The Monday Read: Summertime

All six grandkids in one place. Hasn’t happened before.

The two from Sweden were over but they went home on Friday. It was great to see them and see them all hanging out together. Funny how well they all got along.

The weather was very accommodating too!

Going to relax a bit next week though. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for this and that.

How are you spending the summer?

We’ll be back on August 12th, same time, same channel. The awesome Derek Wessman will be joining us to talk about naturalising in Japan, living here long term, and the current environment for people who want to get permanent residence or citizenship. Otanoshimi!

Join us live to ask questions or join the discussion, or catch the replay on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Curated list of 3 random blog posts: Planning 3 (Plan Harder), Book Review: The Millionaire Fastlane, and The Anti-Bucket List.

Click here to read your own random post on the RetireJapan blog (we have well over 1,000 so you probably haven’t read them all yet). If you enjoy the post, paste the URL in a comment so I can share it with everyone next week.

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a new video this week about my latest interview with the 法務局. You can probably tell how it went.

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Speaking of which, the Forum is doing well (47,438 posts so far). The forum rules are here. In essence, they are:

1. Be nice

2. Ask any question you like

3. Only answer questions when you have relevant knowledge or experience

4. Don’t use AI to write posts or cut and paste from AI answers

Here are the latest active threads:

Finished All My Sins Remembered, by Joe Haldeman. Really good. Loved the ending. Very much recommend.

Still reading A Brief History of Japan, by Jonathan Clements.

And I started Stories from the Quiet War without realising it is based on an existing series. Now I have to decide whether I want to finish the book or put it on hold while I read the four main books in the series.

Total books read in 2026: 33/52

1. I did this for my mum in Spain. Reckon most immigrant children do: Man in Japan called ‘father’ as a boy helps children with foreign roots carrying hidden burdens

2. This looks pretty cool. Might need to check it out if next year is hot again: Air-conditioned dress shirts arrive in Japan to save working professionals from sweltering heat

3. This reminds of the the digital nomad visa. Seems useful at first, but then you really how much faff is involved… Overview of the Trusted Traveler Program

4. Good point about less visible taxes. Don’t like the AI-style writing, but it’s still thought-provoking: Death by a Thousand Levies: Japan’s Tax Trap

5. I thought this was a bit mean-spirited. The strange world of ‘2D exclusive’ Japanese women

6. This does not seem like a particularly controversial proposal: Teacher’s arrest spurs Tokyo mom’s petition to keep sex offenders out of Japan’s schools

7. I really enjoy this blog: The Greens and Blues of Southern Shikoku – part two

8. It’s a little bit rose tinted, but I can recognise it: Four simple rules behind Japan’s most liveable cities

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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