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Tips for Foreigners Living in Japan

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Tips for Foreigners Living in Japan

Tips submitted by many people over the years — no longer maintained.

TIPS FOR FOREIGNERS
LIVING IN JAPAN
BY FOREIGNERS LIVING IN
JAPAN!

NEW!

ADD YOUR TIPS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE NEW!

This is a page
where you can read and post tips or links that will/have help(ed) you or others
live in Japan


TIP! 30.  Oishii!

www.indojin.com

You wanaa buy some indian food items like curries and snacks go on line to this web site they have free home delivery with som hindi movie too.

[SUBMITTED BY Rakesh


TIP! 29.  Bank in Japan!

If you want to open a Bank account in Japan, go for Shinsei bank.

1. They not only provide English web page service but also the 24 hr helpline is in English too.

2. You can use their or 7-11 ATM 24*7*365 . No national holiday and no new year holiday.

3. you don’t even have to go to bank for opening account just go to site and ask for starter kit.

4. You don’t need Hanko, Signature will do.

5. You can transfer money to anywhere in japan for free through net, 5 times a month.

6. The ATM will work as JDebit card.

7. You can get American Express credit card, free for 1 year.

http://www.shinseibank.com/english/

[SUBMITTED BY Amit Chaturvedi


TIP! 28.  Tips for Indians!

– Japanese language is much like Hindi. You can construct a sentence in Hindi and translate in JP. (if you know ll words!). If you can pronounce Hindi well, you can pronounce Japanese well.

– Ambika store in Tokyo is great place to find Indian food. They have free home delivery as well


[SUBMITTED BY aniruddha


TIP!
27.  if you want
to know what happens when you go to Japan without enough money, you should
check out www.megatokyo.com check it out if you don’t want to know either
🙂 you won’t regret it! it’s a really cool webcomic that tells quite a
bit about japan and stuff. you might pick up some useful Japanese as
well ^_^
[SUBMITTED BY shishikyuu
|
www.megatokyo.com


TIP!
26.  If you want
to buy a small things for your house, such as spoon, cup, plate,…better
to go to 100yen shop. there you can buy almost everything in the value
of 100yen only…wow, that`s great!
[SUBMITTED BY Baunheng | http://www.geocities.com/hengz2002]


TIP!
25.  If you are going
to Japan to live there, first, you
should visit. While you are there, pay attention and make arrangements
on where you are going to live. Make sure you know the area very well.
Learn how the address system works. After you visit, then make plans to
move. If you are going alone, make sure you have enough money to
support 10 people, even though it is just you. Moving to Japan is very
expensive!! The last thing you want is to be stranded in Japan without
any money. And the more Japanese you know, the better off you’ll be. Hope
all that helped! 🙂
[SUBMITTED BY Lavita]


TIP!
23.  In America there
are various dialects (East Coast, Southern, Northern, and West Coast). Japan
is no different. You will find in different areas people say the same word differently.
For example in Tokyo-ben
they say “shiteru”=to know. However a little further to the
west in Gifu prefecture they say “shitoru”. this is one little example
of thousands of different accentuations and word differences. My Tip is,
and trust me on this one!!! is to Take the time to learn your neighborhood
“ben” (dialect). You’ll be surprised at how easily people accept
you because you speak the local slang. Its a respectable thing.
[SUBMITTED BY Kaleb Micheal Adams]


TIP!
22.  When eating
with chopsticks NEVER EVER use the same part you ate off to pass food around,
ALWAYS use the other end,not only is it impolite but it’s nasty.

[SUBMITTED BY Kadow]



TIP!
21.  Learn how to ignore
rude people and befriend cool
people. Have a drink once in a while to relieve the stress. Don’t get
consumed with trying to get rich in 2 years. Enjoy the little things.
Get a job where you finish at a decent time. Don’t keep quitting jobs
because they suck…you will find the next job sucks as well. Hang in
there at the same company…in a few years you will be making the good
money.

[SUBMITTED BY Danchan33|| http://www.geocities.com/danchan33/]


TIP!
20.  Using World Link for
international calls home has
made my stay in Japan great. World Link offers the cheapest
international calls as well as a service for discount calls within Japan.

[SUBMITTED BY Brian O’Sullivan || www.worldlinkjapan.com]


TIP!
19.  Remembering names is
really important! However, if
you are bad at remembering names, concentrate on clothes or hair. People
love it if you notice a new hair cut and perhaps you can cover up that
you have forgotten their name!!!

[SUBMITTED BY Taikofreak]


TIP!
18.  A common mistake for
native English speakers is to
think of Japanese words in terms of English spelling. That is, for
example, Toyota, is thought of as Toy-ota, because we easily recognize the
word toy. Sayonara, is thought of as Say-onara, for the same reason.
This is a bad mistake and leads to terrible pronunciation. Japanese is
not spelt! It consists of sets of spoken sounds, or syllables. So to
make a point, it is To-yo-ta, or Sa-yo-na-ra. Good luck.

[SUBMITTED BY Peter || http:/www.geocities.com/peter_stephens]


TIP!
17.  To use the ATM’s go
to the post offices because otherwise finding an ATM to work with your bank is a search

[SUBMITTED BY Khamisi]


TIP!
16.  Take your money out
of the bank before any
national holidays! I spent the entire Golden Week on a budget of 2000 Yen.

[SUBMITTED BY Dan]


TIP!
15.  If you are an exchange
student staying with a host family try to bring a gift when you first meet them and when you leave.

[SUBMITTED BY Elysia Bowles]


TIP!
14. 
Konbanwa! O-Genki desu ka?
Anyways, here’s my little tip… Don’t walk and eat at the same time
when you’re walking down the street with a lot of people. It’s considered
bad manners. I found this out the hard way…

[SUBMITTED BY Ekitayoru || www.angelfire.com/rebellion/sea_of_silver]


TIP!
13.  Having a handkerchief
is useful, not for blowing
your nose, but to wipe your face when it’s hot outside and also for drying
your hands after washing them. Many restrooms do not have paper towels
or blow dryers. Many Japanese people do this….
[SUBMITTED BY Marcel]


TIP!
12.  Konnichiwa! I have
a couple of tips:
When standing in a subway, try not to turn your back on the person(s) who is
sitting down, this can be considered an insult. Also, when speaking to someone,
watch your tone, loud or angry tones can be insulting/intimidating. Don’t make
direct eye contact for too long, this is considered confrontational. Hope that
helps!
sayonara.
[SUBMITTED BY ]


TIP!
11.  First off they have the
escalator rule in London as well, but if you’re hungry try Pocky its a simple,
tasty snack that can easily substitute the addiction for like snickers but is
less fat, but maybe that’s just me. [Editor’s note:  Men’s
Pocky, yummm
]

[SUBMITTED BY Kyle]


TIP!
10.  Don’t bathe outside the
tub, take a shower then a bath. If a shower is not provided in the home, when
taking a bath, use the bucket to wet the body, rub on the soap, use the bucket
again to wash off the soap, then get into the tub.
[SUBMITTED BY Mashiu]


TIP!
9. ALWAYS carry a little pack of
kleenex with you -(they are handed out free in most shopping malls) – You’ll be
grateful for them when you need to use public restrooms, especially at train
stations [often there is no TP]. 

[SUBMITTED BY Emily]


TIP!
8.  People always stand to one side on escalators (in subways, department
stores…) to allow fast walkers by.  In Tokyo, stand to the left on
escalators. The passing lane is on the right.  Osaka is the opposite of
this.  Tokyo and Osaka are almost always opposite.

[SUPPLEMENTED BY Chuck]


TIP!
7.  Go and take a look at
the little shops at the train stops… they have everything… well, just about.
[SUBMITTED BY TAYLOR MATTHEWS]


TIP!
6.  Try not to live in the
city where are many gaijins, but in the outskirts where the normal life
occurs.  You will get an undistorted view of Japan, in contrast to the city
where things seem really strange!
[SUBMITTED BY BOVORN || http://inter-web.tripod.com


TIP!
5.  Try to use the Mass
Transit system (Trains and buses) as much as possible.  You will learn the
correct pronunciation and association of the Kanji and Hiragana to location
names that you are visiting.  You will also get to know all the places
along the way if you pay attention. [Ed. note:
trains and buses are remarkably always on time!]

[SUBMITTED BY CHAD]


TIP!
4.  At first, don’t hang around
any Americans [Ed. note: or English speaking
foreigners
🙂 ]
, learn to speak the Japanese language, make new
friends, you’ll be amazed how fast you’ll learn if you don’t speak English.
[SUBMITTED BY JOY]


LINK!
3.  FBC (Foreign Buyer’s Club) is
the way to get gaijin food and stuff in Japan.  The prices aren’t
that bad.  It comes right to your  door and you can pay for it at any
post office www.fbcusa.com 


TIP!
2.  Reading manga (Japanese
comics) is a great way to learn “spoken” Japanese as manga has
conversation among characters
AND manga is fairly cheap — in Japan!


LINK!
1.  Amazon.com’s
sister site in Japan www.amazon.co.jp
has FREE shipping within Japan.  Most of the site is in
Japanese, but it has most of the Amazon.com’s English selection
with
English comments!


HELLO!


  Do you have
a tip you want to submit? Send it in and I will put it up!

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