Japan Hacks
« Previous EntriesHomemade Masks
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009In Japan, when people get even a little bit sick they wear a mask. If you ride the train everyday, you’re likely to see at least one person wearing a mask everyday.
If there’s a bug going around, some people will wear masks in an attempt to avoid getting sick.
If there’s a fear of some sort [...]
Newspaper hacks
Thursday, April 9th, 2009Kind reader Viljami Nykänen sent me this:
Hi Thomas,
I’m not sure if you can actually put these up on your site as they are from a Japan Times article, but here goes anyway.
Article link: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ek20090408a1.html
The last 3-4 paragraphs (cut-and-pasted below) contain some interesting hacks..
“For example, you’d be surprised at some of things that can be done [...]
Banks and other places close for New Years, plus other stuff
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 Just a reminder that banks close for New Years holidays. Don’t get caught without cash. Grab a few extra ichimans today while you still can. Also, various stores will close and others will change their opening/closing times. If you need to, stock up on things like food, diapers, etc.
Also, be on the look out for [...]
Two hacks from Indonesia: soothe those burns
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008A blog I subscribe to, David Goldsworthy’s Indonesia Blog, has a cool post about curing two kinds of burns: skin burns and the burns you get from eating spicy food.
To cure skin burns, put toothpaste on them (the white kind) and wait 20 minutes. No blisters.
If you eat something spicy and its too much, [...]
Pee at the konbini
Friday, November 14th, 2008Heidi sends this useful toilet tip:
Hello!
Here is a Nihon Hack that some people may not know (if it hasn’t been posted yet). Living in Japan, one difficulty I have found is finding easy access to western style toliets. Sometimes you can end up in line waiting for a long time, or be unfortunate enough to [...]
Find A Place To Stay In Japan With Gaijin House Japan
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008Travelling in Japan? Want to save money on lodging? Why not try a guesthouse? Gaijin House Japan can hook you up. Jason from Gaijin House Japan sent along this information about their site and I think it will be useful to many readers. Check it out.
GAIJIN HOUSE JAPAN, GUIDING GAIJIN TO THE [...]
Homemade Tofu Planting Pot
Thursday, May 8th, 2008Recently married Jason of j2fi sent this hack in a long time ago, and I think its about time I posted it up, since its a great idea. You know those little plastic containers that tofu comes in (the kind you can use to make a badass soap dish)? The ones that look [...]
Get Cheap Stuff At The Recycle Shop
Sunday, April 13th, 2008Do you like Japanese stuff? Do you like to get it for cheap? If so, you are in luck! Ryan Coffey of www.movetonanaimo.com writes in with a great tip about how to get used (and not-so-used) stuff for very cheap: Recycle Shops. Here’s the scoop:
I like your site. You is [...]
How To Find Shoes That Fit You In Japan
Monday, February 18th, 2008My shoe size in Japan is 30 cm. Not many people in Japan have feet that big, so stores tend to not stock my size. I could go to ten different stores and it is possible that not one of them would have a pair of size 30 shoes. Even if they [...]
New Year Equals Cheap Stuff: Fukubukuro
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008Happy New Year everybody. It’s the year of the rat! Thank goodness I know how to buy cheese in Japan.
New Years is a special time in Japan. I’m not talking about eating osechi, visiting the shrine for hatsumode or getting a week off from work. I’m talking about fukubukuro!!
Fukubukuro (福袋) means [...]