Weekly Complaint Thread – 14 May 2026

35 comments

1. Every time I have to write the documents to admit my wife to the hospital I’m disgusted. 

   I understand that for Americans, who’ll lose their life savings if they ever have to get admitted to the hospital, Japan is the golden country of hope for medical costs, but for me as a European where the focus isn’t immediately on: “Who pays the bill? Can you pay the bill? Write down two people other than yourself and the person admitted to promise to pay for you if you can’t pay.”, it’s not so nice. 

   Stfu, can I go and be with my wife now? Why do I have to fill out all these forms and write my address 5 times? How redundant can you be? What do we have My Number Cards for? Oh and by the way, try to get the person who’s in pain and writhing in the wheelchair to authorize their use of the card. What a shitshow everything in this country is becoming! Money money money you can’t even get to the hospital and worry about your loved ones without being shaken down for cash. Not having 100% coverage for mandatory medical issues places this insane burden on people. I feel like I’m living with barbarians. 

   I have the money. I can pay. But this immediate grab and make sure the money will come is pissing me off. What if I don’t have anyone else? What then? What if my wife and I are the only family we have? What then? 

   Why can’t adults in this country be trusted to do literally anything? 

   Want this apartment ? Better get someone to cosign for you in case you can’t pay. Oh what? You’re 40 and have the same job for 10 years that can easily pay this bill? Doesn’t matter. Find someone. People who get this money from  you can’t under any circumstances ever be put at the insane risk of having to worry about not getting all the money. Money! Moneyyyy!!!! We must make sure we always get the money! It’s the most important thing in the entire world! 

2. To preface, I love my wife.

   ….but she has a difficult time coming to terms with the idea that willpower does not exist in me when it comes to avoiding snacks and junkfood. If my environment at home is filled with easily accessible junkfood then I will eat it. I do my best to avoid surrounding myself with it and I hardly ever actually buy it. My wife on the other hand likes to have a lot ready on hand, in plain sight, and when I ask her to keep it out of the kitchen for both our sakes she gets utterly incredulous when it disappears. Time and time and time again.

3. Doutor is the only chain that has ever consistently gotten my orders wrong. What is the problem? They either mess up my drink size or give me two sandwiches when I wanted one. I’ve tried speaking a little louder and clearer and even pointing at the menu because it happens so often. 

4. While cycling home last night a Civet came out and ran towards my bike and I hit it. Everything happened so fast. I was going around 30 – 35 km/h downhill. Scared the hell out of me. I hope that crazy little bastard is ok.

5. Tried to go to work Tuesday with what I thought was a mostly ebbing out cold. Lost consciousness on the train and got an ambulance ride to the hospital. Told my managers “Maaaybe I’ll take another day or two…”

   Such fun

6. I am soooo fucking tired of being an interpreter at company events. I’ve been asked to interpret for a ballet class for kids, and for a scholarship-related event where the person I will interpret for is researching a niche engineering field. I have zero knowledge or interest in ballet or postgrad-level sciences, nor is either related to my work, PLUS the ballet class will eat up most of a Saturday. (I know, in retrospect I should have lied and said I had, idk, a wedding to go or something…)

   the extremely loud, annoying, honking sneezer is blasting constantly nowadays, which is how I know it’s some kind of allergy season again.

7. 1 – I had a good system in place for laundry.  Less loads so less water and electricity usage.  But lately my 3yo won’t use the toilet even though she was using it only a month ago.  So she just holds it and then gives up.  Now we have to do a daily laundry to wash the many clothes she soils.

   2 – top-notch weather but stuck at work.

   3 – more and more grey hairs.  It definitely has nothing to do with being in my 40’s and everything to do with being married with children.

8. The AC in my office can’t seem to decide what it needs to so it’s putting out 30 mins of warm air followed by 30 mins of cool air all to keep the temperature at a steady 28°.

9. Work.

10. Some guy was standing right in front of me on the train coughing occasionally with his mask under his chin. On top of that he had his index finger shoved up his nose and just held it there, only removing it now and then to rub whatever shit was on his finger with his thumb and then just shove it back up. Just lost in his own world staring at his phone. We were by the door and at every station, I was picturing myself Sparta kicking him off.

11. The 7-Eleven I often go to is flooded with tourists who all seem to wear the same patchouli-based fragrance. I hate it. It makes me sick, and whenever someone uses it, they can’t help pouring on half the bottle. I just cannot stand it.

12. The impending deadlines of business manager visa renewal under the new rules : 5 → 30 million JPY in capital and at least one full-time employee who doesn’t need a visa.

    I’m seeing a lot more articles about it recently in big newspapers; small legit businesses like restaurants preemptively shutting down, it’s sad. And a destructive rule change that does nothing about the purported problem of rich shell companies abusing the residence status.

13. Want to watch the Backrooms movie, but of course there’s no release date yet for Japan.

14. The hot topic now in my office is talking about the Hantavirus shit.

    “We shouldn’t let anymore gaijins enter the country because they’re gonna bring the virus in.”

    “Gaijins are stupid for going on a cruise ship.”

    “Fuckin gaijins for trying to create another pandemic.”

    I get about precautions and all but the things they say man…

15. This is a tired complaint but it’s so damn hot already?! I have two small kids and I want to take them outside every day but in direct sunlight it’s already unbearable at 9am. Still all good in the shadow but they absolutely butcher all the trees in all the parks (all branches cut off I guess to not need to bother with cleaning the leaves) so you are left to scorch yourself in the sun and the play equipment is too hot to use half of the year. I’ll go crazy over the summer trying to think ways to entertain the kids outside the house…!

16. Im tired of sitting in the office. I want to be outside and see the sky.

    I wonder what life’s like being a vending machine restocker… atleast id be getting fresh air everyday.

    Also im super envious of the rich kids driving around with LV bags and Lamborghinis. Seems like a whole other lifestyle.

17. Shrinkflation is one thing, but the deception is what really pisses me off. Got the same old supermarket bento I buy every so often, only now the rice section is slanted like a swimming pool so that it appears to be the same amount while being a third less. The same supermarket also has a habit of suspending their fish on a layer of cling film on the plastic tray to make the portions look bigger than they actually are.

18. When I’m driving and go through every radio station available, very high chance that it’s just talking on every station.

19. Renewed my visa. Was expecting five years, got three. First world problems, I know, but I’m a bit iffed.

20. My wife is currently traveling with our toddler doing some domestic tourism and to save some money on hotel costs, wanted to do some car camping. So, to have more space than her cramped kei car, she is driving my car (an SUV).

    Well, she ended up hitting a utility pole several prefectures away which 100% could have been prevented if she had just not panicked while going down a narrow road with a single oncoming car. One of the control arms was bent, essentially making the car undrivable in addition to body damage and an AC refrigerant leak.

    Money is tight so we only had barebones insurance on the vehicle, which means that we will now have to pay fully out of pocket for repairs (Yes, I know we should have had better insurance on it). Don’t have an estimate on repairs yet, since the car is going to be transported back to a shop near where we live, but I’m guessing it will be something close to 150,000 yennies… Oh and this is the second time she has hit something in the last 3 times driving my car. She will never be behind the wheel of it again.

21. It is already very hot and this weekend is gonna reach 30 degress in Wakayama apparently.

22. Why is there no kurogoma paste filled mochi anywhere in Tokyo? 7-11 had it last October as kikan gentei and I can’t find the same thing anywhere.

23. Tappuru tappuru ta ta ta

    Tappuru tappuru puru puru

    Koikatsu konkatsu macchingu appuri

    Tappuru tappuru ta ta ta

24. How in gods name talking on your phone on the train is a cardinal sin, while maxing out the noise levels on your bike for no reason other than to feel like a tryhard tough-guy is totally okay (in five years I have never heard a single Japanese person complain about it. I’m sure they DO exist), I will never understand. Phonecalls have a purpose, a point, something useful comes from it. Pushing in the clutch and revving the engine repeatedly is the most selfish, arrogant, useless action imaginable.

    FWIW I never talk on my phone on the train or otherwise, I don’t even have a cellphone plan. Just saying

25. It’s getting impossible to open small plastic containers from convenience stores. Need scissors to open a dorayaki. Don’t get me started on the soy sauce containers.

26. Teaching academic English at Japanese universities is plain exploitation today. Salaries are at the lowest. Permanent work are few as universities continue their exploitative culture of milking a market of highly educated poor. The private universities sector has curated a market for exploitation by limiting full time permanent jobs so they could milk tens of thousands of adjunct teachers. Would I teach in Japan in 2026? Absolutely no! 

27. Changing job and it takes 2-4 weeks to get the new insurance card ready. If I had MyNumber, it would still be about 2 weeks apparently. I guess that’s progress, because before I would get my card day 1 and could go to the doctor without worrying about refunds and other conveniences… I guess I’ll have to postpone all my monthly appointments by a month.

    I once again forgot to send messages to my family for about a month and a half despite being on vacation in April… On the other hand, I haven’t received any message from them either. Over the years I haven’t learned to compensate my guilt by remembering relationships are a 2-way street. I had managed to keep sending messages every week for 3 months, I was making progress. But once I forget I keep feeling awkward and stressing, making me less likely to send the next message. I should send messages about the new work…

28. We’re moving to a new town for work next month and there’s too many shenanigans with the realtor and movers and they’re driving me insane. We found our own mover, but the company wants to use an in network mover, but they won’t come out to our apartment for an appraisal until Monday, but we need to move the week after (can’t get an extension on the current apartment). We told them what the other moving companies we got quotes from said (2 ton truck, price) but they’re being obstinate about coming in person. And of course they don’t have a remote system like 日通.

    Also, I’m a swimmer, but the only pools in the new town are all part of a gym where you have to sign up. Used to swim four times a week, but now I’m lucky if I can go twice. Don’t want to have to may a full monthly subscription to maybe use a pool 4~8 times a month.

    Also a little late but I just noticed that Yoshinoya doesn’t offer the ヤンニョムチキン定食 anymore, so I’m a little pissed about that.

29. 2 weeks before my current visa extension (you know, the period of 2 months after your expiration date actually written on your card) expires. I left my stupid language school midway because the pedagogy was shit and the lights triggered my migraine (also they paid for the Google reviews). I just hope they didn’t trash talk on my immigration case (I finished with a 96.9% attendance rate; my grades were falling to like 40% the last month because I just didn’t care).

    At the start of the procedure the school asked me for my application number, so I gave them, I don’t know if it was a legal requirement for them, or if they just wanted to screw my immigration folder saying BS on me. I hope I am just paranoid.

30. The dickhead living in the room next to me snoozes their alarm from 5am for over 2 hours every morning. What the fuck

31. The amount of shit talking about bald or balding men at my local izakayas in front of my face. I wear wigs that I think are pretty obvious since the one I’m wearing is Asian hair type and I’m waiting for one that match’s my hair to be made but I guess these people still can’t tell.

    then the same people will rag on me for being single try to hook me up with people and tell me I should marry someone in my town, so I don’t have to move away from them for work and just work full time at the izakaya.

    sometimes I’m tempted to just rip it off Infront of everyone.

32. Tried to apply to the Costco credit card and was rejected. I’m a seishain, no debt, and I am always on time for payments. I swear it’s because the online form didn’t let me put a space between my first and middle name. Stupid orico. I always fail their stupid applications. 

33. Sports day coinciding with the temperature increase. Every year so many students get hit with sunstroke. Deaths are reported practically every year. Just schedule the dang event in October.

34. I usually pick up a lettuce salad in the morning to include in my lunch bag. Today was no different. However, I must’ve left it at the store, because when I opened my bag, all I saw was the empty sad space the salad should be.

35. New boss is obsessed with Claude and every time I need to edit or rewrite some retarded AI slop sent to me I die a little more inside

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