The Monday Read: Merry Christmas

Happy holidays to one and all. I hope you are enjoying the end of the year and have some time off. I hope things are going well for you, financially and otherwise. I hope you are optimistic about the future.

We had our Xmas dinner last night as usual (Christmas Eve, Spanish style) so today we’ll be sitting around opening presents and eating leftovers. In the afternoon I’m planning to go to a second hand shop to look for skis for my granddaughter (I got a snowboard, bindings, and boots -in my size! for 19,000 yen last week at B Sports, the sport version of Hard Off).

What do you get up to in the holidays? Leave us a comment below.

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a new video this week:

12 Things I am Grateful for Living in Japan

What would you miss if you had to leave Japan?

Please watch, like, subscribe, and share with other people! We have a goal of reaching 3,500 subscribers by the end of the year, and we’re not quite there yet… if you watch our videos but haven’t subscribed yet I’d be really grateful if you did, and if you have already subscribed please share the channel with a friend 🙂

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (31,801 posts so far). The forum rules are here. In essense, 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

I read two Stephen King books this week, Holly and The Outsider. The latter in particular was great! Lots of classic SK themes, a really captivating story, and nail biting until the end. Recommend.

This week’s links

1. This is a concern: Japan’s food security in data
2. And this is disgusting. Been common knowledge for decades, but finally the media and politicians are getting to grips with it: ‘Host clubs’ in Tokyo force women into sex work to pay off huge debts
3. Another informative video (I didn’t know there was one in Sendai!): Seijo Ishii – Japan’s largest upscale grocery chain
4. I had no idea (but then again someone tried to break into my apartment in 2003, and no one has tried since): The Remarkable Decline in Home Burglary Rates in Japan
5. I don’t like the numbers on these: Japan to issue redesigned banknotes on July 3
6. This system should just be scrapped and replaced with proper work visas. Employers should be punished for breaking Japanese labor laws: Japan’s LDP resists push to let foreign trainees switch jobs faster
7. A new era of politics? The crisis of the 2012 system
8. Cal Newport continues the crusade: It’s Time to Dismantle the Technopoly
9. Private cars should not be the default easiest option in cities and residential areas: Bollards and ‘superblocks’: how Europe’s cities are turning on the car
10. A bucket strategy may be helpful to some people: Should You Use a Bucket Strategy For Your Retirement Portfolio?
11. My First Million vs. Morgan Housel -great stuff (YouTube): The Investment Strategy To Build Generational Wealth
12. Japan is #3? How Many Millionaires Are There?
13. This was really cute and inspiring: How This 13 Year Old Girl Became a CEO in Japan
14. I’m thinking about aspects of my life susceptible to this: x1000
15. This is great. Lighter electric vehicles are the way to go: ‘It feels very fun and freeing’: US sees ebike boom after years of false starts
16. Neutral on this one: I can see both positives and negatives. Japan to scrap health insurance cards from December next year

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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