#japan advice

[liddopixie]

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

[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

[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!

[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

[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…

[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!!!!!

[nippon-nomad]

日本へようこそ！

So you’ve decided to take that leap of faith and book a ticket to Japan have you? Congratulations; You’re in for a treat! Whether you’re drawn to the Island nations plethora of ancient Temples and Sacred spaces or the hustle and bustle of the cityscape, Japan and the Japanese people will leave a lasting impression on you that you will undoubtedly carry with you for all your days.

Japan, as we know it today, has a long history of being known for its distinct culture and traditions, some of which extend back to 300BC, what is referred to as the 'Jomon period'. Many elements of the Japanese culture developed fully undisturbed by outside influences and continue to be practiced with the utmost precision and dedication to the ways of old.

A finely balanced mix of unyielding tradition and ever evolving state of the art technologies, there are numerous other reasons why Japan is considered to be one of the world’s most fascinating countries.

So what exactly can you expect to find in Japan? Here’s a basic breakdown to make planning your trip that bit easier.

Language: The national language of Japan is Japanese. English wayfinding is widely available in major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto however sparingly found in smaller, countryside towns. Other languages commonly found include Chinese and Korean, with a smattering of other Foreign languages also available.

My advice, no matter how short or long a stay you have planned, is to learn even the most basic of Japanese. You’ll be amazed how accommodating the Japanese people can be when even the most basic of attempts at speaking Japanese is made and who knows, you might just end up making some new friends simply just by trying!

As the saying goes, you’ll never know if you don’t go!

Currency, Credit Cards & ATMs: The official currency is the Japanese Yen (JPY).

In Japan, cash is still very much king. While payment by card is becoming more widely accepted in restaurants and stores, my strongest recommendation is to carry a fair amount of cash with you. This applies to travel in major cities (where thankfully ATM’s are more widely accessible; hello 7-11 cash withdrawals!) as well as smaller, less well-appointed country towns.

At the time of posting 100 Japanese Yen (basically the equivalent of our dollar) buys $1.08 AUD and 69 US cents.

Banking: For cash withdrawals majority of Japanese banks will accept foreign cards (though be prepared to be stung by nasty transaction fees if you don’t have a bank card with 0 transaction fees on international withdrawals (hello Citibank!) with some exceptions.

Things to be aware of when your stash of cash starts to dry up is that not any and all ATM’s will accept International bank cards. I mean this literally; I have been stuck in a situation where my Australian bank card would not physically fit into the card slot of an ATM machine. Don’t be like me. Don’t be that person.

Other things to note is that some ATM’s as well as the cards themselves may have a restriction on what time of day money can be withdrawn. Not only that, but often, ATM’s located in banks are only available during banking hours (typically 9AM to 3PM) and not the full 24 hours some of us are used to.

Additionally, depending on your bank and card type, you may incur a daily cap (often￥300,000 which is equivalent to about (at time of posting) just over $3000AUD) on the amount of money that can be withdrawn from your card and account.

Power Plugs: Power plugs in Japan are type A and B. Plug type A is the plug which has two flat parallel pins and plug type B is the plug which has two flat parallel pins and a grounding pin.

The standard voltage is 100 V, and the standard frequency is 50 / 60 Hz for those wanting to know.

To save yourselves suffering from having a dead phone or no charge in your camera battery (the literal worst thing for photography enthusiasts) I can’t stress how lifesaving a universal adapter is. Using a universal adapter takes the hassle out of having to purchase dedicated Japanese plugs for your devices and what not.

Just make sure that whatever plug and or adapter you go for has surge protection and a converter for hairdryers and hot tools. Let’s not be causing the entire hotel to experience an electricity surge now.

Safety: Japan is one of the safest countries in the world and is perfect for solo travellers.

Being a woman and one that enjoys solo travel, I can personally attest for the safety of Japan. While not recommended (let’s use some common sense here people), the chances of getting mugged while meandering around the streets at 3AM are pretty much zero to none.

It goes without saying that it pays to be aware of your surroundings and do what you must to keep yourself safe, day or night-time. If travelling in groups, be sure to keep an eye out for one another and organise a dedicated time and meeting spot in the case that one of you does get lost (it happens to the best of us!).

In the case of an emergency, you can reach emergency services on the following numbers:

Police: 110

Coast Guard: 118

Ambulance and Fire Services: 119

Emergency telephone numbers can be called from home phones, mobile phones and public phones. When making an emergency call from a public phone, neither money nor a pre-paid telephone card are necessary.

Although there are a few operators who speak English, if you do happen to find yourself in a situation where you need to call upon emergency services, you should be prepared to explain your situation in Japanese, so that the operator can assist you in the best way possible. It is advisable to speak slowly and specify if you need an ambulance (救急車です,  kyuu-kyuu desu) wish to report a fire (火事です, kaji desu), or need to report a crime to the police (犯罪です, hanzai desu). 

[samarecharm]

thank you for the long response! it was geniunely a very interesting read!! also i did not want to imply that you have to 100% like something or else drop it, that was not my intention (/_;)/~~ i just wanted to know what were the pros that outweighed the cons for you to continue the game!! i definitely have my own rant about the persona 5, as much as i love it.

i'm someone who has sunk hundreds of hours (i think about 400) into persona 5 royal, i have played the original as well and,,,,, i don't remember every bit of it as i got much more into royal, but your response definitely dug up some memories of my own gripes with the game as it was then. i bought strikers once i had a switch!! i was super excited to see ryuji and the rest of the gang again, but due to life stuff and me generally not being a fan of button smashers/combo games, i only got like 3 hours into it before i left it alone. also the lack of akechi was disheartening since after royal giving him more story i was wanting /still want more of him as royal, while not fully fixing his confidant, still improved majorly on his character in my opinion. but i trust your judgment, so do you have any tips to get back into strikers? it's really the gameplay that sticks out like a sore thumb to me, i'm not very dexterous with a controler and i get the hang of things quite slowly,,,, but again, thank you geniunely for responding so kindly and elaborating!! (*^ω^)

You are welcome 😊 I try to give the botd for questions like this, bc I have seen and received some very silly comments wrt to complaints of this game (and others people hold in high regard). Not that I am happy to see that you remembered some gripes w a game you liked, but it is easy to become a bit rosetinted about media you enjoy, and its good to go back and say ‘hey actually, theres some stuff i DO wish couldve been changed to make the experience better.’ At least u were polite about asking lmao

I think I am going to have the same problem I had before, so im going to preemptively put my strikers tips under the cut to stop it from bloating up dashboards 😭

I am aware that the warriors style gameplay is not for everyone; its very repetitive by its nature and it can be really bad on the hands if youre not used to it, so I unfortunately dont have a suggestion for making the combat portion of the game easier. But I am halfway through a ng+ of that game, so I at least have tips on how to make the combat less confusing, and how to spend less time on the actual combat itself.

Stick to one character and ignore literally anyone else in the beginning. I am so serious about this. The upgrades you get for ranking up teammates is used to enhance their combos, and that can be confusing in the beginning of the game. I had to fall back onto normal difficulty until i got the hang of everyones combos, so i suggest you do the same.

The ai for your teammates is surprisingly well done, and they will target enemy weaknesses and heal you before you NEED to be healed, which is always better than them simply forgetting to do so. They buff often, but they are a bit lax about debuffing without manual input (ann has Tarunda as a spell AND as a combo finisher, but she refuses to do either unless its targeting a tough enemy). You should prioritize builds that buff your entire team (so the competent team ai rips enemies to shreds) and debuffing enemies.

Combos are almost entirely optional if youre willing to jump in and out of Jails to replenish SP constantly. Spam spells, and switch teammates to spam their spells as well, then leave the Jail and return. Unlike the mainline games, leaving the metaverse does not pass time; only hitting important plot points like getting to the treasure and fighting the jailer counts towards progressing time, so you should abuse it as often as possible.

Due to [REDACTED] spoilers, you WILL need to at least master or understand three characters and their movesets. I obviously suggest Akira as one, but pick two more characters that work well with your playstyle. Ryuji was personally the easiest to understand; hes resistant to flinching, and his finishers are ‘hold X to kill everything around you’. Haru has a wide aoe for her combo finishers, letting her spin and shred through enemies or spam her grenade launcher infinitely. She has the added benefit of gaining more armor and reduced flinching during her hold finishers, so shes good for fighting bosses.

DONT fight those super hard burning enemies. They arent worth it 😭😭 you need to be at least 3-4 jails deep before u can even fight the one in shibuya jail 😭😭 theyre very easy to avoid, so just shimmy past them or ignore the area theyre in outright.

If you focus on understanding Akira, know that each persona has a unique set of finishers (yes, literally each one). If you are thinking of learning combos instead of just spamming spells, I suggest learning the pattern for executing his combos before focusing on what the finishers actually do. From there, you can test out finishers for each persona, and decide which ones are worth keeping based on that. I will say though, that the finishers kinda dont mean anything until you get to the end game, where high leveled personas will have spells like Concentrate or Debilitate as Finishers; but always know that a finisher spell is ALWAYS a spell that you can just as easily cast with SP. Dont make the game more stressful or complicated than you need it to be.

(As an addon, if you can understand Akiras moveset, then learning the other ones will be WAY easier since they are all virtually the same. The only thing you need to memorize is exactly what spell is used on their finishers; it took me forever to realize that Yusukes last finisher is…a combo enhancer…that makes his finishers last forever… and you would NOT know that unless u started learning his moveset since his ai never uses it)

If youre someone who wants to farm and level up to gain access to more personas, you should find the strong enemies around a map instead of constantly reclearing the entire jail. Unlike the mainline games, enemies do not respawn after leaving a floor; you gotta leave the jail and come back to make them respawn. If you are okay w the repetition, it is easier to memorize the spawns of strong enemies (not the minibosses that are burning) and beat them up for good exp and money, esp since all spawns are static. Silky in the Shibuya jail is the first one that comes to mind, since Ann is able to stunlock her w Agis, AND she spawns very close to one of the checkpoints (its before the underground section of shibuya but i cannot remember the name of it) making it easy to jump in and jump out to replenish SP, and continue farming.

And finally, despite what I just said, dont take the bosses of this game too seriously. They arent easy but they are absolutely doable without insane builds and optimization. Bosses have aids in the form of interactables of their respective weaknesses (Shibuya has party poppers with wind affinitiy thats eventually used on the boss to stun them.) Stock up on healing personas, Stock up on Items from Sophias shop, and target weaknesses whenever you can to force an allout attack as fast as possible. The combat can be overwhelming, but at the end of the day, the combat is really just ‘run around from attacks and spam spells or combos until the thing dies’. I hope that helps a little bit, and if push comes to shove, i will always recommend watching a playthrough instead of fighting through a game that feels like a slog to get through. Most of the story comes from the cutscenes and city interactions, so you arent missing much by watching someone beat up shadows for u lol and bc i genuinely LOVE the characters they introduce, its worth it to learn about them.

It sucks that Goro isnt in the game, but it was made prior to Royal iirc (the japanese release was the only one available for some time). I will say though, the themes of this game fit him so perfectly, and if youre of the mind to speculate and make aus, then you will be joining me in the obsession of making Goro interactions w the team. Palaces were about corrupted peoples desires distorting the world around them, and they were always someone so reprehensible, you were not intended to sympathize w them and even debate if what the thieves were doing was wrong. But Jails serve an entirely different purpose, and the end result is having Rulers with depth to them, and the overarching theme of ‘if you fuck up your life and others over the decisions you thought were correct, can you recover?’ And the answer is always ‘yes. No matter what, you can always start over if you intend to do better and be better’, and I think thats a good reason to see the entire story through :)

[frengles]

sometimes i have to wonder if i am incapable of looking on the bright side. due to being a hater

[epicdogymoment]

finally finished ep 1+2. hmm

[spirallingstarcases]

:((