So who's actually retired in Japan?

[TJKansai]

@hbd While the younger readers are rightly obsessed with saving, my wife and I are now firstly, concerned with defending our nest eggs, and secondly, passing on as much as possible to our kids and as little as possible to our governments. For those reasons, we recently saw a financial planner (per hour fee/no commission-type) to get him to look over our portfolio from the perspective of retirees, and to find out how to minimize inheritance taxes. It was a mixed experience but definitely worthwhile for the new things we learned about inheritance. Perhaps I can elaborate more later after we have had more time to consider and implement the advice.

Looking forward to hearing more!

[TJKansai]

A couple more examples of retirees in Japan:

Australian woman, single, no kids (I think), still teaches a bit part-time, but also has income from rental properties in Oz. Has a side business selling Japanese antiques to people overseas, which is perhaps part hobby, part income-earner.

American man, married to Japanese with kids and grandkids (who may be in the US now), invested intelligently and seems pretty set. Involved in his church, lives frugally. Also inherited a house in the Bay Area which is worth a lot now. He's been renting it out for years, never vacant.

[captainspoke]

... I recommend some music. Active music, aka 'making music', daily. Who cares whether you've never done it before. If you once did it, go back to it. The more you do it, the more you'll want to do it. ...
... And yes, choose your retirement site and living space so that you can play without being evicted!

I'll bite.

I play guitar, and tho I've kind of grown away from it lately, I really should get back to it. Always acoustic, steel string at first, but later nylon. E.g., there are two nylons in the this room right now--a small 3/4 size classical hanging on a wall, and a full size flamenco in a case next to the chair here. In the next room is the newest, a yamaha silent guitar (nylon version). Upstairs are two more, in their cases on top of a wardrobe, not really in storage but might as well be, both steel strings. We're in a house, and the guitars aren't loud enough to bother any neighbors. Last year I bought a small practice amp (Spark, Positive Grid), which certainly does go loud enough for that. (I'm not at all a classical/flamenco guitarist, I just like the feel and sound, and prefer the wider necks.)

My wife plays tsugaru shamisen, and has for years--I think she has three. A shamisen is pretty loud, and we're lucky that we really only have neighbors on one side--even so, she is careful about her practice times. She grew up playing piano, and yes, we have one of those, too (yamaha avant grand). (I grew up with a piano in the house, tho no lessons, and can play a little.) One thing these instruments lack is that they are not wind instruments. Yeah, you breathe, but playing guitar/piano and breathing is not involving in the same way as a horn of some kind. If someone here thinks of starting fresh, consider a wind instrument (tho they're louder).

My wife plays traditional stuff in a small group--her, a couple taiko, and flute--and plays some around town, or did before corona. For me it's more of a meditation, and I don't play with anyone, but do go to an open mic now and then (again, before corona).

**

Music is what Illich might call a "tool for conviviality." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tools_for_Conviviality (dated, but the spirit is good)

[captainspoke]

And, good story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Lkg7GsKQQ

[TJKansai]

And, good story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Lkg7GsKQQ

Pretty good. This commenter sums it up well This song to me has a little "devil went down to georgia" meets "hotel california"-

[captainspoke]

Good reading, at least for those who feel that music-making is something special:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases ... 060921.php

[UpDown]

@hbd
Also, I worry about the little things... I keep seeing social media postings of long term gaijins drooling over bacon, eggs & baked beans or something similarly simple and blunt when we live in a country with sublime food. Not interested in spending my last days eating fish and chips or pizza every meal. With the karaoke machine playing House of the rising sun, Stairway to heaven and Rainy days and Mondays on a continuous loop.

I agree. I might prefer the all Japanese environment and me without much of it to speak of. Though all these possibilities depress me...

[UpDown]

As mentioned above, one of the main concerns is the chance of being stranded in a country alone and along with cognitive decline, losing the ability to communicate (in Japanese).

Slightly balanced by the fact that people who use two or more languages regularly seem to be less prone to dementia.

Gosh, I work in an English speaking environment and have not progressed very far in 20 years. I joke that I'll start losing the kanji soon before getting too far. I thought I was joking, I mean...

[vikingslav]

The rule of thumb is last language in, first language out.

That probably means for most of us who live in Japan, where Japanese will be the last language learnt, that Japanese will be the first language to be lost in case of dementia or mental ill health. I've seen that happen in two cases of stroke victims, who afterwards could speak English (with some difficulty in one case) but who could no longer communicate in Japanese.

My experience seeing them deal with the 'kaigo hoken' suggests that if you have a Japanese partner who can negotiate all the bureaucracy involved, health care for the elderly and impaired is very good and the carers remarkably caring. However, I would have thought there is greater social isolation because of the nature of the culture. The freedom we enjoy as foreigners comes at a cost.

There is a bad need for an online self-help group for the retired or those facing retirement in Japan because of all the complications about tax, insurance, help, care homes, inheritance laws, etc etc. Perhaps one already exists?

[RetireJapan]

There is a bad need for an online self-help group for the retired or those facing retirement in Japan because of all the complications about tax, insurance, help, care homes, inheritance laws, etc etc. Perhaps one already exists?