Articles
Everything we've written — from NISA for international couples to surviving Japanese paperwork.
Hello Work Japan: Do You Have to Report Side Income While Receiving Unemployment Benefits?
I receive small live-streaming tips while on unemployment benefits in Japan. Here's what Hello Work actually told me to report — and why I'd rather ask a boring question at the counter than have an exciting problem later.
We Share Everything Except His Pokemon Cards
We run one household budget as a Japanese-American couple. The rent, groceries, savings, and kid costs are shared. The Pokemon cards remain gloriously free.
We Lost ¥400,000 Cancelling Our Wedding in March 2020. The Money Was the Easy Part.
We were already married. The wedding was going to be the celebration — March 2020, his family flying in from the US. COVID closed the borders, friends were scared, and we cancelled days before. It cost ¥400,000, none refunded. Wedding insurance wouldn't have helped. The money was the easy part to lose.
My NISA Is My Little Secret Weapon
I am a Japanese wife in an international marriage, and NISA became my way to build assets in my own name. Seven years in, my investing has not been textbook-perfect. It has been real life.
My American Husband Quit His Job in Japan. Hello Work Paid Him for It — Even Though He Quit.
A foreigner's field guide to unemployment benefits in Japan: who qualifies, the spouse-visa advantage, the documents, the waiting period, and the re-employment bonus. In the US, quitting means $0. In Japan, my American husband quit — and got months of benefits plus a bonus for getting rehired.
Furusato Nozei for an American in Japan: Free Meat, a Tax Refund, and the US-Tax Part Nobody Explains
Furusato nozei works for foreign residents too — even when the head of household is American. The limit when your spouse is a dependent, why we file a tax return instead of One-Stop, the post-move gotcha, and the three things US taxpayers must get right: FBAR, charitable deductions, and the Foreign Tax Credit.
We Moved Out of Osaka. We Expected ¥1.9M in Subsidies. We Got ¥0.
We expected ¥1.9 million in relocation subsidies. Two programs, two rejections, two reasons we didn't qualify — and the real cost of moving with two kids and one American husband armed with a cutter knife.
My American Husband's Japanese PR Application: 9 Months, 20+ Documents, and a Rule Change Halfway Through
He filed in August 2025. The rules changed in January 2026. Nine months in, we still don't know which set of criteria our application is being graded against. A real-time field report from inside Japan's tightening immigration system.
The Day My Husband Met FATCA at a Japanese Bank Counter
We tried online banks. They couldn't fit my husband's middle name. We tried megabanks. They asked for FATCA paperwork. He met FATCA. They did not get along. We have a bank account now.