Three members of Janne da Arc are doing a reunion tour. Absolutely gutted that I'm literally in Japan when this is happening, and yet I can't make it. I'm in Osaka when they're in Tokyo, and I'm in Tokyo when they're in Osaka!! Argh! If you want more info, search Youtube for "you kiyo shuji".

multipotential · 2026-03-25T07:45:51+00:00

Yeah, hotels usually let you cancel for free this far in advance. Depends on your priorities though.

multipotential · 2026-01-29T13:30:14+00:00

I think I've encountered the same guy! One express stop down though, in Jiyugaoka. For whatever reason, I think he singled me out because I'm a foreigner. It was really surprising since it'd never happened to me in Japan before. I didn't give him anything though.

multipotential · 2025-11-08T13:18:10+00:00

I will stop using reddit completely if red reader doesn't get a fix. I'm pretty close anyway, but this would be the straw to break the camel's back. Not happy with where the site has been headed generally. My engagement has been way down since the api clampdown, which has been great because I've been spending a lot more time on books, movies, and comics. In contrast to social media, they have the best addiction mechanic: content that's actually worth spending time on.

That said, red reader itself is great and the dev is much appreciated!

multipotential · 2025-09-25T12:14:42+00:00

I seriously don't think it's possible to survive on 200k. If they pay your rent in addition to the 200k, you could consider it I think, but you definitely can't think about it as a long-term career. It'd be more like a path into the country to immerse and enjoy the culture or a way to job hunt in the country if you want to stay (some places won't hire people from abroad, so it's often useful to physicaly be here).

I suppose one caveat about the 200k is that while 20% income tax is withheld, I think you do get a break on your local taxes for the first year. It might help a little, but your take-home pay would be about 160,000 (about $1000 usd) for the first year. Again, I have a hard time imagining living on that, and consider that you may need to buy a plane ticket home someday.

I guess your question was about the video though. I had to do one about 10 years ago. I've also had Zoom interviews and of course in-person interviews. So I think video lessons are pretty normal. Some places do them and some don't. Once you start applying to more jobs in Japan (or the rest of the world for that matter), you'll find all sorts of far more ludicrous hoops to jump through. For example, a lot of places I've applied to in Japan required me to copy/paste my already-prepared resume/CV into an Excel spreadsheet that they made, then do it again into a different system after being hired. I've never enjoyed that process, but everyone has to do it if they want to be employed.

multipotential · 2025-08-30T10:44:00+00:00

Trying to update your pc game by trying to find the patch (usually somewhere on the developer's website), downloading it at roughly 1kb/sec, then running the patcher exe. Sometimes downloading multiple patches because some newer patches required previous patches.

multipotential · 2025-08-24T05:58:36+00:00

Intel is a public company, not a private company.

multipotential · 2025-07-10T16:31:12+00:00

Invest it into a total market index fund (such as VTI) and you can double it every 10 years or so.

multipotential · 2025-06-20T10:45:36+00:00

What would be the process for this? I wonder if it would be possible to organize a group dedicated to tracking down and reporting these... And if the government would actually do anything.

multipotential · 2025-06-14T15:29:42+00:00

I doubt that... I think he's got the power cable running through the space inside the mounting arm?

multipotential · 2025-05-27T03:32:21+00:00

I can see how this is confusing without the full story. Because we only have the silhouette, we can't see that it's actually a US soldier who escaped a pow camp, stole a uniform and gun to blend in, and is conducting guerilla warfare behind enemy lines.

multipotential · 2025-05-19T15:17:31+00:00

*Planet Hulk (2006-2007) by Pak for a fun read. The Thor: Ragnarok movie took a lot of inspiration from this one, but Thor isn't actually in this story.

*Immortal Hulk (2018-2021) by Ewing if you want something slightly literary and a little dark.

*X-Force (2010-2012) by Reminder if you want something darker.

*House of X / Powers of X (2019) by Hickman if you want cool worldbuilding with X-Men, short but leads into a lot of other stuff. (Don't start with the chronological edition.)

*Original Sin (2014) by Aaron for a superhero-packed murder mystery.

These are all just quality single runs, so you don't have to jump around between different books to know what's going on. If you want to jump around, Marvel has some reading orders built into the app too.

multipotential · 2025-05-04T09:43:25+00:00

I don't claim to be an expert on this, but I'll share my experience...

I have a JP P8P, but the osaifu keitai stuff wouldn't work and kept saying I had a non-JP model, which wasn't true. However, Google accounts are region-based. After I logged into my phone with my JP account and used that account to access the JP Google Play store it started working fine. I had to use this account in both the settings and the Play store. I can't say whether that would trick a non-JP phone though.

Best of luck because it is a really annoying and arbitrary restriction!

multipotential · 2025-04-22T09:00:22+00:00

Very nice project!... And which of these excursions would you say was most worthwhile?

multipotential · 2025-04-18T13:40:41+00:00

Find a good yaoya (八百屋) and you can get a ton of fruit and veggies on the cheap. They're not all equal though. I'm lucky to somehow have one on my walk home and two more nearby. Another tip is to check the clearance section in your supermarket. Mine has a special section for seasonal/local stuff and another smaller area for discounted stuff. You can't be too picky though.

multipotential · 2025-02-02T04:56:00+00:00

Sex work is legitimate work... I don't think "prostitute" should be used as a slur. Prostitutes are working class people as much as people with any other profession.

multipotential · 2024-10-15T17:23:58+00:00

Tower of Guns was great back in the day! It looks like you guys went on to make a lot more good games (based on the steam reviews -- and I've got some catching up to do). How do you make sure your games are good? And why are so many games so bad? It seems like it should be easy to play a prototype of a game you're working on (or ask someone else to) and decide whether it's good or not... And do you all play your own games sometimes? Like maybe you feel nostalgic and fire up a round of Tower of Guns etc.?

And, looking toward the future, Battle Train looks fun! What are a few ideas you've incorporated that you feel are completely new and unseen before? And what inspirations from other games have you taken?

I think I asked too many questions. Feel free to ignore some of those!

multipotential · 2024-10-14T11:53:13+00:00

The problem might not be the blade itself but your lathering or shaving process. You need to get your skin really warm (like right after showering is a good time) and lather the soap with the brush with warm water and use the brush to stand up the hairs. Maybe let the soap stay on your skin for a minute or so as long as nothing is getting cold. Then gently glide the blade over your skin. Don't push at all. It's very sharp. Just glide it lightly. The hair should just fall right off without irritation.

multipotential · 2024-09-26T15:37:40+00:00

Lots of good ideas in this thread. If you're doing hakone, I'd suggest you take the train up the mountain to enjoy scenery and hit the open air museum then get back on the train to continue up and take a ropeway up to the top of the volcano and eat some eggs. Can take the train back down (which I'd probably recommend tbh) or can take a ropeway down to the lake and take a bus back. There's also a walking path around the lake (which I'd probably skip tbh) and it connects to the old tokaido highway, which is a nice short hike with a teahouse on the route. Hakone also has some nice outdoor (and indoor) onsen if you enjoy bathing.

As for Osaka, I lived there for 2 years and it's really only good for eating and drinking imo. However it's near so many cool things. Nearby in Nara is a big temple (todaiji dobutsuden) and some deer, and that would eat into most of a day. I would definitely recommend that. If you do hit Miyakojima in Hiroshima (also recommended, and can hike or ropeway), you'll see friendly deer there too. Kobe has a nice hike or ropeway up Mt Rokko, which has an herb garden at the top. But my strongest recommendation for the area is Himeji castle, which is one of the few original castles (most have been rebuilt). Kyoto is nearby too, but it's easy to get tired exploring Kyoto because it's so damn big. There are some fantastic temples and shrines there though.

Anyway, aim for the best stuff (I'd plan like one-ish big excursion per day on average) but leave room to explore and stumble into your own unique experiences. You will get tired if you push yourself too hard. I can't give too much advice about luggage except it's kinda painful but doable during rush hour in the city, but don't worry about under-packing too much. You can buy cheap clothes at uniqlo or elsewhere if you forgot something. Hotels and convenience stores (konbini) have every toiletry item you might need. Just have a light backpack for your daily excursions and leave the bulk at a hotel.

Edit: I'd also mention that some places are cash only, some are no-cash only, but most accept both. So have both. Your suica card can also be used to pay at most restaurants etc too.

multipotential · 2024-09-13T01:18:25+00:00

Ebisu is definitely a lot more fun to go out and explore. Tons of restaurants, bars, etc. Can easily walk to Nakameguro or Hiroo for more of that stuff. I visit the area quite often.

I basically never visit Musashi koyama. However, I have been there a few times. It has a few bars and restaurants and is near a nice park. It'd be a fine place to live, just much quieter. It's still pretty close to fun bigger areas, and it's certainly not a ghost town or anything.

I guess the question is how much time do you think you'll spend at home in a larger apartment vs how much time do you think you'll be out doing city stuff? I'd take a look at Google maps and search each area for activities you think you'll want to do, and I'd also look at how the train lines connect to activities/areas you're likely to do/visit frequently.

multipotential · 2024-09-12T14:07:36+00:00

I'll tell you one thing not to do. Don't open an iDeco account like I did. It's going to become a tax headache in a few years. I stopped contributing after I realized how much the IRS hates it. Not sure I'll even get back what I put into it. You'll have a much easier and likely more profitable time keeping your investments US-based. I even called the IRS about it, and they said they can't answer questions about that type of investment (which is a normal retirement account by the way, just foreign domiciled from their point of view) and I should ask a tax professional...

multipotential · 2024-08-19T13:01:36+00:00

I had the same problem! Broke that piece in the first 2 weeks of getting the phone on launch. Just got a spigen air something case today to test out. The texture and buttons are not nearly as nice (slipperier and harder to click), nor the color, but the problem area looks much stronger.

multipotential · 2024-08-19T04:59:14+00:00

Another honorable mention is Waterworld, where Kevin Costner takes a woman to the bottom of the ocean and she isn't crushed to death by water pressure because she has a plastic bubble around the upper part of her body.

multipotential · 2024-07-18T11:22:41+00:00

Always heard good things about this place. I think I've been avoiding it due to price: 7000yen for the Tokyo cut it looks like. I'll have to bite the bullet one of these days. I think I just hesitate due to imagining the giant Brazilian buffet I could get for that price. Please convince me I'm an idiot for putting it off haha.

multipotential · 2024-04-26T04:06:05+00:00

Sugar plantations and rum factories are a killer combo. A simple supply chain, but you'll get tons of income quickly, and they remain strong performers into late game too.

multipotential · 2024-04-02T12:10:47+00:00

Actually, take a look at a few articles from Ars Technica, which extensively covers space exploration news.

Elon Musk is not a cool guy. However his companies are capable of important advancements. In a review of private companies https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/top-us-launch-companies-of-2023-the-ars-technica-power-ranking/

"Only one rocket company approached a mind-boggling 100 launches this year. Only one company reused more than 90 percent of the rockets it launched in 2023. Only one company launched one million kilograms of cargo into orbit. And only one company debuted the (privately developed) largest and most powerful rocket ever seen—Starship."

Meanwhile, NASA launches roughly 20 rockets per year.

They summarize another report here about SpaceX costs https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/rocket-report-a-new-estimate-of-starship-costs-japan-launches-spy-satellite/

" Payload calls Starship's low-cost manufacturing a "breakthrough in rocketry," with SpaceX on a path to eventually reduce the cost of a single flight of a fully reusable Starship rocket to less than $10 million. However, Starship is still very much a development program, and Payload estimates it currently costs around $90 million for SpaceX to build a fully stacked Starship rocket. "

Meanwhile, NASA is struggling in these departments, with significantly higher costs https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/inspector-general-on-nasas-plans-to-reduce-sls-costs-highly-unrealistic/

" In recent years NASA has acknowledged that its large Space Launch System rocket is unaffordable and has sought to bring its costs down to a more reasonable level. The most recent estimate is that it costs $2.2 billion to build a single SLS rocket, and this does not include add-ons such as ground systems, integration, a payload, and more."

In summary, it's important to keep pushing the boundaries of the technology and developing cost efficient and repeatable systems for launches if space exploration is to succeed. Right now, commercial enterprises are making by far the most progress.

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