http://forum.gaijinpot.com/ General Interest Topics About Life In Japan en Tue, 21 May 2013 11:34:39 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forum.gaijinpot.com/images/misc/rss.png http://forum.gaijinpot.com/ http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125255-Airsoft-in-Nagoya&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 11:30:55 GMT Hello everyone! I am new here and will be in Nagoya Japan from August 5th on a working holiday visa for one year. I was wondering if anyone takes an interest in the sport Airsoft? If so then where can i buy gear? Where can i play? Hello everyone!

I am new here and will be in Nagoya Japan from August 5th on a working holiday visa for one year. I was wondering if anyone takes an interest in the sport Airsoft? If so then where can i buy gear? Where can i play? ]]> General Discussion WrathToD http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125255-Airsoft-in-Nagoya http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125248-Tennis&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 01:24:32 GMT Hi,

Looking for some fellow tennis players to have a regular hit with. I'm probably around a 3.5-4.0 NTRP level at the moment. Been playing for years, but have had a long layoff and looking to get back into tennis seriously again :)

Im 32yo and enjoy playing singles. Living in Yokohama, but willing to travel for some good tennis practice! :) ]]> General Discussion 13Beast http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125248-Tennis http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125243-How-Can-I-transfer-to-a-Japanese-university&goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 22:27:38 GMT Hello

I am a student in Istanbul University / History class. My first year in university.
I have been Japan for summer trip. I like it. I want to transfer to a university in Tokyo / Japan. (I'm not looking for exchange program. I want to finish university in Japan)

Can I do it?

I need more information about this subject. What's prosedure of transfer? ]]> General Discussion loowe http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125243-How-Can-I-transfer-to-a-Japanese-university http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125242-Rural-Japan&goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 18:50:49 GMT I have been reading post on Gaijin Pot infrequently for a little over 2yrs though this is my first post. I actually have a few things I'd like to Know, but I will only ask the important things for now. Where can I find a nice rural place to live in Japan? Maybe Mitsumine? I want a lot of scenery, wildlife, maybe a few mountains or forest something nice to look at and fresh (undeveloped). I've loved the Japanese culture for awhile now and have decided I would like to live in a place that is away from the city as possible without being in the middle of Nowheresville, a place that doesn't get a lot of tourist. I'm not looking to be the only foreigner in the area if there are some cool if not oh well, just don't wont a place catering to vacationers plus I'm a city-born/raised boy who's family is country and I had enough of city life, country life seems nice. I have started on my way to building a savings of $50,000 (not commenting on how much is already saved) before I move and will have a job (not telling what it is) that can be done anywhere in the world over the net that pays quite handsomely.

I know I don't need all that cash and there may not be a visa for that kind of work, but this job can be done anytime anywhere. I'll be working under a craftsman who will be my master in a subject only one foreigner has been able to accomplish in the last 50+ yrs. This job will require me to live with him and work grueling hrs. with literally no wages (maybe and allowance?). Though along with living with him I will be taken care of, but like I said without pay so hence the need for spending capital for things I want or emergency flights back home, etc... I plan on living in Japan for a year or 2 learning the language better before doing that and seeing if its a place I'll like so I would really like to know if there is a nice rural area (not in the middle of nowhere) that would be a good place to live for a year.

P.S: I don't plan on being an English teacher, the job I have will help me keep from spending some or any of my savings and can be done with corps freelance or contract wise. Visa wise I think its up in the air I could always work for a corp and send my work in or get a study visa heard if you go as a language exchange student you could stay for 1-2 years. Or maybe start my on biz? Its a in-demand service even in small areas maybe I could get work from nearby cities?

P.S.S: Not just going there for the women k (though I am in my 20's), I was in love with the culture first and I'll have little to no play time as it is. Though if you can help a bra out and maybe tell him how to find some cute little NEET/Otaku girls or girls in general it would be cool. If you have to ask about the Otaku chick thing my reasoning is:

I like gameing/anime-loving girls
They tend to be socially withdrawn and rarely go out (at least here) so I can have her all I want
And get valuable language learning from her on my free time. ]]> General Discussion Okuri_Okami-sama http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125242-Rural-Japan http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125221-Rakuten-Debit-Card&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 22:56:38 GMT have anyone tried bunkatsu barai (multiple payments) with their DEBIT card? everytime im using my card to pay they always ask me how many times do i wanna pay, i got curious about this so i dug deeper, turns out its not the same as revolving payment the credit card offers, i asked a cashier once if... have anyone tried bunkatsu barai (multiple payments) with their DEBIT card? everytime im using my card to pay they always ask me how many times do i wanna pay, i got curious about this so i dug deeper, turns out its not the same as revolving payment the credit card offers, i asked a cashier once if my card can avail it,i tried explaining that my card is not a credit card, she said as long as it is VISA, MASTERCARD and JCB it is possible, but i never really tried it. i dont really need it right now but it might come in handy someday. ]]> General Discussion Von2791 http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125221-Rakuten-Debit-Card http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125216-Talking-machines&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 14:20:01 GMT RANT WARNING!!
Hit the back button if you can't stand ranting users.

When I first came to Japan I used to think that talking machines were really cool.

Lately I just find them a pain in the backside at best and a complete nuisance at worst. Am I the only one who's unable to stomach those machines?
Apart from allowing blind people to use said machines, I don't really see the benefit of having a machine talk to you...

For instance, every other parking ticket machine seems to have the need to explain to everybody when to insert their parking ticket, when to pay, etc. And I just don't get it. Surely everybody knows how to use these machines. What's the point of explaining to every user what to do?

Anyway, talking machines would be just fine, if they didn't feel the need to effing repeat the same message again every 20 seconds whilst you are fumbling for your cash or trying frantically to decide what to order. "Please insert the requested amount now"... "Please insert the requested amount now"... "Please insert the requested amount now"... I friggin heard you the first effing time you dumb machine.

I discussed this with my Japanese relatives and they say that they don't actually notice it at all. They also don't notice the insane amount of noise in drugstores or electronics shops though...

So, having been told that I am making a big deal of something that no normal Japanese is bothered by, I was wondering if I'm either just hypersensitive, or it's a cultural thing? ]]> General Discussion yu_ominae http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125216-Talking-machines http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125215-Are-there-any-Gaijin-in-the-Nara-area&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 14:19:05 GMT Hi everybody,
I'm Italian and have been living in Japan for nearly two months.
I live in Ikoma city and have never met foreigners in this area.
Sometimes I feel I am an alien😱. ]]> General Discussion kaeru2013 http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125215-Are-there-any-Gaijin-in-the-Nara-area http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125213-Nagoya-Lost-pet-ads&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 14:04:43 GMT My husband and I found a very injured cat in Tsurumai Park (Nagoya), and took it to a animal hospital. It is having its tail amputated tomorrow (the poor thing's tail was injured, and 2/3rds of it was only bone), and it had a collar, leading me to believe it is someone's cat. Unfortunately, it wasn't microchipped, and there is no address on its collar. The hospital seems to think it should pull through okay, so I want to try to find its owner and see if they want it back. I can't keep it because I live in an apartment, though if it has to be re-homed, I'm going to keep it on the fly until its healed.

Does anyone know where Japanese people would post ads about missing pets? (Or where they would look if I posted a "cat found" ad?) If I can't find the owner, does anyone know a good method of finding a home for cats? The vet thinks the cat is a kitten, and she or he is very sweet and super cute (and will be much cuter once its horrifically mangled tail it gone). The vet also said that she or he is very healthy other than the tail.

Thanks for any help!! ]]> General Discussion abbajen http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125213-Nagoya-Lost-pet-ads http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125209-Berlitz-job-interview&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 06:18:18 GMT Hi, I do have a question. I got an interview invitation for Berlitz. Is it ok to wear black pants, black schoes and a shirt or do I have to wear a suit coat? Is there any cheap place in Tokyo where I can buy one? (Oh I forgot, I am female). Thank you very much. Jessica Dinger Hi,

I do have a question. I got an interview invitation for Berlitz. Is it ok to wear black pants, black schoes and a shirt or do I have to wear a suit coat? Is there any cheap place in Tokyo where I can buy one? (Oh I forgot, I am female).

Thank you very much.

Jessica Dinger ]]> General Discussion Kraken_werfer http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125209-Berlitz-job-interview http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125207-Is-there-any-census-data-on-number-of-foreigners-in-each-city&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 18:19:06 GMT I'm specifically looking for information for Tottori-ken and its cities. ]]> General Discussion ChickyHearn http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125207-Is-there-any-census-data-on-number-of-foreigners-in-each-city http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125203-MEXT-research-student-scholarship&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 11:41:20 GMT So I've been going through the Consulate-General in Vancouver website to find more about applying for the MEXT scholarship next year. I've just finished my schooling in Pharmacy this year, so I'll be going for the post-grad "Research Student" category. Looking through the application forms, I see a section that requires us to fill out the top preferred university and name of a recommending professor. I was wondering how this works. Am I supposed to be formally admitted to the university PRIOR to applying? (but then again that wouldn't make sense as on the application form it says we might not get the university of choice anyways...)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume it's the Japanese Ministry that will contact the University for admission procedures once they have decided to issue the scholarship?
I guess I'm just confused as to how involved I have to be with the Universities that I put down on my application when applying. Just get hooked up with a professor I want to work with and get his verbal OK? Or do I have to have something like a formal admission/acceptance letter from the University admission office? And does anyone know if there's typically entrance exams involved with Graduate school there? Or is it more like just finding a professor who would be interested to take you in?

On another note, how would I go about finding professors in Japan that I can work with, with myself being in Canada right now and having no source of networking of that type.

ANY tips on applying for MEXT as a research student would be super helpful, especially about the application procedure, as everything is kind of fuzzy right for me right now. ]]> General Discussion edamame1008 http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125203-MEXT-research-student-scholarship http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125195-quot-herbivore-men-quot&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 03:55:19 GMT just been reading about japan and apparently they are leading the way in "herbivore men" - ive read a bit about it but not sure what it actually means. is it that you give up on sex and devote yourself full time to manga? ]]> General Discussion rm83 http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125195-quot-herbivore-men-quot http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125193-Japan-and-the-IT-Dark-Ages&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 01:43:31 GMT So I've noticed while briefly job hunting this morning, that Korea, Singapore and HK appear to be considerably more open to recent technologies in terms of computer hardware, IT practices and software technologies. A few of the jobs I saw for Japan actually mentioned "database" experience as manually creating reports with VBA and another stating the only requirement was speaking business level Japanese and experience with "Japanese work environment".

Is Japan really this closed off to new technology and new ideas? ]]> General Discussion gaijintool http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125193-Japan-and-the-IT-Dark-Ages http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125189-New-kid-in-town-Himeji-town&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 11:03:53 GMT Hi everybody. This is my first post, and I wish to apologize in advance as I'm not an English native speaker.

Ehrr... soo where should I start from. Two months ago me and my japanese wife moved to Japan after living 2 years in my country (Italy). I imagine you may all understand the reason, more or less. My country is in a bit of an economic trouble (let's use an euphemism). I personally had an ALMOST average (for the italian standard, I mean) paid job. However, considering I could as well do it from Japan ( I write for a press agency in Rome), I seconded my wife's desire to go back to her country, where we may have a better chance to gain a real indipendence. So all in all here I am, in Himeji, and although I speak the language to a certain degree and I've been to Japan several times before, it's the first time I actually come here to STAY and live. There are so many things I'd like to know, esp. about what this city has to offer. My wife's family says "there are no foreigners exept cinese and vietnamese here", or stuff like that -.- Not surprisingly, being average Japanese people they tend to generalize a bit when it comes to foreigners. I thus figured out I could as well try and write here. Is there anybody, attending this forum, who actually lives of has lived in Himeji? How's the city overall? Is there someone able to speak English in a 100 km range? (Lol joking here, but still...) ]]> General Discussion Kuroyume87 http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125189-New-kid-in-town-Himeji-town http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125173-MBA-study-partner&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 07:46:44 GMT Is anyone in Tokyo interested in studying for the GMAT together or in a group? I'm planning to take the GMAT later this year and would like to partner up or start a group to form a study plan and study together. ]]> General Discussion anas.aljumaily http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?125173-MBA-study-partner