The Monday Read
Mountain climbing edition At least the weather and scenery made up for the early start and the leeches lurking in wait (I avoided them somehow with my bare legs while one of the group decked out in gaiters and hiking trousers found a couple inside her sock). Can recommend getting out in nature for a […]
The Monday Read
End of Suga Well, that was quick. Had some hopes for him as he wasn’t from a political dynasty (I loathe politicians that inherit their Daddy’s seat and political machine) but very much did not rise to the challenges of the last couple of years. Not going to miss Mr Suga. Wonder who we’ll get […]
The Monday Read
Online Conference Edition In the before times I organised a few RetireJapan events. I gave a talk, took questions, then everyone kind of hung out and chatted. They were really fun. I also did an online finance round table this week, and it really brought home to me once again how many people are really […]
Japan Pension Update 2021
More of the Same, for Longer Another year, another pension update. Nothing new, just some new numbers and a chance for people who haven’t really thought about their nenkin before to make sure they understand it. You can see the Pension Update 2017 here (this post explains a lot of the format etc.), the Pension Update 2018 here, the […]
The Monday Read
Take care of yourself edition It’s been a rough year and a half, eh? Recently I’ve been getting a bit too sucked into the news, into Twitter doomscrolling, into ranting at the TV. Not helpful or healthy. Or productive. Or happy. So I pulled back a bit. I tried to read more books, focus on […]
The Monday Read
Rain, rain, go away We’ve been spared much of the rain up here in Sendai. Just a gloomy, cool, rainy few days. A bit like being back in the UK, really. I’ve been watching the news on TV a lot, and I am flabbergasted by the fact that I haven’t heard anyone talk about climate […]
The Monday Read
Olympics are Over Edition Well, that’s the end of the Tokyo Olympics. Still think they should have held them next year instead (thanks, Shinzo Abe). Wonder how many more there will be in this current format? Paris, LA, Brisbane… and then? Personally I think we should have a decentralised Olympics, with cities bidding for individual […]
The Monday Read
Hospitals are under strain edition My wife got a throat infection on Thursday. She is susceptible to them, and they are dangerous and come on very quickly. We went to the local clinic, got antibiotics, and thought we’d caught it in time. Unfortunately the symptoms are similar to Covid, so we had to wait outside […]
The Monday Read
Fully vaccinated edition I had my second Moderna vaccine on July 10th. Day one was fine, although I started feeling a bit sluggish in the evening. Day two I had a fever, headache, muscle/joint aches, and felt very tired all day. Day three I was fine. Also managed to get an appointment for my wife […]
The Monday Read
The Olympics edition Well, I’m not a fan of holding the Olympics this year. I read somewhere that the IOC was okay with postponing the games for two years, but Abe wanted to have it this year. Then he ran away from the mess he made (again). I don’t think there is a major problem […]