The Monday Read: Sakura

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

The cherry blossoms hit Sendai a few weeks early this year, but they are looking great. Had some wonderful weather this weekend although I only managed to grab a few minutes to enjoy them. It’s been BUSY, so much so that I missed both my goals this week and paid the penalty (see below). Will […]

The Monday Read: Mantras

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

I was idly thinking about mantras the other day in the shower, and came up with the following that have served me well: Realising that I choose to do most of the things I do makes it easier to do them, knowing what is important to me and what isn’t let’s me use my time […]

The Monday Read: Ball is Rolling

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

My financial incentive habit creating system is working well (see below). I went to jiu-jitsu three times this week, even though I am still slightly injured and very busy with work. There is no way I would have gone without the public commitment and financial penalty. Today I got on my rowing machine for the […]

The Monday Read: March Madness

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

March this year has been really warm and the pollen so far has been dreadful. My younger granddaughter (4) is suffering terribly with congestion and painful eyes. But the weather has been really nice. Walking/cycling to work as been really nice these last couple of weeks. How is your March going? For me it’s one […]

The Monday Read: Getting Things Done

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

We were at a wedding on Saturday in Chiba. Ended up being a nice break going down and staying the night before. Always good to get out of the daily grind. Doing the things you want I was talking to a friend the other day and I realised that I am not getting round to […]

The Monday Read: Life-changing books

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

A life-changing book is not a term to throw around lightly. I feel like I might have read one this week (details below). Other life-changing books include Your Money or Your Life, one of the first personal finance books I read, and one that might have had the largest effect. Another was Minako Takekawa’s iDeCo […]

The Monday Read: Happy Birthday

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

The Monday Read is five years old! RetireJapan TV This month’s edition of RetireJapan TV will be live at 20:00 tonight (Monday 20th). Hope to see you there, and if you haven’t subscribed to the channel yet, what are you waiting for? YouTube Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published […]

The Monday Read: Spring in the Air?

RetireJapan Monday Read logo and illustrative photo of newspapers and coffee.

After the last couple of weeks of frigid temperatures and record snowfalls, it was nice to have a spring day today (also melted all the snow, heh). All in all, last week was a bit of a write-off in terms of RetireJapan as I was away for three days with the family and then had […]

Saving for Your Child’s Education in Japan

Options and Recommendations As a parent living in Japan, one of the biggest concerns you may have is how to save money for your child’s education. Educational expenses in Japan can range from a couple of million (going to public schools and avoiding expensive after-school activities and cram schools) to close to 100 million yen […]

The Monday Read: Green Shoots

Had a very busy week coming off my encounter with Covid, but we’re off to Appi this week for a couple of days of snow and relaxation so hopefully that will help. Had some questions about when the coaching service will be back online and the answer is soon! Hoping to have an announcement in […]