Weekly Complaint Thread – 25 September 2025

32 comments

1. Costco had these frozen chocolate tofu bars that were rather low-calorie and higher in protein for a dessert. I would usually have 1 per day and it was especially nice after working outside. Went there on Tuesday and they were gone. Another, far inferior, product by the same maker was there, but the bars were gone. They also don’t seem to sell directly from their (the maker not costco) website.

   Edit: clarity

2. Good news! Now you can submit this document by email! Procedure:

   1. Receive document from office via email.
   2. Download document attachement.
   3. Download password (sent in a separate email, always the same password).
   4. Print document.
   5. Put *hanko* on document.
   6. Scan document in color.
   7. Password protect document (with the same password).
   8. Send document via email.

   Can I just hand the document in to the office because I have my *hanko* in my pocket and the office is 20 meters from where I’m sitting? Nope: from this year it’s email only.

3. Had a Japanese acquaintance who posted up a story of a foreign individual who had committed a crime recently with the reaction “Japan, are you okay?!” and then underneath in English followed it up “Of course, I support people of any color who come to Japan and follow the rules.” and it got under my skin more than I should have let it.

   I mean, you didn’t post anything related to crime by Japanese nationals on other Japanese nationals, many of which happen on a regular daily frequency and are often far more heinous than that of the aforementioned individual. Suddenly though, if the person’s skin color is a different shade then it garners exceptional scrutiny.

   Yeah, I get it. Those incidents attract an excessive amount of attention, particularly in today’s media climate, but the post had “I’m not racist, but…” and “I’m not homophobic, I have gay friends..” kind of energy.

4. I made the mistake of ordering from Amazon fresh the other day which I believe is fulfilled by Life supermarket. 4 paper bags arrived – great! We opened the 3 bags with frozen/fresh items to find 6! ice packs in each. So we now have 18 defrosted ice packs sitting in the kitchen. I can’t bring myself to throw them out because of the sheer waste but we don’t have room to keep them, either. Never doing that again. When I’ve ordered online with Seiyu/Ito Yokado in the past the chilled stuff is brought to the door in an insulated bag and they have big reusable ice packs in there so I just assumed this would be the same. 

5. Left early to enjoy モーニング at my favorite cafe, but someone decided to run around on the Yamanote tracks.

6. There’s something in my fucking ceiling. It moves around and scratches. I tried to ignore it but it’s been getting more and more frequent and it freaks me out so I’m gonna have to do something about it 😭 any advice would be great

7. This may just be my stupid luck but I can’t believe how many times the following has happened to me:

   I discover a product that I really like. Be it food, hygiene, whatever. I buy it a couple times, being really happy with it. I run out, go to the store, it’s gone. Look at another store. Nothing. The product is gone forever. 

   ??? Why does this happen so often? Did I just never realize the same thing in my home country or does Japan just go through products lifespan on hyper speed? 

   I’ve had this with so many things, deodorant, drinks, snacks… And very often it’s inferior products that are less for the same money that seem to be kept alive… somehow.

   Most irritating example was when I discovered a cheaper chocolate bar that I really liked at the super market. I bought it ONCE. Then it was gone forever and I’ve never seen it again anywhere ever and believe me, I’ve looked! 

8. Just commuting to work yesterday I almost got hit 3 times crossing at green lights. Drivers trying to outspeed me and realising they are too slow so they hit the brakes and bow when I stare at them.. wtf is going on. Just let pedestrians cross first and then go, stop trying to beat them

9. [deleted]

10. I am tired of working. I decided to quit my previous job to do this job.. took a month and half break from working but I feel it wasn’t enough.. I am doing so many business trips outside of my city that I’m getting burnt out.

    This company doesn’t have enough employees so I just have to gaman.. my friend is starting a business but he says I might only have work during high season and not much during low season..

    I’m burnt out already after only 2-3 weeks working at this company… wondering if I should quit and take a break and join my friends company even though it’s less work…

    Customers complain so much and I’m done with their complaints. I have lived in Japan over 10 years … why do they think they know more about japan than I do?

    The type of tourists that come to Japan give me a headache.

11. I got butsukari’ed at Shinagawa station this morning.

    He fit the profile: Man, Japanese, mid 50s. There was a pillar, I was heading out, he was heading in. I chose the right side of the column, he chose the left, so we were meant to collide. I tried to squeeze left, showing him my good will to avoid the collision but he did not care much: it was HIS path, out of the thousands of ways to walk through Shinagawa Station, Tanaka-kun decided that this fucking tiny narrow strip was HIS. But then again, so did I. Why not share?

    He stood his ground.

    The fucker was wearing a military tank top showing small, but prominent biceps, he was extremely tanned, and I suspect that he dyed his hair. And he had a gold earring. What a tragic outfit for a man his age.

    So what was meant to happen happened: He drove his shoulder into me and unleashed his attack. A solid hit to my right biceps. Thanks God the guy was a midget and I am tall because he caught me at the elbow joint, so my arm naturally bent and absorbed 80% of the shock. I was in shock nonetheless.

    “Should I take the day off?” I asked myself. But since I was already at the office, I chose to nurse my PTSD with a coffee and a Reddit rant.

    Stay safe out there. They walk among us.

12. I don’t understand the point of online appointment systems at some clinics. like I want to book an appointment but they won’t let me access booking until the clinic opens. why? Our old kids clinic was similar. We had to hover on the website before bookings opened then smash the reservation button to get in. It was same day only.

13. So, we’re renting a place, and a couple of weeks ago we get a letter through the door saying that they’re going to be doing tree and bush maintenance in the area. Nothing unusual there.

    Then, on Tuesday – a holiday mind, so it was chance that we were at home – we get a call at the door from one of the arborist guys, telling us that we’ll need to move our car because they are cutting down the tree in front of our house.

    Right down to the stump. The next morning.

    So, the beautiful cypress tree which had to be at least 4 metres tall and gave us some much needed shade and privacy on a narrow road is suddenly gone. The adjacent homes didn’t have their equivalent trees cut down. And as far as we could tell the tree was perfectly healthy. Now, when I open the window to hang out the washing, half of the street opposite looks over me. And a much needed bit of greenery is now gone.

    My wife and I are beyond pissed. This shit feels very deliberate that it was told to us just one day before, on the holiday, knowing full well there would be no time to call and get it stopped. We’re speaking to the landlord today to figure out what on Earth happened and why this was not properly communicated, and hopefully we can come up with some solution. But what can be done? The tree is gone now. It’s too late.

    I just can’t believe that you can unilaterally cut down a tree of that size without any sort of recourse, especially considering…well, you know…*gestures at the concept of Japanese summer*

    And before anybody gives me a snarky reply saying “You rent the place, you don’t own it, you don’t have a right to a tree etc.” YES, WE KNOW. Doesn’t stop me from complaining on the complaint thread about a landlord who seems to have just taken a bite out of our quality of life just so they can save a bit of money on regular pruning costs.

14. Autumn 花粉症 man. Anyone else suffering it?

15. Why are streamers still allowed in Japan?

    Except for those who incite chaos like Kick streamers, I am not against streaming in general, but because they ARE working in Japan, they should be taxed for the amount of time they work, and they should also have the appropriate visa. But they probably don’t.

16. [ Removed by Reddit ]

17. Hell yeah. Two complaint threads once again. Long live 28 August 2025, forever may it reign.

18. What is with this super complex drain set ups? My kitchen drain has like three different pieces, all of which just absolutely COLLECT stinky gunk that I have to clean all the time. I miss my old garbage disposal, though I’m sure someone will tell me that they are terrible for the pipes.

    Another complaint, why does everyone here just seem to LOVE being in the way? I swear, whenever I am riding my bike on a road without a sidewalk or anything, people just love to walk directly in the center of fucking road and apparently lack the ability to walk straight. Every time I have to pass, I am playing russian roulette trying to choose which side to pass on. That and people not looking both ways before crossing the road/just blowing through stop signs/marks at intersections and jumping out in front of traffic is crazy to me. In my country if you did that, someone would run you over and then sue you for the damage to their car… Literally happened to a friend of mine. Didn’t cross a busy street at a designated place, got run over, and then had to pay for the damage to the guys car. These people just mindlessly bike around without a single care for anyone who isn’t them.

19. In 24 hours I should know whether or not I passed my employment exams. The wait is killing me. Time passes slowly. I just want to be permanently employed vs currently on a yearly contract.

20. 1 – had some serious bloating last night.  Could sleep and was awake until after 1am.  Then when I finally fall asleep, a 蚊nt buzzes in my ear.  Then my daughter wakes up.  Then after an hour of sleep, the other one wakes up cos she’s hot.  Gotta say though, my internal alarm clock is pretty good – woke up at 5:30 on the dot after less than 4hrs sleep.

    2 – due to 1, I would have loved to have a nap on the train this morning.  But an old lady got on and none of the frail HS students near her knew how to stand up.  So I called her over and gave her mine.  Just gotta nap on the way home instead.

    3 – the post office.  Every time we try to send something back to Oz, there’s a problem.  Well not really, it’s just the person at the desk has no idea what Australia will accept. And because she’s trying to help us by not having it rejected, she piss-farts around and causes more trouble than if the package was rejected at Australian customs.  Tiring.

21. I am tired of dealing with an all-Japanese work environment. Nothing but bad practices supported by “evidence” that is almost always confirmation bias, selection bias, or a logical non-sequitur. Or a mix of the three. From people with PhDs in the field who should know better about both best practices and logic.

    If I just keep my head down and focus on my own classroom, it’s typically fine. But I’m involved in admin stuff now and get to see all the mismanagement behind the scenes. Any time I object to something, make suggestions, or work on improvements of my own initiative I’m always shut down with bullshit excuses from people within my department. People outside my department are supportive and open-minded, but that doesn’t matter unless I switched departments.

    It’s not like I’d enjoy working at an all-foreigner environment either, with the domination of cancerous, Protestant “growth mindset” which inteferes with work-life-balance.

22. My colleagues need to understand that after I clock out, I won’t asnwer or check any work mail, I don’t get paid to work after hours. They can come and complain to me that they have been answering mails until 1AM all they want, it’s not my problem.
    My cat is more hungry than usual, she used to wake me up at 6am to get food and I was fine with that, now she wakes me up at 4am and then again at 5am and then again at 6am, let me sleep please

23. Everything is kuso, but shoganai.

    Or, rather, everything is kuso because of shoganai.

24. I know, this is my age talking but People at cafes or restaurants who cant pick up the chair and move it but instead slide it on the floor making a loud screeching sound. I know its minor but it irritates me.

25. I’ve developed a soy allergy in the last year and it’s just impossible here unless I cook every single thing from scratch at home. It’s hard to even find non-soy cooking oil. So I’m just doomed to perpetually have my hands covered in itchy, gross blisters. I also happen to suck with cooking Japanese ingredients still so my homemade food is pretty gross. Sigh. If anyone has any advice or non-steroid medicines that work well for them, let me know. 

26. Reason number many of why spending the holidays (yes, Halloween counts as the holidays) in Japan is every year we want to do a fun Halloween themed lesson but there’s one family of Jehovah’s witnesses who don’t want us to, ruining the fun for everyone. They also have five kids so far so the school is in for many years of this. Me dressing up as a witch and the kids drawing some Jack-o-lantern faces isn’t going to destroy good Christian values.

27. It’s been a week since the third round of the interview process and no word. I’m guessing I didn’t make it to the final round.

28. I had the audacity to wash my car on Tuesday and proceeded to get eaten alive by mozzies.

29. there’s tiny flat black bits coming out of my kitchen sink faucet and a mite problem with my wooden desk. i am already very busy and so overwhelmed

30. Does anyone else feel their partner is too rule obsessed? I feel like I need an FAQ just to take a shit.

    Now it’s not time for me to give one of our traditional divorce threads but it sure is annoying.

31. I recently complained that I had to have a very shitty morning on trains going to immigration in Osaka because it’s the same line used for the expo, double complaining I’d have to repeat the experience to get the zairyuu card when it’s ready.

    Someone told me “expo will be over mid October so no problem”.

    Yay! I thought.

    Somebody must have read the post because my zairyuu card is already ready and I have to go there by the 10th of October. GREAT.

32. Has anyone used the JP Post International My page recently?

    I shipped out a box of clothing a few days ago. Well I need to ship out another box so I logged in to double check the content of the previous shipping label. But I couldn’t find it. Not even in my history.

    So I went to the nearest post office for some assistance. Lady at the counter told me that I should be able to see my past shipping labels. So we both went through the Mypage site, both English and Japanese version. But nada. I asked the lady if there was any UI changes, she said not any she knew of.

    I mean it’s not a *huge* deal but was still annoying nevertheless.

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