It’s very good but…
The Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan is a comprehensive book, covering all sorts of important topics from visas to paperwork to volunteering (I’ve written this review based on my 1st edition, but I have ordered the 2nd edition to keep up to date). It is completely bilingual, making it very easy to use to facilitate discussions between English and Japanese speakers (particularly when dealing with specialized topics).
It even has information about wills in Japan, so if I had read the book carefully when I got it in 2008 (an updated 2nd edition was released in 2012) I wouldn’t have been so surprised last year.
There are omissions though. There is only a short paragraph on buying property, but entire chapters on starting a business and dealing with the police, events that are unlikely to come up for most people (although if they do you will want to have read this book).
The book’s very encyclopedic nature is perhaps its biggest weakness. It’s hardly the kind of thing you are going to curl up and read on a lazy Sunday afternoon. In a lot of ways, it would have been better as a website. Most people will probably be best off borrowing it from a library when they need to look something up.
If you want to learn more about the rules and procedures in Japan or if you are in a position where you have to give advice to people I completely recommend the book. Otherwise I would suggest you borrow a copy from your local library and look at the sections that apply to you.
It’s particularly good on visas, labour regulations, and setting up a business. It even has 28 pages on retirement 🙂
You can see more information on the book at Debito’s website.
​Anyone else read the Handbook? Any other good sources of information?
Oh, and you just got interviewed on Debito too 🙂
Seems fishy, eh? It actually went down the other way.
I remembered this book, got halfway through writing a review, then thought ‘ah, it would be cool to get Debito to introduce the site as it seems like something he would approve of’.
The unexpected payoff was that comment by Hoofin, who wrote a lot of interesting stuff about the state pension scheme in Japan. I hope he makes an appearance on RetireJapan.