Best products from r/movingtojapan

I usually recommend Biore Watery Essence as a starter SPF. It has bit of alcohol in it, but other than that, the application is so smooth and the coverage is great. Whenever you get here, head to any Don Quixote, Cosme Shop, or any other sort of drug store. They often have samples out of things (especially the Cosme shops), so you'll be able to try out different brands and types on your arms and see what leaves a cast, has a weird smell or texture you don't like, or my favorite - for some reason has some sneaky shiny highlighter powder bullshit in it.
On that note, some classics in Japan might not be for you. Best to avoid anything that promotes: tone up, brightening, color correcting, etc. (which is quite a lot of the market right now tbh), or strictly mineral based (zinc or titanium dioxide) ones because they will leave a whitecast on darker skin tones. Here's a ranking of current SPFs in Japan by popularity.
SPFs here are typically either oil based ('milk' type) or water based ('essence' type). Oil is best for body, sinks in easily, a lot runnier and easier to apply, can be a bit moisturizing. Water is best for face, usually more of a gel like texture, tends to clog pores less, but usually has more alcohol in it, so it can be drying. But YMMV, and I know people who use the milk types on their face with no issues (but uh, I am not one of them).
Another thing to note is that SPF, and skincare in general, is often reformulated every year or so, but still sold under the same brand/item. So if something was working well for you and suddenly isn't, that is likely the culprit. There are also some ingredients in sunscreen that may irritate your skin, such as fatty alcohols, higher alcohol content, fragrance, etc. so if one doesn't work or is causing dryness or clogged pores or blemishes, search for your item on cosdna for ingredients that may be triggering issues, and just keep trying ones that don't have suspected irritants in it.
A lot of nicer sunscreens retail for ¥1500-2000/30-50ml. But there are also a ton of great ones for way less! So don't feel pressure into getting the creme de la creme. Paying ¥600-800/50ml is a decent range to expect. There are waterproof ones for those super sweaty days, but honestly, nothing beats reapplication every two hours of sun exposure. Finding a sunscreen that is enjoyable to apply is really the key to consistent usage. And you should also look into getting an oil cleanser and a soap cleanser for the evening. The oil cleanser is rubbed into your skin, dry, and then emulsified away with water. It helps break down and remove a lot of the longer lasting ingredients in SPF. Follow it up with a foam cleanser and you'll be golden. (These are my two recs for cheap and great for that.)
Anyway. Gooooood lucccccck my dude. LMK if you need any more overwhelming amounts of info. Hahaha.

>I'm from Sweden were there's a long tradition of strong unions and many pro-worker policies (which I've given the impression is somewhat the polar opposite of japanese work culture), is this going to be a big cultural difference?

First of all, it depends on what kind of employment you have. If you are a sennin (usually translated as full-time or permanent) employee you have quite a lot of protections. Of course, not all employers follow the law, but if they do sennin employees are well paid and well protected. However, other types of employment, such as contract, outsourced, part-time, etc. have very few protections and these types of employees are often exploited. As a foreigner you are unlikely to be offered employment as a sennin. Most likely you will be offered a contract position and you will need to pay close attention to what the contract says. Are foreign employees treated different in Sweden? I don't know. I suppose it might be a "big cultural difference" that you are discriminated against because you are a foreign employee.

> In Sweden, we usually don't interact much with people we don't know and getting to know new people is a pretty hard business.

I'd say that's true of everywhere world. Urban, developed, industrialized society doesn't promote interaction with people. Japan is no different.

>In general, is it difficult to interact socially with people in Japan?

It depends mostly on you, but also where you are in Japan. I live in Osaka and people here are well known to be friendly and outgoing (for Japanese) so I've never struggled to interact socially with people. My experience may have been very different if I lived in Tokyo. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just a friendly outgoing guy.

>Are there any cues that might not be apparent for an outsider?

Yes. And there have been whole books written on the subject. You're not going to get a particularly definitive or comprehensive answer here on Reddit. It's better to try reading something like THIS and then come back with specific questions.

>the history

Which you get more of at tourist sites.

>no garbage cans

In subway stations, maybe. But most JR stations have plenty, and convenience stores have them, too.

>tooth brush songs

Like this? Or maybe this?

>walking routes to school

Don't typically have much impact on the lives of 30-somethings.

>mamachari

Bikes. Just shitty bikes.

>kombini

...Are you even being serious at this point?

>even knowing about the crappy legal system, terrible sexual assaults laws and rampant sexism doesn't dampen my nigh obsession with the country

Are you a man? Or just really gunning for a SAHM position? Because you'll want to hurry it up for the latter.

I'm sorry, but none of these are good reasons to move to a country. You say your view isn't as rose-colored, but you romanticize the childhood experiences that you will never have and completely brush off the social issues. There are plenty of people who come here to visit, fall in love, move here and then succeed, but just as many (if not more) flounder and go home embittered. And for some, visiting shatters their image of Japan entirely.

By all means, visit. But also hop on suumo and Gaijinpot. See how much you'll be making and what you can buy with that. Visit the area you'd have to live in (not the nearest station, either, envision your commute). Really do your homework. Because while moving to a new country can be amazing, it is also very difficult.

I was also thinking about this when I first moved here, and I decided that the best idea was just to bring the expensive (but not too heavy) parts with me. i.e. GPU, RAM, CPU, SSD/HDD, maybe MoBo.

PSUs are way too heavy, and depending on where you're moving from there might be some compatibility issues with Japanese power supplies. Just buy it here.

Cases are also heavy compared to their price, best to just buy one here.

I also had a liquid cooling system (Corsair H100i), but decided not to bother since it's also pretty heavy for the price (and didn't want to risk any of the lines breaking and spilling liquid everywhere).

With regards to wrapping, by bubble wrap do you mean the anti-static kind? If not, then you should look into that. It's pretty cheap.

Congratulations!

I agree with the others to not worry too much. If you’re like me and like being prepared, one of my favorite travel guide series is Culture Shock! and there is one on Japan. The book is helpful for overview and to give context.

No matter how much you read, you’ll still be American. I read a guide whenever I travel to another country, but it only helps so much. I had an experience in which I knew what something meant culturally, yet emotionally I reacted in a very American way. Just try your best and don’t worry too much.

Ok, thanks! I will check those places out.

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This is what I was thinking of: https://www.amazon.com/SPT-SS-301-Multi-Cooker-Shabu-Grill/dp/B003BQXK16/ref=sr_1_16?keywords=shabu+shabu&qid=1564880926&s=home-garden&sr=1-16 I wanted to try to get into Japanese style cooking and I wasn't sure if the dorm provided hot plate would be enough.

Get a toaster oven like so off amazon for 3000 yen. You can bake pizzas, pies, whole chickens.

Many common rice cookers in Japan have the “Okayu” mode. Look for “おかゆ” from products image of Amazon. You just put the appropriate amount of water and rice (the inside of the kettle have a scale for "Okayu" mode) and just press the start switch.

And, I recommend IH(Induction Heating) type. Most of the products cheaper than 10,000 yen are non-IH, and the taste will drop a little.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07KFLNZFB

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01HC98W74/