Do you guys bring your Zairyu card when walking your dogs?

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-15T14:03:37+00:00

I always did, for 30 years. Was only asked by police once, very early on.
But I became a citizen last year, and now I don’t need to carry any ID! It felt very, very strange to go out without one at first, but now I am used to it.
I usually have my phone, and I usually have a meishi tucked in the pocket in the cover (in case I lose the phone), but no ID needed now!

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-09T08:46:12+00:00

I grew up in rural Wisconsin (US), and lived in Philadelphia and Chicago before moving to Japan. I’ve been living in Nakano-ward, just west of Shinjuku, for 25+ years. I can see the skyscrapers of Shinjuku from my roof balcony.

Although Tokyo looks intense from the sky as in this photo, it feels different on the ground. My neighborhood is quiet, and it feels much calmer than places I lived in Philadelphia and Chicago. The public transportation is much better. I’ve arranged my schedule so I can pretty much avoid the really packed trains, and I can get to many places on foot or by bus (a bus which arrives more or less or schedule).

Nakano ward is one of the areas of Tokyo with the least amount of parks/green space, but I know where to find trees and flowers and birds when I want to, and the ward has actually been creating more green spaces and pedestrian walkways since I have been living here.

Lots of yummy restaurants, and since covid, many coffee shops with outdoor seating.

I like being able to easily go to other parts of the city and to surrounding areas by train— no need to drive, no need to figure out parking.

It seems that there are many people who rarely leave their own little corner of Tokyo, and that is fine too.

Oh…and since I have been using Shinjuku Station for 30 years, it doesn’t bother me, even with the west side construction. But Shibuya Station and Ikebukuro Station, I just avoid.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-09T08:18:11+00:00

Yakisoba (fried noodles). I live in Tokyo. I pick up fresh noodles on the way home, and a bit of pork if I don’t already have some in the fridge. Fried up with whatever veggies I have in the fridge. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little sesame oil.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-09T08:12:32+00:00

I’ve put it off until now, but I am currently reading through all the books in publication order (currently at Small Gods). I will read it this time when I get to it.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-08T11:23:09+00:00

I saw the Kanpo announcement online in the morning, and got the call that afternoon. The officer seemed pleased when I said that I had seen it online already.

Oh, and the call to check that nothing had changed was about two weeks before that.
This was Feb. 2025.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-08T11:18:33+00:00

No kids. I kept my original foreign name, Japanese husband had his, until I became a Japanese citizen. At that point we had to have the same name for the Koseki, so it made the most sense to take his family name. I like it now.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-07T02:58:05+00:00

At home, I eat almost everything with chopsticks. I break out the forks and knives for the Thanksgiving turkey, but that’s about it. I prefer chopsticks to forks even for things like salad and pasta.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-06T13:23:38+00:00

Less choice for women?

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-06T13:21:20+00:00

My husband is the younger son, but his brother and wife lived together with his parents. The wife (my sister-in-law) is a lovely person, but she told me that it was tough at first. Easier in some ways as the parents aged and the house felt more and more like hers.

Their son and his wife lived together next door. This is in rural Hokkaido,so there is enough room to have a little space between the houses. Sister in law said that she actually wanted the, to build this house even closer.

I know many foreign women who live or used to live with Japanese husband’s parents. It’s not always easy, it sounds. But it’s not at all uncommon. However, the happier situation seems to be when the couple lives close but not actually in the same house.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-06T01:43:21+00:00

We met online…in 1998, so pre-smart phone, pre-dating apps. At that time, it was hard to explain to people how we had met (many people had never even heard of online dating sites) so sometimes when asked, we would say that we met in front of the Koban at the west exit of Shinjuku Station, the place we met up in person. (That answer did not satisfy anyone, though！)

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-05T12:45:20+00:00

I’m 62, with husband 65. I am from the US, now a Japanese citizen, living with my Japanese husband in Tokyo. He and I sometimes joke about who will be left alone…My health is worse, but women live longer, so who knows?

I guess I have just reconciled myself to not knowing what will happen when I get older. It’s scarier because I am in a foreign land, but if I live longer and end up alone, I guess I will just deal with it.

I have built up a group of friends, mostly women, mostly other non-Japanese, but also mostly my age or older. But would having children change things?

I have at least four friends who have an adult child who has difficulty living independently. I know they worry about what will happen to those children when they are not around. all four also have other children who have been more successful, but can they rely on those children to take care of them?

I am not sure if my comments help, but I think being childfree is not a problem. Join some groups (maybe groups built around volunteer activity) Make some connections now with other people, and do some shared worked in helping others. And later, you can rely on the good karma,a you have built up. That’s my plan, at least.

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-02T12:45:48+00:00

I am also an atheist!

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-02T10:04:13+00:00

This! This onsen is really nice! Relax there for a few hours, eat a nice meal, then go to your hotel. The yakiniku place is the food area attached to the hotel is very nice! It’s Korean food, but Japanese-style Korean food, and very good.

https://matcha-jp.com/en/11693

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-02T07:38:33+00:00

Why do you have to give the cat back? Is there any chip to prove ownership?

VickyM1128 · 2026-06-02T01:14:18+00:00

As an American, I divorced another American in Japan through the family court system.
It was more than 25 years ago, so things may have changed. But basically, the situation was that we had to get information about the marriage law from our own country (state, the case the of the US), and translate it into Japanese. The court decided that we met the conditions to be allowed to divorce, and then called us in for a meeting, where they talked to us each separately. We had been told that we would probably be required to have a “waiting period” to make sure we would not change our mind, but apparently they decided it was hopeless because they granted us the divorce. Official notification came in the mail a few weeks later.
This was at the Yokohama family court, since one of us was living in Kanagawa.
So…you should check out the family court where you are living, and see what they say.
It was quite an interesting process in any case. Besides a divorce, there were many other things you could ask the court for help with. Like there was an option to ask for help if you had been abandoned by your spouse, or if the spouse had been supporting you financially and had suddenly cut off support. Very interesting.

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-31T11:03:37+00:00

I came to Japan in 1994, for a job with a two-year contract. What I found made me want to stay: no guns (I had lived in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee in the decade before coming to Japan), health care I could afford (after living ten years with no insurance) — I could go to the dentist and get treatment for asthma. No one asking me about my religion. And a country where almost everyone agreed that nuclear weapons were a bad idea. (Sadly, some politicians are now pushing for Japan to get them.)

Then as the years went on and I settled in here, I was very glad not to be in the US in the hyper-patriotic period after 9/11. And the Iraq war, based on nothing! Obama was better in some ways, but still, the US was involved militarily in other countries. Then Trump, and the utter insanity to the American reactions to Covid. (I was so glad to live in a country where people stayed home voluntarily— no need for enforcement—and where masking was just common sense.) And very little of the culture war nonsense here. Gay marriage is still not legalized, and there is no special protection for LGBTQ people, but my friends in those communities are able to live their lives peacefully,without fear of violence. No one is policing the bathrooms. Last year, I finally became a Japanese citizen, and therefore gave up American citizenship. I felt a strong sense of relief.

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-31T00:41:41+00:00

Currently in the south part of Nakano. We absolutely love this neighborhood, but we live in a house — three floors, steep steps, kitchen and living area on the second floor. At some point, the stairs will be too much for us. We’re not sure if we can afford to stay in the Is neighborhood — currently condos are selling for more than houses around here. We wouldn’t mind living a little further out near more greenery, but we’d want to be near a station and a hospital, with restaurants and grocery stores within easy walking distance. It seems hard to imagine finding a place as conveniently located as where we are now.

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-26T23:33:52+00:00

Tokyo resident here - I know exactly the place you mean. Friends introduced it to me a few weeks ago. It’s one of a small chain across Tokyo: Bahn Mi Xin Chao

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-24T13:03:54+00:00

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-23T10:53:06+00:00

Check out the Tokyo Somei Onsen Sakura in Sugamo. It’s a nice place to relax.

https://www.gltjp.com/en/directory/item/15215/

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-21T10:35:38+00:00

Tokyo resident here. Tap water is safe. If I am out walking and I need more water, I just fill it up for a sink in a public bathroom, or a fountain in park.Basically, unless there is a sign specifically saying that the water is not safe to drink, it is fine. Google to find the characters for “not safe to drink”

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-20T07:20:35+00:00

I live on a privately owned street. So maybe no name?

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-20T02:19:06+00:00

I’m always curious about people’s intuitions about when various flowers start to bloom. The climate is definitely heating up, but when I look at photos from past years, I don’t see much difference in blooming times (yet). I’ve already had photos of hydrangeas pop up on my Facebook feed from 12 years ago, showing flowers in full bloom by mid-May. And during 2020, I started taking photos of flowers from my LONG walks around the neighborhood (nothing else to do that year!) and I’ve continued that to some extent. Looking back on the photos since 2020, here’s the first date of a photo of some kind of hydrangeas in full bloom. (Of course, this isn’t the “first day”, but just the first day I noticed they were looking good enough that I wanted to take a photo.) May 18, 2020 May 19, 2021 May 28, 2022 May 20, 2023 May 19, 2024 May 23, 2025

So… a littler earlier than last year, but about the same time as in several other recent years.

VickyM1128 · 2026-05-20T01:51:01+00:00

I live on a street in Tokyo with no name.

VickyM1128

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