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• Disaster Preparedness in Japan: Evacuation Rules, Alert Levels, and What to Stock

  Japan designates emergency evacuation sites by hazard; shelters are designated separately. Alert levels, the 2025 reform, and Safety tips for disaster prep.

• National Health Insurance and the National Pension in Japan: Enrollment, Cost, and the Refund When You Leave

  National Health Insurance and the National Pension aren't opt-in. FY2026 pension amount, NHI premium structure, and the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment explained.

• Opening a Bank Account in Japan for Foreign Residents: The 6-Month Rule, Explained

  Japan's 6-month bank rule is a 1980 Finance Ministry residency notice, not bank policy — separate from Japan Post's 3-month rule. Bank by bank, August 2026.

• How to Start Learning Japanese: Free Public Options First

  Where a resident should actually begin: the free courses MEXT and NHK publish, how to find a community class when no national directory exists, and what JLPT levels and the Reference Framework each measure.

• Sending Money From Japan: Banks, Transfer Services, and the Rules

  How money leaves Japan: why the Zengin System stops at the border, how to check a transfer service against the Financial Services Agency register, why a bank's arrival amount is not fixed in advance, and what the tax office is told.

• Getting a Japanese Phone Number as a Resident: Voice SIM and the ID Law

  A voice SIM triggers Japan's identity-verification law; a data-only SIM does not. What Mobal and Sakura Mobile accept from residents, and what MNP leaves behind when you switch carriers.

• Converting a Foreign Driver's License in Japan: The 2025 Rules

  Japan tightened its foreign license conversion (gaimen kirikae) on 1 October 2025: the resident-record requirement, the 50-question knowledge check, and which licenses skip both tests.

• Garbage Rules in Japan: Why Every City Is Different

  Japan has no national garbage rule — the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act makes each municipality set its own separation categories. How three cities differ, how sodai gomi stickers work, and which appliances you cannot put out.