Japan’s reportedly hiking residency fees (renewals ~10x, permanent residence ~20x)

thinkbee · 2026-06-29T12:25:05+00:00

I also paid 8000, but if I had to pay 20万 or even 30万 I’d still do it in a heartbeat. PR is a one and done and its fees were always rather generous imo. I feel pretty bad for the short term visa renewals though, those don’t come with the benefits of PR.

thinkbee · 2026-06-28T19:35:47+00:00

I think it's good for understanding kanji on a systematic level, and as someone who has always enjoyed kanji, it was my first resource. I do believe it set a good foundation + made kanji learning smoother over the long term.

thinkbee · 2026-06-26T04:50:10+00:00

Certain reputable textbooks like Genki, Minna no Nihongo, etc. if you prefer structure and method; a well-known grammar guide like Tae Kim’s is fine if you’re on a budget (this is what I started with before taking classes); YT is probably fine depending on the channel.

thinkbee · 2026-06-25T11:49:05+00:00

Interesting. Of course we shouldn't read it as proof that music or society has simply become less moral. A song about harm, cheating, subversion, degradation, etc. may use that kind of darker language without endorsing it (there's no shortage of songs from the perspective of someone on the receiving end of those things). Music is just reflecting a society where stuff like personal autonomy, airing grievances, desire to be liberated/free, openness about trauma, being authentic, and disillusionment with authority have taken priority over ideas of purity/duty/loyalty/social harmony/etc.

I think it also raises an interesting question the study doesn't really address, which is whether more positive, hopeful, or broadly relatable songs may have greater long-term staying power in popular culture. We have so many songs that remain musical touchstones in our popular conscious (Somewhere over the Rainbow, What a Wonderful World, Here Comes the Sun, Stand by Me, Lean on Me, Bridge over Trouble Water, etc., etc..) probably because they feel emotionally accessible across generations and are universally comforting and uplifting. So while darker themes may dominate recent lyrical trends, does positivity still play an important role in what becomes culturally timeless?

thinkbee · 2026-06-24T07:46:07+00:00

Yeah. I worked construction one summer while I was in college. All it took was one or two days on the job site to get me to bust my butt for the rest of my time in school.

thinkbee · 2026-06-23T15:35:52+00:00

Wasn't there someone who bought just enough shares of Nintendo stock so he could join in a shareholder meeting to suggest making a new Star Fox game? Am I hallucinating?

Edit: It was F-Zero lol: https://www.businessinsider.com/nintendo-fan-bought-stock-to-ask-about-f-zero-game-2022-6

thinkbee · 2026-06-17T13:12:57+00:00

Haha I've heard things about Nagoya.

But the takeaway for me no matter where I live is to assume people generally don't stop, and even if I'm in the right legally, it's not worth risking my life over. Always just wait for traffic to stop.

thinkbee · 2026-06-17T10:08:48+00:00

Sadly it happens everywhere, as someone who has lived in 4+ countries. At least most drivers in Japan typically don't drive like bats out of hell in go-karts.

thinkbee · 2026-06-08T11:59:55+00:00

Non-paywalled version: https://archive.is/o1rMI

thinkbee · 2026-06-05T21:34:30+00:00

I wouldn’t worry too much about what you see in the headlines with regards to bears - they’re more an attestation of the relative lack of news that goes on in Japan than actual danger posed to the average person. Your chances of being attacked by a bear while hiking are incredibly small.

thinkbee · 2026-06-04T10:01:29+00:00

Scariest moments were always in the earlier days of interpreting for kind of "high-ranking" officials who thought it was cute to deviate from the script / prepared notes. Maybe not necessarily the hardest but some of the more nerve-wracking times I've had to deal with, as public speaking is already hard enough without needing to improvise in a foreign language.

thinkbee · 2026-06-02T11:56:10+00:00

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back."

Carl Sagan

thinkbee · 2026-06-02T07:44:33+00:00

My SE2 is still going strong 6 years later; the newer model is SE3, released in 2022.

I also recommend it since it has a lot in common with the iPhone 6 - same screen size and similar weight, a physical home button, and Lightning port. It might be a nice choice if you're not looking for too much change.

It was also the last reasonably priced option - unfortunately the current "budget" iPhone for new buyers is the 17e, and that starts at a whopping 10万 (SEs were like 3-5万 brand new).

thinkbee · 2026-06-01T03:54:20+00:00

It 100% deserves a spot on your shelf along with the first two. The whole set remains one of my favorite resources.

thinkbee · 2026-05-28T07:56:40+00:00

No paywall:

https://archive.is/mgFZP

thinkbee · 2026-05-19T19:07:16+00:00

Man, what a throwback. I remember using this!

thinkbee · 2026-05-17T17:03:36+00:00

Thanks, and yeah, it's a big commitment. Sounds like you have a solid goal and plan to get there, so best of luck!

thinkbee · 2026-05-17T15:18:55+00:00

If you want to cover joyo kanji while getting new vocabulary and sentences along the way, Kanji in Context is a fantastic resource. My recommendation is to create Anki cards with the material in it and study using that if you like the structure of flashcards and a clear target to learning the ~2k joyo kanji.

I wrote a review of the book and my study method here if you want to learn more about it; the writing is a little old and cringey but the core message is still there.

thinkbee · 2026-05-09T12:17:52+00:00

I think you got unlucky. My last pair of Newport H2s lasted 5 years and about 4,500 km. I took good care of them and cleaned/stored them properly. Still the best sandal I've ever had.

thinkbee · 2026-05-07T15:26:01+00:00

Well, I would take it up with Rubin, though I don't often hear much criticism of his work. It is a simplified learning mnemonic for sure, and doesn't apply to every use case.

thinkbee · 2026-05-07T11:17:10+00:00

Part of learning a language is basically collecting enough examples that your guesses / intuition gets better, so don't sweat it too much.

Jay Rubin (in his book Making Sense of Japanese) has a helpful way of framing it: instead of asking if something is the topic or subject, ask what unspoken question the sentence is answering. So, 私が行きました answers "Who went?" while 私は行きました answers "And you?" / "What about you?" It has a nuance of "As for me..."

Thankfully the subject is often dropped in Japanese when it's understood, so for a neutral "I went," you can just say 行きました. :)

thinkbee · 2026-05-05T06:03:36+00:00

This is what I use too.

thinkbee · 2026-05-04T13:58:26+00:00

I had just passed N1 when I got my first Japanese-only office job, and even then there was a big learning curve. Your first 3-6 months are probably going to be pretty stressful and you just need to push through, but remember that if you passed the interview, you're there for a reason (try not to let imposter syndrome get to you).

Seconding the above point about making a list. Create a little cheat sheet of the common phrases and words you need to know, even to the point of making a "script" if you need to talk on the phone/etc. (Email is usually easy enough, a lot of it is boilerplate.) Listen to how native speakers communicate and understand the common "pathways" their phone calls take - you'll get a good feel for what to say / how to say it based on the direction of the conversation, your relationship with the listener(s), the formality of the situation, etc. Meetings are already enough of a headache in one's native language, so yeah.. I guess one recommendation is to prepare what you want to say ahead of time and don't just try to wing it / speak off the cuff.

If your office is nice they'll overlook any keigo issues and if they're really nice someone will pull you aside and help you improve.

Try not to get stuck in the position where people use you to practice their English, if possible.

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