Welcome to The Monday Read, RetireJapan’s weekly collection of content, musings, and links related to personal finance and life in Japan.
That dragonfly was just sitting on the fence when I got to work. I guess it was too hot for dragonflies as well as humans that day.
Recently I find myself stopping to take photos of things I wouldn’t have noticed before. Not sure if that is just me getting older or whether I am succeeding in trying to be more mindful.
We went to one of our favorite kaiten sushi places in Sendai today: Kirara Sushi (it’s a small independent place). It was still really popular and crowded (we had to wait 30 minutes at 14:30 on a Sunday).
Like in many restaurants recently, there weren’t enough staff and there were help wanted posters everywhere (890 yen an hour for this particular restaurant).
The menu had shrunk too: what they had was still excellent, but chutoro and ootoro was nowhere to be seen and there was a lot more ramen or new items (like chicken nugget sushi).
I feel like I am seeing this more and more. Restaurants are trying to fight it by upgrading their order flow (using tablets to order) and robots (to carry plates back and forth to the kitchen) but ultimately I feel like we’re going to end up with fewer, more expensive options in the future.
So finding treasure is not just noticing the beauty in every day, but also enjoying things while we can. I don’t feel good about the effect that demographic change, inflation, and climate change are going to have on Japan. We might never have things as good again.
RetireJapan TV
This month’s episode will be broadcast at 20:00 on July 24th. We’ll be joined by special guest Derek Wessman. You don’t want to miss this one!
Sign up for reminders on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook and join us live to ask questions or comment 🙂
See previous video episodes here: RetireJapan YouTube Streams
And listen to the audio version on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search for RetireJapan TV on your favourite podcast platform (if it isn’t there please let me know!).
YouTube
Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published 2 new videos this week, and finished a video that will be released at 11:00 on Monday.
- PSA: Personal finance for US citizens in Japan
- What is RetireJapan and what does it do?
- 10 ways to stay cool in Japan’s summer heat -without breaking the bank (please check it out live from 11:00 on July 17th)
Please watch, share, like, and subscribe.
The Forum
The Forum is doing well (28,541 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:
Gadget of the week
I got a new smartphone recently, a Pixel 7a (in coral, of course). It’s pretty decent. They have a generous trade in program, and you can get an extra 5,000 yen off with this code at the Google online store: 75Q71WMOMQJ3DVWNH6G2I1Q (I will also get a commission if you buy with that code).
This week’s books
No new books this week again, I am finishing some old ones (rereading Oversubscribed yet again) and once more too busy making videos 😉
This week’s links
- I’m a big fan of Chris’s writing, but I think he might have been better off not starting with Tokyo, having a local guide, or maybe not doing this in June: Walking across Japan, part 1: From Tokyo to Takasaki
- Of course not: Did Wages Did Really Rise The Fastest In 28 Years?
- Food for thought: Don’t Forget to Swim Now and Then
- Quite a windfall for the government: In Japan, plenty of inheritances, but no one to claim them
- KONO Taro is in trouble (YouTube): ‘My Number’ System Being Investigated
- Pretty stunning numbers: The Ultimate Bubble
- Thinking back, I don’t think I really proved this to myself until my 30s: Proof You Can Do Hard Things
- This is absolutely horrendous: Death at Childcare Puts Spotlight on Dangerous Conditions Across Japan
- “There are no dirt paths , no mountain roads … SUVs are absolutely useless in Paris. Worse, they are dangerous, cumbersome and use too many resources to manufacture,” Belliard said. Paris to charge SUV drivers higher parking fees to tackle ‘auto-besity’
- #1, depends on the definition; #2, probably; #3 (in Japan) definitely: 3 Overrated Financial Concepts
- Heatwaves have names now? Cerberus heatwave threatens new record temperatures for Europe
- Been slightly obsessed with these guys this last week (YouTube): Pete & Bas | Before They Were Famous | Coldest UK Drill Duo
- Remember, RetireJapan does not provide financial advice 😉 Does your financial adviser pass the fish farm test?
- This was a well made video (YouTube): I Visited an Akiya Bank in the Japan Countryside
- Really interesting piece about the Japanese You Know Who: Where in the World is Ikeda Daisaku, Soka Gakkai’s Long-Missing Leader?
- And from #14, and even more interesting video (YouTube): Meet The Foreigner in Japan with 96 Tenants and an Akiya House
- Well, that is a terrifying prospect. I wonder how this would play out in Japan? Presumably we could buy enough food to get by until we can revamp domestic production… With our food systems on the verge of collapse, it’s the plutocrats v life on Earth
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
The Monday Read, going out to more than 2,755 subscribers each week. Please share this post/email with friends/colleagues who may be interested in it.
If you were forwarded the email you can sign up to our weekly or monthly list here.
Check out the RetireJapan website for more information, the Forum for discussions about personal finance and investing in Japan, and our coaching page if you need more help.
Good blog! Not sure about the septuagenarian gangster rap. 😉 For me, the best thing you wrote was something I wish every human would consider, “We might never have things as good again.” That’s exactly right. The metacrisis (Daniel Schmachtenberger, Nate Hagens) describes what we are really facing, and it’s all going to happen at once. Some focus on global warming, others focus on debt, or population collapse, or pollution, etc., but very few people look at these problems holistically, as a system of interwoven issues. Nate & Daniel do this. This is why I really like the fact that you encouraging your followers to do both things, prepare yourself financially for a better future (can AI save us?), but also live now, live a little.
I’m a big fan of planning for the worst and hoping for the best.
#1 – I don’t subscribe so can only see the beginning but, honestly, I cannot think of a worse route to walk in Japan than Tokyo to Takasaki – at least until you get out to the Tonegawa. Maybe Tokyo to Chiba city might be close. Hopefully he gets some better advice on his next leg 🙂
Maybe the idea is “get the worst out of the way first”.
I just saw that he cut his losses at Kumagaya and then was rained out in Niigata. His Japan tour is not going so great. [‘Cutting my losses at Kumagaya’ would be a great name for my autobiography if I ever write it]
890yen per hour?
High-school students get more than that in the U.S. or Australia.
UK minimum wage is:
Age 21 to 22 £10.18
Age 18 to 20 £7.49
Under 18 £5.28
Apprentice £5.28 (957JPY)
I found the landlord video very interesting. Although one little bit did jar me a bit. As a landlord, I found the…how do I put it….smungyness, flippancy of jacking up the rent, and saying “inflation is great” for him, while maybe his tenants barely even got a wage raise. Not to mention that his loan on the building itself was fixed for… however many years the loan is. I could support him, if he said his loan interest rate had increased. Very interesting video, though!
I think landlords are just going to landlord. Once you have dozens of units, they are just a spreadsheet to you.
It’s like the story of the scorpion and the frog 😉
I have to agree, but still jarring, especially linked to the other article you posted about wage rises.
https://richardkatz.substack.com/p/did-wages-did-really-rise-the-fastest
I would hope that the tenants, see the spreadsheet in the video, and notice that some tenants are paying very different rent rates in his building. Thankfully, we always look at the rents in our apartment block, and if the rent is cheaper, we apply for it. Thankfully they gave us a slight rent reduction. I guess they don’t have to redecorate the old apartment we are in. Anyway, I do hope the landlords in Japan don’t become like the landlords in the UK.