Your Visa Status After Divorce in Japan

"What happens to your visa status after you get a divorce?" I've heard a variety of opinions on this subject from forums like Gaijinpot. Some people claim that divorce, for those staying and/or working in Japan on a spousal visa, means renunciation of your status of residence (在留資格). Others assert that you are still eligible to stay in the country until the printed date (在留期間) on which that last-issued spousal status of residence expires.

To complicate the issue, until recently there was no clear legal impetus for a divorced foreign national to report the divorce to immigration. Some people seemed to just fly under the radar for as long as possible.

Recent updates to the immigration laws have made this issue much clearer:

In short, if you get a divorce, you'll need to apply for a change in status of residence as soon as possible if you intend to remain in Japan.

Q&A: Wifely Duties

Uh oh! Sounds like there's some trouble in the Yamada home!

Is it just my wife, or...?
After dating for four months, my wife and I got married in July. So, here's my question: When you go to work, does your wife send you off from the entryway, and does she meet you there after work? We've been living together since May, but she never sends me off or meets me at the door when I come home. And when your wife does laundry, does she fold the clothes and put them away in the dresser? My wife folds the clothes but doesn't put them away.

Train Stations and Platform Tickets

A while ago a friend of mine came to visit from the US. It was his first trip to Japan. As he was without a cell phone, we spent a little more time than usual planning how we'd meet up. He told me which train he'd be riding on, and I started to explain the layout of my station--how to exit from the shinkansen area instead of transferring to a local train, which exit I'd be waiting at, what stores were in the area, where the payphones were if he couldn't find me... the conversation got a bit bogged down until finally I realized, "Oh, duh. I can just meet you as you step off the train."

Japanese Girlfriends and Better Japanese

A while back, Tofugu wrote an article about why having a Japanese girlfriend (or boyfriend) won't improve your Japanese. Some of the points there are pretty valid. I mean, laziness is the same reason that keeps Pimsleur CDs disappearing into living room shelves without any meteoric rise of polyglots in the English speaking world.

Anyway, in regards to the article, the only point I had any particular problem with was point number 2.

Q&A: Osaka Nampa Master

Nampa is the Japanese term for guys picking up on girls in public locations, usually with the sole aim of getting them into bed. A whole subculture has sprung up around the word, and akin to titles like "How to Talk to Women" and "How to Make Someone Fall in Love With You in 6.7 Seconds" in English bookstores and across English webpages, "How to Nampa" is a term probably every magazine with a 20-something male target audience in Japan has published articles about.

Q&A: Dating Younger Men

Last time on Q&A, we talked about lecherous old men and how they will pay young women to do terrible things like write friendly e-mails for money in this country. Today let's turn the tables a bit and look at a self-help guide for Japanese women hoping to make it with a younger guy.

Q&A: Runaway

This guy saw some programs on TV about underage girls who run away from home, a social issue that gets significant media attention in Japan, and now he's got some questions about them. It's for research purposes. Purely out of curiosity. Promise.

Q&A: Daddy Long Legs

Welcome to the first installment of our Q&A series.

Today we hear from a young woman who received monthly bank transfers over 6 years from an absolute stranger she met over the Internet in exchange for sending him daily diary entries. After breaking off communication with the man, she wonders if she should feel obligated to repay the money back to him even though he hasn't asked her to.

Let's hear what the Internet has to say!

Sending Flowers and Gifts in Japan

So, it's Valentines Day in two weeks, and you haven't thought of a present yet for your special someone(s). Oops!

Don't worry, it's going to be OK. You've still got some time to buy a gift, and today we're even going to show two shopping options you can check out without even brushing your hair and getting dressed.

And it gets even better if you're a guy! In Japan, guys don't usually send Valentines gifts to girls anyway. Valentines is a day when women send stuff (mainly chocolate) to men. Men return the favor with a gift of sweets, flowers, diamonds, cars, houses, etc. a month later, on a Japan-only holiday called White Day.* So, for our male readers, there's a whole six more weeks left to procrastinate!
*White Day, March 14, is technically also observed in China, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Anyway, back to the point: If your special someone(s) is/are far away from you, you can always use a gift service to send a gift when you can't deliver it personally. Here are two great florists who deliver nationwide:

Call in Gmail for Free Through 2011

This year, Google added an extension of their Google Voice VOIP calling feature to the Gmail interface. Simply by logging into your Gmail account and typing in a phone number, you can call friends and family anywhere in the world.

Why Don't My Pen-Pals Write Back?: How to Keep a Pen-pal Relationship Alive

(Admit it. This is what you are really after.)

It's easy to get onto a "friend finder" website, write up a form letter about how you're a lonely foreign person looking for friends in Japan, and send it off to the first 20 people that show up in your search results.

But, out of the 20 people you send to, maybe only a handful respond. And although things seemed to be going great with that handful, a week later none of them are replying to your messages anymore. So, what's wrong? Why aren't the pen-pals you made writing back anymore?

Want a Japanese Penpal? Here's How to Find and Make One.

Pen-pals can be an awesome way to practice Japanese or learn about Japan. If you're moving into a new city, you can connect with people there beforehand.

And, it seems like there's no shortage of English teachers in Japan who never get to talk to Japanese people outside of work. Pen-pals can be a nice self-confidence boost if you get to Japan and realize that you've 1) left all your old friends behind, and 2) are having trouble making new friends here--especially Japanese ones.

A lot of sites advertise pen-pal matching services for a fee. (And they usually do it right alongside dating services.) But, you don't need to pay money to find quality networks of people who want to practice their English, listen while you practice Japanese, or make a genuine friend.