Section
People & Life
Everyday life, work and school. The voices of people connected with Ukraine.
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If an Absence Notice Slip Arrives, Act Within 7 Days: Receiving Mail in Japan
Under Japan Post's rules, mail that could not be delivered because you were out is returned to the sender seven days after the first delivery attempt. This article covers how to request redelivery, the identity checks required for registered mail and recipient-only mail, leave-at-doorstep delivery, the one-year forwarding period when you move, why mail is not forwarded overseas, and how to watch for SMS scams that pretend to be about a missed delivery.
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Preparing for Earthquakes and Typhoons: What You Can and Cannot Read in Ukrainian
As of September 2026, the disaster-prevention app "Safety tips," supervised by the Japan Tourism Agency, and the Japan Meteorological Agency’s multilingual pages do not support Ukrainian. On the other hand, NHK WORLD-JAPAN’s disaster-prevention Q&A, the voice-translation app VoiceTra, and the Immigration Services Agency’s Guidebook on Living and Working can be used in Ukrainian. This article lines these up alongside what to do to prepare for earthquakes and typhoons.
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Fire and Ambulance: Call 119. Crime: Call 110. When Unsure, #7119 Covers Only 41 Areas
In Japan, emergency calls go to 119 for a fire or an ambulance, and 110 for a crime or accident. Wherever a fire department has introduced phone interpreting for 119 calls, it covers English, Chinese, and Korean, but whether Ukrainian is available depends on the area. #7119, for when you are unsure whether to call an ambulance, operates in only 41 areas nationwide. This article also covers what you are asked when you call 110, and how to report an emergency when you cannot speak.
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Public Assistance for Foreign Nationals Is “Applied by Analogy”: The 1954 Notice and Status of Residence
The Public Assistance Act covers Japanese nationals. People of foreign nationality receive assistance as an administrative measure based on a 1954 notice from the (then) Ministry of Health and Welfare. Because it is not a legal right, they cannot file an appeal. It applies to people with certain statuses of residence, such as Permanent Resident, Long-Term Resident, and Spouse or Child of Japanese National. This article also covers how people who evacuated from Ukraine are treated, based on publicly available materials as of September 2026.
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Ukrainian Has Been on VoiceTra Since August 2022: Translation Apps and Interpreters at Government Counters
VoiceTra, the free speech-translation app from the national research institute NICT, added Ukrainian in August 2022 and supports both voice input and spoken output. It is a research app meant for translating travel conversation sentence by sentence. This article covers examples of translation devices and video interpreting at municipal counters, how to speak so a translation device understands you, and situations where you should not rely on machine translation alone.
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Opening a Bank Account in Japan — and Telling the Bank When Your Period of Stay Is Renewed
To open a bank account in Japan, you are usually asked for your residence card or passport, a personal seal, and something like an employee or student ID. After that, if you renew your period of stay, you need to tell the bank before it expires — otherwise your transactions may be restricted. Based on the Financial Services Agency's Ukrainian-language pamphlet and other materials, this article sets out the procedures from opening an account to closing one.
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Identity Verification by Your Residence Card’s IC Chip: Contracting for a Mobile Phone in Japan
Contracting for a mobile phone in Japan requires identity verification by law, and a residence card is one of the accepted documents. Reading the IC chip becomes mandatory in principle for online contracts starting April 2026, and for in-store contracts starting April 2027. Data-only SIMs will also come under the rule. This article covers what's changing and why you should never hand your phone over to someone else.
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Resident Tax Is Set by Your Address on January 1, and Does Not Disappear Even If You Leave the Country
If you receive a salary in Japan, you are subject to two taxes: the national income tax and the municipal resident tax. Income tax is withheld from your monthly salary and settled through year-end adjustment, while resident tax is billed from around June of the following year, based on the previous year’s income. If you had an address in Japan on January 1, your resident tax liability remains even if you leave the country afterward. This article sets out how the system works, and the tax administrator procedure you need before leaving.
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Yokohama by 8 a.m., Fukuoka’s Designated Bags: The Rules for Putting Out Trash in Japan
In Japan, how you sort and put out trash is decided by the city, town, or ward you live in. The City of Yokohama asks you to use a clear or semi-transparent bag by 8 a.m. on the collection day, while the City of Fukuoka uses a paid, designated bag. Oversized trash (sodai gomi) requires an advance application and a fee in every city. No Ukrainian-language sorting guide could be found; the basics can be read in the Ukrainian-language edition of the national guidebook.
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Ride a Bicycle With Your Phone in Hand and Pay a ¥12,000 Fine: the “Blue Ticket” System From April 2026
From April 1, 2026, if a person aged 16 or older runs a red light or uses a smartphone while cycling, they can be issued a “blue ticket” and required to pay a fine, under a new system. The fines include ¥12,000 for using a phone and ¥6,000 for running a red light. Wearing a helmet is only an effort obligation. The National Police Agency’s materials are not available in Ukrainian.