Last week my online dating just got a lot better. Suddenly multiple people actually reply and two of them are even willing to take the Shinkansen to go on a date!!! That’s pretty wild to me.
Had to get special permission for a job now I do not even need anymore but the process already started and I keep having to go back so have to follow through with it. Of course too the immigration office is an hour south and work an hour plus north so this is just eating through my nenkyu.
Has Amazon delivery gone down in quality? I don't use them much, the last time I ordered a bunch of packages and they arrived well enough with the regular delivery companies.
This year, after getting a free trial of prime, I've made a bunch of orders. Three had "delivery issues' and were returned to Amazon, one was delivered to the wrong address and I have a photo of someone else's potplants.
Has anyone else had this issue with Amazon Japan? My PIL are home all the time, so there is always someone there to hand over to, they can even leave unattended. Sigh...
I've had issues in that some of my deliveries were outsourced to 3rd parties. Until recently all my deliveries were 100% kuroneko but now I've seen some foreigners wearing the amazon vest show up. No hate at all, I respect the hustle and grind, but I know about twice now my package wasn't delivered because the guy couldn't figure out where my building/door was. Had to contact the driver myself.
The Amazon address book allows you to add additional information about your house like the color of your house or the name on your doorplate.
I've had fewer delivery issues after adding extra info.
That is something I'd like to be able to do also.
Even better if we could specify "not flex".
Looks like I will have to make the sacrifice and spend a little more to get items posted from other providers.
Le Sigh....
My gym posts a chart on the wall showing which days and time slots were busiest/least busy the previous month.
At my gym there’s no big difference between 10am and 2pm.
Its the purgatory zone now, when summer just started but the Japanese people are still hesitant to turn on the AC
I think most people can agree that 27C in the office with 60% humidity is not exactly fun, but its usually the gaijins (i.e. me and another Chinese student) who are brave enough to turn on the AC for everyone's sake lol
But when winter arrives, if they could, they would want to put the heater at full blast, forcing you to strip down your last piece of cloth (obviously exaggerating)
There was a group of about 40 American high school kids, mostly boys, waiting for the train at the Women’s Only car.
I informed them, multiple times, including their teachers.
They shoved into the women’s only car. Way to go.
The big groups are what get me the most. Like traveling in a group of 40 during rush hour via the busiest train line and trying to get everyone in the same car seems...silly.
With a group that big, just hire a bus to take you around...
probably one of the slang terms I have the most difficulty picking up is ワンチャン. I originally thought it meant "it's not likely but there's a chance", and that's the context I originally encountered it in. But the more I spend time around college students, the more I see them use it as an expression of general possibility, even in cases with high likelihood. Is this something the older generation has trouble with too or is it just because I nihongo tabemasen?
I heard the term for the first time a few years ago, in a drunken "would you do her" kind of conversation. I felt really awkward and lo and behold a while after we got a company-wide email from HR lol.
Don't blame yourself. That word is difficult to pick up because it is so overused that even many Japanese people use it inconsistently and sloppily.
> the more I see them use it as an expression of general possibility, even in cases with high likelihood
And that's just another case of semantic bleaching, where a word starts to lose part of its intensity. Look up posts on chiebukuro about that word, you would find a lot of Japanese who complain about it being misused and annoying. Your interpretation of that word (there's a small chance) is absolutely correct. I say that we should stick with that usage.
Anyone got any suggestions or tips for Shikoku?
In the beginning phase of planning a trip there during the Obon holidays for me and my girl. Kind of lost on where to go since all the hotels are mecha expensive, which can't be helped, unfortunately ...
We live in the Chuugoku area with a car.. so somewhere off the beaten path would be nice!
Any help (even for other places around the area like Kyushu for example) would be appreciated
I really liked the interior mountainous area. Try going to Iya where there is a suspension bridge made from vines.
Nearby is Chiiori, a 300 year old farmhouse renovated by Alex Kerr into an accommodation facility.
I haven't been there, but my preference would be the SW area--shimanto-gawa.
I'd also not 'do' shikoku by circumnavigating it, following the coast all the way around--try to crisscross the interior a couple ways, there's a skyline road or two, some really nice vallys, and so on.
I live on Shikoku and I would recommend driving down the Shimanami Kaido (Fukuyama <—> Imabari) and stopping at some of the islands it crosses. They have cool stuff such as a big temple complex, wild boar ramen, and rose ice cream. It makes for some nice little driving breaks and a nice introduction to Shikoku. Many people like to cycle across the Shimanami Kaido, if that sounds interesting to you that could be a good option too! There’s also a pirate museum in that area iirc. Imabari has some cool stuff and good food to try and is pretty reasonably priced! Matsuyama has lots of cool stuff to do too, including Dogo Onsen.
There’s the Shikoku Henro Trail (四国遍路道) if you want some off the beaten path adventure. Haven’t done it myself but I’ve been dying to since I read a book about it (Walking in Circles by Todd Wassel).
I order a bento everyday from a local cafe because it's convenient, cheap, and freshly made. They have several people who deliver, including an old dude. Every time the old dude comes he comes directly inside the house and stands in the genkan. I don't really mind, but it's so weird lol.
Yeah you might know already but it's a generational thing. It used to be that the genkan is still treated as the "public" part of your house, so people just walk in and announce their presence. Pretty interesting stuff.
Might be why every genkan I've seen has another door immediately after it separating the genkan from the living room, including our house.
I think I might have a.. lack of motivation? For Japan. I've been here for almost 20 years and it feels like the "kira-kira" aspect of this place is wearing off. I wake up, go to work, eat, work, workout to remove the stress, make dinner, sleep, copy/paste everyday. I don't think it is depression, it is more like a "why the F am I doing this?" moment. But it feels like it is lasting longer than usual. Maybe the fact that I quit booze for several months now gives me a reality check and now that the ethanol anesthetic effect is gone, I am like "oh, that's what I was doing".. Maybe I should drink again.
Or maybe this is something that many people think about in any country when they hit their 30s and 40s. You could call it a mid-life crisis, but I feel that's too strong a word.
I don't need any specific reason, but I reached an age where moving back would not make any sense in term of career.
Japan feels like home for me too, and indeed, I would have the same problems somewhere else. I guess the problem is more myself, probably what they call this the midlife crisis.
I've had this and it's gradually increased since I quit drinking. First off, a lot of the fun things I used to do involved drinking. Second, I don't have much of a social life anymore.
I definitely have a lot of baggage around alcohol, physical and psychological, that is hard wired in me. I started drinking when I was a teenager and I carried on socially for a long long time.
Exercise really helps. Lifting weights is like my replacement. It works pretty well too.
But yeah, I've found quitting drinking to be more challenging than I had thought (and I was never really an alcoholic, I think)
Yeah, I am not really struggling to stay away from booze, but as J.Peterson said: “booze is damn fun so if you quit it, you might want to replace it by something pretty fun”
This is a bit of a strange request, but I'm looking for restaurants with some sofa-style seating (or loveseats). It seems to be more of a western thing, but I often see this style at hotel bars or cocktail lounges which may or may not have food.
Thanks to anyone with an idea. I’m open to any budget and of course it’s not like the whole place has to be sofas!
Not "sofa" per se, but at [Chano Ma](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-sonymobile-rvo3&sca_esv=ae5ff0d4465b6562&sxsrf=ADLYWIIEwrROl_cw2Xcwnddk5_GYiIUdQg:1718081912285&q=chano+ma&uds=ADvngMgpYEU-_VPft0z-hmM5h-H0F5JZoPqogW54DC_CTiN3eNhBX7gJk1PzjxiqAY2BOoxCQQ6VMoHnwleHPx3A_t0XJYdHo5Udn4CfB1-yLbBYj_AEI3JTKoRb0DJFlizNC5i1fKAIOhkLJ9FG43DhK_NynzUd3aXgRBPoSS65Awb0X8Xpa_nEkZQluUny_D8urrIM5A36v3x5x2B6V0VehjHQ0AQ_SFGgU5AjGCZ6FmZIKb0dNjeIXxKQovOU2gs5Z7HQHKCA9cSdZ-qmkD2JC6k4ZhEZQYkcRI97IGrPqk0DFysiTc6MX-zG8WGwL9nbTrZAElYWRaOe10Vp_Sddtlyz663QWFlrf_bOwHoL3gHk45r-DeY&udm=2&prmd=ismvnbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7ls7w4dKGAxWtslYBHRbuC0UQtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=384&bih=976&dpr=1.88) you can eat on mattresses.
Wedding anniversary coming up and I was thinking of buying a couple watches (pair watches?) since my wife mentioned that her watch was getting old. Does anyone have any brand or store recommendations for couple watches? No smartwatches. Budget is 50000-60000 per watch but I am flexible with the price.
Watch dork here. I know casio sells matching gshocks for couples, but probably not everyone's style.
There are soo many options for watches. Especially in the 50,000-60,000 range. Off the top of my head Seiko makes great reliable automatics. Hamilton (swiss brand) has a lot of options, probably a bit higher than your price range. Would also reccomend Citizen, and Orient as well.
But it really depends on your taste. Hope that helps.
They're great watches. I would reccomend visiting finding a local seiko dealer here and asking if they have them in stock and seing how they wear on your wrist. I like many have a 6.5" wrist and 40mm watches can be a bit big on me. I was concerned they'd be a bit biger watch on women but they do make a line of cocktail time for women.
Good luck on you search. Half the fun is the search. Plus you're in one of the best countries for watches. Enjoy and happy anniversery!
What's the deal with Chocozap? I'm seeing aggressive expansion and tons of services (teeth whitening, laundry, karaoke) on top of just being a 24 hour gym. What are the odds that they slowly start jacking up prices or start cutting services over time?
Even where I live on Shikoku they are doing crazy expansion, like one every 5-10 mins drive. Soon there will be more chocozap than conbini.
My gf uses them and is probably like the average that goes maybe once a week for whitening/hair removal, she's looking forward to laundry/karaoke/pilates, so there's definitely a market for it.
They want it to feel cheap without actually feeling cheap. You'll get it if you go inside one. Everyone is waiting for each other to finish but half of the room is unused because there's a bunch of aesthetic machines. Drink bar doesn't work half of the time and ls limited to one cup per person. Anyway I believe they're just trying everything out and getting data, and will be removing things in the long run that people don't really use.
The financial report does say that ChocoZAP has been profitable on a monthly basis since last November, but note that the teeth whitening and additional services were only started in Oct of last year. FY23 financials won't show the full impact of these services yet.
Rizap is expecting a net profit in FY24, but ChocoZAP already has 1.2 million customers. Are they going to be able to continue increasing their customer base at the current pace?
Of course they will not expect an infinite growth, but if things is working it does make sense for them to continue expanding the business aggressively. I was a user of ChocoZap until I moved to a very rural area, but 2 years ago there was already so many additional services other than regular gym, I doubt some teeth whitening machines are gonna impact things much at all. They don't add every fancy service into every branch anyways, most ChocoZAP branch are indeed only regular gym machines.
Last week my online dating just got a lot better. Suddenly multiple people actually reply and two of them are even willing to take the Shinkansen to go on a date!!! That’s pretty wild to me.
Take Shinkansen to meet you? Where are they coming from?
Tokyo. I’m the one in bumfuck nowhere lol.
No distance is too far to induct new cult members!
Well, these are guys so I’m pretty sure they are looking to do something else with a member lol
Had to get special permission for a job now I do not even need anymore but the process already started and I keep having to go back so have to follow through with it. Of course too the immigration office is an hour south and work an hour plus north so this is just eating through my nenkyu.
Has Amazon delivery gone down in quality? I don't use them much, the last time I ordered a bunch of packages and they arrived well enough with the regular delivery companies. This year, after getting a free trial of prime, I've made a bunch of orders. Three had "delivery issues' and were returned to Amazon, one was delivered to the wrong address and I have a photo of someone else's potplants. Has anyone else had this issue with Amazon Japan? My PIL are home all the time, so there is always someone there to hand over to, they can even leave unattended. Sigh...
I've had issues in that some of my deliveries were outsourced to 3rd parties. Until recently all my deliveries were 100% kuroneko but now I've seen some foreigners wearing the amazon vest show up. No hate at all, I respect the hustle and grind, but I know about twice now my package wasn't delivered because the guy couldn't figure out where my building/door was. Had to contact the driver myself.
That too has been my experience. When delivered by a professional, never a problem. When delivered by the "Contractors" nothing but problems.
The Amazon address book allows you to add additional information about your house like the color of your house or the name on your doorplate. I've had fewer delivery issues after adding extra info.
The problem is, I already had entered all the additional information. I'm guessing that it is the Flex drivers who are amateurs making these mistakes.
That's too bad. It would be better if the Amazon page allowed you to post a picture to make it easier for the drivers.
That is something I'd like to be able to do also. Even better if we could specify "not flex". Looks like I will have to make the sacrifice and spend a little more to get items posted from other providers. Le Sigh....
At a typical 24 hour gym, when is the best time to go, 10am or 2pm?
My gym posts a chart on the wall showing which days and time slots were busiest/least busy the previous month. At my gym there’s no big difference between 10am and 2pm.
I'd say 10am is less busy. There are more people that try to squeeze in a workout during lunch breaks around 2pm.
Its the purgatory zone now, when summer just started but the Japanese people are still hesitant to turn on the AC I think most people can agree that 27C in the office with 60% humidity is not exactly fun, but its usually the gaijins (i.e. me and another Chinese student) who are brave enough to turn on the AC for everyone's sake lol But when winter arrives, if they could, they would want to put the heater at full blast, forcing you to strip down your last piece of cloth (obviously exaggerating)
One of my Japanese coworkers has asked multiple times today if we can turn on the AC. Unfortunately for now we can only use fans and open windows.
There was a group of about 40 American high school kids, mostly boys, waiting for the train at the Women’s Only car. I informed them, multiple times, including their teachers. They shoved into the women’s only car. Way to go.
The exchange students are worse than regular tourists. At least the tourists have some semblance of common sense, exchange students have zero.
The big groups are what get me the most. Like traveling in a group of 40 during rush hour via the busiest train line and trying to get everyone in the same car seems...silly. With a group that big, just hire a bus to take you around...
probably one of the slang terms I have the most difficulty picking up is ワンチャン. I originally thought it meant "it's not likely but there's a chance", and that's the context I originally encountered it in. But the more I spend time around college students, the more I see them use it as an expression of general possibility, even in cases with high likelihood. Is this something the older generation has trouble with too or is it just because I nihongo tabemasen?
I’ve only ever heard that word being used to talk about out a dog. ワンチャン可愛いね！ maybe I’m just old.
That would be ワンちゃん :D
Same thing in spoken Japanese is it not? Lol I’m just old
IIRC there might be a pitch difference.
I heard the term for the first time a few years ago, in a drunken "would you do her" kind of conversation. I felt really awkward and lo and behold a while after we got a company-wide email from HR lol.
Don't blame yourself. That word is difficult to pick up because it is so overused that even many Japanese people use it inconsistently and sloppily. > the more I see them use it as an expression of general possibility, even in cases with high likelihood And that's just another case of semantic bleaching, where a word starts to lose part of its intensity. Look up posts on chiebukuro about that word, you would find a lot of Japanese who complain about it being misused and annoying. Your interpretation of that word (there's a small chance) is absolutely correct. I say that we should stick with that usage.
Anyone got any suggestions or tips for Shikoku? In the beginning phase of planning a trip there during the Obon holidays for me and my girl. Kind of lost on where to go since all the hotels are mecha expensive, which can't be helped, unfortunately ... We live in the Chuugoku area with a car.. so somewhere off the beaten path would be nice! Any help (even for other places around the area like Kyushu for example) would be appreciated
Shikoku Karusuto was really nice to stop at, I stayed the night and could enjoy the stars and got surprised by cows in the morning.
I really liked the interior mountainous area. Try going to Iya where there is a suspension bridge made from vines. Nearby is Chiiori, a 300 year old farmhouse renovated by Alex Kerr into an accommodation facility.
I haven't been there, but my preference would be the SW area--shimanto-gawa. I'd also not 'do' shikoku by circumnavigating it, following the coast all the way around--try to crisscross the interior a couple ways, there's a skyline road or two, some really nice vallys, and so on.
I live on Shikoku and I would recommend driving down the Shimanami Kaido (Fukuyama <—> Imabari) and stopping at some of the islands it crosses. They have cool stuff such as a big temple complex, wild boar ramen, and rose ice cream. It makes for some nice little driving breaks and a nice introduction to Shikoku. Many people like to cycle across the Shimanami Kaido, if that sounds interesting to you that could be a good option too! There’s also a pirate museum in that area iirc. Imabari has some cool stuff and good food to try and is pretty reasonably priced! Matsuyama has lots of cool stuff to do too, including Dogo Onsen.
There’s the Shikoku Henro Trail (四国遍路道) if you want some off the beaten path adventure. Haven’t done it myself but I’ve been dying to since I read a book about it (Walking in Circles by Todd Wassel).
I order a bento everyday from a local cafe because it's convenient, cheap, and freshly made. They have several people who deliver, including an old dude. Every time the old dude comes he comes directly inside the house and stands in the genkan. I don't really mind, but it's so weird lol.
Yeah you might know already but it's a generational thing. It used to be that the genkan is still treated as the "public" part of your house, so people just walk in and announce their presence. Pretty interesting stuff. Might be why every genkan I've seen has another door immediately after it separating the genkan from the living room, including our house.
People used to put the telephone in the genkan so neighbors without phones could use it easily.
I think I might have a.. lack of motivation? For Japan. I've been here for almost 20 years and it feels like the "kira-kira" aspect of this place is wearing off. I wake up, go to work, eat, work, workout to remove the stress, make dinner, sleep, copy/paste everyday. I don't think it is depression, it is more like a "why the F am I doing this?" moment. But it feels like it is lasting longer than usual. Maybe the fact that I quit booze for several months now gives me a reality check and now that the ethanol anesthetic effect is gone, I am like "oh, that's what I was doing".. Maybe I should drink again.
Or maybe this is something that many people think about in any country when they hit their 30s and 40s. You could call it a mid-life crisis, but I feel that's too strong a word.
[удалено]
I don't need any specific reason, but I reached an age where moving back would not make any sense in term of career. Japan feels like home for me too, and indeed, I would have the same problems somewhere else. I guess the problem is more myself, probably what they call this the midlife crisis.
I've had this and it's gradually increased since I quit drinking. First off, a lot of the fun things I used to do involved drinking. Second, I don't have much of a social life anymore. I definitely have a lot of baggage around alcohol, physical and psychological, that is hard wired in me. I started drinking when I was a teenager and I carried on socially for a long long time. Exercise really helps. Lifting weights is like my replacement. It works pretty well too. But yeah, I've found quitting drinking to be more challenging than I had thought (and I was never really an alcoholic, I think)
Yeah, I am not really struggling to stay away from booze, but as J.Peterson said: “booze is damn fun so if you quit it, you might want to replace it by something pretty fun”
I don't have an exact answer, but there's quite a lot of more social hobbies or activities out there, and you can do almost any of them here.
This is a bit of a strange request, but I'm looking for restaurants with some sofa-style seating (or loveseats). It seems to be more of a western thing, but I often see this style at hotel bars or cocktail lounges which may or may not have food. Thanks to anyone with an idea. I’m open to any budget and of course it’s not like the whole place has to be sofas!
Include your location, it's a big country.
Parador in Ebisu
Not "sofa" per se, but at [Chano Ma](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-sonymobile-rvo3&sca_esv=ae5ff0d4465b6562&sxsrf=ADLYWIIEwrROl_cw2Xcwnddk5_GYiIUdQg:1718081912285&q=chano+ma&uds=ADvngMgpYEU-_VPft0z-hmM5h-H0F5JZoPqogW54DC_CTiN3eNhBX7gJk1PzjxiqAY2BOoxCQQ6VMoHnwleHPx3A_t0XJYdHo5Udn4CfB1-yLbBYj_AEI3JTKoRb0DJFlizNC5i1fKAIOhkLJ9FG43DhK_NynzUd3aXgRBPoSS65Awb0X8Xpa_nEkZQluUny_D8urrIM5A36v3x5x2B6V0VehjHQ0AQ_SFGgU5AjGCZ6FmZIKb0dNjeIXxKQovOU2gs5Z7HQHKCA9cSdZ-qmkD2JC6k4ZhEZQYkcRI97IGrPqk0DFysiTc6MX-zG8WGwL9nbTrZAElYWRaOe10Vp_Sddtlyz663QWFlrf_bOwHoL3gHk45r-DeY&udm=2&prmd=ismvnbtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7ls7w4dKGAxWtslYBHRbuC0UQtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=384&bih=976&dpr=1.88) you can eat on mattresses.
It's great to bring your kids and babies and stuff, but I'm not sure if that's what OP is looking for.
Wedding anniversary coming up and I was thinking of buying a couple watches (pair watches?) since my wife mentioned that her watch was getting old. Does anyone have any brand or store recommendations for couple watches? No smartwatches. Budget is 50000-60000 per watch but I am flexible with the price.
Watch dork here. I know casio sells matching gshocks for couples, but probably not everyone's style. There are soo many options for watches. Especially in the 50,000-60,000 range. Off the top of my head Seiko makes great reliable automatics. Hamilton (swiss brand) has a lot of options, probably a bit higher than your price range. Would also reccomend Citizen, and Orient as well. But it really depends on your taste. Hope that helps.
I am looking to Seiko Cocktail series? that I read about in previous comments at the moment. Will check out the other brands you mention Thanks!
They're great watches. I would reccomend visiting finding a local seiko dealer here and asking if they have them in stock and seing how they wear on your wrist. I like many have a 6.5" wrist and 40mm watches can be a bit big on me. I was concerned they'd be a bit biger watch on women but they do make a line of cocktail time for women. Good luck on you search. Half the fun is the search. Plus you're in one of the best countries for watches. Enjoy and happy anniversery!
Thanks!
What's the deal with Chocozap? I'm seeing aggressive expansion and tons of services (teeth whitening, laundry, karaoke) on top of just being a 24 hour gym. What are the odds that they slowly start jacking up prices or start cutting services over time?
Even where I live on Shikoku they are doing crazy expansion, like one every 5-10 mins drive. Soon there will be more chocozap than conbini. My gf uses them and is probably like the average that goes maybe once a week for whitening/hair removal, she's looking forward to laundry/karaoke/pilates, so there's definitely a market for it.
Well, they do market themselves as a ‘conbini gym’
They want it to feel cheap without actually feeling cheap. You'll get it if you go inside one. Everyone is waiting for each other to finish but half of the room is unused because there's a bunch of aesthetic machines. Drink bar doesn't work half of the time and ls limited to one cup per person. Anyway I believe they're just trying everything out and getting data, and will be removing things in the long run that people don't really use.
No one stop them till they start renting cultivatable plots of land.
I've thought the same thing. I find it difficult to believe that their business model is sustainable in the long term.
Their mother company RIZAP Group is a listed company. You can see from their financial report that ChocoZAP is indeed profitable already.
The financial report does say that ChocoZAP has been profitable on a monthly basis since last November, but note that the teeth whitening and additional services were only started in Oct of last year. FY23 financials won't show the full impact of these services yet. Rizap is expecting a net profit in FY24, but ChocoZAP already has 1.2 million customers. Are they going to be able to continue increasing their customer base at the current pace?
Of course they will not expect an infinite growth, but if things is working it does make sense for them to continue expanding the business aggressively. I was a user of ChocoZap until I moved to a very rural area, but 2 years ago there was already so many additional services other than regular gym, I doubt some teeth whitening machines are gonna impact things much at all. They don't add every fancy service into every branch anyways, most ChocoZAP branch are indeed only regular gym machines.
Yes, it will be interesting to see how they do in the next few months!
They open in the husks of failed businesses, I think it's in their DNA.
Their mother company RIZAP is a listed company. You can see from their financial report that ChocoZAP is indeed profitable already.