JAPAN IRL
Real-life Japan, explained by a local.
Practical advice for living, moving and making a life in Japan — written from the perspective of a Japanese local based in Tokyo.
New to Japan IRL?
Start with the topic that best matches what you’re trying to figure out right now.
🏁 Moving to Japan
If you’re preparing to move, start with practical setup: what to buy, what apps to install, how to survive your first week, and how to make your new apartment work.
🏙️ Where to Live
Tokyo is a city of neighborhoods. Learn how different areas feel, how commuting changes daily life, and how to think about rent beyond the headline number.
🤝 Making Friends
Meeting people in Tokyo is easy. Building real friendships is harder. These guides focus on repeated contact, hobbies, local communities and places where conversation happens naturally.
🏠 Life at Home
Japanese apartments come with their own small challenges: humidity, laundry, storage, mold, garbage rules and household products you may never have seen before.
Hi, I’m Kimika 👋
I’m a Japanese local living in Tokyo.
I was born and raised in Okinawa and moved to Tokyo at 23. I’ve now spent almost a decade living and working here as a full-time office worker.
I also regularly travel to Atami, Izu and Hakone, so you’ll occasionally find weekend-trip advice here too.
I created Japan IRL because I remember how uncertain I felt when I moved to a completely new city — even within my own country.
If you’re moving to Japan from overseas, there are probably hundreds of small questions that Japanese people rarely think to explain.
That’s what I want to help with.
Read more about me and Japan IRL →
What You’ll Find Here
Japan IRL is intentionally less interested in “10 amazing things to do in Japan” and more interested in questions like:
- Where would a Tokyo local actually live if they worked in Shibuya?
- What do Japanese people buy to deal with apartment humidity?
- How do adults actually make new friends in Tokyo?
- What does a ¥100,000 rent budget really mean?
- Which household products seem obvious to Japanese people but unfamiliar to newcomers?
The goal is not to make Japan look perfect.
The goal is to make Japan easier to understand.