Bilingual reads on Japan
🔖 Saved
Japansoso日本総合情報
READS ON JAPAN · JAPANSOSOFor visitors and locals.
Sat, Sep 12, 2026
Today's Index

The more you know, the more interesting Japan gets.知るほど、日本はおもしろい。

From Apple & gadgets to camping, travel, food and trends — for locals and visitors alike.

Latest

All categories
An empty stone-paved walking path beneath a canopy of Japanese maples in full autumn color — layered red, orange and gold — with a plain wooden handrail following the path and soft morning light through thin mist. The quiet of arriving before the crowds. Cover image for the 2026 autumn-foliage crowd-avoidance guide. No text, no signage, no recognizable landmarks, no people.
Travel

Japan Autumn Foliage 2026: How to Plan Around the Crowds

Foliage crowds in Japan peak where color, weekends, and holidays overlap. Here is how to plan around them using official forecast sites, crowd maps, live cameras, and transit options in Kyoto, Kamakura, and Nikko.

Japansoso Editorial Team·8 min read
A calm still life on a pale wood desk in soft window light: an unmarked smartphone with its screen off, a white SIM tray holding a SIM card, a small metal ejector pin, a plain white envelope, and a cup of tea on a folded brown cloth, neatly arranged. Cover image for the guide to getting a mobile phone contract in Japan as a foreign resident. No text, no logos, no ID cards, no people.
Tech

Getting a Mobile Phone Contract in Japan as a Foreign Resident: ID Checks, Documents, and Cancellation

How foreign residents get a voice mobile line in Japan: legally required ID checks, residence-card rules at each carrier, payment constraints, MNP switching, and cancelling before you leave Japan.

Japansoso Editorial Team·8 min read
An overhead-angled still life of a mori-soba service on a weathered wooden table in soft window light: chilled buckwheat noodles neatly coiled on a square bamboo zaru set over a white ceramic plate, with wooden chopsticks laid across the near edge. A speckled ceramic cup of dark dipping broth sits at the front right, a small dish of wasabi, grated daikon and sliced spring onion behind it, and an amber soba-yu pot with its wooden lid ajar at the back. Cover image for the practical soba and udon guide covering ordering, the east–west broth difference, and buckwheat allergy. No shop signage or menus appear. No text, no logos, no people.
Food

Soba and Udon in Japan: Ordering, Broth, and the Buckwheat Allergy Problem

Japan's soba and udon shops in practice: the three service flows you will meet, how kake and mori differ, what really changes between eastern and western broth, and why buckwheat is a declared allergen here.

Japansoso Editorial Team·8 min read
A cold blue dusk in a Japanese deciduous forest. A single plain green dome tent stands on frosted grass scattered with rust and ochre leaves. Its upper vent is propped clearly open and a thin plume of warm air rises from it. Inside the open porch a lantern glows amber against the cold blue-grey air outside. On a low wooden table to the left sits a small round white clock with a blank, numberless face. The trees behind sink into thin mist. Cover image for the autumn-to-early-winter camping safety guide on carbon monoxide, hypothermia and early nightfall. No text, no logos, no people.
Outdoor

Autumn and Early-Winter Camping in Japan: Carbon Monoxide, Hypothermia and Fire Rules

Camping in Japan from September to December fails in season-specific ways: carbon monoxide inside tents and vehicles, hypothermia driven by wet and wind, and campfires in dry grass. Here is what the primary sources say.

Japansoso Editorial Team·9 min read
An empty suburban railway platform in heavy rain, seen from under the canopy looking down the track: wet concrete reflecting a grey-blue sky, rain falling in streaks off the roof edge, and countless ripples spreading in puddles underfoot. A yellow safety line runs straight into the distance along the middle of the platform, with a single wooden bench on the right. No train has come; one faint light glows far away. The image is of waiting, not disaster. Cover image for the guide to planned suspensions, refunds and official sources when a typhoon stops the trains. No legible station or departure boards appear. No text, no logos, no people.
Travel

When a Typhoon Stops Japan's Trains: Suspensions, Refunds and Official Sources

Japan's railways shut down before a typhoon arrives, not after: when suspensions are announced, what refunds apply to trains and flights, how to read the level-numbered alerts, and which official sources to check.

Japansoso Editorial Team·8 min read
A quiet top-down still life on a pale wooden desk in soft morning light: a round analogue clock lying face-up with a blank, numberless dial; beside it a row of about eight Japanese coins overlapped in a line, the top two showing the denominations 100 and 50; and a cream envelope to the right. Cover image for the 2026 minimum-wage revision — time and pay. No payslips, charts or documents bearing figures appear. No text, no logos, no people.
News

Japan's Minimum Wage in 2026: How It Is Set and How to Check Your Own Pay

Japan's regional minimum wage covers every worker in a prefecture, whatever their nationality or contract type. How the revision is decided, what was confirmed on 7 August 2026, and how to check your own hourly rate.

Japansoso Editorial Team·9 min read
An empty public-office service counter in soft overcast light from a window: a pale wood counter top holding a plain ceramic pen stand with a single pen, a stack of blank cream paper, and an unmarked grey metal box on the right. A low frosted-glass partition runs along the far edge of the counter, with out-of-focus moulded waiting chairs behind it — several grey and one amber. Cover image for the guide to Japan’s Specified Residence Card, which merges the residence card with the My Number Card, and to which counter actually handles it. No identity documents and no filled-in forms are shown. No text, no logos, no people.
Tech

Japan's Specified Residence Card: what changes when your residence card and My Number Card merge

Japan began issuing the Specified Residence Card on 14 June 2026, merging the residence card and My Number Card into one. What the Immigration Services Agency says about eligibility, where to apply, fees and timing.

Japansoso Editorial Team·8 min read
A top-down flat-lay on natural linen: a plain matte-black power bank, a braided USB-C cable, a navy passport-sized booklet and a clear zip bag of small items, spaced evenly apart, with no capacity markings, certification marks or logos anywhere. Cover image for the 2026 guide to power-bank rules on flights in Japan — two per person, up to 160Wh — and where to charge once you land. No text, no people.
Tech

Power Banks on Flights in Japan, 2026: Two Per Person, 160Wh, No Charging On Board

Since April 24, 2026, flights to and from Japan allow two power banks per passenger, rated 160Wh or less, and charging them in the cabin is prohibited. Here is what the official rules say, and how to prepare.

Japansoso Editorial Team·9 min read
An izakaya counter in warm lantern light: a glass of draft beer, a small bowl of simmered pork belly and daikon topped with a soft-boiled egg, wooden chopsticks resting on a ceramic rest, and a rolled oshibori towel on a wooden tray, set on weathered timber. Cover image for the 2026 izakaya handbook covering otoshi, ordering, all-you-can-drink and paying the bill. No text, no logos, no people.
Food

The Izakaya Handbook 2026: Otoshi, All-You-Can-Drink, Smoking Rules and the Bill

A Japanese izakaya runs on rules rarely written down in English: a paid appetizer you never ordered, drink plans measured by the clock, smoking rules rewritten in 2020, and a bill you usually settle at the register.

Japansoso Editorial Team·9 min read
News

The 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake: What Happened on July 28, and How to Check Official Information Yourself

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto at 16:27 on July 28, 2026. What Japanese agencies had published as of 14:00 on July 29, every figure attributed and time-stamped, plus the JMA advisory, the primary sources you can read in English, and the helplines we checked one by one.

Japansoso Editorial Team·10 min read
A steaming bowl of shoyu ramen with chashu pork, bamboo shoots, chopped scallions, a sheet of nori and a soft-boiled egg on a wooden counter, chopsticks resting beside it and warm round bokeh of shop lights behind. Cover image for the guide to ordering ramen in Japan. No text, no logos, no people.
Food

How to Order Ramen in Japan (2026): Ticket Machines, Styles, Etiquette, and the '1,000-Yen Wall'

From ticket machines and noodle firmness to queue etiquette and the '1,000-yen wall,' here is everything first-timers need to order ramen in Japan with confidence.

Japansoso Editorial Team·8 min read
Backlit silhouettes and back views of commuters with varied clothing and bags crossing a bright station concourse in warm morning light, no faces distinguishable. Cover image for a data article on Japan’s record foreign-resident population. No text, no logos, no faces.
News

Japan's Foreign Residents Hit a Record 4.12 Million: What the 2026 Data Means for Living and Working in Japan

Japan's foreign population topped 4 million for the first time — a record 4,125,395 at end-2025. Data by nationality, visa and region, plus the 2027 visa overhaul.

Japansoso Editorial Team·7 min read