Thank you for the reply, I have follow-up questions, is this article true? they were saying on how the culture breeds toxicity.
From what we were able to garner from a limited amount of public info, Amazon uses a "stack ranking" (a.k.a. "rank and yank") performance management process in which employees are rated against each other in an annual review.
“The management process is abusive, and I'm currently a manager. I've seen too much ‘behind the wall’ and hate how our individual performers can be treated. You are forced to ride people and stack rank employees...I've been forced to give good employees bad overall ratings because of politics and stack ranking.”
We, like every other company out there, have strict PR rules regarding sharing of internal processes; so I cannot and will not get into how performance management is taken care of.
What I can say is that work culture varies greatly from team to team. Robot-Kiwi said it well in his comment - regardless of what company you work for, there are going to be some teams with great work cultures, some with poor culture, some managers that care for their teams, and some that clearly don't.
First-hand, I have been fortunate to work in a department that, while we have a high workload and pressure to deliver, we also have a pretty good culture. Teamwork is great, and in my many years here I have not seen any backstabbing. People that had performance issues were for the most part identified well, and there were a few that clearly turned around their performance (whether there was a PIP in place isn't shared with peers, but seeing people go from indifferent attitudes to becoming rather highly motivated and engaged is a great turnaround).
I can also say that during my times as a manager, I was never in the situation in your excerpt (that of having to give good employees a bad overall rating), nor were my peers. Maybe that was luck, but I have a positive attitude regarding the performance process from my experience as a manager.
Thank you very much!
Apologies for being a nuisance, but may I still ask on some specific advice perhaps through PM, please? I can share more on the details then.
Sure thing. I cannot give out any company info via PM either of course, but if you feel more comfortable sharing your side that way, ask away.
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I also started watching The Witcher! I've never played the games before, but I'm really enjoying it.
Did that too and had to finally install Witcher 3 after watching the first episode.
I was trying to force myself to play 1 and 2, but 1 was so clunky and I really did not like the combat system that I caught myself groaning while playing. No more, played the first couple hours of 3 and it's great, like a bit more clunky Dark Souls with way more story and RPG stuff.
1 is actually a good game with a fun story, but takes a bit to get into. I tried once, and hit a wall (maybe my fault, but got to an area where I could go no further without certain items, and no way to get the items)...came back a year or so later, and ran through the whole game. As you said, it's clunky in general and the attack system is repetitive and requires timing, but it was worth it to me to make it through the games in order. 2 is much closer to 3 in terms of gameplay, but the fighting system is a little different.
There is no requirement to go through them all (you just miss some references, and there is a little bit that you can carry over from save to save, but 3 does a good job of eliminating that, AND the weapons that you carry over suck anyway). Enjoy! W3 is one of my favorite games of all time.
I know it's probably a joke, but please don't - we don't need spoilers on this sub.
lol. I avoided this until now because I thought you were going to be talking about the moving.
In an earlier thread, I asked about starting a monetized website in Japan (start after getting PR, or start before with the gf's business and have her pay me). My plan from that ws to apply for PR and either wait on monetizing, or start it under my gf's business, and I still plan on moving forward one of those two ways, but a friend brought up an interesting point - what if I was being paid from the US?
If I incorporated as a pass-through in the US, hosted the site abroad as well, and paid myself that way, would this be a way around needing to wait for PR? Or does having foreign-sourced income still in some way affect my visa status while working in Japan? If there is any risk whatsoever with this approach, I am going to throw it out completely, but it was an interesting thought at least.
would this be a way around needing to wait for PR?
No. The prohibition is on remunerative activity outside your visa category. It doesn't matter where the money is coming from. If you were to earn dividends from shares in a foreign company, that would be fine (as would earning dividends from shares in a Japanese company), but if you're working, it doesn't matter where you're incorporated or where your money is coming from.
Thanks for the very quick reply. I was not thinking of active vs passive income, as I do have dividends and interest that I file taxes on each year, but it makes sense that active income would be the reason that this idea does not work.
I applied for 22 tickets in 9 sessions, max value of about 700,000.
Results: 2 B-seat tickets to Women's Gymnastics Group Finals for 73,000. Wasn't my first choice, but surprised I got something that is one of the more popular events.
Currently applying for this round. Can you answer me this question? If I apply for 2 tickets to a single event. Will I either win both or none? Or is it possible to win just one? Thank you.
Pretty sure you either get all the tickets you apply for per each event, or none of them. You will not be stuck with only one ticket if you applied for more than one and win. You also need to pay for all of the winnings or none, as well (if you win them all, you cannot just pay for the events you want most, for example).
I like the Toyota rental's hybrid car "Aqua" (HY1 I believe). Recently drove around Aomori for a total of 615.6 km. At the end of our 5 days drive, the dashboard still displayed 4/10 bloks of gasoline left. Gasoline cost was ¥3088. So for semi-long rentals, it saves you the effort of having to refill and money as well. Also drives nicely -^
You can reserve through the Toyota rental car website in English. Edit: The price shown on the website is what we paid (except for a ¥300 we chose to include, but turned out to be useless around Aomori). We didn't chose to include insurance, but that's possible.
I second Toyota. Been renting from them a while, and have taken their cars on weeklong drives as far as northern Niigata. Never had an issue with them, and they take good care of their cars. As mentioned above, their hybrids are good, too.
A small one - I miss licorice so much! Apparently (?) it is pretty much unanimously hated here. Of course I can order online, but it used to be a nice impulse buy in supermarkets at home :/
I stock up on it every time I have a business trip to the US or EU. Aside from that, my family usually sends some a couple times a year. In times of need, I have ordered from Amazon.com, but I get wanting to find it in shops too.
four day weekend yeah! also alone in the office today! i love today.
9-day weekend here! Finally able to use up vacation time before I lose it at then end of the year!
A monetized website doesn't fall within the scope of OP's visa because it's not work "based on a contract entered into with a public or private organization in Japan" (quote from the Immigration Law). Making a monetized website on behalf of a Japanese company would be fine, but doing it for your own personal gain, without a Japanese company being involved, is not.
Thanks for that. At least that makes it pretty clear that the first two choices would be legal under immigration law (either make no money whatsoever, or have it monetized under the gf's company), while the third is definitely not.
Only other thing I could think of would be to apply for permission to engage in activities outside current approved status...though looking at that application, you need to have a contract term and salary - guessing that means I cannot use that application with the intention of incorporating for myself and start my own business from the site?
More than likely, I'll just use one of the above items, but this one just popped into my head while thinking about it.
Yeah your first two options sound viable. Permission to engage in activities outside your status wouldn't really work, for the reason you already identified.
Option 2 has a tiny red flag for me: it relies on you and your girlfriend staying together/cooperative in the short/medium-term. Of course I know nothing about your relationship, but giving your girlfriend on-paper ownership of your valuable assets is not always the best strategy from a risk-management perspective.
Yep. I do agree about that and it does pose a risk. We are good and in it for the long-term, but you never know what the future will bring, so it will be something that we have to discuss and plan out clearly. Depending on my own time and dev schedule, I may just start with option 1 and roll over to option 2 if PR takes too long compared to demand and growth of the site.
Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.
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You'll likely need to get permission to do something outside your visa.
Don’t mean to hijack the thread, but better than making a new one.
Does the same advice apply if it is minimal revenue from a website? I’m planning to release a website soon (next few months), but if there is any legal or tax trouble that may pop up, I will go ahead and take care of applying for permission or otherwise PR first.
I don't regularly do CrossFit, but know a number of trainers in the area and have checked out Roppongi a couple times in the past. Others mentioned Yoyogi, but I'd say CrossFit Daikanyama is the closest if you are looking for something very close to Shibuya. Can't vouch for the atmosphere, but I believe they were one of the first in Japan.
Has anyone here ever rented or used a Mazda Bongo / Toyota TownAce / Similar 1t truck?
Planning to rent to help a friend with yard work and disposing of a lot of scrap and trash, just I've never driven a truck of this type and am looking for reviews or opinions on how the drive was, and what the cabins of cars of this type are like.
パナソニック 衣類乾燥除湿機 デシカント方式 ~14畳 ピンク F-YZR60-P https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07BMKLZP4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_hTgBXHdMvrtAk
Not trying to discredit you, but the link you provided only has 2L tanks, so that would be 8L a day :)
That's still a crazy amount - I remember the first time I got a dehumidifier a long time ago out here; Only had a 1L tank and I was emptying it multiple times a day, every day. Makes such a huge difference.
My girlfriend has a family property in Chiba, and she's the only nuclear family member currently in Japan able to look after it. We went to check it out a few months ago, and turns out that the house itself is extremely run-down, and the property is immensely overgrown (trees/large plants/tall grass/etc). We're probably looking to get シルバー人材 to take care of most of the work, but the place is so overgrown that the gate cannot be opened, and it may be dangerous to even walk around (snakes, small animals, trash that people threw in, who knows what), so I was thinking we could go out and take care of making it accessible and then calling シルバー人材 for an estimate to take care of the real hard work.
My current plan:
rental car for a couple days
bring along some tools and pruning equipment, and lots of trash bags
rent a hedge trimmer and a portable gas generator (or maybe ensure the car itself has 100V power)
clear out the entrance, repair the gate, clear out the path from gate to house and as much of the yard as time permits
leave bags of plant trash outside the property for pickup, or otherwise bring them home and trash them at my mansion
Anyone experienced here with advice on how to tackle the above points better or more efficiently?
Are you the person who asked about bringing in a reaper's scythe?
lol. No, that was not me. Way too many trees to think about using that, anyway.
I mean, the silver jinzai are post retirement folks and serious physical labor is outside the area they're generally hired for. The list of areas they can work in includes 軽作業群 which would include cleaning, but certainly not tree removal
You're right. I didn't expect much, but heard some rural areas have experienced landscapers that have retired, and may be able to do a lot more. However, checking the silver jinzai page for this area in Chiba, the most they can offer is puling and gathering of weeds, or weedkiller sprinkling.
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Passed all checks for my new apartment and made the first payment! Have to wait until after Golden Week to move, but gives me plenty of time to pack and get ready!
I buy them all the time at Seijo Ishio. They have the kind in your image, the thin strip type, and depending on the shop, they may also have a softer cube-shaped type in a box that is amazing.
Really? I have one of those super close to my work! I wilm check after GW. Thanks :D
Yep! For reference, I took this today at my local Seijo Ishii: https://imgur.com/a/qRfzGvm
The ちぎり餅 type all the way on the left is the soft cube version.
Anyone have experience convincing their building owner to allow a new fiber installation? I am in the process of moving, and the mansion itself has a contract with iTSCOM to provide internet service to all rooms. I spoke with iTSCOM, and they said they have 2 1Gbps lines into the building, and provide 100Mbps best-effort to all rooms. I am not at all confident that will be good for video conferencing that I do regularly, much less 4K streaming.
So, I checked NTT flet’s hikari, and it seems they only provide a normal mansion service, which is also 100Mbps.
I next called Nuro, and they said that the area is in-service for 2Gbps service, but I need to get the building management to sign-off on the installation, as it requires pulling fresh fiber to the building.
I am assuming this is my only option, but has anyone ever successfully negotiated something like this? Or any other provider suggestions? It’s a tower mansion a short walk from Shinagawa station, so wasn’t expecting this level of trouble finding good service.
The regular NTT line in my place was abysmal so I wound up getting Nuro.
The process was simple, but slowwww. First, I contacted the kanri who contacted the landlord who didn't care at all, and then Nuro came to set up the interior first but found that the service box outside didnt have enough room. Nuro contacted the kanri who then gave permission (~2 weeks later) to mount a new service box outside and then ran up the nuro line through the same fiber outlet (the nuro one is literally taped to the wall next to the NTT one). Another two weeks later the line was activated.
It's not nearly as fast as advertised but it's so much better than what I had before and works out cheaper with the campaign cashback/goodies too.
Thanks, sounds good. Luckily each of the apartments in this complex have an entire wall box in a closet just for telecom, which also has a hub that pulls Ethernet to each of the rooms in the apartment. So I'm assuming they should be able to install the fiber module in that box, and potentially also the ONU.
There may be issues in the building's MDF if they don't have space for Nuro to pull, but hopefully the management and owner will allow new holes to be drilled. I might be able to use their existing service up until Nuro is ready.
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Looking for a new place to move, and finding lots of 定期借家 places right in the area I want to move, and of the size I’m looking for. I’ll be calling around later this week, but wondering if these always have an exact date you need to move out, or if there is ever any leeway to push that out or extend, etc. Also, anything else to take into consideration about this kind of rental?
I have only ever done normal, renewable rentals up until now, and don’t personally know anyone that has had a 定期借家, so any advice is welcome.
, but wondering if these always have an exact date y
Yes, because the person renting them out will come back after that date. I have heard of some people being able to extend, but it's not common. There's a reason it's 定期 and not a normal 賃貸.
Yes, because the person renting them out will come back after that date. I have heard of some people being able to extend, but it's not common. There's a reason it's 定期 and not a normal 賃貸.
Thanks. Yeah, that was what I was thinking but was kinda looking for anecdotal experience. Guess it's going to be different from place to place, so calling and seeing if it is rigid or not, or if there is a future chance of extending dependent on the owner's assignment, is best.
Just my experience, but I was rejected once because my license didn’t have the original issue date. The following time I went back home, I got the DMV to issue my driving record with original date, and picked up my university transcripts done they prove I was there for 4 years, and they were accepted as proof without any issue.
I use Sensibo, and it works pretty well. Remote functionality with temperature and humidity monitoring, timers that you can set per-room, and geofencing capability so it can turn on/off when you are a set distance from home.
My older model has a controller, and then IR sensors for each room. I am not sure, but think their newer models are all stand-alone IR units (no single controller per-home).
The entirety of Albi Osaka Station is geared for outdoor goods.
Unless things have changed in a few years, that is exactly what he doesn't want. I haven't lived in Osaka since 2015, but Albi used to be a grouping of Mont Bell + a bunch of brands geared towards fashion, and not practical outdoor goods. Think 山ガール paradise.
I would say that koujitsu sanso (which you found) is one of the closer ones. Also look up ICI Sports, as they tend to have a good selection and have a large shop in Osaka if I remember right. L-Breath is sometimes not bad (varies from location to location). I have shopped at all for climbing goods mainly, so cannot speak to their camping selection.
As an aside, REI was here in Japan about 15 years ago, but they closed down due to poor business.
Okay that’s good insight to have. I’m a fairly serious practiced and while enjoy the relaxing aspect, use it as a main source of exercise/health and wellness. Hot yoga gives me the detoxifying aspect I enjoy, but very open to other types! I err on Vinyasa. Thank you for sharing!
Sure thing. I didn’t ask, but are you a guy or girl? If girl, no issue in general - but if you’re a guy just make sure you research locations before you visit. LAVA and other similar studios have a lot of women-only locations, but some that also offer sessions for men.
If you need a hand, I can help find a location, or maybe suggest a studio (though it won’t be hot yoga).
Are you serious about yoga, and have a specific reason to choose hot yoga? Only asking because I have many friends who did yoga and hot yoga abroad (mainly US and UK), but have been severely disappointed by the chain type of offerings in Japan, usually citing that they are very bland and lack any kind of challenge.
If you’re new to yoga or casual and just looking for any kind of studio that offers it, then you may not be put off by them. I’d say the largest chain that offers hot yoga is LAVA, and they have plenty of studios all around the Yamanote. As far as I know, however, they don’t have bilingual classes.
On the other hand, if you want more of a challenge and are open to schools other than hot yoga, there are plenty of bilingual studios, also all around the Yamanote. A quick google search can help you find them. I don’t personally know any bilingual studios that offer hot yoga.
I'm probably in the minority, but I've had so many tax issues in the past that I have one accountant here in Japan, and also use the H&R Block Expat Tax service to file my US taxes. In my case, it is paying for peace of mind - I used to do my US taxes online, but made some mistakes related to restricted stock units and the IRS came after me - for Japan, my company provides absolutely no help, and when I went to my local tax office, they made mistakes for 2 consecutive years, which cost me a lot of unexpected back-payments as well.
The tax professional I use in Tokyo is bilingual and great at explaining procedures, and files on my behalf. I started with him not because of the English support, but because he also has a great understanding of tax treaties and foreign earned income. The cost may be a little steep depending on your expectations and needs, but I am happy to send you a link by DM if you want.
I didn't even know HR block had an expat tax service! My father usually files mine on turbo tax but didn't for last year since my wife doesn't have an SSN the software wouldn't let him file it =\ could pm me the link or info for the h&r service you use?
Sure thing. Sent!
I've been climbing for 18 years, in Japan for 13 of them. A few points and recommendations:
Check out a few gyms in your area before making any decisions about which to join. Quality varies a LOT from gym to gym in Japan, in terms of wall size and materials, hold quality and cleanliness, route setting ability, and staff friendliness. Also some variance from gym to gym in terms of the types of routes they set.
Most won't really be similar to walls/gyms in your home country.
Making friends in gyms is not always the easiest thing to do here. Lots of lone climbers, and when groups go out to climb they usually don't talk to anyone else. You will sometimes find some friendly climbers though - depends on the gym atmosphere.
Since you said you are in Mitaka - a gym owner acquaintance of mine recommended "ISARA" (a bit south of the station) for their staff and setting ability. I haven't been able to check them out yet, but I trust that guy.
Groups:
There is a meetup group that goes out nearly every week. Seems like a fun group, but they usually only schedule when I'm busy or have other climbing plans.
There's a group out here called SOGO (check Facebook). They do things like Spartan races, Yoga, and climbing, each with a dedicated schedule and leader. I know some of their members, and they're a nice group to hang out with.
There's a Facebook group called "Tokyo Bouldering and Climbing" that a friend started years ago. Less activity lately, but if you post saying you're looking for someone to climb with, usually you'll get a reply.
Outdoor:
I'd start by hitting up each of the groups above, as they all schedule outdoor trips pretty regularly. It's the end of the season now (most of the decent outdoor locations like Mitake, or out farther into Mizugaki/Ogawayama start getting too cold in late November), so you could use winter to make friends in those groups, and then start going outdoor from next spring.
There are a few locations around Japan (Mitake above) where if you have a crash pad and decent skill you can solo some problems. Also, if you're out and alone, the outdoor crowd can be pretty friendly - generally Japanese language ability is required, but if you're lucky you may run into some people that are into climbing enough have traveled around to the US or EU on bouldering trips, and those people are decent at English.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
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