SORABYCO | Life in Japan

I love yakiimo , the roasted sweet potatoes sold ready to eat at supermarkets in Japan. They are warm, sweet, and especially tempting when the weather gets cooler. But I do not buy yakiimo every time I want a sweet potato. For everyday eating, I usually buy uncooked sweet potatoes at the supermarket and steam them at home. My method is simple. I wash the sweet potatoes, cut off both ends, place them in a steamer over cold water, and start heating from there. I steam them slowly over low heat and check the thickest part with a chopstick or skewer. Once they are soft all the way through, I take them out, cut them in half lengthwise, and leave them uncovered for about 5 to 10 minutes before eating. It is different from roasted yakiimo, but that is part of what I like about it. Steaming gives me sweet, moist sweet potatoes that I can easily enjoy at home. After making them this way many times, it has become our usual way of cooking sweet potatoes at home—almost like our own little family r...

Recently, I saw a cancer screening test on Japanese TV that uses a urine sample. At first, I thought, “Wait, can you actually diagnose cancer with a home test kit now?” I was curious, so I looked into it. It turned out that the test I had seen was not something that could diagnose cancer on its own. It was designed to check for signs associated with cancer risk, with further medical examinations still needed if necessary. While reading about it, I suddenly remembered the cancer screening voucher that my city had mailed me earlier this year. When it arrived, I remember thinking, “Oh, this year’s voucher is here. I’ll get around to it later.” And then I simply put it aside. So this time, I took another look. I wanted to know what screenings I could actually get, how much they would cost, and whether being a foreign resident in Japan made any difference. What I found was more useful than I expected. If you receive a cancer screening voucher (受診券) from your city in Japan, it is worth check...

I drive for most of my shopping in Japan, even when the store is not very far away. Over time, it became automatic. If I needed something, I grabbed my car keys. If it was only one small item, I usually added it to my shopping list and waited until my next grocery trip. Recently, though, I started thinking, “Am I walking enough?” I spend a lot of time at home, and driving for almost every errand means there are days when I barely walk anywhere. Then I ran out of bar soap. The supermarket is about 1.1 km from my home, and I only needed one or two bars. It was a cool October day, so instead of getting in the car, I took a small reusable bag and walked. It turned out to be much easier and more pleasant than I expected. I bought what I needed, got some walking into my day, and used no gas for that trip. That gave me a simple idea: instead of making separate time to exercise, I can sometimes use a small errand as my reason to walk. I’m not giving up my car. I’m simply trying to stop using i...

If you live in Japan, you may see a garbage collection schedule that says something like “2nd and 4th Tuesday” or, in Japanese, 「第2・第4火曜日」 . This means the second and fourth Tuesday that occur in that month . It does not mean the 2nd and 4th day of the month. For example, imagine the Tuesdays this month are: 6th → 1st Tuesday 13th → 2nd Tuesday 20th → 3rd Tuesday 27th → 4th Tuesday In this case, “2nd and 4th Tuesday” means the collection dates are the 13th and 27th . It seems simple once you know it, but this was one of those small Japanese 생활 rules that confused me when I first started dealing with garbage collection in Narita, Chiba. I remember looking at the schedule and wondering, “Does 2 and 4 mean the dates? Or the second and fourth week?” Now I know exactly what to look for. How “2nd and 4th Tuesday” Works Japanese garbage schedules often combine items collected every week with items collected only once or twice a month. For example, you might see something collected every Mond...

When I first moved in Japan, there was one thing I didn’t know: changing my address at city hall does not automatically set up mail forwarding with Japan Post. If you move to a new address in Japan and want mail sent to your old address to follow you, you need to submit a separate change-of-address notification, called a tenkyo todoke (転居届) , to Japan Post. Once it is registered, Japan Post forwards eligible mail from your old address to your new one free of charge for one year from the date you submit the notification . I wish I had known this when I first moved. At the time, I contacted companies and services one by one to tell them my new address. Updating those addresses was still necessary, but Japan Post’s forwarding service would have been a useful backup for anything I had forgotten. City Hall and Japan Post Are Two Separate Procedures Changing your registered address with your city or ward office and asking Japan Post to forward your mail are separate procedures. Your municipa...