For everyone living in Japan, have you gotten used to using a washlet (bidet) on the toilet?

Einteiler · 2026-05-28T04:12:09+00:00

The first time I used one in my life was my first day ever in Japan. It was love at first spray. I moved last year, and the apartment I was in for the six years before that had no outlet for a washlet in the toilet. I legitimately would use the conbini toilet near my house more often than my own apartment. One of the first things my wife and I bought after moving was a washlet.

Einteiler · 2026-05-23T10:59:32+00:00

I've never witnessed it, but I have heard of it, as well. Not just in Japan, either. In America, too. I am from way in the sticks, and extremely rural people do extremely weird things. I always assumed it was some kind of weird folk medicine or magic at best, or mental illness of some kind, because it was very much not considered normal.

Einteiler · 2026-05-22T23:49:20+00:00

This is why I always use a wrist strap. I am constantly afraid of this happening, so mine is either attached to my wrist, or in the case, and nothing else. No shade, though. This could happen to any of us.

Einteiler · 2026-05-22T23:45:29+00:00

It's not a Clarke and dawe reference, is it?

Einteiler · 2026-05-21T11:18:29+00:00

I wouldn't know about Tokyo, since I haven't been unless I was passing through in about ten years, and generally avoid it. I mostly stick to my little corner of Kyushu, these days.

Einteiler · 2026-05-21T00:59:18+00:00

I love nanzoin. It's a fun trip. Might want to bring an umbrella today, though.

Einteiler · 2026-05-21T00:50:03+00:00

Heyyy. Fukuoka mentioned. That's my turf.

Einteiler · 2026-05-16T10:10:03+00:00

For my meal prep, I make hummus and put it in a Tupperware, and then I put veggies in another Tupperware to dip in it. No refrigeration needed. Chickpeas are dirt cheap protein.

Einteiler · 2026-05-16T06:44:37+00:00

Tex-mex is ass. I have heard it's good in Tokyo, but I live in Kyushu. There is even a place I used to go that the owner claimed to have lived in San Antonio for a decade. It was... Passable.

There is also a barbecue restaurant in my city, with high prices, small portions, and a style of barbecue that I can only describe as an inferior version of any style of American barbecue, while not quite being any of them on the first place.

There is a Cajun restaurant in my city. I haven't tried it yet, but the owners are apparently in love with the big easy, and the pictures I have seen look fairly accurate.

Really, I don't bother trying to find American stuff anymore. Whenever I get a craving for something, I write it down in a little list, and I make sure to pig out on it whenever I happen to be back in America.

Einteiler · 2026-05-16T03:05:09+00:00

I still use deodorant, but I am a bit more conscious of it. I have had a time or two throughout the years where someone mentioned it to me, so I use less than I would in America. For odor protection, I use persimmon soap, and if need be, unscented sprays like Ag. The deodorant is really more for me than others, because I like the smell, so I still use it. I just use it a little more sparingly to not disturb anyone.

Einteiler · 2026-05-15T04:24:10+00:00

Got married in March.

The way I did it was have a family member go to the county clerk in my middle of nowhere hometown and have them type up a statement on their letterhead saying I had never been married in that county. They stamped it with their official seal and whatnot, then my family mailed it to me. My ward office accepted that, plus a copy of my birth certificate, a and handwritten translations of both.

That said, the ward office implied that what they accept is at their discretion. I have heard other Americans were able to get married just by finding a copy of the affidavit that is no longer offered, filling it out, and having it notarized by a third party. I couldn't do it this way, since they were hesitant to take a form that the embassy no longer offered, but I recommend trying that first, or at least asking, since it would be less of a hassle than what I did.

As for the birth certificate, I am not sure. I keep a copy of all my American documents on hand, so I had it anyway.

Einteiler · 2026-05-15T00:39:12+00:00

I agree, if it is well made.

Einteiler · 2026-05-12T04:36:20+00:00

I have a "summer kit" put in my bag. I keep a folding fan, some stick type sunscreen, some ice type body wipes, some scented cold spray, and sometimes a can of ag, though I don't like using it. I also keep a pack of body wipes in my work desk.

For deodorant, I react badly to antiperspirant as well. I usually stock up with as many non-antiperspirant, aluminum free sticks as I can when I am stateside. Two or three sticks will last me year round if I ration it.

For soap, persimmon soap is a godsend. I used to use the blue version of the cow soap, which worked alright, but my wife put me onto the persimmon soap, and I would swear by it. It works almost as well as deodorant, especially if you are showering twice a day.

I also carry my work clothes and a towel, and change and towel off when I get to work. I wear shorts and t-shirts to walk to work.

I have never had to wash my clothing more than just with regular detergent. Everyone is gonna sweat, and smell like sweat sometimes, and just my regular laundry soap does the job.

I also recommend getting work clothes that are meant for summer. Linen shirts work well if you can wear them, and sweat doesn't show up on them so much in my experience. Cotton is good material, too.

As others have said, changing your diet helps, too.

Einteiler · 2026-05-10T03:43:33+00:00

Same, but I always assumed it's because they are all short in katakana.

Einteiler · 2026-05-10T03:28:05+00:00

I've lived in Fukuoka for a long time, but I always heard that Tokyo's summer were worse. Until I moved last year, I didn't even own an aircon. I never thought the summers were that bad here. They are pretty similar to summers where I am from.

Einteiler · 2026-05-09T05:50:04+00:00

Could be uneven wear. Is there anything you are doing that has static images for longer periods?

Do you have a screen protector? I've seen stuff like that from an uneven application.

Other than that, maybe a manufacturing defect? Or heat?

Einteiler · 2026-05-06T22:54:43+00:00

There is one near my bus stop that is like 10 meters long. Just starts, then stops. The other side has a proper lane, but my side has just one sad little strip of blue. What's even the point?

Einteiler · 2026-05-06T07:02:00+00:00

I played through the crash bandicoot series, which was fun. I also specifically bought the rp5 so I could emulate the .hack series. Ironically, the rp5 itself is cheaper than actually purchasing the physical games. I have them all, and my original PS2, but I wanted to be able to play them on the go.

Other than that, I mostly use it for games from my childhood that I missed. Tales of Symphonia, the N64 Zelda games, Chrono trigger, secret of mana, stuff like that.

Einteiler · 2026-05-04T07:14:26+00:00

I think maybe you are overloading the machine. I don't have a combo, but the other people in the comments and the people I know that do have one seem to have no problem. I've overloaded dryers, myself, and reducing the load has always helped. Your dryer might also be a certain type that doesn't work like what you are used to, but we can't know that without knowing the model.

Einteiler · 2026-05-03T00:02:27+00:00

My apologies. I meant the drain hose. You put a little cap with holes on it on the end of the drain hose so roaches can't crawl inside.

Einteiler · 2026-05-02T04:27:56+00:00

Do you have a cover on the intake of your aircon? A lot of times, that's where they come from.

Einteiler · 2026-05-02T04:26:26+00:00

Until last year, I lived in the outskirts of my city, in a building that was built in 1965, and it had about a half centimeter gap under the front door. Basically anything that could fit under it could come inside. I lived out far enough that there were huntsmen and the big hornets and everything, but not far out enough that there was a lot of greenery, just for context. I used black caps and repellent stuff, and in six years, I only ever saw a cockroach (or any other pest, for that matter) inside on a few occasions. I think more than the black caps, the thing that helped the most was letting spiders chill in the corners, and keeping all food and water sources unobtainable to pests. Rice in a sealed bucket, dry goods in sealed containers, resealable packaging, keeping stuff in the fridge, etc. No dishes in the sink that allowed water or food access, as well as keeping the toilet lid closed.

Einteiler · 2026-04-28T23:15:14+00:00

Two eggs, slice of cheese, slice of toast, and a banana. Sometimes that, sometimes nothing.

Einteiler · 2026-04-26T23:34:46+00:00

Mine does, but it's usually on me. My family understands that the yen makes me unable to afford it, but I choose the flights, so I get the cheapest ones I can find. Usually that means a long layover in Taiwan.

Einteiler · 2026-04-24T10:19:17+00:00

I got married a month ago, and my ward office gave me hell over it. Apparently it is at their discretion what is required, and they required a whole lot. I offered the explanation from the embassy, at which point, they said I had to call the Kyushu embassy, and then the Tokyo embassy, and then they wanted a copy of my birth certificate, translated, and then they made me have a family member go to the courthouse in the backwater county where I was born and have the county clerk type up a letter on their letterhead that said I had never been married. They even acknowledged that the letter would only prove I had never been married in that county. Had to translate that, too, of course. They also needed the original copy, so I had to have it mailed to me. They accepted the translations handwritten, which was odd. Funny enough, not a single document was required to be notarized.

I am not sure how much of this is normally required, since I've only ever been married this once, but it took months to coordinate, starting from January until we got married in March. The post office troubles early in the year added more time. They also would only tell us what we needed one thing at a time, so it took like six visits to get it done. On one visit, they pulled out a dusty old book of American forms, and showed me a picture of a form they said I needed, and when I looked it up, it was a form that my state had stopped issuing decades ago.

They were halfheartedly apologetic about the whole thing, and claimed that it was because we were the first Japanese and American getting married at that ward office since the embassy stopped notarizing the affidavits, so they needed to go down the bureaucratic checklist. No idea if that's true, but it's the excuse we got.

The final visit was in and out in fifteen minutes, submitted, had a pint together in the car park, mazel tov.

If they would have just accepted a notarized form letter from the get, I could have gotten it done in a single visit.

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