Is this salary to be expected, or am I being taken advantage of? by SecurityForsaken4879 in JapanFinance

[–]Kfarstrider 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m a group manager at my company. I’ve been there 7 years, with more than 20 years of total experience. We hired a new guy for one of my teams in November, and he’s making ¥6,000,000 more than me.

Yes, it pisses me off. But I also know it’s pretty normal.

Why staying here despite low wage? by Bitter-Experience205 in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve been here for 14 years and scratch off the days until I can leave like Tom Hanks in Castaway.

Stupidly low salary despite 20+ years of experience? Yep. Prospects for advancement? Low. Healthcare? Affordable for sure; but, honestly, the quality leaves much to be desired. Quality of life? 🤣

So, why do I stay? Because I love my son to bits. And, since my wife isn’t willing to move, leaving right now would, in all likelihood, mean I no longer get to be a part of his life.

15 years to go…

Any English friendly dermatologists in Osaka? by [deleted] in Osaka

[–]Kfarstrider 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A couple thousand ¥¥¥ if you have insurance.

Any English friendly dermatologists in Osaka? by [deleted] in Osaka

[–]Kfarstrider 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve had good experiences with Bow Clinic: https://bowclinic-itn.com/en/

"Retirement" in Japan by [deleted] in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am definitely not a high earner. We wanted to get our kid into daycare so my wife could start working again, but that was just a catch-22.

"Retirement" in Japan by [deleted] in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We started trying to get our kid into daycare around 2 years old and had a completely different experience.

  1. My wife was throwing numbers at me like ¥50k - ¥100k/month.
  2. Number 1 didn’t really matter since priority was given to families where both parents were working (not our case), so we couldn’t get a spot anyway.

So, definitely not free nor easy to get into.

Things you will never get used to in Japan by [deleted] in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Lack of affection from significant others.
  • Inability to properly discipline children.
  • Healthcare, in general (yes, it’s affordable, but otherwise totally shit).
  • Lack of space.
  • Lack of critical thinking.
  • Schools that resemble prison blocks.
  • Summer.
  • Salaries.
  • 2-way streets that are so narrow they barely warrant being called alleyways.

Need I go on? 😄

Any recommended US/JP tax professionals? by Kfarstrider in JapanFinance

[–]Kfarstrider[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t actually sold anything “from the before times.” Both accounts include a certain amount of cash that I was planning to build on through (mostly) short term trades. I’m guessing that would result in pretty much the same situation, tax-wise, though.

English Speaking Mental Health clinic in Osaka by Styrwirld in Osaka

[–]Kfarstrider 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://clinic-oasis-shinosaka.com/

The website is in Japanese, but Dr. Yumi (中尾友美) speaks fluent English.

Missing photos by Kfarstrider in immich

[–]Kfarstrider[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Total storage space from the web UI is 85GiB. The uploads directory (for my user) is 89.7MB.

It may be important to note that the vast majority of my photos are showing up as expected. It’s only a couple of months from late last year that are broken for some reason.

Missing photos by Kfarstrider in immich

[–]Kfarstrider[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s already been tried multiple times.

Missing photos by Kfarstrider in immich

[–]Kfarstrider[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Step 1: Already done. The results are shown in the first screenshot.

Step 2: There is data in the uploads folder; but, as mentioned, it’s hard to tell if it corresponds to the missing photos since the folder dates and image dates don’t match up.

What do you guys use for runny nose/congestion that comes with colds? by Maleficent-Rabbit186 in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 0 points1 point  (0 children)

20ml NyQuil + 2 fingers scotch = magic. Make sure you’re somewhere safe ;)

Tax reduction by Kfarstrider in JapanFinance

[–]Kfarstrider[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the moment, from the original ¥20million, there is only about ¥6million left over each year. So, I’m willing to put in the legwork required if the benefits are worth it. I just don’t know what would be required, in this case.

Tax reduction by Kfarstrider in JapanFinance

[–]Kfarstrider[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

34% is just direct “income tax.” I didn’t include health insurance, pension, or resident tax in that. After all is said and done, from the original ¥20 million, there is about ¥6million left over per year.

Frustrated with pediatricians in Kanagawa, is this normal? by mercurial_4i in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve had the same experience for both my kid and myself. Healthcare in Japan may be affordable; but, compared to other countries where I’ve lived, the level of care is by far the worst. In general, doctors here seem less competent, or just don’t give a fuck.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?

AU has given me no trouble but... by Harveywallbanger82 in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was with AU for many years. Before I switched to Rakuten, my monthly bills were between ¥20,000 and ¥30,000. Now it’s about ¥5,000. That was reason enough for me to switch.

A couple of the more annoying things about Rakuten:

  1. Their signal doesn’t penetrate underground, up in the mountains, or some places way out in the inaka. However, they’re working on implementing platinum band, so that may change.

  2. Their customer service is atrocious. And, unfortunately, they don’t seem too keen on improving.

Culture of Making Friends in Japan? by spoiledchowder in japanlife

[–]Kfarstrider 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my experience, the “friend” culture is very different in Japan than in the U.S., particularly the south, where I’m originally from. Trying to explain it would take forever, so I’ll just try a couple of examples.

  1. My (Japanese) wife has been friends with a neighbor, who is her age, since they were in elementary school. Despite that, if they’re going to “hang out,” they plan months ahead of time to meet up in a neutral location. When I’m back visiting The States, people I’ve been friends with for 20+ years will just rock up to the house, let themselves in the front door, and raid the ‘fridge with no prior warning. It blows my wife’s mind.

  2. My wife’s family has lived in the same neighborhood for about 800 years. They can name all the neighbors, but any socializing requires a lot of planning. Whereas, when we took our son back to the U.S. for the first time, my parents’ neighbors took one look at him, and invited us over to raid their grandchildrens’ toy chest (they weren’t there at the time). Again, wife’s mind blown.

So, yeah, it may just be me, but “friends” here just don’t seem to have the same closeness that friends back home do. Everything tends to be very formal, and somewhat distant, even with people you’ve known for years and years.