely translated as “dark companies” or “evil corporations.”

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 months, 2 weeks ago | 1 comment

This is a common question among foreign residents in Tokyo. We have been told that both parents must be working for the child to be eligible for childcare at almost all daycare centers. What is the...

posted by  Yubi | 6 months, 2 weeks ago | 3 comments

The number of Japanese moving into Tokyo and nearby prefectures was higher than those who left for the 21st straight year in 2016, with the availability of child care support proving a big draw in ...

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 months, 2 weeks ago | 2 comments

M's Pop Life store even among the streets of Akihabara is a rarity – an appreciated rarity. On my trip to Tokyo I made it an important place to visit because of all the stuff I’d heard about. My ge...

posted by  ssj1236 | 6 months, 2 weeks ago | 1 comment

Last month, legislators in Japan passed a law that legalizes casino gambling in the country. It ended 15 years of political back-and-forth and paves the way for the eventual development of integrat...

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 months, 2 weeks ago | 3 comments

I grew up eating bugs. When I would visit my grandparents in Yokohama, they used to offer me inago no tsukudani いなごの佃煮　　　　つくだに, rice grasshoppers cooked in soy sauce, as an afternoon snack. At firs...

posted by  banzaitokyo | 6 months, 3 weeks ago | 1 comment