The Monday Read: No Sign of Winter

Don’t remember such a warm November before

It’s been a gorgous November. In fact, it was 21 degrees this Sunday afternoon, which is pretty wild for November 17th.

I am hoping to go skiing this year, so hopefully temperatures will come down a bit and we’ll get some snow.

But I don’t hate this. I’m still wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals!

New interview

With Paul from the exjapter channel. Check it out here.

RetireJapan TV Season 3 Epidode 1

I had a blast talking with Daniel and our live audience on last week’s RJTV. You can find it on your favourite podcast platform (just search for RetireJapan TV and let me know if you can’t find it) or on YouTube.

RetireJapan on tour

I’ll be giving a presentation in Nara on December 1st. Details below.

I think I am on last, from 15:00-16:00. Maybe see you there?

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. New videos coming soon!

The Forum

Speaking of which, the Forum is doing well (38,507 posts so far). The forum rules are here. In essence, they are:

1. Be nice
2. Ask any question you like
3. Only answer questions when you have relevant knowledge or experience

Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

Really enjoying Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville. It’s visceral, kind of like Clive Barker, but not as scary/gory. Great worldbuilding. Looking forward to seeing where he takes it in the next couple of books.

This week’s game

I got this game after Daniel recommended it when we were doing RetireJapan TV last week. Got the Japanese version from Amazon (much cheaper than the English language import). You can get the rules in English online so no real reason not to use the Japanese version, the cards are all numbers and symbols anyway.

It’s a really clever idea, basically you play with 2-4 people and have a bunch of cards with numbers on. The goal of the game is to work together to put the cards down in order, from smaller numbers to bigger ones, without communicating explicitly. So you can’t speak or make gestures, but rather try to feel how the other person is feeling toward their hand. Really recommend it!

My granddaughter and I got to level 7 on our first go, but I suspect it will be harder with more than two people.

This week’s links

1. No bueno: How Trump’s Victory Will Impact Japan
2. We’ll see: The AI Revolution
3. This was great. I hope I’m like that when I’m older (YouTube): Life Advice from a 94 Year Old You Didn’t Know You Needed
4. Are things too good? New All-Time Highs in Everything
5. Might be changing soon? We can hope! Cryptocurrency taxation in Japan and Japan crypto review may open door to lower taxes and dedicated ETFs
6. With the continuing weak yen, is investing in Japan a good idea? Fund Managers on Japan: New Dawn or Same Old Story?
7. Pretty grim prospect: 1 in 5 people in Japan age 65 and older will be living alone in 2050
8. This all seems very familiar: Japan’s Medical System: Lessons Learned and Insights Gained
9. Really interesting project: Two systems of architecture
10. Great point: To question is to consider, not refute
11. Nice to see Chris enjoying it a bit more this time round: Walking Japan (again): From Fukuoka to Nagasaki
12. The big question! Bitcoin – when do I sell?
13. Loved this article. I have the same feelings about Dubai but I haven’t learned about it yet: I hated Dubai until I learned about it
14. I contributed to this article: Saving and Preparing for Your Future Self
15. Not particularly nightmarish, to be honest! (YouTube) My Car Was Hit in Japan: The Nightmare That Followed
    

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

If you enjoyed today’s Monday read and want to contribute to our costs, you could buy me a coffee. All donations much appreciated.

The Monday Read, going out to more than 2,900 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.

Or you can subscribe through WordPress below if you want to get each post the moment it is published:

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.