In 2023 I attended RubyKaigi for the first time and also wrote my first recap, which I’m pleased to say was well-received! This was my third time attending RubyKaigi, and I was once again really impressed with the event. I’m eternally grateful to the conference organizers, local organizers (organizers recruited each year who live/lived in the area RubyKaigi is held), designers, NOC team, helpers, sponsors, speakers, and other attendees for helping create such a memorable experience, not just during the three day conference, but over my entire time in Matsuyama. What is RubyKaigi? RubyKaigi is a three-day technology conference focused on the Ruby programming language, held annually “somewhere in Japan.” It attracts a global audience and this year welcomed over 1500 attendees to Matsuyama, Ehime. The traveling nature of the conference means that for the majority of the attendees (not just the international ones), it’s a chance to take a trip—and the days leading up to and following the event are full of fun encounters with other Rubyists as we wander around town. Checking social media a few days before the conference, I saw posts tagged with “RubyKaigi Day –3” and started getting FOMO! Talks RubyKaigi featured 3 keynotes, 51 talks, 11 Lightning talks, the TRICK showcase, and Ruby Committers and the World. There were talks in the Main Hall, Sub Hall, and Pearls Room, so you frequently had 3 options to choose from at any given time. Despite being held in Japan, RubyKaigi is an international conference that welcomes English speakers; all talks in the Sub Hall are in English, for example, and all the Japanese talks also have real-time translation and subtitles. Organizers put a great deal of thought into crafting the schedule to maximize everyone’s chances of seeing the talks they’re interested in. For example, every time slot has at least one English and one Japanese talk, and colleagues are scheduled to speak at different times so their work friends don’t have to split their support. The power of pre-study One great feature of RubyKaigi is its esoteric talks, delivered by speakers who are enthusiastic experts in their domains. I’m more of a Ruby user than a Ruby committer (the core team who have merge access to the Ruby repository), so every year there are talks during which I understand nothing—and I know I’m not alone in that. One of the topics I struggle with is parsers, so before the conference I created these sketch notes covering “How Do Computers Understand Ruby?”. Then, as I was listening to previously incomprehensible talks I found myself thinking, “I know this concept! I can understand! Wow, that’s cool!” Sketch notes on "How do Computers Understand Ruby" My plan for next year is to organize my schedule as soon as RubyKaigi’s talks are announced, and create a pre-conference study plan based on the talks I’m going to see. Just when I thought I’d leveled up, I attended Ryo Kajiwara’s talk “You Can Save Lives with End-to-End Encryption in Ruby,” where he talked about the importance of end-to-end encryption and told us all to stop using SMTP. It was a humbling experience because, after the first few slides, I couldn’t understand anything. Ruby taught me about encoding under the hood This year’s opening keynote was delivered by Mari Imaizumi, who took us on the journey of how converting the information you want to convey into symbols has been a thing since basically forever, as well as how she originally got interested in encoding. She talked about the competing standards for character encoding, and her experience with Mojibake. It made me think about how lucky I am, that the internet heavily favours English speakers. Even when I was exploring the Web in the 2000s, it was rare for me to come across content scrambled by encoding. TRICK 2025: Episode I There was a point at which it seemed like the awards were going to be a one-man-show, as Pen-san took the fifth, fourth, and third places, but the first-place winner was Don Yang, who until then hadn’t received any awards. The moment that stood out for me, though, was when Pen-san was talking about his work that won “Best ASMR”: code in the shape of bubbles that produces the sound of ocean waves when run. Pen-san explained how the sound was made and said something like, “Once you know this, anyone can write this code.” To his right you could see Matz waving his arm like, “No, no!” which captured my own feelings perfectly. Drawing of Pen san and Matz ZJIT: building a next-generation Ruby JIT Maxime Chevalier-Boisvert started her talk by apologising for YJIT not being fast enough. Because YJIT is hitting a plateau, she is now working on ZJIT. While YJIT uses a technique called Lazy Basic Block Versioning, ZJIT is method-based JIT. It will be able to “see” more chunks of code and thus be able to optimize more than YJIT. Ruby committers and the world There were humorous moments, like when the panel was asked, “What do you want to depreciate in Ruby 4.0?” Matz answered, “I don’t want to depreciate anything. If stuff breaks people will complain to me!” Also, when the question was, “If you didn’t have to think about compatibility, what would you change?” the committers started debating the compatibility of a suggested change, leading the moderator to say committers are always thinking about compatibility. Matz ended this segment with the comment that it might seem like there’s a big gap between those on stage and those in the audience, but it’s not that big—it’s something that you can definitely cross. Sketch notes for Ruby Committers and The World Eliminating unnecessary implicit allocations Despite this being an unfamiliar topic for me, Jeremy Evans explained things so well even I could follow along. I really liked how approachable this talk was! Jeremy shared about how he’d made a bug fix that resulted in Ruby allocating an object where it hadn’t allocated one before. Turns out, even when you’re known for fixing bugs, you can still cause bugs. And as he fixed this case, more cases were added to the code through new commits. To prevent new code changes from adding unnecessary allocations, he wrote the “Allocation Test Suite,” which was included in the Ruby 3.4 release. Optimizing JRuby 10 JRuby 10 is Ruby 3.4 compatible! What stood out to me the most was the slide showing a long list of CRuby committers, and then three committers on the JRuby side: Charles Nutter (the speaker), his friend, and his son. This was one of those talks where the pre-study really helped—I could better understand just what sort of work goes into JRuby. Itandi’s sponsor lightning talk Usually sponsors use their time to talk about their company, but the speaker for Itandi spent most of his time introducing his favorite manga, Shoujiki Fudousan. He encouraged us to come visit the Itandi booth, where they had set up a game in which you could win a copy of the manga. Sponsors This year there were a total of 102 sponsors, with so many gold and platinum-level sponsors the organizers held a lottery for the booths. To encourage attendees to visit each booth, there was once again a stamp rally with spaces for all 46 booths, although you could reach the pin-badge goal with just 35 stamps. It also helped keep track of where you had/hadn’t been. Since sponsors are an invaluable part of the conference, and they put so much effort into their booths, I always want to be able to show my appreciation and hear what each of them have to say. With 46 to visit, though, it was somewhat difficult! Each booth had plenty of novelties to hand out and also fun activities, such as lotteries, games, surveys and quizzes, and coding challenges. By day three, though, the warm weather had me apologetically skipping all coding challenges and quizzes, as my brain had melted. For me, the most memorable novelty was SmartHR’s acrylic charm collection! Since they missed out on a booth this year, they instead created 24 different acrylic charms. To collect them, you had to talk to people wearing SmartHR hoodies. I felt that was a unique solution and a great icebreaker. Collection of SmartHR acrylic charms I actually sent out a plea on X (Twitter) because I was missing just a few charms—and some SmartHR employees gave me charms from their own collection so I could complete the set! (Although it turns out I’m still missing the table-flipping charm, so if anyone wants to help out here . . . ) Hallway track (Events) Every year RubyKaigi has various official events scheduled before and after the conference. It’s not just one official after party—this year there were lunches, meetups, drinkups, board games, karaoke, live acts until three a.m., morning group exercises (there’s photographic proof of people running), and even an 18-hour ferry ride. I need sleep to understand the talks, and I need to wake up early because the conference is starting, and I need to stay up late to connect with other attendees! The official events I attended this year were SmartHR’s pre-event study session, the Women and Non-binary Dinner, the RubyKaigi Official Party, the STORES CAFE for Women, the Leaner Board Game Night, RubyKaraoke, RubyMusicMixin 2025 and the codeTakt Drinkup. I got to chat with so many people, including: Udzura-san, who inspired my Ruby study notes; Naoko-san, one of STORES’s founders; and Elle, a fellow Australian who traveled to Japan for RubyKaigi! The venues were also amazing. The official party was in a huge park next to Matsuyama Castle, and the board game event took place in what seemed to be a wedding reception hall. Compared to the conference, where you are usually racing to visit booths or heading to your next talk, it’s at these events you can really get to know your fellow Rubyists. But it’s not just about the official events; my time was also full of random, valuable catch ups and meetings. For lunch, I went out to eat tai meshi (sea bream rice) with some of the ladies I met at the dinner. I was staying at emorihouse, so following the after party we continued drinking and chatting in our rooms. After RubyMusicMixin, I didn’t want the night to end and bumped into a crew headed towards the river. And on day four, the cafe I wanted to go to was full, but I got in by joining Eririn-san who was already seated. That night I ended up singing karaoke with a couple of international speakers after running into them near Dogo Onsen earlier that day. Part of the joy of RubyKaigi is the impromptu events, the ones that you join because the town is so full of Rubyists you can’t help but run into them. I organised an event! This year I organised the Day 0 Women and Non-binary Dinner&DrinkUp. We were sponsored by TokyoDev, and we had a 100 percent turnout! I’m grateful to everyone who came, especially Emori-san who helped me with taking orders and on-the-day Japanese communications. With this event, I wanted to create a space where women and non-binary people–whether from Japan or overseas, RubyKaigi veterans or first-timers—could connect with each other before the conference started, while enjoying Matsuyama’s local specialities. We’re still a minority among developers, so it was exciting for me to see so many of us together in one place! Group photo from Women & Non-binary Dinner and DrinkUp! I’d love to host a similar event next year, so if you or your company is interested in sponsoring, please reach out! Matz-yama (Matsuyama) Last year’s RubyKaigi closed with the announcement that “We’ve taken Matz to the ocean [Okinawa], so now it’s time to take him to the mountains.” (Yama means “mountain” in Japanese.) Matsuyama city is located in Ehime, Shikoku, and its famous tourist attractions include Matsuyama Castle and Dogo Onsen, which is said to have inspired the bathhouse in Spirited Away. RubyKaigi banner on display at Okaido Shipping Street Ehime is renowned for mikan (蜜柑, mandarin oranges), and everywhere you go there is mikan and Mikyan, Ehime’s adorable mascot character. Before arriving, everyone told me, “In Ehime, mikan juice comes out of the tap,” which I thought meant there were literally pipes with mikan juice flowing through them all over Ehime! However, reality is not so exciting: yes, mikan juice does flow from taps, but there’s clearly a container behind the tap! There’s no underground mikan juice pipe network. 😢 RubyKaigi also highlighted Ehime’s specialties. This year’s theme color was red-orange, break-time snacks were mikan and mikan jelly, the logo paid homage to the cut fruit, and one of the sponsors even had a mikan juice tap at their booth! Also, included among this year’s official novelties was a RubyKaigi imabari towel, since Imabari city in Ehime is world famous for their towels. I’m an absolute fan of how RubyKaigi highlights the local region and encourages attendees to explore the area. Not only does this introduce international attendees to parts of Japan they might otherwise not visit, it’s a chance for local attendees to play tourist as well. Community In Matz’s closing keynote, Programming Language for AI Age, he touched on how it’s odd to delegate the fun tasks to an AI. After all, if AI does all the fun things and we do all the hard things, where’s the joy for us in that? To me, creating software is a collaborative activity—through collaboration we produce better software. Writing code is fun! Being able to connect with others is fun! Talking to new people is fun! I’ve met so many amazing people through the Ruby community, and RubyKaigi has played an important role in that. Through the community I’ve gotten advice, learned new things, and shared resources. My sketch-notes have been appreciated by others, and as I walk around there are #rubyfriends everywhere who all make me feel so welcomed. RubyKaigi attracts a variety of attendees: developers and non-developers, Ruby experts and Ruby beginners. It’s a fun conference with a wonderful community, and even though it’s a technical conference, non-technical people can enjoy participating as well. Community growth comes with its own issues, but I think attracting newcomers is an important aspect of RubyKaigi. As someone who first came as a developer completely new to Ruby, every year I learn more and am inspired to give back to the Ruby community. I hope that RubyKaigi continues to inspire participants to love Ruby, and encourages them to understand and improve it. By growing the Ruby community, we ensure Ruby will continue on as a Programming Language for the AI Age. Looking forward to Hakodate next year, and to seeing you all there! PS: Surprise, Detective Conan? I really love the Detective Conan series. This year RubyKaigi Day Three and the 2025 Detective Conan movie premiere were on the same day . . . so as soon as Matsuda-san said, “It’s over!” I ran out of the hall to go watch the movie at Cinema Sunshine Kinuyama. And next year’s RubyKaigi location, Hakodate, was the setting for the 2024 Detective Conan movie. What a deep connection RubyKaigi and Detective Conan have! Detective Conan decorations set up at the cinema in Kinuyama

You can technically get by in Japan without a Japanese bank account. For those who are here on short-term visas, or who plan to move frequently from city to city, it’s perfectly possible to live and work in Japan without one. However, if you want to work a full-time job, rent an apartment, join social activities, or enroll your children in school, you’ll almost certainly need to make an account. Following is an overview on what you’ll need to open an account, some common problems foreigners encounter, and what banks will work best for your needs. If you don’t have a bank account . . . The “chicken-and-egg problem” is what many foreigners call it—that strange bureaucratic trap you encounter when moving to Japan. You need a local phone number to get an apartment, but you need a registered address to get a bank account, and you need a bank account to get a local phone number! Luckily, there is an order of operations that can get you all three as fast as possible. But let’s say you haven’t decided where you want to live yet, or there’s some other reason for delay. Can you get by in Japan without an account? Strangely enough, it’s not that difficult, thanks to Japan’s cash-based society. Getting paid Direct deposit is more common now, and most companies will also ask you to make an account with a specific bank to receive your paycheck. Nonetheless, they cannot require you to make an account with that bank. You are within your rights to insist on being paid to the account of your choice. Getting cash Be aware that Japan has two methods of getting cash from a machine: ATMs, which function generally like ATMs around the world, and cash machines, which are usually located in banks and are only usable with that bank’s cash card. For example, if you go into Mitsui Sumitomo and have a cash card for some other bank, you will not be able to use it. Many ATMs found at convenience stores, as well as Japan Post Bank ATMs, will allow you to withdraw yen from your foreign accounts. Of the various convenience store options, 7-Eleven ATMs are your best bet. There are some limitations: Depending on the ATM, additional fees may be charged Many ATMs can’t check your foreign account’s balance The single transaction withdrawal limit may be reduced—at Japan Post Bank ATMs, you can’t withdraw more than 50,000 yen from a foreign account at one time 7-Eleven ATMs do not allow you to freely select an amount to withdraw and instead require you to pick from options starting from 10,000 yen and up Using your foreign card In addition, most stores that accept credit or debit cards will also be able to process foreign-issued cards—at least, I’ve never had mine rejected. If the store is not large or is not part of a national chain, however, the odds of them not being able to process your card are higher. Additionally, some stores may not be able to support chips, so if your card does not have a magnetic stripe, you would be unable to use it. As a side note, one of the services that does not permit foreign credit cards is the one you’d least expect—Disneyland. If you want to purchase park tickets online, the website theoretically accepts most foreign cards, yet very few seem to actually work. Personally I got around this problem by using Klook, a third-party app that had no difficulty processing my credit card, and delivered my digital tickets without issue. Finding housing Finally, share-houses and other short-term, foreigner-friendly rental accommodations don’t require a Japanese bank account to rent. These often come furnished, may include utilities, and can be rented without the hassle of a deposit or key money. Of course, they will cost more overall than long-term housing, but they’re good options for those without a Japanese account. But you should make a bank account As you can see, it’s possible to live in Japan without a Japanese account, at least for a while. But it’s not convenient, and the longer you live in Japan, the more inconvenient it becomes. Renting Renting your own apartment with a long-term lease will almost certainly require a Japanese bank account. In this case, having a Japanese bank account and phone number is the bare minimum; they will also want to see your residency status, employment contract or income statement, and either guarantors or the endorsement of a guarantor company. In addition, while you can pay most utility bills with cash at a convenience store, it’s becoming more and more convenient to set up automatic withdrawal, with some companies attempting to discourage convenience store payments by applying a service fee for the paper bill. Automatic withdrawals also mean you’re less likely to miss a payment and have your gas turned off without warning, as happened to me! Employment Your employer will also want you to make a bank account, as almost all big businesses prefer direct deposits. Government benefits The government, at a certain point, requires you to have a local account. It’s how you can expect to receive your tax refund and any social benefits you may be entitled to, such as the child support allowance (jidou teate, 児童手当). Japanese society Aside from the basics of life, many social clubs, activities, and schools require participants to have bank accounts. This will depend somewhat on where you live. In Tokyo, my husband’s taiko club insisted that he set up monthly debits from a Japanese account in order to participate. My children’s public elementary school required us to make an entirely new account with their preferred bank, so that they could withdraw lunch fees. By contrast, in our new small town in Kansai, the children’s karate and ballet classes are cash-only. The school did ask us to make a new account at a regional bank for lunch fees, but when we were unsuccessful—a point I’ll explore below—they were fine with collecting the payments in cash. In short, it’s better to bite the bullet and make the account. The actual difficulty of doing so will depend on which bank you choose. The kinds of banks in Japan There are of course all kinds of banks in Japan, from online banks to large national institutions. From the immigrant’s point of view, however, there are several distinct categories. Japan Post Bank The Japan Post Bank (Yuucho Ginkou, ゆうちょ銀行) deserves a category of its own. Unlike other banks in Japan, the Japan Post Bank does not require six months residency or an employment contract in Japan to open an account. You must, however, have at least three months remaining on your residence card when you apply. In addition, if you have less than six months residency and no employment contract, your account will be treated as a non-resident account with limited services. There are branches all over Japan wherever a post office is; you can also open an account online. Conventional foreigner-friendly banks Several banks in Japan are well known for being foreigner-friendly and providing some English services. SMBC Trust Bank Prestia and SBI Shinsei Bank are the usual recommendations in this category. Both offer English-language online banking, and English support via chat. Online banks You can also select a bank that operates purely online (netto ginkou, ネット銀行). For simple bank procedures, such as acquiring a debit card and depositing your paycheck, these don’t operate much differently from conventional banks. Popular choices include: PayPay, which operates a thriving cashless payment service Sony Bank, which has 90,000 partner ATMs in Japan Seven Bank, the official online bank of 7-Eleven and has ATMs in every branch Japanese-speaking banks Aside from convenience, there’s really nothing stopping you from banking with any bank in Japan. You should be able to make an appointment at any branch and request their help in opening an account. Granted, this approach requires time, patience, possibly multiple appointments, and—if you don’t speak Japanese—a lot of translation. Nonetheless it can be done, and will probably even be necessary at one point or another, since jobs, schools, and activities in Japan may ask you to work with their preferred bank. What you’ll need to apply Typically, this is what you’ll need to open an account with a bank: Your residence card. This is always required. A second form of ID. This could include your My Number card, your student ID, your Residence Certificate (住民票, juuminhyo), or a utility bill or other document with your full name in katakana. The exact specifications for a second form of ID differ from bank to bank, so check their instructions carefully. An employment contract and/or Employee ID. For most banks, if you want to open an account before you’ve lived in the country for six months, you will need to provide proof of employment. A local phone number Do I need a hanko? A hanko (判子, also called an inkan 印鑑) is a stamp which, on many Japanese documents, serves as your official signature. Do you absolutely need to have one to open an account? Not necessarily. Some banks, such as Japan Post Bank, will permit you to start banking with only your signature. Should you buy and use one anyway? Yes, for several good reasons: You may need it later for more advanced procedures, such as renting an apartment, getting a loan, or car registration. If your signature doesn’t match exactly when you’re submitting paperwork in the future, your bank may reject it. A hanko will remain the same, as long as it is not damaged. If you damage or lose your hanko, the bank will require you to re-register the imprint so that they have a current copy on file. If you sign up for a bank account with your signature, but later acquire and use a hanko, this can lead to confusion with your bank. Again, a Japanese bank will reject paperwork with any inconsistencies. This may not seem like a hard thing to keep straight, but if and when you have multiple accounts in Japan, remembering which requires your signature and which requires hanko can be a hassle. Why not? Hanko are not that expensive, they make great souvenirs, and they’re an easy way to integrate. My own hanko has my surname in katakana, and receives a lot of interest from Japanese people due to its unique appearance. If you’re intimidated by the process of buying a hanko in person, you can order one online. I used Google Translate to buy mine at Shibuya Stamp Shop, but there are English websites available as well. Be careful not to buy a hanko that is self-stamping (such as a shachihata), as many banks will refuse to accept them. Additionally, you should make sure that you carefully store the hanko you use for bank accounts and use it only for bank accounts. It is fine to use one hanko for multiple bank accounts. People commonly have several hanko, each for different levels of tasks; you don’t want to be stamping delivery slips or kids’ homework with the same security device you use to control your finances! U.S. citizen requirements U.S. citizens and green card holders will require a few more documents, thanks to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). If you’re opening an account in person, you should bring your passport and social security card with you. If you’re opening the account online, expect to fill out additional forms to establish your TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number). Usually these forms will be requested by mail, which delays the so-called “online application” process considerably. For U.S. citizens and green card holders, it’s faster to apply for an account in person. Should I apply online? Quite a few banks now claim to offer online applications in English, to ease account opening procedures. But what is meant by an “online application” can differ hugely. By smartphone is best First, if you want to apply online, it’s best to have a smartphone with a domestic SIM. Smartphones are the main way consumers access the internet in Japan, so many solutions are built smartphone-first. You can often save several steps by using a smartphone. For example, if you apply via smartphone with SMBC Trust Bank Prestia, you have the option to take a selfie as one form of ID, which means you only need your residence card. Do note that the facial ID process can be finicky for these systems, and may reject your photo. If you use a computer or tablet, however, the bank requires two forms of ID. Seven Bank, as an online bank, also strongly prefers customers to use a smartphone; those who don’t have one can use a Debit Card and conduct transactions from its ATMs, but won’t be able to use their Direct Banking Service. Is it really online? “Applying online” isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Japan Post Bank and Sony Bank both allow users to make an account via the bank’s app, a process that they claim takes around 30 minutes. But Shinsei’s online application barely qualifies as such. While you do fill out the initial form on the website, it’s only so you can receive a printed application form in the mail around one week later. You’ll then have to send back copies of your IDs to the bank via mail, for an additional 7-10 business days of processing—at which point, you might be better served by visiting a branch with Google Translate. Online-only banks often have similar processing times for foreigners, but with an additional down side: since they’re online-only, there is no option to visit a local branch and hammer everything out in one go! These estimated application times also depend on everything going smoothly via the bank’s app or website, which is not guaranteed. Modern banks often rely on relatively new MyNumber card integrations, or “AI” facial/document recognition, and bugs are unfortunately common. Common problems Forewarned is forearmed, and in that spirit, here are some of the most common issues experienced by foreigners banking in Japan. Technical difficulties Personally I bank with Japan Post Bank, and am very happy with the service I receive—-except when I need to try and set up a new direct withdrawal online. For whatever reason, I’ve found that trying to access the forms via Chrome causes all sorts of problems. Switch to Safari, though, and suddenly everything works. Using VPNs, adblockers, or other common security extensions can also frequently cause issues with financial sites in Japan. Name issues If you take away one important thing from this article, let it be this. From the beginning, choose the Japanese version of your name and keep it consistent. It’s a given that if you do not have a Japanese name, you will need to spell it out in katakana. However, for many names there are several accepted katakana variations. For example, I prefer to spell my surname Callahan as カラハン (Karahan), but it was spelled (without my input) as キャラハン (Kyarahan) on my health insurance card. Fortunately I didn’t run into any issues and was able to change it later. However, that would have caused issues with opening a bank account, if I’d attempted to use my health insurance card as a secondary form of ID. Long names and middle names will also cause problems—unfortunately, these are mostly unavoidable. There frequently isn’t enough space in a form to write your name properly, either in the Roman alphabet or in katakana. You might be tempted to leave out your middle name whenever possible, but you risk your application not being accepted because it doesn’t match your full legal name. For me personally, a long legal name has been only a minor inconvenience. However, for my Sri Lankan neighbor, her long name created so many problems that she was unable to open an account at our local bank. Although she is a permanent resident and speaks Japanese fluently, even after three separate trips to the bank, she was still unable to open the account. Banks will also unfortunately have different recommendations in the event that your full name does not fit their paper or electronic application; some will ask that you fill in as much as possible and truncate, while others may concede and allow only your first and last names. Still other banks may require you to use your English name and not accept a primary katakana rendering. These mismatches can cause issues when attempting to connect accounts in the future, and those can usually only be solved with human help—perhaps a reason to consider banking at an institution that has physical branches. Kanji difficulties Several times I’ve been asked to create a new account with a regional bank that didn’t offer service in English. Both times, I was asked by bank employees to fill out several forms with my address written in kanji. Best practice, of course, would be to have already memorized my own address in kanji. In reality, I ended up copying it from the tiny writing on the back of my residence card. At the first bank, the kind employees carefully showed me how to write some of the more complicated kanji. At the second, I was mostly left to my own devices, and the subsequent scrawl caused my application to be rejected; they asked me to come back with someone who spoke, and wrote, Japanese. If you do need to open an account at a Japanese-speaking bank, try keeping a copy of your address in your phone, or even printing out the kanji version in large characters that are easier to copy. Of course, if you have a Japanese-writing friend who is willing to accompany you that day, that will also speed things along. I’ll add that the bank that rejected me was the same bank that my neighbor applied to three times. I wouldn’t describe my visit there as an ordinary banking experience in Japan; this particular branch is clearly unwilling to assist or accommodate foreign residents. A cash card is not a debit card Perhaps this isn’t a widespread misunderstanding, but it caught me by surprise: most banks provide only cash cards by default, and debit cards are opt-in. A cash card is not a debit card—it is good only for pulling cash out of a cash machine or ATM. Some banks, such as Prestia and Sony, do give you a debit card straight away. Others, such as Japan Post Bank, require a subsequent application for a debit card once the account is open. You can distinguish a cash card from a debit card by looking for a network logo such as Visa, Mastercard, or JCB. If it does not have one, it’s likely a cash card. Holidays and ATM times If you live or work near convenience stores, you shouldn’t have much problem withdrawing cash whenever you want. However, you should still keep an eye out for ATM working hours or your bank’s maintenance hours. For example, many ATMs are unusable over a portion of the New Year or Golden Week. Japan Post Bank shuts down completely for part of Golden Week—a shutdown that includes ATMs, online services, the smartphone app, and even your debit card! You should also keep an eye on time-sensitive withdrawal fees. Many ATMs will display a screen that shows one withdrawal fee for business hours, and another for early morning or late-night transactions. The difference is fairly small—a business-hour withdrawal may cost 110 yen, as opposed to a late-night withdrawal at 220 yen—but if you’re cost-conscious, it’s good to take note. Sending and receiving money internationally The cost of sending and receiving money internationally adds up quickly. Not only do Japanese banks often charge steep fees for currency conversion and wiring, but there’s yet more paperwork involved. If you enjoy a prestigious bank account, such as the Sony Bank and Shinsei Platinum accounts, then one of the perks is lowered or waived fees for international transfers. If you don’t, then an online transfer service like Wise is certainly faster and frequently cheaper. If you are interested in moving large amounts of money and want to avoid fees as much as possible, here’s a detailed breakdown of the average transfer rates for various institutions and accounts. Frequently-recommended banks Following are some of the banks most often recommended by other immigrants, with a brief overview of their pros and cons. Japan Post Bank Japan Post Bank is one of the easiest banks to open an account with when you first arrive in Japan. Pros Doesn’t require six months residency or an employment contract to open an account Branches all over Japan in the post offices Can open an account and check your virtual bankbook via apps No monthly maintenance fees Cons Service is mostly in Japanese Services may be limited and fees may be high during the first six months if you do not have an employment contract Have to apply separately for a debit or bank card Access to ATMs on post office grounds is limited to the hours for that branch, which can be inconsistent High fees for international transfers SBI Shinsei Bank Shinsei is a good choice for those who want some service in English, and who intend to send and receive money internationally. Pros English Internet banking and online service Foreign currency accounts with high interest rates Free ATM withdrawals up to five times a month If you have a higher-level account (Diamond, Platinum, Gold, or Silver) you can receive foreign currency remittances for free Cons The “online” application procedure is really more by mail Initially only given a cash card Standard accounts are charged 2,200 yen per remittance SMBC Trust Bank Prestia Prestia is ideal for those who want a full-service bank that offers a travel-friendly debit card. Pros English-language bank app, online service, and assistance for housing loans, investment, etc. If you apply for an account via the app, you only need your residence card as a form of ID (assuming you meet the six-month residency requirement) Upon opening an account, automatically get both a yen account and a foreign currency account Immediately receive a GLOBAL PASS Visa debit card that can be used domestically and overseas Cons Monthly maintenance fee of 2,200 yen unless you keep a minimum balance of 500,000 yen or meet other requirements Easily confused with SMBC Bank, but the services and branches are not interchangeable Sony Bank For those who’d prefer an online bank, Sony Bank offers another international-friendly debit card and a comprehensive rewards system. Pros Automatically get the Sony Bank WALLET cash card, which can be used internationally Has Club S, a three-tier rewards system based on the balance of your yen and foreign currency accounts. Platinum members can get perks such as 2% cashback, unlimited free cash withdrawals, waived transfer and remittance fees, etc. Cons Only online banking is available in English (the app is in Japanese) As an online bank it has no physical branch to visit Special note: the Rakuten credit card Rakuten also has an online bank. While this is less often suggested as a bank for new immigrants, it is one of the few places foreigners can easily apply for a credit card. Conclusion Like most bureaucratic processes in Japan, opening an account can take quite a bit of time and paperwork, but is ultimately doable, not to mention beneficial in the long run. To recap: If you intend to live and work in Japan for more than a few months, you should open a local bank account. Japan Post Bank doesn’t require six months residency or employment to open an account, as other banks do. Banks such as SBI Shinsei, SMBC Trust Bank Prestia, and Sony Bank have a reputation for being foreigner-friendly; however, with proper preparation, you can have an account at any bank in Japan. The greatest difficulties in banking tend to be name-related. You can avoid most of them by keeping your legal name and its katakana spelling consistent from the beginning, as well as obtaining a hanko before opening the account. U.S. citizens and green card holders should expect more paperwork related to FATCA. Judging by these banks’ English-language sites, they’re pushing non-Japanese-speaking customers towards applying online or via mail rather than visiting their branches. However, if you’re a U.S. citizen, or just don’t want to download yet another app, don’t be afraid to go in person. With the exception of one local bank, I’ve consistently had positive experiences with bank personnel—they’ve often gone above and beyond to help me, despite the language barrier. So long as you’re patient with the process, and do your research on bank requirements, then opening an account will swiftly be one more item checked off that moving-to-Japan list.

Right now, the General Union is handling cases at Japanese tech companies where well-established workplace practices have come under threat. These include businesses pushing for return-to-office mandates after years of remote work, eliminating flexible scheduling, and cutting bonuses and other forms of compensation. Sometimes these companies are altering work conditions that were never officially documented but had become standard practice. Other times, they’re trying to eliminate benefits explicitly written into contracts or work rules. In both cases, many workers believe they have no choice but to accept these changes. They’re wrong! Japanese labour law protects workers in two significant ways here. First, there’s the principle of established workplace practices (労使慣行, roudou kankou), protected through decades of court precedents, which can give unwritten customs the same legal weight as written rules. Then there’s Article 8 of the Labour Contract Law, which prevents employers from unilaterally changing documented working conditions. But having these legal protections is only half the battle. While the courts have established strong precedents, as an individual, pursuing these rights can be prohibitively difficult. Taking an employer to court is expensive, time-consuming, and potentially career-damaging. This is where collective action through unions becomes essential. Unions provide both the legal expertise and collective leverage needed to uphold these rights. For tech workers in Japan, these issues have never been more relevant. The tech industry’s desperate need for skilled workers, worth nearly 22 trillion yen in domestic investments, could create unprecedented leverage. By understanding their legal rights and organizing collectively, developers can effectively protect and even improve their workplace conditions in this critical moment. How the courts protect you A series of landmark cases in Japan created robust protections for workplace customs, also known as established employment practices. But what qualifies as an established employment practice? Yukiko Sadaoka, a regular collaborator with the General Union, explained how courts determine whether a workplace practice qualifies to be protected. “There are three main factors. One, a habit or fact must have been repeated and continued for a long period of time. Two, neither labour nor management has explicitly denied following the practice. And three, the practice must be supported by a normative awareness on both sides. The employers, especially those who control working conditions, must be aware of the practice.” Case 1: Post-Retirement Employment Practice (RECOGNISED) 東豊観光事件 (Toho Kanko), Osaka District Court 28, June 1990 In this order by the court, the company’s work regulations stated that the forced retirement age (定年, teinen) was 55. In practice, however, the company repeatedly kept employees on after they had reached this age. This custom continued for six years (1984–1990), during which 7 out of 8 employees who reached the age of 55 were retained. When the company terminated the 55 year-old plaintiff, citing the official retirement rule, the plaintiff sued for confirmation of employment status. The court stated that the practice of continued employment after 55 had become an established workplace custom. That custom overrode the written regulations, despite its relatively short period of practice, because it had been consistently applied to almost all employees who had reached the retirement age during that time. Case 2: Extra Pay for Substitute Holidays (DENIED) 商大八戸の里ドライビングスクール事件 (Syodai Yae-no-sato Driving School), Osaka High Court 25 June, 1993, and upheld by Supreme Court 9 March, 1995 Employees claimed entitlement to extra pay when working on a substitute holiday. The company’s policy was that every other Monday was a day off. If that particular Monday fell on a national holiday, Tuesday would become the substitute day off (振替休日, furikae kyuujitsu). The question was whether working on these Tuesday substitute holidays entitled workers to extra holiday pay. Although this practice had existed for 10 years, both the Osaka High Court, and the Supreme Court denied that it was an established workplace practice because the specific situation—working on a Tuesday substitute holiday—had only occurred 8–10 times during that period. This case demonstrates that frequency matters. Even when established over a lengthy period of time, if the actual instances of the practice are rare, it may not be considered established. Case 3: Bonus Amount Practice (PARTIALLY RECOGNISED) 立命館事件 (Ritsumeikan), Kyoto District Court 29 March 2012 (appealed, outcome uncertain) This case involved a bonus dispute. For 14 years, according to labour agreements (労働協約, roudou kyouyaku), the company had paid a bonus of 6.1 months’ salary plus 100,000 yen. However, there was no provision about bonuses in the company work rules (就業規則, shuugyou kisoku). When the employer announced the forthcoming bonus would be only 5.1 months’ salary, employees claimed the higher amount was an established practice. The court made an interesting distinction: It ruled that the specific amount (6.1 months + 100,000 yen) was NOT an established practice because there had been negotiations each year before agreeing on the amount, even though the final amount had always been the same. However, it recognised that “at least 6 months’ salary” had become an established practice, because the employer’s initial offer had never been lower than 6 months throughout the 14-year period. This case demonstrates the nuanced way courts examine whether a practice has created a legitimate expectation that can’t be unilaterally changed. These examples show that determining what constitutes an established workplace practice isn’t a simple matter of time. Courts look at consistency, frequency, specificity, and whether both sides understood the practice to be binding—even if they didn’t write it down. Other cases of interest The courts’ protection of established practices has occasionally been implemented in surprising ways. Take a case from 1968 that went all the way to the Tokyo High Court. The issue? Whether railway workers could continue their long-standing practice of using the company bath at 4 p.m. and clocking out at 4:30. At first glance, it might seem trivial—why fight over a bathing schedule? But the court’s decision was significant: after 13 years of this practice, with management’s knowledge and acceptance, it had become a legally-protected workplace custom that couldn’t be unilaterally changed. In the 1973 Shishido Shokai case (宍戸商会事件), the Tokyo District Court ruled that a company must pay severance to a voluntarily-resigned employee because consistent payment to other departing employees had established a binding workplace custom. The court classified these payments as deferred wages, confirming that consistent practices can create legal rights without written policies. Even when ruling in employers’ favour, courts have reinforced the importance of established practices. The 1982 Daiwa Bank case (大和銀行事件) upheld the bank’s long-standing practice of paying bonuses only to those still employed on payment dates, ruling that workers who left before payment weren’t entitled to bonuses despite working during the calculation period. These court precedents have established principles that apply universally across all industries. Whether a railway worker’s bathing schedule from the 1960s or solidifying employer rights, established employment practices are a real concept that can be parlayed into tech workers’ fight to maintain their working conditions. What does the law say? Article 8 of the Labour Contract Law also protects you against unilateral changes to working conditions. The law states, “A Worker and an Employer may, by agreement, change any working conditions that constitute the contents of a labour contract.” While the law is written in the positive, the inverse is what is important: “a worker and an employer cannot change working conditions without mutual agreement.” So, what constitutes the “contents of a labour contract”? Does this only deal with working conditions that are specifically written into your employment contract? According to General Union Chair Toshiaki Asari, “The idea that long-standing practices can become part of the employment contract and receive legal protection—even if they aren’t explicitly written—is well-established as a legal doctrine. Therefore, long-standing practices should also fall under the protections of Article 8 of the Labour Contract Law, just like written working conditions.” This perspective is supported by a significant 1991 Supreme Court ruling in the Hitachi Musashi Factory case (日立製作所武蔵工場事件). When an employee refused to work overtime during a production issue, claiming the request was unreasonable, the court found that the company’s consistent practice of requiring overtime in specific situations had become an implied term of employment—even without documentation. Because this practice was long-standing and implicitly accepted by employees over time, the court upheld the company’s disciplinary action. Though the ruling was in the employer’s favor, it also established that workplace customs, through consistent application and mutual understanding, can become legally binding components of employment contracts. Does this mean an employer can never change any working condition? The short answer is: they certainly can. This right of the employer to change working conditions is established in both Articles 9 and 10 of the Labour Contract Law. However, Article 9 also sets up a fundamental principle: employers cannot unilaterally change working conditions to workers’ disadvantage by modifying work rules without employee agreement. While Article 10 provides limited exceptions to this principle, it sets strict criteria that employers must meet. Any changes must be: Properly communicated to workers Reasonable given the degree of disadvantage to workers Necessary for the business Appropriate in their revised content Preceded by proper negotiations with unions or worker representatives This framework ensures that while employers can adapt to changing business needs, they cannot do so by simply imposing disadvantageous changes on workers without justification or prior consultation. The reality of defending your rights But what do these legal protections really mean in practice? Terms like disadvantages, reasonable, necessary, and appropriate sound reassuring on paper. Yet their practical meaning becomes far less clear when your employer suddenly demands you return to the office after five years of remote work, or changes how raises are calculated, or alters stock option arrangements. This is where the gap between legal rights and practical enforcement becomes stark. While the law provides a strong framework for protecting workplace practices, enforcing these rights as an individual is another matter entirely. Taking your employer to court is a long, expensive process that could take years to resolve, and that’s not only in the case of established employment practices. Even the seemingly clear prescriptions of the Labour Contract Law can only be enforced through court action. In the meantime, you’re stuck working under the contested conditions, while potentially damaging both your career and wellbeing. And remember, if you want to negotiate with your employer about changes to workplace practices, they have no legal obligation to even meet with you. They can simply ignore your requests or refuse outright. The power of collective action Unlike individual workers, who can be ignored or denied the chance to meet with management, employers cannot legally refuse to negotiate with a labour union. This right to collective bargaining is protected by the Trade Union Law. Even if you’re the only union member in your workplace, the company must negotiate with your union in good faith. The law also protects union members from retaliation or disadvantageous treatment. Unions offer multiple pathways for protecting workers’ rights and established employment practices. One key strategy is establishing prior consultation agreements (事前協議協定, jizen kyougi kyoutei), which require employers to inform and consult with the union before implementing changes to working conditions. By securing a seat at the table early, unions can influence decisions and propose alternatives before changes are implemented, rather than fighting them after the fact. Through collective bargaining, unions can also convert established workplace practices into written agreements, giving them stronger protection than relying on court precedents alone. By codifying these customs in collective agreements, they become immune to unilateral changes by employers. This matters because collective agreements sit at the top of the workplace rules hierarchy, superseding both individual contracts and company work rules—they’re the gold standard in protecting workers’ rights. True, an employer might still break a collective agreement, but unlike individual workers who can only turn to courts or government agencies, unions have multiple ways to respond. They can file complaints with the Labour Commission, as violating a collective agreement constitutes an unfair labour practice under the Trade Union Law. Most importantly, unions retain the right to take direct action through strikes and other collective measures—options simply not available to individual workers. As an individual, though, declaring union membership often shifts the power dynamic. When you’re backed by a union, you’re no longer facing the company alone. Many disputes are resolved at this early stage, as employers recognise that their actions will face greater scrutiny. While some employers might still attempt to violate the law, most understand that directly confronting unions by targeting their members creates more problems than it’s worth. Remember, your right to labour union representation is enshrined both in the Trade Union Law and Article 28 of the Constitution, which states that “The right of workers to organise and to bargain and act collectively is guaranteed.” Unions can also push beyond merely protecting existing rights, into negotiating improvements that particularly matter to tech workers—like expanded remote work options, clearer overtime compensation for project crunch times, training and skill development budgets, improved parental leave policies, and protections against excessive on-call rotations. Unions can also establish guidelines on emerging issues like AI implementation policies and the right to disconnect after working hours. Conclusion For developers, this situation presents a unique opportunity for collective action. Japan’s tech industry, worth nearly 22 trillion yen in domestic IT investments alone, mirrors the automotive industry of mid-20th century America—a wealthy, rapidly growing sector desperately in need of workers at all skill levels. Like the auto plants of Detroit, modern tech companies rely on a diverse workforce ranging from highly-paid specialists to entry-level developers. This combination—a wealthy industry, a significant labour shortage, and the critical role tech workers play in company operations—creates unprecedented leverage for collective action. Just as auto workers used their position to secure better wages and working conditions in the 1950s and 1960s, tech workers today could wield similar influence. The cost of lost productivity in tech companies can run into millions of yen per day, giving organised workers significant bargaining power. Moreover, unlike in traditional manufacturing where production delays might only affect future sales, many tech companies lose revenue immediately when work stops. By maintaining critical systems, supporting client operations, and keeping online services running, tech workers’ daily tasks directly impact their companies’ bottom lines. Even a small group of organised workers can effectively advocate for better conditions. That’s why understanding your legal rights under Japanese labour law is crucial—it provides the foundation for protecting established employment practices and knowing what you can rightfully demand. But knowledge alone isn’t enough. Whether these rights come from written contracts, established customs, or collective agreements, making them real requires more than just knowing they exist: it requires standing together to defend them. Through union membership, you combine legal protection with collective power—that is, you have both the law on your side and an active organisation working to protect your rights, with real mechanisms to enforce them.

Over my career, I’ve spent at least one thousand working hours on supporting local developer communities. My current business, TokyoDev, has spent over 8 million Japanese yen (about 53,000 USD) on community sponsorships. What have I received in return? That depends on your viewpoint. From a cold-hearted capitalist perspective, that time and money I invested hasn’t produced enough direct returns to justify the expense. Personally, I don’t see it as wasted—all of it has had a positive impact on society. What’s more, the three businesses I founded have owed much of their success to my community involvement. Those companies are: Mobalean, a technical consultancy that helped companies like PayPal, Match.com, and Estee Lauder build web apps for Japanese feature phones Doorkeeper, an event registration platform that hosted thousands of events per month TokyoDev, a job board that helps international software engineers get jobs in Japan If I hadn’t volunteered for and donated to various developer communities, two out of those three businesses would never have been founded at all, and TokyoDev certainly wouldn’t be the success story it is today. So, despite these “unequal” returns, one of the best strategies for my startups has been to get involved with communities whenever possible. I’ll go over some of the different ways communities have helped grow my businesses, and give specific examples of wins we’ve experienced over the years. Growing through existing communities There are two kinds of communities that can help you grow your startup: preexisting communities independent of your business, and communities you build around the business itself. My companies got their start due to my involvement in existing communities, and I think that is the easier place to begin. Already-established communities not only come with their own networks, but are usually easy to join and happy to receive support. Volunteering This was the origin of Doorkeeper. An industry event, Mobile Monday Tokyo, was registering hundreds of people for their events. Checking those people in at the door was always time-consuming, particularly as some names were in English and others in Japanese, giving no good way to sort the list. Seeing this, my cofounders and I proposed building some software to send out QR code tickets. Back in 2008, that was still a relatively novel idea. Mobile Monday was happy for us to do it, so we quickly built a one-off solution for them. We went further than that though—we also personally manned the doors for their events. I remember the first event where we checked in people using the new QR code tickets. It was quite rewarding to be able to tell the participants, “I built this.” That sense of satisfaction wasn’t the only immediate payoff—because we got involved in the event, it also served as marketing for Mobalean, our technical consultancy. We made connections with people in the industry, and when they had projects related to mobile web development, they started coming to us. Later, after we’d solved all of Mobile Monday’s event registration and ticketing needs, we thought other organizations might benefit from our work. We spent months rebuilding the tool to support multiple communities and launched it as Doorkeeper. Initially, though, it struggled to get users. Meanwhile, we continued to volunteer with other communities we were interested in, such as Startup Weekend Japan and RubyKaigi, Japan’s (and possibly the world’s) largest Ruby conference. We didn’t directly ask those communities to use our software, but after we got involved with them, they decided of their own accord to start using Doorkeeper. Because these events made quite an impact on the tech community in Japan, they helped us grow immensely, leading Doorkeeper to become the most popular platform for developer events in Japan. This wasn’t some sort of coldly-calculated strategy. I don’t think it would have worked if it had been. Sure, we knew that if we were running an event platform, it was a good idea to be involved with events, both to make connections and to personally experience our target audience’s problems. But our main motivation was just to help causes we believed in. I think our sincerity helped motivate the organizers to take a chance on a product that was still rather rough around the edges. Business-wise, Doorkeeper was never a runaway success. We struggled for years to monetize it. The turning point was when we announced we’d go from being a freemium service to an exclusively paid one. A lot of organizers stopped using us, but enough continued that I could finally pay myself a decent salary from the product’s revenue alone. What’s more, there was almost no backlash against the move. I think this was because we’d been socially connected to the organizers for the entire history of the company, and they could see that we were being genuine when we said there was no other way forward. I’ve since sold Doorkeeper, but the lessons I learned still stick with me. Speaking at community events Over the years, I’ve delivered numerous presentations on software development and entrepreneurship at different community events. At least for someone like myself, who doesn’t regularly give talks, preparing for them can be quite time-consuming. While I do believe it has helped keep my businesses in the minds of my target audience, I can’t think of a single example where giving a presentation led directly to a new lead. The closest we came to that was after speaking at a Ruby event about a library for handling subscriptions with PayPal. As part of the talk, we mentioned a new side project we were working on, a web app to make Japanese invoices. One of the attendees, a prominent member of the Japanese Ruby community, tweeted about the new service, effectively launching it. That initial buzz and the SEO-friendly domain name (the Japanese word for invoice), helped us become one of the top search results. The project didn’t end up going anywhere as a business, though, and we sold it around a year later. Starting your own independent community In 2010, I created Tokyo Rubyist Meetup, Japan’s first English-language community for Ruby developers. The goal of the group was to bring together the Japanese and international Ruby communities, and I believe we’ve succeeded. I think my efforts in organizing that community may have been why RubyKaigi chose to adopt Doorkeeper for their event registration. It also helped me connect with some of Mobalean’s best consulting clients. Finally—and most importantly—it indirectly led to developing TokyoDev as a business. The CTO of a local startup said something like, “Paul, I’ve been having trouble hiring developers. I know you’re well-connected with the community. Could I pay you to help hire some?” That CTO, along with others in similar situations, became the first clients for TokyoDev’s job board. Sponsoring existing organizations The methods I’ve talked about so far involve a lot of time but no cost. Sponsoring existing organizations is the opposite: all it requires is money. The cost involved depends on the scale of the sponsorship, and the perceived value of the community. When I saw in TokyoDev’s own data that women software engineers were being compensated worse than men, I wanted to do something about it. The simplest solution I came up with was sponsoring local communities that empower women in technology. I sought out some local organizations and offered to sponsor them, including a few that had never had sponsors before. Since then, TokyoDev has also sponsored local tech conferences, including RubyKaigi. These sponsorships have ranged from 100,000 yen (about 665 USD) on the low end to 1.5 million yen (about 10,000 USD) on the high end. In total, TokyoDev has spent over 8 million yen (about 53,000 USD) on sponsorships. Some of the big-ticket sponsorships have come with booths at conferences, which do provide new opportunities, but also additional costs—staffing the booths, airfare, hotels, etc. The more expensive conference sponsorships have directly resulted in several new clients for the job board, but not yet in any additional revenue (because we take a success-based approach, and those clients haven’t made any hires through us yet). I think for sponsorships to be really cost-effective, the target audience of the community must match your startup perfectly. Part of our challenge has been that many of these communities are primarily composed of Japanese software engineers, who aren’t the main users of TokyoDev. Still, while these sponsorships haven’t been a cost-effective way of improving our bottom line, they have helped communities and gotten the word out, as well as offering some other knock-on benefits. One specific example is from 2024, when we gave away one of our sponsor tickets to a job-hunting developer, and they found a position through a connection they made at the conference. Another example is “in-house.” One of our contractors introduced her daughter to a community we’ve sponsored, which helps young women get into software development. This inspired her daughter to become interested in programming and eventually to enroll in the program—something nobody in her family had anticipated! Growing your own communities While TokyoDev got its start thanks to local, preexisting organizations, we’ve also worked hard to create our own TokyoDev community, both online and off. Running an online community One of the first articles I wrote for TokyoDev was in response to a reader’s question about how I got my job as a developer in Japan. Over the years, I continued to receive emails asking for personalized advice. While I was happy to respond to people individually, it felt like that knowledge could also be of use to other people, so I started a forum using Discourse. Over the years I’d get questions on there, and occasionally someone else might chime in with their experience, but it was mostly just me responding to queries, and so wasn’t anything I’d call a “community.” Along the way, one of our contractors pointed out that it would be nice to create a space where we could casually talk to our users. After he brought it up several times, I made a Discord community. This quickly took off, and currently sits at about 7,000 members. Growing such a community hasn’t been without its challenges. The primary difficulty is moderation—no matter how we handle it, some users feel alienated. Have too soft a hand? The loudest voices win, driving away other valuable contributors. Reprimand or ban people? You make enemies out of what were once fans. I can’t say I’ve always done everything right here, but one thing I did do right was bring on a moderator who cares about the community. Besides having someone to bounce ideas around with, it also helps to have an additional person enforcing the rules. We have seen several benefits from our online community. At least one client made a hire through us that I can directly attribute to our Discord. That said, it’s the indirect benefits that have proven most valuable. For instance, our Discord helped us identify common challenges that developers face when relocating to Japan, making it a good source of topics for articles. We’ve also been able to ask members with unique experiences to write articles for the site, and their posts have been some of the most popular, such as one on Japan’s digital nomad visa. Organizing offline events As our Discord community grew, members started asking us to host offline meetups. We held our first one with a dozen or so people at a space we rented out ourselves, and provided soft drinks. This cost us about 30,000 yen (200 USD). The meetup was a success and we continued to host. Eventually, one of our members offered to hold the meetups at their company. This change allowed us to grow the meetups further, and we started regularly maxing out their capacity with 40 or so attendees. It also meant we only needed to pay for the soft drinks, bringing our cost down to 5,000 yen (33 USD). Not only was that quite cost-effective, but the company hosting the event eventually became a client of ours. We also started using our offline meetings to bring our clients together with the larger developer community, by holding collaborative events where the client gives presentations that are technically interesting to our audience. We’re careful to make sure these aren’t direct recruiting events, as I think that would drive away the very people our clients are looking to hire. By indirectly highlighting why it is interesting to work with them, however, our clients have been able to find more prospects. Initially, we catered these events with pizza and soft drinks, which cost around 30,000 yen (200 USD) for a 40 person event. Since we haven’t been charging clients for organizing these talks, we began asking them to provide food and drinks instead. As a result, these events have been win-win for everyone involved. Our clients get better branding amongst the developer community. Our community members enjoy interesting content and new connections. We establish stronger relationships with everyone involved. In addition to this offline community for software engineers, we’ve also started to build another offline community for the internal recruiters using TokyoDev. We began by hosting small dinners with internal recruiters from three or four different clients. This gave them the opportunity to share about the challenges they faced hiring international engineers. Hosting such a dinner cost us about 30,000 yen (200 USD), and led one company that was on the fence to start using TokyoDev. The dinners have proven to be a big success, and recruiters tell us they want to attend more, but there’s only so much time we can spend on them. To augment these networking meals, we’ve also started holding seminars on the topic of hiring engineers, so we can bring together a larger number of our clients at once. These don’t have quite the impact as the small dinners, but they are more scalable. Conclusion Communities have been key to all of my businesses. If my focus had been solely on maximizing revenues, I think the time and money I’ve spent on community involvement could have been better used elsewhere. But the nice thing about being an entrepreneur is that you get to choose your own metrics for success. And unlike with other business strategies, I can always feel good about what we accomplish. Even if an activity doesn’t create value for me personally, it does for someone else, so my efforts are never wasted. If you’re an entrepreneur looking to combine business and the common good, I recommend finding ways to build your company through the community as well. Whether it’s by spending your own time volunteering, contributing part of your business’s revenues to causes you care about, or building up a community around your brand, all these avenues can help both your enterprise and the public at large.

Japan already stipulates that employers must offer the option of reduced working hours to employees with children under three. However, the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act was amended in May 2024, with some of the new provisions coming into effect April 1 or October 1, 2025. The updates to the law address: Remote work Flexible start and end times Reduced hours On-site childcare facilities Compensation for lost salary And more Legal changes are one thing, of course, and social changes are another. Though employers are mandated to offer these options, how many employees in Japan actually avail themselves of these benefits? Does doing so create any stigma or resentment? Recent studies reveal an unsurprising gender disparity in accepting a modified work schedule, but generally positive attitudes toward these accommodations overall. The current reduced work options Reduced work schedules for employees with children under three years old are currently regulated by Article 23(1) of the Child Care and Family Care Leave Act. This Article stipulates that employers are required to offer accommodations to employees with children under three years old. Those accommodations must include the opportunity for a reduced work schedule of six hours a day. However, if the company is prepared to provide alternatives, and if the parent would prefer, this benefit can take other forms—for example, working seven hours a day or working fewer days per week. Eligible employees for the reduced work schedule are those who: Have children under three years old Normally work more than six hours a day Are not employed as day laborers Are not on childcare leave during the period to which the reduced work schedule applies Are not one of the following, which are exempted from the labor-management agreement Employees who have been employed by the company for less than one year Employees whose prescribed working days per week are two days or less Although the law requires employers to provide reduced work schedules only while the child is under three years old, some companies allow their employees with older children to work shorter hours as well. According to a 2020 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 15.8% of companies permit their employees to use the system until their children enter primary school, while 5.7% allow it until their children turn nine years old or enter third grade. Around 4% offer reduced hours until children graduate from elementary school, and 15.4% of companies give the option even after children have entered middle school. If, considering the nature or conditions of the work, it is difficult to give a reduced work schedule to employees, the law stipulates other measures such as flexible working hours. This law has now been altered, though, to include other accommodations. Updates to The Child Care and Family Care Leave Act Previously, remote work was not an option for employees with young children. Now, from April 1, 2025, employers must make an effort to allow employees with children under the age of three to work remotely if they choose. From October 1, 2025, employers are also obligated to provide two or more of the following measures to employees with children between the ages of three and the time they enter elementary school. An altered start time without changing the daily working hours, either by using a flex time system or by changing both the start and finish time for the workday The option to work remotely without changing daily working hours, which can be used 10 or more days per month Company-sponsored childcare, by providing childcare facilities or other equivalent benefits (e.g., arranging for babysitters and covering the cost) 10 days of leave per year to support employees’ childcare without changing daily working hours A reduced work schedule, which must include the option of 6-hour days How much it’s used in practice Of course, there’s always a gap between what the law specifies, and what actually happens in practice. How many parents typically make use of these legally-mandated accommodations, and for how long? The numbers A survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2020 studied uptake of the reduced work schedule among employees with children under three years old. In this category, 40.8% of female permanent employees (正社員, seishain) and 21.6% of women who were not permanent employees answered that they use, or had used, the reduced work schedule. Only 12.3% of male permanent employees said the same. The same survey was conducted in 2022, and researchers found that the gap between female and male employees had actually widened. According to this second survey, 51.2% of female permanent employees and 24.3% of female non-permanent employees had reduced their hours, compared to only 7.6% of male permanent employees. Not only were fewer male employees using reduced work programs, but 41.2% of them said they did not intend to make use of them. By contrast, a mere 15.6% of female permanent employees answered they didn’t wish to claim the benefit. Of those employees who prefer the shorter schedule, how long do they typically use the benefit? The following charts, using data from the 2022 survey, show at what point those employees stop reducing their hours and return to a full-time schedule.   Female permanent employees Female non-permanent employees Male permanent employees Male non-permanent employees Until youngest child turns 1 13.7% 17.9% 50.0% 25.9% Until youngest child turns 2 11.5% 7.9% 14.5% 29.6% Until youngest child turns 3 23.0% 16.3% 10.5% 11.1% Until youngest child enters primary school 18.9% 10.5% 6.6% 11.1% Sometime after the youngest child enters primary school 22.8% 16.9% 6.5% 11.1% Not sure 10% 30.5% 11.8% 11.1% From the companies’ perspectives, according to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office in 2023, 65.9% of employers answered that their reduced work schedule system is fully used by their employees. What’s the public perception? Some fear that the number of people using the reduced work program—and, especially, the number of women—has created an impression of unfairness for those employees who work full-time. This is a natural concern, but statistics paint a different picture. In a survey of 300 people conducted in 2024, 49% actually expressed a favorable opinion of people who work shorter hours. Also, 38% had “no opinion” toward colleagues with reduced work schedules, indicating that 87% total don’t negatively view those parents who work shorter hours. While attitudes may vary from company to company, the public overall doesn’t seem to attach any stigma to parents who reduce their work schedules. Is this “the Mommy Track”? Others are concerned that working shorter hours will detour their career path. According to this report by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 47.6% of male permanent employees indicated that, as the result of working fewer hours, they had been changed to a position with less responsibility. The same thing happened to 65.6% of male non-permanent employees, and 22.7% of female permanent employees. Therefore, it’s possible that using the reduced work schedule can affect one’s immediate chances for advancement. However, while 25% of male permanent employees and 15.5% of female permanent employees said the quality and importance of the work they were assigned had gone down, 21.4% of male and 18.1% of female permanent employees said the quality had gone up. Considering 53.6% of male and 66.4% of female permanent employees said it stayed the same, there seems to be no strong correlation between reducing one’s working hours, and being given less interesting or important tasks. Reduced work means reduced salary These reduced work schedules usually entail dropping below the originally-contracted work hours, which means the employer does not have to pay the employee for the time they did not work. For example, consider a person who normally works 8 hours a day reducing their work time to 6 hours a day (a 25% reduction). If their monthly salary is 300,000 yen, it would also decrease accordingly by 25% to 225,000 yen. Previously, both men and women have avoided reduced work schedules, because they do not want to lose income. As more mothers than fathers choose to work shorter hours, this financial burden tends to fall more heavily on women. To address this issue, childcare short-time employment benefits (育児時短就業給付) will start from April 2025. These benefits cover both male and female employees who work shorter hours to care for a child under two years old, and pay a stipend equivalent to 10% of their adjusted monthly salary during the reduced work schedule. Returning to the previous example, this stipend would grant 10% of the reduced salary, or 22,500 yen per month, bringing the total monthly paycheck to 247,500 yen, or 82.5% of the normal salary. This additional stipend, while helpful, may not be enough to persuade some families to accept shorter hours. The childcare short-time employment benefits are available to employees who meet the following criteria: The person is insured, and is working shorter hours to care for a child under two years old. The person started a reduced work schedule immediately after using the childcare leave covered by childcare leave benefits, or the person has been insured for 12 months in the two years prior to the reduced work schedule. Conclusion Japan’s newly-mandated options for reduced schedules, remote work, financial benefits, and other childcare accommodations could help many families in Japan. However, these programs will only prove beneficial if enough employees take advantage of them. As of now, there’s some concern that parents who accept shorter schedules could look bad or end up damaging their careers in the long run. Statistically speaking, some of the news is good: most people view parents who reduce their hours either positively or neutrally, not negatively. But other surveys indicate that a reduction in work hours often equates to a reduction in responsibility, which could indeed have long-term effects. That’s why it’s important for more parents to use these accommodations freely. Not only will doing so directly benefit the children, but it will also lessen any negative stigma associated with claiming them. This is particularly true for fathers, who can help even the playing field for their female colleagues by using these perks just as much as the mothers in their offices. And since the state is now offering a stipend to help compensate for lost income, there’s less and less reason not to take full advantage of these programs.