RetireJapan

kojinkigyo 個人企業: downsides: - probably unstable income, - health insurance (as others have said, you may be able to continue on your former companies health insurance scheme for a while) - national pension: 16k+ per month for yourself also also for spouse. The kokumin nenkin generally pays out much ...

I've just come to Europe on KLM. Amsterdam is one of the better airports for changing. However, all the direct flights to Europe now are IMO too long (14+ hours). So I would recommend going via the middle east -- Qatar or Ethiad (There is also Emirates which is usually a bit more expensive, but is g...

I guess you are looking for gyms near where you live or work. If you live near Oyamadai (on the Oimachi line), Setagaya-ku: https://www.se-sports.or.jp/facility/oyamadai/ It's a bit small but costs only 140 yen. Yakumo gym (Meguro) costs 300 yen https://www.city.meguro.tokyo.jp/sports/shisetsu/sport...

I asked IB if it would be OK to move a large-ish amount of Euro to my IB account, change it to Yen, then transfer the Yen to my Japanese bank. They said I shouldn't be using IB as a currency exchange, but did not say anything about penalties or stopping the transfer. My conclusion is that they may t...

Get a Mastercard rather than Amex.
Amex usually has higher fees and is accepted in fewer places.

I'll be there (2nd time).
For Ben: to find the building (it has the weird name of Hygeia )
〒160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukicho, 2 Chome, ４４−１ 11F

Statins are one of the most cost-effective and well-studied treatments out there and I believe much more harm is caused by people delaying the initiation of their use than by adding them to a healthy diet and exercise regimen. Yep, I second that. I wish my cardio doc had put me on statins and high ...

Roger: "we all know Japan isn't really a G7 country."

I believe you are wrong there.
Ppoverty, homelessness etc. are not criteria for membership or lack thereof. If they were, most of the G7 countries would fail, with perhaps Japan being the only one that "passes".

I think Rakuten-sec does not allow transfers of "positions" (=investments) between brokers as in the ACATS system (which works among US brokers). See: https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/comments/10qfo63/transferring_stocks_from_overseas_broker_to_japan/ Therefore, you will have to sell ...

Yes, (just to confirm what adamu said). Years ago I had USD in an overseas bank (after exiting some expensive wrapper fund in Zurich Insurance). I moved it back to Prestia (as USD), then moved it to Rakuten-sec (as USD), then invested in USD funds, mostly in NISA account. FYI-1 10% is deducted from ...