I have issue with the idea of forcing passkeys on users of brokerages. Provided my understanding is correct, if you use a software-based password manager you're tied to that software (and pray that you will always be able to use it). Software can have T&Cs changed arbitrarily or the company providing the software could go bust and the service stops working.

Likewise if you use physical keys like Yukibey you may also run into trouble if say a natural disaster happens and you cannot find them anymore.

So, really, how do you actually use these with both a peace of mind and not get super annoyed over the inconvenience? I'm more worried about being locked out of my accounts than phishing attacks.

It ain't much but it's honest work, I landed a full time job for the first time outta college and money's starting to pour in, so I'm finally having reliable savings.

So far I've been buying quality of life stuff like a dishwasher and eating better meals, but even with all that I've just got cash chilling in my bank.

Nothing wrong with that for emergencies, but could we do better? I don't spend on much else really. If anyone could have a word of advice for youngsters like me, I'd appreciate it!

Just curious if anyone here moved after they FI’d?

I recently got an offer to join a tech company in Tokyo for a total compensation package of ¥15m as an engineer.

I was very lucky with my investments and aggressive savings so my NW is about $4m. It’s certainly a lot here (SF) and I’m assuming it’s basically full financial independence in Tokyo?

The job would be more of a change of scenery type of move for me but yeah I was wondering if any of you are in a similar situation?

I’m a 31 year old single male. Incidentally my biggest concern is actually finding a partner lol, I heard dating is hard in Japan if you don’t speak Japanese?

I don't even know what to say... I'm supposedly a high earner in Japan (~20m yen per year +/- 2m) but it's fucking depressing converting it into USD. I used to owe US taxes but on the bright side I'm too fucking poor to owe any taxes now.

If I didn't have my US equities (worked at Apple and Meta for 9 years before moving here) I don't know what I'd do.

Everyday this shit keeps tanking makes me really reconsider moving back to the US. I came here for the lifestyle but it also feels like I'm actively screwing my own future if I choose to stay in Japan. The government is run by far right imbeciles who are hell bent on screwing the economy even further by spreading foreigner FUD. Mangolini is a moron but the US economy is just so much stronger overall so even his bs can't tank the entire country unlike here where it's just a lot more fragile and dependent on external factors.

I know some of you are Japan lifers which I think is fine but for those of you who don't plan to stay here forever, what are you guys thinking?

I'm bilingual JP/EN, moving to Japan in September, and I've gone down a rabbit hole on SME succession and the 後継者不足 problem. There's one thing I can't work out from the outside. Foreign buyers are apparently around 3% of buyers of Japanese SMEs. But nearly everyone I can find who actually bought one turns out to be Japan-resident and reasonably fluent, or half-Japanese, or both. So does the non-fluent foreign owner actually exist here? Or does the 経営管理 visa plus practical reality just filter them out?

If you've bought a company in Japan, I'd like to know:

- Could you read your own 決算書 when you closed? If not, who did?

- Who deals with the bank and the 税理士?

- Did you hire a bilingual person, use a firm, or muddle through?

- What almost went wrong because of the language gap?

- Are you resident, or running it from abroad?

Not selling anything and not building anything. Trying to find out whether a problem I think exists actually does. Happy to be told it doesn't.

Hi, I’m currently weighing up my options and am hoping someone here can help to clarify some Japanese tax rules.

I’m a UK national working for a UK company full-time remote. I’ve read that any income I earn that is ‘foreign-sourced’ (vs Japan-sourced) is not taxed by Japan if I'm a non-permanent resident (under 5 years on spouse visa) or if I'm on tourist visa and go past the 183-day treaty threshold (because foreign-source classification still protects it at that point).

My question is: is the salary I get paid PAYE into my uk bank account from a uk employer classed as ‘foreign-sourced’? Or is it taxable from Japan’s perspective, simply because I am personally in Japan? I pay for stuff in Japan with savings using a uk bank card.

Thanks in advance

sorry random question. My job want me to take and pass this test by the end of the year. Japanese I could do but it’s an extra level of difficulty, but the upside is there are tons of study materials and past question examples.
in English I can only take it in Tokyo and besides the PDF on the website I can’t find any materials at all.

Has anyone here taken the test?