u/JustPassingBy708

Hi everyone! 😊

I’m looking for recommendations for a toddler birthday photoshoot around Tokyo/Yokohama.

I’m hoping to find something around ¥25,000, ideally including some edited digital photos. I’m open to a studio or location shoot and don’t need anything too elaborate, just a nice, professional birthday/family photoshoot to capture the occasion.

I’ve seen some studios offering similar packages for ¥40,000–¥50,000+, so I’m wondering if there are more affordable options.

If you know any photographers or studios in this price range, I’d really appreciate recommendations! 😊

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know a good place for eyebrow threading around Tokyo/Yokohama? Do they not really do threading here? 😅 Waxing is also fine if that’s more common.

Would really appreciate recommendations based on personal experience. 😊

Hi everyone!

We moved to Japan very recently and I’m looking for an English-speaking pediatrician around Yokohama/Tokyo.

My child who is almost 24 months has been receiving his vaccinations as scheduled, but I honestly have very little understanding of how the Japanese childhood vaccination system and schedule work.

I’d like to find a pediatrician who can explain the schedule, upcoming vaccines, and optional vaccines to me.

I’d really appreciate recommendations based on personal experience, especially for a doctor who is comfortable communicating in English. I’m also hoping to find a pediatrician who can become my child’s regular doctor.

Thank you! 😊

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for recommendations for a bakery that can make a custom birthday cake.

I'm after a simple but neat design (not fondant-covered).

Ideally I'm looking for somewhere in Yokohama, but I'm happy to travel to Tokyo if the quality is worth it.

If you've ordered from a bakery that does beautiful custom cakes, I'd really appreciate your recommendations (and photos if you have any!).

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm feeling a bit torn and would love to hear from parents who have been in a similar situation.

We live in Japan and have a 22 month old son. We're trying to decide whether to enroll him in a regular Japanese preschool/daycare or an English speaking international preschool.

My biggest concern is his future. If he attends an English preschool, will he struggle later because his Japanese won't be as strong? On the other hand, if he attends a Japanese preschool, I'm worried his English won't develop as well.

At home, we mainly speak English and our native language, but neither my husband nor I speak Japanese well.

Some questions I have:

•If your child attended an English preschool, how did their Japanese turn out?

• If they attended a Japanese preschool, did they still become fluent in English?

• If you were raising a child in Japan long-term, which option would you choose and why?

• Is it possible for a child to become fluent in both languages without overwhelming them? In our case three languages.

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences, especially if you're raising bilingual or multilingual children in Japan.

Thank you!

Edit: I realized I left out some important context. We've only been living in Japan for about 3–4 months, so we're still very new here. We aren't native English speakers. We speak our native language and English(mostly with the baby and not with each other) at home and we only know a few basic Japanese phrases. One of my biggest concerns is that if we choose a Japanese preschool and later a Japanese school, I won't be able to communicate well with the school or help my son with his education because I don't speak Japanese. That's one of the reasons I'm leaning toward an English speaking preschool. I'd really appreciate hearing from parents who have been in a similar situation.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations for English-speaking speech therapy services or daycares/preschools around Tokyo or Yokohama.

My son is 22 months old. He understands everything really well. He can identify objects, follows instructions, and seems to have good receptive language. However, he's not very interested in talking yet. He says a few words but isn't using many consistently, so we're considering getting some extra support.

At home, we speak both our native language and English, but English isn't our native language. We'd ideally like somewhere that communicates in English, as neither of us speaks Japanese well enough for therapy sessions.

I'd love to hear from parents who have been through something similar.

A few questions:

* Are there any English-speaking speech therapists you'd recommend?

* Are there any English-speaking daycares or preschools that helped with language development?

* Roughly how much do speech therapy sessions or English daycares cost?

* Has anyone used public support services in Japan without speaking much Japanese?

We're happy to travel within the Tokyo/Yokohama area if it's worth it.

Thank you so much!

My spouse is on a work visa in Japan and I'm on a dependent visa.

Recently, I've been wondering about a situation where one spouse repeatedly threatens the other's immigration status during disagreements. Not actual legal consequences, but statements like "I'll cancel your visa" or using the dependent spouse's visa status as leverage in arguments.

For people who have experience with dependent visas, relationships, or immigration issues:

* How serious would you consider this kind of threat?

* Do you see it as a normal expression of anger, or as a form of control?

* Has anyone experienced something similar?

* How much power does a sponsoring spouse actually have over a dependent spouse's visa status?

* Should I go for the divorce?

I'm interested in hearing both the immigration perspective and the relationship perspective.