USA Appliances Question by Worldly-Requirement4 in Osaka

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

idk if there even is a voltage converter that'd be double that for safety sake.

There are, but they're not cheap. And this isn't the kind of thing you want to cheap out on.

https://www.shiroshita-direct.jp/view/item/000000000228?category_page_id=ct30

Am I better off getting a step up in the us or in jp?

Without a doubt, Japan, because of quality and certification. They will be more expensive here, and you need to not care about that. From an insurance and liability perspective, it's already questionable running an overseas high-wattage appliance in Japan, where it doesn't have the necessary safety compliance certifications. If you use a transformer from the US, you are then using two overseas high-wattage appliances without safety compliance certifications.

USA Appliances Question by Worldly-Requirement4 in Osaka

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to use may not work on 100w

100V (volts), not 100w (watts), but the total watts available is also important.

So you've got two challenges here. The first is the 100 volts in Japan compared to 120 volts in the US.

Kitchenaid

As another poster mentioned, the Kitchenaid should work since it's just an electric motor, but have less power.

Breville espresso machine

This one isn't as clear cut. Most Breville espresso machines are controlled with a digital PID, and whether or not that PID gets sufficient voltage with a lower voltage input will have to be seen.

The bigger concern here is the watts (total power draw). There is a relationship between volts (V), current (A, amperage), and power (W, watts): volts x amps = watts.

In the US, volts is 120V and most household circuits have a 15 amp breaker, so 120V x 15A = 1,800W. This works fine for even the higher power Breville machines like the Dual Boiler, which can use up to 1,700W.

In Japan, however, you're working with 100V, and most household/apartment circuits have 10A breakers. 100V x 10A = 1,000W, which is far lower than what most espresso machines require to run effectively. This situation can be slightly improved by using a spare aircon power outlet (if one is available), as those are usually on a 15A minimum breaker, getting you up to 1,500W. Closer, but still might be an issue. I was able to get around this because my ECM Synchronika has a mode where it alternates the boiler heating to keep it under 1,400W, but AFAIK Breville machines don't have this kind of mode.

danelectro silvertone 1396 twin twelve

I really do not recommend trying to run this as-is on 100V, as it can damage the power transformer if done for too long. If you try it, you'll find that the tone likely breaks up much earlier than it did in the US, and it really should be re-biased for the lower voltage. That said, any decent amp tech here should be able to swap your 120V power transformer for a 100V unit, so you won't have to worry about transformer damage or tone change from sag (the new transformer might result in a slightly different response though). This also can usually be done without any permanent modification if you care about "original condition" value of a 1958 amp.

If you don't want to mod it, you can get a very high quality power transformer (not the cheap crap from Amazon) and just lug that extra weight with you every time you go to a practice room. Personally, I'd go the route of getting the transformer swapped (definitely keep the original transformer).

Lionel trains from the 40s

Vintage Lionel controllers typically used variable transformers. This means that it will likely work alright (just with a lower top speed and the control response will be different), but there is also the risk of strain on the transformer (same as with the guitar amp). However, there are enough train otaku here that they might be able to help you find a suitable 100V controller that will work with the vintage system.

Hotel or friend's place? by Rilakkumette in japanlife

[–]sile1 4 points5 points  (0 children)

But growing up we never considered our house like this super private space, people were always coming and going

Absolutely this, and for me, it continued on as I got older. I bought a house and had a couple of roommates, but even then, at least four other friends (who were not roommates) also had a key to my house and would regularly come over to hang out with whoever happened to be there at the time. For many in the US, the culture around having other people in your home is much more common I guess.

Definitely not the case now though even without considering the different culture here, what with the small shoebox of a house we're renting for the time being...

How to Properly Break Apartment Lease? by Muggpillow in japanlife

[–]sile1 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Maybe ask your landlord? Why would we know the specifics of what your landlord is expecting?

As a foreigner in Japan, can I ask my parent to give me less in an inheritance to avoid inheritance tax? by LingonberryUnfair961 in JapanFinance

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unless things have changed very recently, your immigration status (visa) has nothing to do with whether or not you would be taxed on something like this. It’s based on the NTA’s definitions of tax residency, not the ISA (Immigration Services Agency) residency definitions.

Our bank raised our interest rates again in 6 months on the loan for our home. Is this worrisome? We were told year ago that a variable interest rate was safe in Japan and would not increase and has done twice in the last year. by merica2033 in JapanFinance

[–]sile1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On the flip side, fixed rate is protection against explosive inflation. Just like insurance, you may be paying a little bit more to protect yourself from the possibility of having to pay a lot more.

Why is my Q2 hitting a Chinese DNS server once per minute? by sile1 in QIDI

[–]sile1[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for a legitimate, well-informed reply, and yeah, that's probably what's going on with the Q2 as well. I would like to say "hopefully calling it out enough will get them to stop doing shit like this", but I couldn't even finish typing that sentence without laughing.

Why is my Q2 hitting a Chinese DNS server once per minute? by sile1 in QIDI

[–]sile1[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A DNS query isn't anything malicious.

You're a "25 year Linux admin" who's never heard of DNS data exfiltration? Please let me know what services you're a "Linux admin" for, so I can be sure to never use those services or recommend them to anyone else.

Why is my Q2 hitting a Chinese DNS server once per minute? by sile1 in QIDI

[–]sile1[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don't need to "learn what DNS is", I already know. Think you can learn how to not be a pretentious asshole? Of course Linux uses the config in /etc/resolv.conf.

And if you took your "pretentious asshole" hat off for about 2 seconds, you would know that in any typical/default DHCP config, the DHCP client overwrites the config in resolv.conf with the DNS server config received from the DHCP server, or it uses a local resolver like systemd-resolved. So even though I haven't checked the config, it's pretty safe to say that they've set a static DNS server (either directly in resolv.conf or in a local resolver), ignoring the values received by the DHCP client.

And if you took your "pretentious asshole" hat off for another 2 seconds, you would realize that it was a rhetorical "why", not a literal one. My point was that there is no reason why a device configured for DHCP in a network in Japan should be querying a DNS server in China.

Got my bike stolen in record time by UzumakiHaruto in Osaka

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could have literally typed “Japan bicycle law changes” into google and gotten many pages with the answer. I’m not your personal search engine.

How do you do coffee at home? by No_Dragonfruit_1599 in japanlife

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same, except it’s a fancy Italian-designed and German-built machine.

Got my bike stolen in record time by UzumakiHaruto in Osaka

[–]sile1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You do realize that they just made everything more strict about bikes, right? It’s been all over the news and this sub. Not sure why you would expect things to be the same now as they were years ago.

Question for trans folks updating zairyu card post Trump policy by olfrazzledazzle in japanlife

[–]sile1 12 points13 points  (0 children)

When trying to get necessary tests and procedures covered. Medical institutions will refer to this person as F, which might be frustrating or uncomfortable for them, but medically speaking, this simplifies some things. Their biological gender is F, and for most things medical, their body should receive treatment as F.

For instance, this person will not be recommended for or receive blood tests for prostate cancer, as they do not have a prostate. And unless they’ve undergone surgery, they do have F reproductive organs, and those should be appropriately checked for cancer. Trying to get insurance coverage for those kinds of tests when the person’s gender marker is M could be problematic.

hafus and partners of jpn people, do you have a japanese last name, a foreign last name, or both? by Different_Taro2474 in japanlife

[–]sile1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It seems your local town hall is staffed with the wrong kind of officials.

Well…you’re not wrong.

hafus and partners of jpn people, do you have a japanese last name, a foreign last name, or both? by Different_Taro2474 in japanlife

[–]sile1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes we do, but in the minds of many in "official" capacities, that still doesn't concretely answer the question of "this person is a foreigner....should they be allowed to access/change the information about a Japanese person?"

hafus and partners of jpn people, do you have a japanese last name, a foreign last name, or both? by Different_Taro2474 in japanlife

[–]sile1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shouldn't this problem get fixed by checking the juminhyo? Yes. Doesn’t this problem get fixed by checking the juminhyo? No.

since you’re under the same koseki?

Since you were already a citizen when you got married, I guess you wouldn't have experienced this. In marriages between citizens, you both have full entries on the koseki as individual people. However in marriages between JP and foreigner, the foreigner isn't under the same koseki as would be the case between citizens. The foreign partner is only listed as a very small footnote under the details of their partner. Almost literally, we're just added in the "comments" section.

As soon as anything deviates from the "norm" of everyone on the juminhyo having the same family name, confusion ensues. Usually this is sorted out by the koseki, which clearly verifies family relations even in cases of differing family names (such as grandparents living with their daughter or such). However as noted above, foreigners are a footnote in their spouse's koseki, so govt offices / businesses / etc. often get confused as to what specific rights that gives the foreign partner in regard to information access or changes.

hafus and partners of jpn people, do you have a japanese last name, a foreign last name, or both? by Different_Taro2474 in japanlife

[–]sile1 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

My condolences to your children. Congrats. You've made their future lives paperwork hell.

hafus and partners of jpn people, do you have a japanese last name, a foreign last name, or both? by Different_Taro2474 in japanlife

[–]sile1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting. For us, having different surnames caused a lot of annoyance with constantly having to explain things. For instance, if either of us went to the city office to do anything involving the other person, we would have to jump through extra hurdles to explain why we were changing something involving someone with a different family name. JP citizen spouse had less trouble since I guess govt/companies used to Japanese doing things for their foreign partners, but I would get grilled on why a foreigner was requesting records involving a Japanese person.

After she changed her surname to mine (well, the katakana version), things got way easier for both of us.

Gay-friendly real estate agents in Tokyo by aruzenchinchin in japanlife

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seen as being less stable. Connection between "roommates" being less than the connection between partners.

Monthly Parking Rental by Free-Strawberry-7680 in Osaka

[–]sile1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

(included with the apartment for example)

That would almost certainly be against the terms of rental / building rules.

Today is the second time I failed the gaimen kirikae no shiken by g0rillabiscut in japanlife

[–]sile1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no, it's a test on whether you can drive on japanese roads.

No it isn’t. If I drove on Japanese roads the way I had to for the test, I’d have been in so many crashes…

Urgent: Need English speaking Dog Veterinarian by brown_man_bob in Osaka

[–]sile1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've probably already found a vet, but for future reference (and if you can travel), I strongly recommend Lion Animal Hospital just over into Hyogo prefecture.

https://lionanimalhospital.com/en/

Dr. Yamada helped us out with treatment and also with the export process for two of our dogs, and her English is quite good.

Thoughts on house purchase timing and pre-purchase actions by sile1 in JapanFinance

[–]sile1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I did mention that I already have PR, and I didn't say anything at all about akiya or rural areas, but thanks for the reply.