|
I think keeping restaurants closed to the public as long as they did helped, and reducing the amount of people in them now as well is helping. working from home is also a major help to keep people off public transit and away from offices, which could become hot spots pretty easily too. I don't know how or why Japan really dodged this bullet, but I'm certainly happier to be in 20-50 case a day Tokyo than 20,000+ case a day U.S.
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2020 06:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 27, 2024 09:37 |
|
|
harperdc posted:I don't know how or why Japan really dodged this bullet, but I'm certainly happier to be in 20-50 case a day Tokyo than 20,000+ case a day U.S. Why do you hate america's freedom so much?
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2020 06:24
|
|
|
the way corona played out in japan makes me think that wearing a mask probably does go a long way to prevent getting sick despite what european governments tend to claim it's certainly not because of how the abe government responded especially because even after the outbreak started people did continue working in offices, which you'd expect to be a great place for the virus to spread, japanese people are physically reserved anyway of course but i'm guessing the masks must have played a role Shibawanko fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Jun 21, 2020 |
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2020 06:33
|
|
|
Shibawanko posted:the way corona played out in japan makes me think that wearing a mask probably does go a long way to prevent getting sick despite what european governments tend to claim Probably. But putting a piece of cloth on your face for a few hours a day is the highest form of tyrrany, I'm told. So I guess you gotta choose between beating a worldwide plague or having freedom from extremely minor inconvenience
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2020 07:16
|
|
|
Ways Japan is different than the US: Masks required in public, sanitizer at every shop, no hand shaking, mixed zoning so I can live life within a 10 minute bike ride of my house. Also no church and less police brutality 
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 01:16
|
|
|
As far as I know masks aren't required per se, it's just that 99% of the people here see some value in not spreading plague. That's really the key difference between Japan and America imo.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 02:38
|
|
|
Tokyo seemed (seems?) like a perfect storm for corona to spread like wildfire. Ridiculously overcrowded trains, cramped izakayas, office drones that will go into the office under basically any circumstances, a lack of IT infrastructure to support a remote workforce. And yet, here we are. Pre-existing culture of wearing masks when sick, taking off your shoes at the genkan, widespread BCG, general level of cleanliness, no touching when greeting people, a population that's mostly cooperative when the government asks them to do something. Seems like all those were may have been contributing factors to some degree. This may go down as one of Nihonjinron's finest hours.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 02:46
|
|
|
Stringent posted:As far as I know masks aren't required per se, it's just that 99% of the people here see some value in not spreading plague. That's really the key difference between Japan and America imo. Yeah, gotta love a cultural norm to wear face masks, even if the original reason for the behaviour is likely rooted in the same logic behind fan death.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 02:47
|
|
|
Sometimes I wore a mask anyway to hide my stupid gaijin face at the grocery store.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 02:56
|
|
|
tbf the San Francisco Bay Area is following masking guidelines pretty seriously. But yeah, Tokyo has proven that masks and sanitization alone can stop the virus from spreading.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 03:58
|
|
|
Yeah, everywhere I go in the East Bay people wear masks. It must be bizarre to be in the parts of the US that are in complete denial.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 06:53
|
|
|
Ventura has enough hicks and rich assholes that we'd be completely open by now if not for the governor It sucks
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 07:07
|
|
|
Hasn't it already been pretty well established that the virus in Europe and the east coast US is a stronger and more aggressive mutation of the one in Asia and the west coast? I mean obviously the US has handled it in the worst way possible but also we still don't know what will happen when the stronger variant gets here. And they keep stopping people at Narita with it so it seems like a matter of time.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 07:11
|
|
|
I never wore a mask previously when I was out and about in Tokyo because I didn't wanna seem like that guy who is trying way too hard to pretend he's something that he's not, but now that basically everyone in the world is doing it and it's practically expected of everyone including the foreign demographic, I can finally hide my ugly rear end face when I go out and if someone catches a glimpse of me they'll think instead of being a weirdo that I'm a courteous weirdo. Masks good and cool.
AHH F/UGH fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Jun 22, 2020 |
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 09:06
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:I never wore a mask previously when I was out and about in Tokyo because I didn't wanna seem like that guy who is trying way too hard to pretend he's something that he's not, but now that basically everyone in the world is doing it and it's practically expected of everyone including the foreign demographic, I can finally hide my ugly rear end face when I go out and if someone catches a glimpse of me they'll think instead of being a weirdo that I'm a courteous weirdo. Masks good and cool. you didn’t want to try to hard to pretend to be someone who cares about keeping your germs to yourself and not spreading your cold to coworkers and fellow commuters?
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 10:19
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:I never wore a mask previously when I was out and about in Tokyo because I didn't wanna seem like that guy who is trying way too hard to pretend he's something that he's not If you were worried about that then why were you in Tokyo in the first place?
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 10:28
|
|
|
peanut posted:Sometimes I wore a mask anyway to hide my stupid gaijin face at the grocery store. i always liked wearing a mask and thought it was very comfortable and i like the anonymity but back in holland histrionic antivaxx ladies like to tell me how they cant breathe and feel suffocated or whatever. its probably just racism AHH F/UGH posted:I never wore a mask previously when I was out and about in Tokyo because I didn't wanna seem like that guy who is trying way too hard to pretend he's something that he's not did you also not eat sushi because you didnt want to put on airs?
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 11:10
|
|
|
LyonsLions posted:Hasn't it already been pretty well established that the virus in Europe and the east coast US is a stronger and more aggressive mutation of the one in Asia and the west coast? I mean obviously the US has handled it in the worst way possible but also we still don't know what will happen when the stronger variant gets here. And they keep stopping people at Narita with it so it seems like a matter of time. No. The people claiming that are simply trying to come up with reasons for why Koreans did well to stop the virus and Britains didn't. The answer isn't "a stronger mutation," because we have publicly available data showing it hasn't mutated much. It also has nothing to do with the fact that Germans are mystically and magically immune. It's simply a matter of policy, culture, masks, luck etc. Luck that it didn't simultaneously hit Busan and Seoul. Luck that some countries aren't run by Boris Johnson or Bolsonaro. Luck that some countries didn't have super spreader events and just a quirk of the virus spreading through forms of contact we don't fully understand. Differences in comorbidities and willingness of individuals who are particularly vulnerable to expose themselves stupidly are also an issue.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 18:46
|
|
|
Shammypants posted:No. The people claiming that are simply trying to come up with reasons for why Koreans did well to stop the virus and Britains didn't. The answer isn't "a stronger mutation," because we have publicly available data showing it hasn't mutated much. It also has nothing to do with the fact that Germans are mystically and magically immune. It's simply a matter of policy, culture, masks, luck etc. Luck that it didn't simultaneously hit Busan and Seoul. Luck that some countries aren't run by Boris Johnson or Bolsonaro. Luck that some countries didn't have super spreader events and just a quirk of the virus spreading through forms of contact we don't fully understand. Differences in comorbidities and willingness of individuals who are particularly vulnerable to expose themselves stupidly are also an issue. That's not what's being reported atm though (although the claim doesn't appear to be settled yet): https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/12/health/coronavirus-mutations-scripps-gene/index.html Stringent fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jun 22, 2020 |
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 18:57
|
|
|
Stringent posted:If you were worried about that then why were you in Tokyo in the first place? Japanese wife, job sent me to Tokyo. Japan is great but I'm not trying to be Japanese. Shibawanko posted:did you also not eat sushi because you didnt want to put on airs? Eating sushi has been something everyone does in every country for decades at this point, so no.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:07
|
|
|
When in Rome... I had the same thoughts about "I'm not trying to be Japanese" when I was living in Japan and while that's true for some (a lot of?) things, other things are less about becoming/being Japanese (or whatever culture you've found yourself in) and more about being mindful and respecting their cultural norms and practices. Like if a Japanese person comes to the US and absolutely refuses to shake anyone's hand and insists on bowing saying, "I'm not trying to be American/whatever," then that's kind of just rude. I'm not saying you're being rude but adopting other cultures' practices does not necessarily mean you are immediately one of them, are trying to become one of them, or are even pretending.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:16
|
|
|
Oh yeah I completely agree, I'm just saying that there were a lot of people who were doing it as an affectation before that ruined it for me and I'm glad that's changed at least. The practicality aspect of it is obvious. If a Japanese guy come to my home town, grew a goatee, and started wearing Oakleys with the shades perched on top of the brim of a baseball cap I'd say that was weird even if it was commonplace, because holy poo poo there are a lot of people here who rock that style.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:29
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:Japanese wife, job sent me to Tokyo. Japan is great but I'm not trying to be Japanese. So you wouldn't wear a mask for fear of being seen as trying to be Japanese, but you married a Japanese woman? Do you have a newsletter or something I could subscribe to?
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:36
|
|
|
totalnewbie posted:When in Rome... just pick the things you like and discard the things you dont like like you would do anywhere
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:39
|
|
|
This might sound like some wild poo poo but I didn't marry my wife because of her race or nationality. My work knew she was Japanese and so I was assigned to work in our offices in Tokyo as a courtesy.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:40
|
|
|
I'm not going to shake peoples hands any more. Maybe never again.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 19:45
|
|
|
Sorry to derail ronachat. I know I’m not supposed to shop for accommodations until 3-6 months out but just grabbed a seemingly well reviewed hotel right by Dotonbori for like $40 CDN/night for a week next May, and is fully refundable until the night before. If I can find similar in Nara and Tokyo over the next few months I don’t really have much incentive to wait to book.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2020 23:53
|
|
|
Shibawanko posted:
lmao, not sure how you don't just give up and post a ban me after getting scorched this bad by shiba
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2020 04:28
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:This might sound like some wild poo poo but I didn't marry my wife because of her race or nationality. wait, wait wait what
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2020 05:33
|
|
|
Well if this all goes to hell I expect you guys to critique my down-to-the-second itinerary on r/japantravel in a few months
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2020 21:20
|
|
|
Thank you to all the Japan goons who have given me so much help and laughs and advice over the past seven years.
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2020 21:32
|
|
|
at least y'all already had the line group that i guess i'm also in but i feel kinda weird being active there when i'm nowhere close to moving or visiting
|
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2020 22:23
|
|
|
Guess I better ask now instead of waiting until I feel more financially stable, but what was the best way to invest from Japan while not breaking obscure US tax laws?
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2020 01:28
|
|
|
leather fedora posted:Guess I better ask now instead of waiting until I feel more financially stable, but what was the best way to invest from Japan while not breaking obscure US tax laws? Are you looking to open something for long-term/retirement investments? Or shorter-term stuff? You might want to post your question to the long-term investment and/or the stock market thread as well: Long-term: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2892928 Stock: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3259986
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2020 01:43
|
|
|
leather fedora posted:Guess I better ask now instead of waiting until I feel more financially stable, but what was the best way to invest from Japan while not breaking obscure US tax laws? You'll want to avoid the NISA or IDECO stuff, because they are full of mutual funds that will expose you to Passive Foreign Investment Company income and the associated punitive reporting and taxation. There are not many options. Interactive Brokers will let you open an account, but there is little handholding, so there will be a learning curve if you don't already have some experience using a brokerage platform. You can also use something US based like Vanguard and Charles Schwab, but you will need to keep quiet about your overseas status, and you will also need a US address, preferably of someone you can trust to forward any important mail that might come. If you want to put money into an IRA, you're going to need to forego the foreign earned income exclusion, and file using foreign tax credits instead in order to open up income that is eligible for contribution.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2020 03:20
|
|
|
I was planning to stay in Japan long term but I have family in the States so I could probably go with Vanguard/Schwab, but Interactive Brokers seems like the better goal. I didn't realize opening an IRA was an option. Seems like that boils down to if I could put away enough to offset how much tax I would have to pay, but I guess the interest would be earning enough in a few years to make it worthwhile?
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2020 09:55
|
|
|
The problem with IRAs if you are planning to stay in Japan long term, is that they become taxable after you become a permanent tax resident of Japan (that is, after you have resided in Japan a total of five years out of the previous ten years). Japan will expect you to report your global income at that point, and the tax advantaged status of IRAs is not recognized in Japan. They will expect you to report income earned in it like any investment account. Normally you could avoid double taxation by using foreign tax credits. But since the whole point of an IRA is that you pay the taxes, if any, at retirement, a lot of your tax credits will be expired by then. So you will end up possibly paying double tax on interest, dividends, and capital gains earned in your younger years.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2020 10:10
|
|
|
Well, I've lived here for more than 12 years already so that's definitely going to be something I'd have to do. I mean, it still sounds like I'd be making more than putting money into a JP savings account but I don't know if it'd be worth all the hassle.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2020 16:15
|
|
|
Do you guys know much about how Japan’s handling tourism right now? My fiancé and I are (or were, I guess) planning on going for our honeymoon in October assuming we can still get married then and from what I can tell it seems like Japan is really hurting from not having as much tourism and tickets are super cheap, like $500 round trip cheap. But I checked and it seems like they’re flat out refusing visitors from the US and I’m assuming a LOT of poo poo is closed in general. But maybe that’s just right now and won’t be the case in October. Any thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2020 18:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 27, 2024 09:37 |
|
|
I mean, they seem to be very gingerly weighing opening up to non-tourism travel with countries that have HIGHLY contained the virus right now. Given America’s rather... novel... approach to mitigating the virus I would not be putting any cash money down on anything that isn’t 100% refundable. No one has a crystal ball to reveal the future, but I’m trying to be very diplomatic in how I say “no way in hell will it be open to American tourism by October”.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2020 18:34
|
|