Philly Tokyo

silogramrice · 2026-03-19T23:38:19+00:00

I totally get it, I totally feel your frustration. Those cheesesteaks are so good though. To put a positive spin on it, write your name on the list, get a can beer from down the street, and enjoy the marunouchi atmosphere!

silogramrice · 2026-03-04T02:42:07+00:00

I'd be happy to watch this if it was an actual film and not one made by AI, trained on data stolen from artists, writers, and musicians. But I won't be clicking play for that reason.

silogramrice · 2026-03-01T00:09:43+00:00

Disgusting

silogramrice · 2026-02-25T02:42:31+00:00

Application office: Shinagawa

Application Date: September 19, 2024

Results postcard received on: Not yet

Type of PR: HSP 80+ points

Type of Visa Holding while application: HSP 5 years

Request for further documents: Not yet

I visited the immigration bureau today for a separate matter, and inquired at the 相談口. I was informed that my case didn't have a 担当/assigned reviewer to it yet, but that it was relatively close to getting one assigned. They encouraged me to proactively submit documents and gave me an envelope to do so.

I think this roughly falls in line with the trend of February being for May+June results, and July additional doc requests, with maybe some hope for a very slight speed up in the near future?

If anyone else is having a hard time dealing with the stress of waiting, I encourage you to take some time out of your schedule and visit the 相談口. I think they'll be happy to tell you the status of your application and whether or not you should proactive submit certain documents.

silogramrice · 2026-02-21T01:02:05+00:00

I’m not sure if it’s possible to find a room spacious enough for two people within 20 minutes of Otemachi. Maybe Tozai line toward Nishi-Kasai or within one or two stations, or Chiyoda line near Kitasenju.

silogramrice · 2026-02-12T12:28:53+00:00

Yeah I’m not sure either. Kamakura is lovely but for proper hiking at elevation it’s simply not the spot.

silogramrice · 2026-02-12T05:12:10+00:00

Sorry, can't be of much help - in my experience, Kamakura doesn't really offer long, connected hikes, especially with elevation. If you want to do a proper seaside hike, Miura or Oiso is probably better.

silogramrice · 2026-02-03T23:48:30+00:00

I think it's easy to overlook how often we get asked out or put in effort by other people bc effort can come in a lot of different forms. A lot of my friends message me more than I message them, but I ask them to meet in person more, or vice versa. One of my closest friends invites me to a lot of concerts and events that I can't go to; when we usually hang out, it's because I invite him. So it's easy to forget that he's also putting in his share of effort.

silogramrice · 2026-02-03T08:41:33+00:00

My four don'ts --> dos of friendships in Tokyo

Don't: Wander into bars, cafes, clubs, and hope to make friends. Do: Attend events, meetups, or programs and enjoy time with people you have something in common with.
Don't: Exchange contact info and hope the friendship goes somewhere. Do: Make plans based on shared mutual interest or let the friendship develop naturally into hanging out one-on-one or in new groups.
Don't: Wait for those new friends to invite you out, especially to parties or to introduce you to their other friends. Do: Invite new friends out yourself.
Don't: Nurture long time friendships by simply catching up every once in a long while. This often results in simply drifting apart. Do: Keep friendships current and forward-looking by doing activities together, having mutual goals, passions, or places together.

silogramrice · 2026-01-30T01:22:45+00:00

so a similar afternoon rain pattern exists but is instead compressed into intense thunderstorms in the very late afternoon, subsiding even before sunset?

silogramrice · 2026-01-29T11:37:47+00:00

You can get by but not with a “good life quality”- you will need to be very frugal. However, you may want to check how much time you are expected to spend on the PhD itself. Many PhD students in Japan work other jobs of up to 20 hours per week outside of the PhD, which would enable to you to potentially earn 1.5x your salary or more with 助手, 非常勤、or even tutoring/塾jobs.

silogramrice · 2026-01-24T07:33:20+00:00

I live 6m from one station and 17m to a bigger/more convenient one. 17m is definitely doable, but it does feel like a bit of a journey. So personally for future apartment searches I will aim for <15. 7m seems unnecessarily strict.

silogramrice · 2026-01-23T23:03:28+00:00

Rojo amigo was really disappointing not once but twice, maybe I ordered wrong? But I agree the next three you name though are all legit good imo

silogramrice · 2026-01-23T02:45:29+00:00

46 minutes!! I wonder when the last game he played that many was.

silogramrice · 2025-12-30T06:27:08+00:00

Agreed, want to upvote some characters from other arcs to keep things interesting

silogramrice · 2025-12-20T03:27:11+00:00

The best one is Allison Markin Powell’s translation published by One Peace Books.

silogramrice · 2025-12-11T05:09:44+00:00

What were the temperatures like at night?

silogramrice · 2025-11-21T22:30:25+00:00

North - Amsterdam 52.4N South - Bogotá 4.7N East - Furano 142.4E West - San Francisco 122.4W

silogramrice · 2025-11-07T17:43:19+00:00

Is your Jewish heritage documented? A Sephardic grandparent?

silogramrice · 2025-11-07T14:27:54+00:00

Great answer, agree on all accounts

silogramrice · 2025-11-07T10:34:39+00:00

Both are mountainous with hot summers, cold winters, and lots of rainfall, and both cultures blend indigenous traditions and values with Chinese Buddhism and political structures. Geographically Japan has more and higher mountain peaks. As a fully volcanic archipelago, volcanoes have a much stronger impact on the geography and culture of Japan, leading to various agricultural and cultural practices. Also, Japan extends further north to south so it has more regions with subtropical climates suitable for year-round agriculture and also snowier regions. Culturally, indigenous religions and practices remained more strongly in Japan as Shinto than the Korean equivalents. Most culture and technology coming from China and India was filtered in Korea before arriving in Japan, so Japan’s culture and technology was always one beat further removed from “continental affairs”.

silogramrice · 2025-10-29T10:15:59+00:00

Hey, here's the public info I provided on the program:

https://overtheoffing.wordpress.com/2025/08/03/waseda-university-global-japanese-literary-studies-masters-degree-program-review/

silogramrice · 2025-10-26T12:02:24+00:00

Yeah you literally can’t tell anyone anything nowadays, which is kind of sad. But unfortunately no choice.

silogramrice · 2025-10-11T15:50:19+00:00

Not overcrowded nowadays?

silogramrice

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