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PayPay: How to charge your account with money
Here’s our second article on how to use PayPay. Now that you’re hopefully all set with your account (if not, check out the previous article), let me share the different ways to add money on your account. Charging your PayPay account via bank transfers PayPay recommendation, and maybe the easiest, is to connect your account…
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PayPay: What it is and how to open an account
If you’ve been living in Japan, chances are you have seen those PayPay signs around cashiers or at the entrance of some shops and restaurants: Japan, influenced by the trend of QR code payments in Asia, especially China, created PayPay (thanks to Softbank and Yahoo JP). I was hesitant to use it due to past…
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Japanese Housing Types & Useful Words
You are about to move to Japan? Congrats! Or maybe just looking for a change? Housing in Japan has its own terminology that can be a bit confusing at first – let me walk you through it today. Housing Types Let’s start with the types: Detached houses are quite common in Japan, even in the…
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Survival Guide to Summer in Japan
It’s here… the dreaded Japanese summer! Not only does it differ from what most of us are used to from a heat point of view, it also gets really humid. To be honest, that can be quite tough on our bodies. But fear not, I’ve managed to survived so far and here’s my top recommendations…
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Converting Your License to a Japanese Driver’s License
Although having a driver’s license is not absolutely necessary if living in big metropolitan areas like Tokyo, it’s always nice to have the option to drive. Maybe you’ve been wanting to go visit an onsen but it’s quite mendokusai (a hassle) to get there if going by train or bus. Perhaps you are a proud…
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Going to the Movies in Japan
The movie-going experience in Japan can be rather different than what you might be used to in your home country. From etiquette inside the theater to the release windows and availability of films on offer, going for a night out at the cinema (or a matinee, if that’s your speed) can prove a little perplexing…
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It’s Garbage! How to Sort Trash in Japan
Ah… The topic of sorting trash in Japan. I feel like it’s one of the most famous puzzles: what to sort, how to sort it, when to put it out… To be fair, it took me a very long while to (kind of) understand the basic concept of it. There are four prominent parts: 燃えるゴミ…
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Rokuyou (六曜): The Lucky and Unlucky Japanese Days
You may have seen it on Japanese calendars: some characters under the dates, usually in black and red. These are the rokuyou/rokuyō (六曜), “six days”, a way used in Japan to learn whether a day is lucky or unlucky. They are becoming less and less well known, but they can still be seen in some…
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The (Untold) Etiquette of Onsen ♨
It took me too many years to realize that the key to learning the magic of the onsen experience wasn’t as easy as reading the list of bad behaviors at the entrance of the hot springs. The art of onsen (温泉), and of sento (銭湯, its little brother of the city), is passed down through…
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Invited to a Japanese Wedding? Don’t Panic!
Let’s talk today about one of the happiest life events: weddings! While it is always a joy for me to get invited, I was a bit nervous the first time… what to wear? how about the gift?… were among the many questions that popped into my mind. In this article, I will cover how to…
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Welcome to Navigating Nihon!
Welcome everyone to our new website, Navigating Nihon: your trusty guide to daily life in Japan! Are you a foreigner living in Japan, navigating the unique challenges of daily life in this country? Navigating Nihon is a blog created by a team of four using their free time to share our experiences and practical tips…
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