Amelie In Tokyo ✨

a woman in a blue dress is reaching for a book on a ladder ALT: a woman in a blue dress is reaching for a book on a ladder

My mother is coming soon, which means I’m placing an insane book order for the kid. I want them all… Can’t make… choice… Aaah.

If planes and going to the airport is coming next, we’ll go bankrupt 😆

Ooooooh gladly noting this good reference!! We’re not too far, so thank you!!

After an entire year going to see trains every day, rain or shine, I’m happy to announce the child is now into… boats. Closer to my own taste, though a logistically complicated new interest (blessed be YouTube).

Those should get 24h jail time. Especially when they carry children.

Police to ticket cyclists riding on sidewalks, which amounts to almost all cyclists in Japan I hope they have a lot of paper.

I hope that police also start policing cars and trucks parked in cycle lanes that make it dangerous to go on the roads

Police to ticket cyclists riding on sidewalks, which amounts to almost all cyclists in Japan soranews24.com/2025/07/01/p...

I think it’s for the impact? The number is odd so you pay attention to the poster.

A friend did a small, really cute event. That roughly costed a year of income so yeah.

The article is super interesting but they entirely skipped the ‘young people don’t have the ¥¥¥¥¥¥’ paragraph. I don’t think it’s the “lack of experience attending weddings” playing any role here. If people had the money without going bankrupt, they probably would party with friends and family.

Oui… J’aime toujours autant écrire, mais entre le temps, ce qu’est devenu le net, tout ça tout ça …

Dreaming of having enough space that I can have the luxury of an empty room. A wish that is not entirely shared by my husband who dreams of having enough space that he could store thousands of books.

My blog hosting contract expires in 2 months and like last year, I’m really tempted to pull the plug. I don’t have fun on Internet anymore, my Wordpress is broken beyond my ability to work on it… My hosting contract is also expensive, but I don’t see myself doing one more transfer…

I absolutely miss the old Twitter. Bluesky is a way for me to stay in touch with former Twitterers, but I feel like I’m not sure what I’m doing here and what I can or should share. Twitter’s final days truly traumatized me and transformed my social media usage—I avoid a lot of topics.

C’est extra les bubble guns ! On en a un mais en planque parce qu’une fois lancé c’est l’enfer pour l’arrêter et il est encore trop petit pour pas en mettre partout 🤣

To pass* 😭 I hate autocorrect

Had a blast at the park and 100% recommend this bubble wand (I spent a great amount of time searching for the ideal one). amzn.asia/d/i1uQ07u

I used to passed by this place for 4 years 😭

T’es pas toute seule. J’ai beaucoup de mal avec certaines tenues et j’imagine bien comment ça peut détonner (je sais bien que c’est mon problème, mais c’est comme ça, je me boomerise 😆). Les touristes à moitié à poil par exemple 🥹🥲

Pretty much the top concern with
people we talk with in our area. Friends who moved in 3 years ago saw the rent go from 14 to 17 (as they moved out the rent got bumped). We’re not yet at the level of central Tokyo but the developer sharks are all over the place 😅

Oh they should be concerned. We’re in the thick of it in our part of Kita Ward and everything is going up. Friends who bought an apartment 49 mil 5 or 6 years ago are reselling it at 65. Land price hiked so high, locals who were planning on purchasing are pushed out.

Japan is questioning its alliance with Trump's United States because of "the unpredictability of Trump's decisions, his tendency to view alliances as constraints, to conflate economic and strategic interests and to make demands that Tokyo has considered unacceptable." www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...

CEO compensation graphed next to employee compensation. 🙃

東京の平均月給はニューヨークの半分…２０１２年で同程度だったのが今や世界６９都市中３８位に 【読売新聞】　【ロンドン＝中西梓】ドイツ銀行リサーチ・インスティテュートは、東京の平均月給が米ニューヨークの半分程度だとする報告書を発表した。米国経済が成長を続けている一方、日本はバブル経済崩壊などを経て、月給が世界の平均程度まで下

Yomiuri cites a Deutsche Bank report saying average Tokyo salaries are now half New York salaries in dollar terms, having once been equal in 2012. Most of that change is because the dollar has gone from being worth 80 yen to over 140 yen in the same period. www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/2025...

Many women do sex work when other options are unavailable because of childcare costs, elder care responsibilities or other constraints. Sex work itself isn't the problem; the problem is it can be as oppressive and exploitative as the social structures that channel women into sex work.

女性をオークション形式であっせん　１８００店と契約、警察対策も―風俗スカウトグループ「アクセス」：時事ドットコム スカウトグループ「アクセス」は、全国で約１８００の風俗店と契約し、ＳＮＳで勧誘した女性をあっせんしていた。年齢やバストサイズといった女性のプロフィルを契約先の風俗店に送り、最もいい条件を提示した店に派遣するオークション形式で勢力を拡大。女性が稼いだ額に応じて店側から支払われる「スカウトバック」と呼ばれる報酬を資金源としていた。

Over a 5 year period from 2019, police say an organization called Access introduced 78,000 women to sex work at around 1,800 establishments nationwide. Police estimate Access earned 6 billion yen in commission. www.jiji.com/jc/article?k...

I’m baffled. Our legal counsel is also lost (not their specialty unfortunately, but they mentioned it goes against official position…).

No inheritance or wealth in sight, but that’s exactly my thought: a way to increase nationals rather getting a foreigner in. Now I’ve got to look into finding an immigration lawyer able to assist because they’re in panic with the procedure the Embassy wants them to go through.

The Immigration Bureau of Tokyo is aware they have a JPN parent (we provided their details) and issued the CoE without comment. Now the Embassy refuses to deliver the visa and wants to force (not giving the person ANY choice!?) my peep to go for citizenship recognition + JPN passport.

Hotels and ryokan were always expensive but dear lord the pricing is absolutely mind blowing these days.

Kawaguchiko was a no-go cause I’m not ready to sell a kidney. As an alternative I found a fancy (and oh-so kitsch) hotel on Lake Ashi, not too far from the Hakone ropeway, with a shuttle from Odawara. The ropeway will be a good experience for everyone (except me, ropeways terrify me to the core 😅).