| Moving within Japan |
[10 Dec 2011|11:46pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 anxious |
] |
Hello.
I'm going to move within Japan for the first time in a few weeks (roughly 10 weeks left: will move in early March - yeah, high season, I know ...)
I've been in Japan for 4 years now, living in the very same apartment the whole time.
I don't know exactly where I'll move to (depends on my next job), but it's gonna be outside of the prefecture and if everything goes well, around 500km away.
As I've never moved before within Japan and as I have to do everything on my own, I have a lot of questions and feel a little bit lost and overwhelmed.
I don't have a lot of furniture to take with me as my apartment was already furnished, but I do have a few bulky things (office chair, mattress, ...) that I'd like to take with me .. in addition to all the random stuff (dishes, books etc.)
So, my questions are:
1) Is there a way to find out how much this will roughly cost beforehand?
I heard that you can get quotes from different companies and all, but exactly how do I do that?
2) Is there a way to get some bigger cardboards for free from somewhere (legally)?
Anything else that you found handy when moving?
3) What do I have to do when I move? (ARC etc.)
Well, apart from canceling internet and things like that.
What about my ARC? Is it enough to just go to the office in my new area?
4) Bank account: I need to set up a new one!
This one is tough. My job required that I had a bank account at a local bank. Thus, this bank doesn't even have branches outside of our prefecture.
All of my savings are there. I cannot cancel the bank account just yet as that's where my salary is being transfered to - and it's the only option, but I need to set up a new one and transfer my money to there ASAP.
So far I never had to worry about it, but what is a good bank with many branches everywhere, so that I'm not locally limited - given the fact that I don't know yet where exactly I'm moving to?
Does it take long to set up a new account?
Will it be very expensive to transfer a huge amount of money from one bank in Japan to another?
5) Is there anything else I need to consider?
I'm asking about your very own experience. Maybe there are things where you think "if only I knew that earlier on" - and that you could share with me now.
I'm grateful for any kind of advice you can give me.
I'm still quite worried about moving and all ... hoping everything will work out fine in the end.
Thanks a lot in advance! :)
|
|
| English-speaking AU shop in Tokyo? |
[14 Oct 2011|01:04pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 nervous |
] |
Hi all!
I'm going to be helping a friend purchase her first cell phone in Japan, and she's decided to go with AU. It's been a long while since I jumped through the hoops to get a phone, and while I'd probably be OK with doing it all in Japanese, since I'm in Tokyo and I know there are English-speaking Softbank shops that are far easier to navigate, I'd like to do it in English if possible!
Anyone know of any AU shops in the Tokyo area with English-speaking staff? :) Even a modicum of English would help smooth things over.
|
|
| Haneda New International Terminal info? Late night/early morning flight experiences? |
[06 Feb 2011|05:31pm] |
I'm making a short trip to the US in late March (mostly because my parents complain too much on Skype if I don't visit once a year) And because I'd rather not spend $1500 on a flight, I looked around and found an awesome deal; 62,000y from Haneda->Detroit->Newark.
Which would be awesome, except that the flight leaves at 6:55AM... which means that if I want to get there 2 hours before the flight, it'd be 4:55AM... well before first train/bus and well after last train.
So far I've found that last train gets there at midnight, while the last bus from Shinagawa gets there at 2...
My questions, in no particular order:
1. To anyone who's taken these early-morning flights from Haneda to the US (or anywhere else for that matter), how did you get to the airport?
2. If I have to spend a significant amount of time at the airport, are there places to relax and chill and maybe eat something without paying a fortune? A 24h McDonalds or Starbucks, couches, something like that? Which area is better for waiting, before or after security/immigration?
3. From what time can I even check in?
4. Is souvenir shopping hopeless? Those weird limited-edition flavors of KitKats always go well with my friends... plus parents like the weird sake bottles that they sell in Narita's duty free, but it looks like most of the stores don't open till 6 and I'm unsure about having time before departure. Am I better off shopping beforehand?
Sorry for so many questions, but thanks in advance!
|
|
|
[31 Jan 2011|05:24pm] |
Hello,
I know you all can understand me, my dream maybe will come true, and maybe I’ll go to Japan.
So, I have a really important question for you all guys and I really hope that you can help me!
We’d like to go to Japan this spring and we’re planning to take a tour from a travel company which is called ‘bonsai’. Does anybody know this travel agency?!
We have to spend a lot of money, to transfer from Russia (Moscow) to Japan (Tokyo) by internet, and we’d like to be sure in this company.
But we found nothing about the company in internet. There is only a website in Russian. Is there a chance that this company doesn’t exist? And is there a chance that this company is a fake?
Please, if anybody knows something about ‘bonsai’, please, write me!
|
|
| Softbank question |
[18 Jan 2011|12:06pm] |
Hello!
First of all thanks so much to everybody who replied to my last entry. Youg guys were a really great help.
As consequence of my high cellphone bill, I've decided to try one of the "unlimited packet plans" that Softbank offers.
As far as I can tell there are two that look quite good, but I need your help again.
1) Unlimited Packet Discount S (390y-4410y / 390y-5985y / 390y-9800y??!!!??
Extra note: Sending S! Mail to and receiving S! Mail from SoftBank handsets and Disney Mobile handsets incurs communication fees even if you subscribe to White Plan or Gold Plan.
2) Unlimited Packet Discount (1029y-4410y / 1029y-5985y ?!?!)
I'm not sure I fully understood what the difference between those 2 is.
The packet price is cheaper with the latter (0.084y/packet vs. 0.105y/packet), so you'd reach a higher bill with the first one faster if you actually use the inet often, I suppose.
I don't understand that extra note in red for the first discount plan. Anybody can help me here?
I'm also confused about all those different price ranges that are written on the page. Why does it say 4410y is the limit once and then another time it's 5985y or even 9800y?
As most of you might remember from my last entry I don't use my phone very often and thus far have almost never ever used the internet. When I travel I find it handy to be able to check the weather and train times and also to twitter every now and then - which I did this winter vacation and got a bill of over 20.000yen!! In order to prevent another shock like that I think it's better to go with one of those discount plans. There are months when I don't touch my phone at all, though, so I don't wanna have a high bill although I don't actually use my phone. So, which plan suits me better?
As far as I saw it seems you can easily activate these discounts online via "My Softbank" and if you don't like them you can just as easily switch them off again, is that right?
Also, not as important, but I've been thinking about MAYBE getting a new handset. Not sure if that makes sense, though. It's probably just a waste of money.
My cellphone is still in very good shape, it's this one.
Wifi support would be great, though. I do have an ipod touch and whenever there's wifi, I just switch over to my ipod touch.
I'm also not sure how much longer I'll stay in Japan. I can't say for sure that I'll be here another 2 (contract) years.
Unless I travel (3-4 times / year) I don't touch my phone at all. I never have to sit in trains or anything, so that's probably why.
Do you think it makes sense to get a new phone under these circumstances?
Thanks a lot for your help. I really appreciate it :)
|
|
| Extremely high Softbank bill!!? |
[14 Jan 2011|08:20pm] |
Hey everybody!
Well, the thing is that I barely use my cellphone and rather have it for emergencies or use it as normal phone as I don't have a normal phone.
I still have my first phone ever from Softbank and that for almost 3 years now. So of course I'm not paying for the phone anymore and the 2-year-contract thingie is also history, so I could easily cancel or change, I suppose.
Anyways, as I almost never really use my phone my monthly bill is between 1300 and 2500yen. I calculated last year's average and it was 2516yen.
I only get higher bills when I travel (which happens three times a year) because then I naturally use my phone more often (and that's why the average is a bit higher than you would suppose).
This vacation I did not only check train times and the weather online, but also used Twitter a few times and uploaded a few small photos I took with my phone using a Twitter mobile service.
My vacation started on December 29th and so I only used the internet in December from the 29th to the 31st.
Later I checked my bill and it was OVER 20.000(fucking)yen!!!!!!! I was SO DAMN SHOCKED!!!! I knew it would be more expensive than usually, but that's just ridiculous!!!
For 3 days and a LITTLE BIT of internet use 20.000yen????!!!!!! Why? How?
I continued using my phone every day during my journey - every day about the same amount! And for the first week of January I'm up to 8000yen already! I haven't touched my phone since I've been back from my journey, of course.
Once my journey was over my bill was around 40000yen, so I wonder how that can be 8000yen now, especially because I didn't touch my phone at all ever since then :(
I'm a bit worried that something is going wrong here. Will of course go to the Softbank store directly and see if they can explain what exactly happened, but I'm kind of worried that I signed up for something without knowing when I was online with my phone or something. But even then it shouldn't be possible that the phonebill goes up without you using your phone, right???
Anybody ever had a similar problem???
( Read more... )
Anybody any ideas what I could/should do?
28.000++yen for 2 months of cellphone use is really ridiculous :(
P.S.: Anybody knows what you can do with those gathered points?
Thanks a lot in advance :)
|
|
| Flying overseas and Christmas time |
[17 Dec 2010|09:21pm] |
Hello,
I have a short, but important question (again).
I want to book a flight back home. It's not my first time doing so, but I was wondering if it's possible to pay in a foreign currency with your Japanese credit card / debit card?
I'd have to pay in €, but I can't use my German credit card as there's a 500€ limit which I can't change.
If I absolutely can't, then I probably have to book via a Japanese website or the airline directly (the latter I already checked and it seems to be more expensive for the dates that I'd need).
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot in advance :)
( It's Christmas soon, isn't it?! )
|
|
| Alopaca stuff |
[13 Dec 2010|07:24pm] |
Where in Tôkyô can I find Alopaca stuff?
I know Kiddy Land had some, but right now they don't have anything on them. I also found a few goods in a small store in Shimokitazawa, but is there another store anywhere in Tôkyô?
You can see Alopaca in my icon. :)
Thank you! :)
|
|
| Photo printing, Tokyo train schedule and aroma therapy |
[09 Dec 2010|10:49pm] |
Hello!
I have 3 short questions and hope you can help me out :)
1) Printing photos in conbinis: As it's Christmas soon I plan to print out some of my digital photos and send them back home to my family. I do not possess a photo printer (yet), so a conbini might be my only chance? There's no camera shop anywhere near here! Anybody has experience with using a conbini to print out photos and can tell me more? Quality/price/handling?! Or would it be a good idea to buy a small not too expensive photo printer instead? Of course I not just for printing out the photos this one time, but also for future use. Especially because that's something that I easily can take back home once I leave Japan. What would be cheaper anyways?
2) Train schedule in Tokyo on the 31st: I'll spend the night of the 31st in Tokyo. Although my plans are kind of vague I might have to use trains after midnight to get back to my hotel. I know that the last trains usually leave around midnight, but I also heard that there's a special schedule for exactly that night. I've already asked Hyperdia and the likes but it seems that trains are running on their normal schedule after all?? :( Anybody knows more?
3) Aroma therapy: This is not really important, but I was thinking about maybe buying one of those little aroma humidifiers as Christmas present for myself. Anybody has one and can tell me if it's worth buying it? I live in a 1-room apt. anyways. And I'm pretty sure I can't take it home with me, because it won't work because of different power outlets and stuff.
|
|
| Voice Acting Promo |
[21 Nov 2010|10:15pm] |
Hi everyone! I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this here or not (so if not, please just ignore and delete).
Anyhow, a short introduction about myself: My name's Julia and I'm currently going to two different schools in Japan right now.
Last month I finally debuted as a voice actress here (even though it's still a small role) for a 2D idol group called AGC 38 (yes I know... the name... lol) produced by Asahi Production. My character is No. 17, 高月璃子 (girl who wears a china dress with hair buns *points to icon*) For more information, check my lj profile!
Last week, my character's voice is finally available for download via Japanese cellphones.
To make everything short, I'm basically here to promote myself and find supporters T.T mostly because our future jobs depends on how popular our character is. And being the only foreigner in the group, I'm at a huge disadvantage so please help support! I'd appreciate it very much! Thank you!!!
To download:
-> google "アニメロミックス" (animeromikkusu) with your cellphone
-> click first link (animelo.jp)
-> click second link (アニメロミックス)
-> scrool ALL THE WAY DOWN until you see under the title: 特撮/オリジナル特集 where you'll see a link under it labeled AGC38. Click on that link (AGC38)
-> scroll down until you see an English menu and click on "voice"
-> And then you'll see my character! No. 17, 高月璃子 (Takatsuki Riko). CV: 樹莉亜 (Julia)
Three voices are available for download FOR FREE.
You can either sign up for their membership for 315yen per month with 30 points to downoad (each of my chara voice costs 5 points). You can cancel your membership anytime. Or, you can also buy each voice (52 yen each). I would appreciate is SO SO SO SO MUCH for your help and support! Thank you all so much in advance!
Love,
Hard working desperate voice actress in training!
*Co-posted at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2) seiyuu
|
|
| Celebration/Rally last night? |
[04 Nov 2010|12:28pm] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 curious |
] |
Did anyone in the Shinjuku/Okubo area last night hear a loud rally/celebration going on? My friends and I were sitting in my apartment and wondering wtf it was, because it sounded like lots of cheers and people were riling up a crowd--which sounded very large, because it sounded quite far away yet we could still easily hear it.
Any clue?
|
|
| New Here, and Some Questions |
[10 Oct 2010|11:52am] |
Hello everyone! I'm normally known as Cantabile or Mizu online (Cantabile for English-oriented sites, Mizu for more Asian-oriented sites), but the latter seems more applicable here, so just call me Mizu ^-^. I just learned of and joined this community today (so please be gentle with me :o), but I hope I'll quickly be able to become familiar with everyone~
So, probably like a lot of people who post here, I've been seriously thinking about moving and living in Japan, most likely after I get my Bachelor's degree in America. Seeing as how I'm still in my senior year of high school, many people tell me I think way too far ahead, but, well, I do -_-;;. And as it happens, when I come up with questions, they keep bothering me until I get some answers....so I thought I'd try here. I've been looking through past posts, and I've already learned a lot. Still, I was wondering if I could get some insight to some of my questions?
1. I know this is probably asked a lot, but how hard is it to find a job? I listed on my college apps that I'm planning on doing a double-major in either Environmental Sciences & English or Environmental Sciences & Chinese, but I'm not too sure how "hot" (for lack of a better term) those fields are in Japan. Is there any other field of study (or studies) you'd recommend? I haven't actually made a final decision on my majors yet, so I'm still open to changes.
2. Can anyone give me a rough idea of the difficulty of the placement tests to get into a university in Japan? Or could anyone point me to a good study book or something (not even sure if something like this exists -_-;;)? Not sure if it matters, but my native tongue is English and Mandarin Chinese, and I'm okay with Taiwanese and Japanese (though I admittedly need to work on my Japanese quite a bit). I'm also good at translating Latin, but I doubt that matters XD.
3. Do you apply for a visa before you apply to a university or vice versa? Sorry if this is a really stupid question, but I seriously don't know -_-;;.
4. Any recommendations for universities? I've seen a few mentioned in past posts (like Sophia and Temple), but I still want to ask in case I missed some others.
Sorry for all the questions -_-;;. To everyone who takes the time to read through all of this, thank you very much!!!
(x-posted to the communities Life in Japan)
|
|
| Sending money back home?! |
[29 Aug 2010|06:03pm] |
Hello!
I hope somebody can help me out here. I've been living in Japan for almost 3 years now. I was able to save up quite some money and now that the EURO is so weak and the YEN is so strong it would be the PERFECT time to send some money back home (to Germany if that matters). If I say "some" money, I'm thinking about 1.000.000yen or so.
I'm not even sure if it's possible to send such a huge amount at once or if it's legal or if I might run into any tax problems or whatever (Germany is especially strict with taxes). I want to make sure before I send all that money!
I remember hearing about a serice called LLoyds or something.
But I want to hear from people who already sent money back home (maybe a similar amount of money). What was your experience??
I'm thankful for any kind of advice you could give me! :)
Thanks a lot in advance!!
|
|
| Climbing Mt. Fuji + Nagoya |
[12 Jul 2010|10:40am] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
anxious |
] |
Hello!
This summer vacation I plan to climb Fuji with a family member that comes to visit me here in Japan.
It's my first time in that area, so I don't know much about it and I still have a few questions. I hope you can help me out here.
It'll be less than a week, we'll stay the whole time in Nagoya. I think 2 days in Nagoya will be enough. The rest of the time I wanna do day trips to maybe Ise, Gifu, Inuyama, Gujo Hachiman. Any other recommendations?
2 whole days and one night are already reserved for climbing Mt. Fuji.
I intend to take the Highway Bus (am about to reserve tickets now) from Nagoya to Kawaguchi St. and if I got that right we need to take yet another bus from there to the 5th station which will take about 55 min. (and costs about 2000yen one way). Is that right?
So the bus will leave Nagoya around 7:40am and then arrive at Kawaguchi St. 12:00.
So I assume we will have to wait a while for the other bus and because it will be the 2nd week of August (obon vacation - it's the only time when I have days off!!) it will be very crowded and we might not be able to take the very first bus that leaves for the 5th station, right?
So I assume that we might have to wait until 2pm until we actually can take the 1h bus ride. So then we'll arrive at the 5th station around 3pm.
We should stay there a while to get used to the thinner air and then start hiking up.
I've no idea how long it'll take US to get up to the 8th or so station, but I wanna be quite high buy the time the sun sets to take some nice photos (given that it doesn't rain that day or is cloudy ...).
( Read more... )
Thanks so much in advance!! :)
|
|
| hello <3 |
[20 May 2010|10:42pm] |
I am since two days in Tokyo. It's my first time in Japan and so far everything goes well. But I have a question.
I think the tickets are a bit expensive and I wanted to buy a day ticket today. I read in a book and Internet that the JR Ticket (To-ku-nai free kippu) should cost about 700 Yen. In the end I paid 1040 Yen, so I wasn't sure if its the right one, but I asked at the ticket thingie.
However I got three tickets... one from here (higashi-koganei) to.... random? and one back from random to here... and a third one which I don't know what to do with it.
However I could only take the way once to were I wanted and back. because the tickets stay in these ticket thingies.
but I thought with a one day ticket I could use the whole day all JR trains as often as I want?! Did I make something wrong? Whats this third ticket for? ...pleeeeaa~se help me!
And another question just out of interest: Is it possible to see a japanese school inside? I would really love to see one from the inside! <3
Sorry for my English, I just don't know how to explain this right. ^^## hope you can help me, thank you very much! v.v
|
|
|
[09 May 2010|05:00pm] |
I'm nearly finished my university degree and I'm half-considering running away to Tokyo. I don't know any Japanese though..
Is moving to Japan with zero knowledge of the Japanese language a ridiculous idea?
Any general words of wisdom or advice for me if I do decide to come to Japan?
Thanks :)
|
|
| Spot cream in Japan |
[26 Feb 2010|02:09pm] |
Hello,
I was just wondering if you have a rec for spot creams in Japan. I had one from "Neutrogena" (visibly clear - on the spot gel), but it's empty now and I need something like an "on the spot" kind of thing.
What are you girls (and guys) using?
( pic under the cut )
Thanks a lot in advance 
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
creative
excited
