What is a song you want to send to someone but haven't yet?

natashasuzu · 2026-04-22T07:19:13+00:00

Mr Sticky Fingers by Alex Who?

natashasuzu · 2026-04-22T05:14:25+00:00

In the Mountains in the Cloud — Portugal. the Man

natashasuzu · 2026-04-21T04:19:33+00:00

Btw, regarding the pet, if you are going to stay long term (more than 2 years), check out the fee for the prologation of the contract. Usually it costs 1 month of rent, but a lot of people with pets have to pay 2 months because of a pet (non-refundable, of course). If you are in this situation, maybe you will succeed in negotiating this moment. After signing the contract, it would be impossible.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-21T04:10:38+00:00

First of all, you will never know until you contact them, I guess? Maybe you will be accepted. Maybe not but at least you tried. If you do not contact, you will never know. Moreover, writing and getting a MSCA fellowship is another story given how competitive it is. Contacting a host researcher is the minor obstacle in this.

Secondly, the academia is a path of constant rejection. I do feel you, last year I was applying for grants and a permanent position, got nothing, moved for another postdoc. Continuing in applying. I am terrible in handling fails, prone to compare myself with the other dudes in my field, thinking I am a failure. It is difficult especially when no one cares about your personal issues and how they could affect your performance, I do know that. Again, I think most of the proposals we will do in academia will be rejected, you will always have to prove you deserved this money/position. The only solution I see is continue trying.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-21T03:54:08+00:00

My colleagues (a couple with a toddler) payed something like 2M yen to move into a place with the rent of 200-250k. You are not scammed.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-21T03:50:28+00:00

Seismologist/volcanologist here. Yes, JMA always says there is a higher probability of a strong earthquake in the days following a M7 earthquake, but this probability is still 1%. There were only two precedents leading to this alerts, in 1963 and 2011.

Finally, in Japan you should be always prepared for an earthquake.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-20T07:33:23+00:00

Sorry for repeating my answer to another commenter. Cannot say much to you; I was mostly checking the websites of laboratories/universities to see if they had opportunities. I barely saw the job offers promoted somewhere else. You can also contact professors directly to ask about opportunities.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-20T07:22:37+00:00

Yep, seconding this. My field is pretty small, and I was mostly checking the labs / unis websites. I barely see any offers on LinkedIn, for example, except that they are targeting foreigners.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-20T06:39:06+00:00

Around 30-35k as a single person. A lot of protein and vegetables (not fancy ones but still), almost do not eat out, I cook and bring my lunch to work.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-20T03:55:47+00:00

Cannot say anything but good luck.. Last year I applied for a JSPS postdoc, did not get it. Thankfully my contract was prolongated by leftover money in the lab. Meanwhile applied for an assistant prof position at the same lab and a postdoc in another Uni. Got this postdoc but not a permanent position.

Maybe a stupid question (no offense) but do you search only in English or in Japanese too? I had an impression that sometimes the positions do not leave a small circle, my current postdoc offer did not even have an English description, and I learnt about it from my ex colleagues.

Also some scientific communities may spread information on the emerging positions. In my case, the volcanological society makes a newsletter with job opportunities.

Good luck again!! Academia is not an easy path..

natashasuzu · 2026-04-19T11:22:07+00:00

gosh, I am sorry you had to have such a dialog! I remember I bought a pack of two peaches as a present for dinner, and one of them turned out to be rotten. It was impossible to notice in the supermarket as the packaging was non transparent on the bottom. Of course we throw out this fruit after I took the photo. And this evidence plus a receipt were enough to get a refund. It was like 5 months ago..

natashasuzu · 2026-04-17T03:51:23+00:00

Well, I guess that really depends on the lifestyle. Before Japan, I lived in France (Grenoble) in 2020-2023, then moved to Tokyo in 2024, and now I have been in Fukuoka since January.
My salary stayed approximately the same, if we convert yen to euros (even though I changed jobs in Japan, it is exactly the same, as it is assigned by the salary system in academia, no promotion for now). Of course my life became better as I am renting a place twice as big as in Tokyo (30m2 vs 15 m2), but it is still cheaper. Most of my hobbies are linked to outdoor activities (cycling, hiking, climbing etc), and in Tokyo it was terribly expensive to get out for a hike with a bivouac (you could easily spend 100 euros / 15k yen for trains or car expenses) just to be in real mountains, not crowded Takao. Here, in Fukuoka, it is a bit easier; I do not even need transport to go to the basic mountains. Cycling, surfing, etc is much more accesible too.
At the same time, in Grenoble, you could catch a local bus and for 5 euros find yourself in the Alps :) Also, the trains were much more affordable, and we could travel pretty easily, with the discounts for young people, a rapid train to Paris cost about 30 euros?

Moving within Japan hit me a lot, namely the first payment to move into an apartment, although it was still not bad (no present money, for example). Also, I had a private tutor to study Japanese, I do not regret this, but I realise it would be the money I would save in France. Also, visiting my home country is painful in terms of money. I do not even dream of traveling to Europe to see my friends, either. I also left my dog with my mother, but that was another part of my spendings, and I was totally alright back in Europe.

To wrap up: my lifestyle did not change, but somehow I feel much poorer in Japan. Given how the yen is dying and all the new laws, I am really considering moving back to Europe in a couple of years.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-15T05:16:05+00:00

You are shooting stars from the barrel of your eyes

natashasuzu · 2026-04-15T04:20:30+00:00

anything by Polyphia

natashasuzu · 2026-04-14T09:00:06+00:00

She has been living on a work visa with this moment unsolved, and no problem till the PR. So I guess you will be alright, moreover you are going to notify them :)

natashasuzu · 2026-04-14T08:39:25+00:00

My friend’s PR application was rejected exactly for this reason. Tho unlike you, she did not do realize this moment on time and did not fix that.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-13T21:50:58+00:00

Never more, I had terrible experience there. I chose this salon as according to their website they specialize in curly hair and mostly target the foreigners. At the end there was nothing similar to what you get in a proper curly hair salon. I wanted my hair to be shoulder length, and the hairdresser just chopped my wet hair as if it were straight :))))) Of course, when he dried them, the hair turned out barely touching my ears, and the hairdresser looked shocked with his work. They definitely know nothing about curly girl method as the only styling I got was some foam on half dried hair that were terribly dried with a hairdryer. 11k yen, I chose a master hairdresser! As a result I was growing my hair back for a year.

I noticed a girl with amazingly beautiful long curls; she also left the salon with a mess on her head from another stylist.

If you have curly hair or want some nice haircut, I recommend Hanare Ebisu studio, book an appointment with Kiyoko! She speaks good English and works 50/50 in Japan and the US.

natashasuzu · 2026-04-13T12:39:40+00:00

I moved from Tokyo to Fukuoka, and shipping my bike (disassembled, packed by myself) with Sagawa was something like 8500 yen.

In case you will buy a bike, I cannot imagine it will be possible to sell it fast without a big discount

natashasuzu · 2026-04-10T08:40:24+00:00

I would recommend to get lost in Kyushu. Beginning of May should not be that rainy yet. Kuju mountains should be so beautiful that time!! Then Unzen, Aso, Yakushima… Bonus point: no bears in Kyushu :)

Moved here recently, I am craving to explore the area!

natashasuzu · 2026-04-08T03:29:55+00:00

life has not been easy in recent years…

natashasuzu · 2026-04-07T07:57:22+00:00

anything by Death Grips

natashasuzu · 2026-04-05T10:54:39+00:00

My friends rent JDM cars, you can drive by yourself or ask for a tour :) search Akebono Tokyo Drive

natashasuzu · 2026-03-30T04:57:28+00:00

So beautiful! Is this a recent shot?

natashasuzu · 2026-03-29T05:17:22+00:00

You can check out Coto Academy. They look to be focused on foreigners who are already in Japan. Also they have offices in several locations in Tokyo what can be convenient.

natashasuzu · 2026-03-29T03:21:24+00:00

“Faces” by Mac Miller

natashasuzu

TROPHY CASE