For foreign students of the Japanese language, there is no better way to feel miserable about your progress than by taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT, 日本語能力試験). Offered twice per year by the Japan...
Author - Tim Patrick
Tim Patrick
(Not) Getting Medical Care at Night
A few nights ago, my wife suddenly grabbed her stomach in pain. “Ouch,” she said. It was a very loud and long-lasting “ouch,” and as this had happened earlier in the week as well, we thought it best to have a doctor...
The Crime of Carrying Scissors in Japan
Weekly reports of mass shootings out of America are worrying. But the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō in Nara a few weeks ago reminded everyone that such things aren’t limited to the United States. It...
Banking Woes for Foreigners in Japan
A core requirement of many grown-up activities in Japan is having a savings account. But there are some adults—law-abiding, financially stable Japanophiles—who not only don’t have a Japanese bank account, they are...
Overcome your Fear of Speaking in Japan
So, you want to overcome your fear of speaking. I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I’m not referring that kind of speaking, the kind of victory that Japanese language learners crave. I myself...
Renew Your Driver’s License in Japan
When I first arrived in Japan, getting a driver’s license was a piece of cake. I moved from a place that had a full reciprocal agreement with Japan concerning such licenses. Once I provided the basics like my name and...
The Kinds of Doctors You Find in Japan
Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world, averaging 84.62 years (according to 2020 data from the World Bank). It also has a reasonably priced healthcare system, with insurance picking up seventy...
Visiting the Little Museums of Japan
Japan is famous for its rich and enduring culture. And hey, you can’t just keep all that culture bottled up. You need to put it on display. What better way than to put some of it in a museum for people to enjoy. About...
World History is Different in Japan
This past Sunday, I visited an English-language church in Tokyo. After the main service, they had an adult Sunday school class where the teacher spoke in part about the First Jewish-Roman War. Starting in 66AD, near the...
Which Week Is It Here in Japan?
When you move to Japan, especially from the West, you quickly learn that whatever you used to call “normal” is more correctly named “normal for my culture.” The default for many things—actually, for basically...
