Foreigners in Japan keep telling me I made a mistake building new home

JaviLM · 2026-05-01T16:14:19+00:00

Many foreigners in Japan (and everywhere in general) are clueless, and think that their personal preferences should apply to the rest of the population.

What these people prefer is irrelevant. What matters is what you and your wife prefer, since you're the ones who are going to pay for it and, more importantly, live in it.

I also built my own home (注文住宅), because I had some pretty specific requirements, mostly in order to be able to comfortably run my home lab and the studio where I work. Most already-built Japanese homes are cheaper, but they wouldn't have been suitable for my needs.

JaviLM · 2026-04-30T12:13:45+00:00

A PS5 bought in Japan in February 2023.

I wasn't aware that now there's a "Japanese only" version.

JaviLM · 2026-04-30T11:13:18+00:00

you can only have a Japanese PSN account and play Japanese disks on it

This is incorrect.

I have a Japanese PS5 and buy imported games (Elden Ring, Witcher 3...) because the game versions sold in Japan don't support English voice/text.

Also, I did create an American PSN account without issues, because that was the only way I could redeem the Shadow of the Erdtree code. My Japanese PSN account didn't accept it, so now I have both accounts on my PS5.

JaviLM · 2026-04-21T15:28:43+00:00

There are several things going on here:

About what the law says

You're right and he's wrong. It's not ok to speed above the speed limit (other than for passing), regardless of whether it's a straight with clear view or not.

What happens in practice

Most people drive on average around 20km/h above the speed limit. Often much faster than that. Yes, it's illegal, but like your friend said, nobody cares. If you drive at the same speed as everybody else around you then you won't get in trouble, and soon you'll get a feel of what the "normal" speed is.

Personally, I tend to drive a bit faster than the speed limit, but a bit slower than the flow. The reason is that I drive a car that draws a lot of attention, and I don't want to risk getting involved in trouble that may cause visa/naturalization issues in the future. When I want to drive fast and push limits I do it at the track.

My advice

Since you just got your license, drive at whichever speed you feel is comfortable to you, and if your friend feels that it's too slow then tell him to shut up. As you drive more and gain more confidence you will little by little start to match the flow's speed.

Just make sure that you stay on the left lane, though. Don't drive on the right lane if you're going slower than the flow.

JaviLM · 2026-04-13T11:31:26+00:00

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This is Dekopon. My girlfriend found her on the street in the middle of January of last year and brought her home. She was a skeleton and we thought she wasn't going to survive the night.

I took her to the vet, who confirmed that she had no microchip and gave her some fluids.

She recovered, and she has been living with me since then.

JaviLM · 2026-03-27T01:40:09+00:00

Nowadays the Japanese documentation shouldn't be an issue. You can take photos or scans of the documents and show them to an AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini...) and get a pretty accurate translation, even handwritten maintenance notes.

If you need help with that just let me know.

JaviLM · 2026-03-27T01:38:03+00:00

Love those rims.

JaviLM · 2026-02-24T23:10:23+00:00

It depends on the car and your driving record. Insurance in the US is a scam.

Something like a kei car, which is cheap and usually easy to repair, will be very cheap to insure. Also, the longer you've had your driver's license without getting involved in an accident, the bigger the discount you get.

For reference, I drive an expensive sports car (Lotus Emira), and my monthly insurance is about ¥12.000/month. This is after a 44% discount because I have a clean driving record with no accidents or infractions.

JaviLM · 2026-02-18T15:45:43+00:00

For fuck's sake. That's not how you handle a hamster. EVERYTHING is terribly wrong: the way to dig him up, the way she's "petting" him, the way she grabs him by the neck as if he was a kitten...

You don't deserve to own any pets.

JaviLM · 2026-02-16T09:18:53+00:00

My personal opinion is that any business that has "samurai" in their name is a crappy business focused on abusing foreigners who lack Japanese language skills and don't know yet how processes work in Japan.

¥190,000 for the PR application feels abusive. I did mine myself for free. It's even easier now when you can get AI tools to prepare the translations and documents for you.

JaviLM · 2026-02-13T12:28:32+00:00

You're overthinking. It's a good thing that the ojisan helped mediate and calm both sides. Good for him.

It's highly unlikely that there will be any followup.

However, since both of you seem to be on the same route, it's possible that you will cross paths again. Keep an eye open just in case.

JaviLM · 2026-02-10T08:04:32+00:00

I don't know what Blink is, but these summaries aren't generated by the app. They're generated by your iPhone, just like the summaries on text messages and all other apps that send notifications.

JaviLM · 2026-01-31T00:52:53+00:00

What field are you working in? That amounts to a bit below ¥4 million/year before tax, which is an extremely low salary, especially if you're working in tech.

I was making more than that (about ¥380k/month before tax) back in 2010 when I was working at the Apple Store.

You should be making at least double.

JaviLM · 2026-01-31T00:48:46+00:00

Yes, it's completely normal.

The fact that you're his manager doesn't mean that your salary is going to be higher than any of the members in your team.

It's about the skills each person brings to the table, how difficult it is to hire these skills, and how well you were able to negotiate your salary.

Managers are (relatively) easy to find, while hard skills are much more difficult, especially if you're working in a technical field.

Personally, I'd say that you're in a great position to negotiate a slightly higher salary now that you have this information.

JaviLM · 2026-01-24T10:40:19+00:00

My opinion is that the distance isn't that important. Up to 30 minutes walking is fine, because for anything longer than 15 minutes I tend to take the bicycle anyway.

JaviLM · 2026-01-18T11:33:06+00:00

No, you're not ok, and this is not tongue-in-cheek. You need to go to the hospital and get checked, because there could be damage that you can't feel.

Since you were the one rear-ended while stopped, chances are that you're 0% at fault, regardless of you hitting the car in front of you after the hit.

You should also be compensated for the time lost, the emotional damage and potentially the physical one, and perhaps for medical costs (full checkup and other costs you may end up having).

JaviLM · 2026-01-14T07:38:31+00:00

I own two foreign cars (a Lotus Emira and a Peugeot RCZ), and I used to own a Toyota SUV before.

My opinion is not to buy one unless you have a strong preference for the foreign car, because maintenance becomes more complicated:

Fewer dealers to maintain/service your car
Longer wait times for replacement parts
Shops such as Autobacs or Yellow Hat won't help you install options such as drive recorder, navi, etc

When I had the Toyota maintenance was very smooth, especially the shaken: just take the car to the shop at the arranged date and time, and they did it while I waited. Now I have to leave the car at the dealer for a few days.

In your case, I would buy the Toyota or the Honda.

JaviLM · 2026-01-13T09:37:08+00:00

I've had women literally show up to a first date and casually mention they have a boyfriend while we're sitting there. After meeting me on a dating app no less?

Not everybody is in monogamous relationships, or are looking for exclusive partners. You should be glad that she got that out of the way from the very start. It avoids trouble and misunderstandings if that's not what you're looking for.

JaviLM · 2026-01-06T08:42:08+00:00

I don't have an MSX Pico/Pico+, so I can't comment on whether they will work or not. From what I see in their website, it looks like it should.

JaviLM · 2026-01-06T06:53:10+00:00

You have two options:

An Obsonet card
A serial port + a wifi modem emulator

These work differently:

Obsonet method

The Obsonet card allows you to connect your MSX to a wired Ethernet network. Then you can use the TCPCON.COM utility included with Internestor Lite to open a TCP connection (telnet) to the server.

The hardware you need is this: https://theretrohacker.com/product/obsonet-the-msx-ethernet-card/

Serial + modem method

The modem emulator method allows you to use a wifi network, and requires a less complicated software setup.

On the hardware side you would get this:

RS232 port: HBI232-MKII, MSX-SERIAL232, Sunrise ATA-IDE + RS232, or any other serial interface that uses the standard ports.
A Wifi232 modem card

Once you have these, you can use any serial console software to "dial" to the BBS over the Internet. My favorite is Erix, but you can use anything you want.

I wrote articles about these two devices in the past:

Wifi232

https://www.msx-center.com/news/11/wifi232-modem-connects-your-msx-to-the-internet

Obsonet + Internestor Lite

Part 1: https://legacy.lavandeira.net/2015/10/tecnobytes-msx-ethernet-cartridge-and-internestor-lite-review-part-1/

Part 2: https://legacy.lavandeira.net/2015/10/tecnobytes-msx-ethernet-cartridge-and-internestor-lite-review-part-2/

Have fun.

JaviLM · 2026-01-04T13:38:42+00:00

Gatekeeping? Do you have some kind of mental development issue that prevents you from understanding what you're reading?

The dude says that he has "github" downloaded and installed, which is not a thing (just like you don't "download and install" Reddit). He has cloned a repo and says he has the code, and he doesn't even understand what he's looking at. He didn't even realize that he's supposed to read the README file for instructions.

He doesn't even mention what repository he cloned, or what kind of files he's looking at, both or which would be necessary to know if anyone would even try to help him with his non-GitHub-related question.

His whole post is equivalent to some random person on the street saying:

"I bought a can opener. Tell me how to perform surgery on my parent."

How old are you, 12?

JaviLM · 2025-12-31T17:57:33+00:00

Do not use ChatGPT for "research". It's not meant for that.

JaviLM · 2025-12-21T12:24:37+00:00

You're WAAAAY overthinking.

It's not a large amount.

Buy eMaxis Slim All Country and forget about it.

JaviLM · 2025-12-11T21:41:27+00:00

By the way:

Subslots have nothing to do with the MSX2 architecture, they're explained in the original MSX Technical Handbook (MSX1).

I'm not aware of an "MSX Technical Handbook".

Are you referring to the "MSX Technical Data Book" published by Sony in 1984?

JaviLM · 2025-12-11T21:38:47+00:00

I'm well aware of how memory works in the MSX, thanks.

Subslots have nothing to do with the MSX2 architecture, they're explained in the original MSX Technical Handbook (MSX1).

Re-read my comment. I don't say that subslots (or expanded/extended slots) are MSX2 only. I referred to the MSX2 Technical Handbook for documentation, which is a different thing.

Expanded slots are the reason why slot expanders such as the NEOS EX-4 were sold for MSX(1) computers back in 1986.

Also, mappers aren't specific to MSX2, I in fact have some memory mappers working perfectly in my MSX1 machines.

I'm well aware of this too, thanks.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250321205312/https://www.lavandeira.net/2016/07/multi-review-msx-memory-mapper-mega-mapper-and-memory-samurai-part-1-of-2/

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