#japan advice

[liddopixie]

Moving in, my first week in Kyoto: how to get settled in Japan

[inbabylontheywept]

you don't need a sous vide machine to sou vie! all you need is some plastic freezer bags and like, a cheap digital thermometer (and a pot for water). you might need to get finicky by adding water to the pot during the process to keep the water a consistent temp.

You: Ah, yes, Egg Guy! Guy who ate 15 raw eggs! Wow! Hey, you seem extremely reasonable and controlled and ludicrously hinged. Like, 20 goddamn hinges on you. More hinges than a door store. May I recommend carefully putting eggs in a bag, putting a thermometer in water, then boiling the egg bag while watching it carefully whilst it rises to temperature? Also keep in mind that any significant mistake in this process will simply result in the worlds largest and least appetizing hardboiled egg clusterfuck.

Me: Oh wow, what a wonderful idea. By the way, I seem to have dropped my pen. Yes, here, on the side of the line that says "Stand Back - He Bites." Yes, it refers to someone else. Yes, I am very scared he'll come back while I'm still in range. All the more reason for you to be a good chap and pick up the pen for me. That's right. Perfect.

Perfect.

[transmasccofee]

Ppl sometimes say that “oh theres no way the author intended for saiki to be trans” to discredit canon, which is funny bc it implies that Asou is an idiot who has no clue that Explicitly Writing Saiki As Afab And Making Him Say He Was Born A Girl would make him trans, meanwhile in reality there are at least two other canon trans characters

Even worse is when they say “stop projecting western concepts like transgenderism onto this manga, you’re whitewashing it!” meanwhile in reality there are at least two other canon trans cha

[peonycats]

What are your favourite kinds of Japan content? Or alternatively, what are your least favourites?

I'm a huge aph Japan fan, and I'm always curious abt this stuff.

Hmmm, well honestly I could talk all day about this topic LMAO but for your sake and mine I'll keep it brief and focus mostly on two especially grating depictions i dislike. I have some posts queued up down the line for how i tend to see japan so feel free to ask me about that when i get around to posting it ehehe

"Polite, cute, shy, quiet" japan depictions reallllly don't work for me. Like it's one thing to say that Japan is a reserved guy who puts value in having good manners and doesn't want to come across as rude, but it's another to turn him into a wilting flower who's easily dominated by louder personalities and turns into a side character. Besides it falling into ur typical trope of the "diminutive east asian who needs to be taught by their loud non easian (usually white) partner how to stand up for themself and live life a little," I think it's just patently false, both canonically and historically lmao. Like hima has called Japan a stubborn old man before, and history will tell you that Japan is nothing if not resourceful and very very proud, lol. He may bite his tongue, but I imagine that hes not someone who easily gives up or submits or at least without a fight 😂

Germany-Italy-Japan trio, or "Axis" trio, depictions never go over well for me, lol. I'm of the mindset that you can't really divorce them from their history in WW2, especially if you're going to call them the Axis, like lol the least you could do is call them something new. Furthermore, Geritapan depictions in my opinion are terrible with tokenizing japan as the sole character of color/east asian in the group, but the Worst Geritapan Depictions as of late are shipping gerita with japan off in the cuck chair?? I'm not saying we need to give Japan bitches (because lord knows he doesn't deserve any) but wow, congrats, you made your only East Asian man an emasculated yellow guy who just pines and copes over a white love interest who dgaf about him <3 a win for diversity!!!

anyways, if you're going to ship gerita but treat japan like this, i would rather you ship germany and italy together like a normal person and leave japan out of it 🙏

[akkivee]

sasara’s manager: oh, the bromide of aohitsugi-san after his bath!! i was surprised you got permission to take that photo

sasara: actually, i snuck in and took that picture

manager: eh

sasara: i figured, if i got caught i could handle whatever might happen but geez, i honestly thought i was going to get killed

———————

EXCUSE ME?????? SASARA????????????????

[bootleg-nessie]

Going to a high end sushi restaurant in japan just to stop the chef before they’re about to cut it into individual sushi and eating the whole roll like a hotdog

[ahb-writes]

My poster of Japanese prophetic mermaids, the Ryūgū no tsukai (tr. Servants of Ryūgū), arrived (and was promptly framed). Art is by Matthew Meyer, noted Japan folklorist, writer, and illustrator.

Ryūgū no tsukai are servants and messengers of Ryūjin, the god of the sea. These yokai are holy creatures; they appear as really large fish with horns and a human head, along with lots of hair (and sometimes beards), and sometimes swords. The servants' sizes range wildly (5m to 18m long). Many purportedly emit "a luminous glow," too.

According to Meyer, the mermaids' historical affiliation with warning against coming disease and devastation had a large part in their big jump in popularity over the past few years (during and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic). Meyer's poster recreates the original ink-brush artwork with a high fidelity to the strangeness and uniqueness of the originals.

The legends (as published in The Palace of the Dragon King by Meyer):

For seven days during April of 1819, a shining creature was seen in the sea off the coast of Tsushima, and people all over the province wondered at it. Eight hundred people from other provinces gathered in one hundred and twenty large boats and fired thirty guns at it all at once, but the thing was not fazed by this. Within seven days after shooting at it, the creature began to speak, and every night it said this: "I am nothing to be afraid of. I have come here from the Dragon Palace for a reason. One day this year, a great evil disease will come, and people will certainly die. Therefore, I ask you to copy my portrait and spread it around the country. Those who see my picture even once will be spared from this evil disease. It will also serve as an amulet for the safety of the land and for long life." Its body was nine meters long, and its face was about one and a half meters long. Another ryūgū no tsukai appeared off of Kumamoto. Its body was eighteen meters long and its face was 90 centimeters long. It had two horns, and its back was covered in purple scales. It had six fins, a tail like a goldfish's, and it carried three jewels. This creature explained that it was a messenger from the Dragon Palace and said, "This year there will be severe epidemic of a great evil illness, and the sick will not be saved. Therefore, in order to save many lives, I have come here to give you this message. All who hear my message are sure to be spared from the disease."

The poster is printed on washi paper, which offers subtler inks, reflects light slightly differently, and has a delightfully unique texture. As you can see, the many variations in the style and appearance of the mermaids shift and change in much the same way the stories told among villagers shifted and changed the more people who heard and shared them (and the more the people surely wanted amulets for their own safety). The largest among these yokai, Onna uo (tr. woman fish) (pictured below, right), has multiple swords on her tail and is said to be 145 meters long!

[mysticinsightstarot]

🌸✨ Let’s Heal Together—$1 Life Coaching Sessions Now Available! ✨🌸

🌸✨ Let’s Heal Together—$1 Life Coaching Sessions Now Available! ✨🌸

Hey, my beautiful souls! 💕 I’ve been thinking about all of you so much lately, and I’m beyond excited to share this with you! 🎉 After seeing how deeply my Let’s Heal Together post resonated, I felt called to take the next step in supporting you. So, I’m now offering 20-minute life coaching sessions for just $1 over on my website! 😭💖 It’s my way of giving back and helping you grow through this journey together. 🌸💫

Check it out here: Sunsera Tarot Community 💖✨

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For those of you waiting on the free readings, I’m still working on them—huge congrats to the 10 lucky people chosen! 🎉💌 And, I know I couldn’t upload the Pick A Card reading yesterday, but life got in the way. It’ll be up in a day or two, and it’s all about your celebrity crush! 😏💖

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RomComVibes #tarot #lifecoaching #paidreadings #celebritycrushpac #japaneseculture #letshealtogether #coauthor

[fossette-promenade]

OH i think that person in my last reblog owns cotton candy feet. I was going to say damn so many ccf bags... anyways QUEEN BEHAVIOR

[liddopixie]

Essentials to pack on your Japan trip

When reading peoples accounts of what they pack for a trip to Japan, I am always so surprised with how little some people bring! Many people pack next to nothing, claiming that they can buy all they need once they get to Japan. While Japan is an incredibly convenient country, a great deal of the products are different from those in Canada. From clothes to skincare, even if the brand name is the…

[thelastblackmoon]

Here's an explanation of the Unspoken Rules of Cosplay in Japan!! There are SO many written rules for Japanese Cosplay Conventions, but those are all easy to read up on and understand. What's not as easy to figure out are the unspoken rules that are rooted in Japanese culture & society. If you don't understand the way of life in Japan, you may feel a little lost! Let's learn about the fine print within the fine print.

If you have any questions that aren't in the FAQ, please ask away int he comments!!

✨FAQ✨

❓How do I request/give permission if I don't speak Japanese?????

↪️The short answer is to either study key phrases or to simply print out a cheat sheet to show to people. I'll make a post on the best phrases to know for cosplay events both as attendees and cosplayers.

❓Why can't I cosplay in public? I've seen it on social media before.

↪️This is another question that needs its own post. The short answer is that many places require permission to shoot, and you also don't want to be a public nuisance and risk damaging the reputation of the cosplay community as a whole. Just because you've seen people do it doesn't mean you should copy them!!

❓What is SNS?

↪️It stands for Social Networking Sites, and is the most common umbrella term for Social Media. I also want to make another post for the many strange acronyms and phrases that Japanese people/the cosplay community have that are worth knowing.

❓What do you mean by "chaos" at American Conventions?

↪️Think about Katsucon, Holiday Matsuri, or Colossal Con (sorry West Coast people, I can't vouch for cons over there) and the 🫣festivities🤐 that occur there. Many hotel cons turn crazy after dark and include drinking, 18+ events, partying, and a general atmosphere of lawlessness--despite the valiant efforts of the organizers. It's kind of the opposite of Japanese cons which are incredibly organized and quite sterile in comparison.

The main takeaway is to THOROUGHLY read and understand the rules of the con and take them seriously. Japan has a lot of societal rules and while you may see some people break them, it can be irritating or downright rude to the people around them 🆖🚫

Try to understand Japanese culture and see things through the lens of Japan 🇯🇵🗾

It's ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry!! The last thing you want to do is make a fool out of yourself and/or your community when you're a guest in Japan. Let's do our best to learn the ways of Cosplay in Japan!! ⛩️👘

[saintfrancesworld]

HELP WANTED:

Never have I ever—not even once—understood the Pokémon universe. EVER. I am in my goddamn early twenties. Where do I begin this journey, friends? Please leave me your various media recommendations and sage advice—I would deeply appreciate it!

[howtoreallymanifest]

Dreaming Big

when you think, you are putting emotional energy towards an idea that is conjured from the cloudspace, or dream realm, the one in which we live. that's the only possibility for us to comprehend the magnitude of possibilities available for us in this life. this means we are much more powerful than we have previously conceived. we can do much more than what our prescribed minds are telling us that we can do. that is because we are paying attention to our worldly mind rather than the dream mind, the one that doesn't live from being in this world exactly. when we do this, we open ourselves up to a much grander potential and as we pay attention to it we draw more of ourselves into it because it is connected to our emotions. as a result, we can instantly start building incomprehensible landscapes and experiences that can come to pass with enough energy and effort to them.

the energy we deliver from our stamina driven by our confidence is the type of creating that we do whenever we pay attention to our dream mind. it doesn't give up, and neither do we as a result. in fact, you may always find yourself answering the question to "how far away am i from my dreams" as "closer" every time.

when you listen to your dream mind, you are able to do much more than when you are just limited to your worldly mind. and when that happens, you can research more about your chosen topic of creation. and checking back and forth in between, seeing what you are coming up with.

it's important to note that when you apply stamina with confidence, you are building your dreams in lightning speeds. the confidence you gain from your research. and the stamina you gain from not giving up. clarity is continuously built the more you put things into perspective and see that it finds itself in a broad light. then you are zooming back into where you were working. how do you get things from nothing? it is activating that hazy sense of feeling that is called daydreaming, or catching yourself in it when you are doing it, then redirecting it with the law of attraction manifesting abundance. you tell yourself "yes" instead of "no" and maintain the positivity through affirmative thinking. this further releases more energy from your cloud or dream mind and you can further redirect it to your chosen destination.

the continuous action of not giving up with what you are creating is what causes the stamina you need to continue creating.

[nanairomiso]

Working in Japan

This is a repost of a thread I made on Twitter, but essentially, it's a breakdown of how much I made working as a freelancer in Japan. Consider a cautionary tale if you're thinking about moving to Japan.

So i made roughly 5 million yen last year, right? Highest i've ever gotten after 14 years in Japan (higher than what i made at my old company even). Awesome, right?

Well, since i am freelance, i have to cover my own expenses. this includes lights, internet, software, other equip or transport I need for work. So once you subtract all of that, roughly 3 mil yen, I have about 2 mil yen left. Not terrible, but not great.

Now, from this 2 mil, I have to subtract health insurance, which a monthly payment of about 12000 yen (144,000 a year). Ouch, but like, necessary. 1.8 mil is still not.... the worst.

We still haven't paid into the pension system :smiling_face_with_tear: This payment can be made monthly, but you get a bit of a discount if you pay for a year up front (short for money, jp govt?).

So that's about 200,000 yen. Just gone.

It's just me and 1.6 mil yen left…. okay…

Did I mention there's a city tax? I haven't received it yet, but it's roughly 150,000 for Osaka city. Are you crying? Because I'm crying with my 1.5 million yen. Want to cry harder? If I were to convert this to USD, it's less than 10K for the year......

And that 5 million yen from all my work last year is ABOVE AVERAGE. The average wage in Japan is currently 4.1 million before taxes... IS IT REALLY ANY WONDER PPL AREN'T HAVING CHILDREN?? I CAN BARELY AFFORD MYSELF LMAO

There is one major difference between freelance and fulltime employees though. Companies will cover half of your pension and a certain percentage of your health insurance, so maybe salaried employees end with a 300,000 more in their wallets.

But freelancers? This includes animators, comic artists, video editors, etc. Or people that aren't employed full-time?? We have to cover our insurance and pension.

Freelancers are really out here with no money.

This is all to say, basically, working in Japan is a joke. Honestly the amount I pay for healthcare is too high for quality of care I receive most of the time and I'm not even sure I'll receive pension from the govt (because they have no money)

Did i mention that pay into a separate retirement plan in the states because i do not trust the japanese govt?

XDDD i've moved beyond anger. i can only laugh at my circumstances.

OH and japanese politicians have just been pocketing MILLIONS of YEN. YOU KNOW. THAT AVERAGE JAPANESE CITIZENS AMT IN YEARLY WAGES. THEY POCKETED THAT TASTY UNTAXED MONEY UNTIL THEY WERE EXPOSED A FEW MONTHS AGO

So yeah, the cost of living in Japan is low, and seems affordable from the point of view of the US dollar. But when you work in Japan?? When you make money in yen?????

[medicinemane]

You know, looking at a diet soda can it occurs to me that it might not be so wretched to me if the cans weren't so unpleasant

Like we know that things like color play a role in how our brain perceives things, and I realized looking at the can that they're always this bland but at the same time nasty looking silver and it just... it looks foul and I think that compounds with the fact that I also just plain don't like diet soda

My point here isn't to say anyone else shouldn't like diet soda, just how I never realized how much of an impact the can has on me not liking it... there's just something offputting about it to me

[mashedjagaimo]

In 2.5 weeks I’ll be moving to Japan to work as an ALT through JET. If anyone has advice on living/working in Japan I’ll gladly take it!!!!!