The Monday Read: The Malady
Well, it was always bound to happen. Officially caught Covid last week. Fortunately relatively mild cases all round (most of the family got it, starting with the grandkids). For me it was sore throat one day, feeling tired and groggy the next, then fever and chills, then a bad headache. Seems to be getting better […]
The Monday Read: On the Road
Had a very good time running some workshops in Fukuoka and Kitakyushu this weekend! Thanks to the JALT chapters for hosting me and to everyone who came to the workshops. It was actually the first time I have presented live for about three and a half years, so I was very much out of practice. […]
2023 Planning
Goals for this year Every year we start things off here on the blog with a look ahead, both for the site and me personally. Here is last year’s post for comparison. 2022 was a year of changes. In 2023 I am going to build on those changes and try to have more by doing […]
Japan’s Kokumin Nenkin Kikin
Reader Case Study: Not the best option for most, but a good option for some people A reader contacted me and asked me to explain kokumin nenkin kikin. They have been paying in for 22 years (spouse signed them up originally) and they were wondering what exactly the statement and projections meant. We wrote about […]
Signing up for Kokumin Nenkin
Quick, grumpy, done on paper I went into the ward office to sign up for kokumin nenkin today (this is pretty much the only thing involving pensions you should do at the ward office -make sure to ask questions at a pension office or by calling the national helpline). The process must be done within […]
2022 Planning
Goals for this year Every year we start things off here on the blog with a look ahead, both for the site and me personally. Here is last year’s post for comparison. Last year I gave myself a pass. We were still in peak pandemic, I was tired and run down, and I had a […]
The Monday Read
Gratitude Edition Allegedly the Buddha said: “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. Well, I am not a student but I feel like something similar happened last month when a RetireJapan reader got in touch and offered to help with the conference (more details below). He had noticed that I was doing it […]
The Monday Read
Take care of yourself edition It’s been a rough year and a half, eh? Recently I’ve been getting a bit too sucked into the news, into Twitter doomscrolling, into ranting at the TV. Not helpful or healthy. Or productive. Or happy. So I pulled back a bit. I tried to read more books, focus on […]
2021 Planning
Goals for this year? Not even sure if I have goals for this year. Be kind to myself and others, maybe. 2020 was such a grind that I’m just hoping this year is less like that. Over the break I had two wonderful conversations, one with a colleague and one with my wife, about the […]
The Monday Read
Don’t GoTo edition Having been quite lucky with the first few months of the pandemic, the Japanese government has decided that life is not interesting enough, and is pressing ahead with promoting tourism (the GoTo campaign), reopening sports (sumo, baseball, etc.) with spectators, and generally behaving as if the virus has just gone away. I […]