Hi, I’m Kimika — a Japanese local living in Tokyo.
I was born and raised in Okinawa, where I lived until I was 22. I moved to Tokyo at 23, and I’ve now spent almost a decade living and working here.
I’m a full-time office worker, so Japan IRL isn’t written from the perspective of a travel writer visiting Japan for a few weeks.
It’s based on ordinary life in Japan: commuting, renting apartments, shopping, meeting people, dealing with summer humidity, figuring out where to live, and deciding where to go on weekends.
Why I Started Japan IRL
When I moved from Okinawa to Tokyo, even as a Japanese person, I had a lot of uncertainty.
I had to learn a new city, new train lines, new neighborhoods and a completely different pace of life.
Moving from one part of Japan to another is obviously not the same as moving to Japan from another country.
But I do know what it feels like to leave the place you grew up and start over somewhere unfamiliar.
That experience is one reason I created Japan IRL.
If moving to Tokyo felt intimidating to me as a Japanese person, I can only imagine how many questions someone moving here from overseas might have.
My goal is simple:
to explain what everyday life in Japan is really like, from the perspective of someone who actually lives here.
My Life in Japan
- Born and raised: Okinawa, Japan
- Lived in Okinawa: Until age 22
- Living in Tokyo: From age 23 to today
- Work: Full-time office worker in Tokyo
- Weekend life: I regularly visit Atami, Izu and Hakone — often about once a week
What I Write About
Japan IRL focuses on practical information for people who want to live in Japan, move to Japan, or understand what daily life here is really like.
- START: First-week essentials, SIMs, apps, moving checklists and basic setup
- LIVING: Tokyo neighborhoods, rent, commuting and where to live
- SOCIAL: Making friends, meeting Japanese people and building a social life
- AT HOME: Apartments, humidity, laundry, cleaning and everyday household life
My English and AI
English isn’t my strongest language.
But we now live in a time when AI makes it possible for people to communicate across languages much more easily.
I use AI as a writing and translation assistant so I can share practical Japanese knowledge with people around the world.
That does not mean I want Japan IRL to become a collection of generic AI articles.
The important part of this site is the local perspective: what I know from living in Japan, what feels normal to Japanese residents, what foreigners may misunderstand, and what I would actually tell a friend moving here.
What “IRL” Means Here
Japan can look very polished online.
But real life is often much more ordinary — and much more useful to understand.
Japan IRL is about that version of Japan.
The trains you actually commute on. The neighborhoods people really live in. The products sitting in Japanese drugstores. The awkward parts of meeting new people. The summer humidity. The tiny apartment problems. The things locals rarely think to explain because they seem completely normal to us.
Real-life Japan, explained by a local.
A Note to Readers
I’m not an immigration lawyer, real-estate agent, doctor or financial adviser.
For legal, medical, immigration, tax or other high-stakes topics, always confirm current information with the relevant official organization or qualified professional.
For everything else, I hope Japan IRL feels like having a Japanese friend explain how things actually work.