Frugal(ish) Option for Putting your Child on Your Car Insurance Policy
Not sure how many of our readers have children who are old enough to drive, but those of you who do might find this useful. I found this information in the latest JAF Mate magazine and thought I would share it.
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Q: I have an age limit set on my optional car insurance. Only people over 35 years of age can be covered as drivers under my policy. However, my son just got his license and I want to add him to my policy. Which is more frugal: removing the age limit or adding my child as a supplemental driver?
A: It is cheaper to add your child as a supplementary driver. You can add a "special supplementary contract for one's children" (子供特約, kodomo tokuyaku) to your policy and keep your regular age limit intact. Your insurance premiums will still increase, but you will pay marginally less with the special contract than you would with no age limit.
For example:
Current payment: 32,830 yen per year (paid in one lump sum) for your current policy with the age limit
Policy with no age limit: 82,070 yen per year (paid in one lump sum)
Policy with age limit intact and special supplementary contract for children: 73,440 yen per year (paid in one lump sum)
The child must live with you and the car cannot be used primarily by the child. Other conditions may apply, so please contact your insurance provider for more details.
(These rates were calculated with the primary driver being the father, holding a grade 12 policy and a gold license, with the car being using mainly for leisure and daily activities. They are also based on specific rates of reimbursement in case of accident, the age of the father and the son, and the year and make of the car. The figures are from Tokio Marine Nichido)
From: JAF Mate magazine June 2007 (Vol. 45, No. 5, page 53)
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Getting a Japanese Credit Card
Getting a credit card in Japan can be a tricky proposition. If you have just arrived from another country and have only just opened your bank account, it can be almost impossible.
If you are a student, you may be able to get a "student credit card" (available at Joyo, at least in 2002 when I applied). Student cards typically have low limits (about 100,000 yen to start off with) and sometimes have annual fees waived for the first couple of years. If you are a good little creditor, your limit will gradually go up.
If you are not a student, your next best bet is to try to get a card from a bank where you have an account. It will probably help your application if you have your salary deposited directly into an account -- and probably even better if that salary comes from a large organization like a research institute. You might want to wait a few months before applying so that you can show the bank that you have a regular income.
If your bank won't give you a credit card, you can try to open a banking account at the post office and then apply for a postal credit card. Postal banking accounts have the additional benefit of being accessible from some ATMs overseas, so it might be a good idea to open one anyway.
If you get no love from your bank or the post office, your next option is to try department stores or grocery stores. In Tsukuba, you can apply for cards from Seibu or Kasumi for example. I have heard some people say Seibu cards are easier to get than bank or post office credit cards, but I don't have any personal experience in this matter. I do know of at least one person who was rejected by Kasumi despite having credit cards in good standing with both the bank and the post office.
If you are fairly certain that your application will be approved (if, for example, you have lived here for a long time, better yet, you have lived at the same address in Japan for a long time, and you have a regular salary), you might want to do some research into which cards offer the best benefits in terms of points or other kinds of perqs.
New credit cards are popping up all the time, so it is hard to stay on top of all of your options. However, you can get some idea of what to look for by reading the following two articles:
(1) Credit Cards in Japan: Cracking the Code from the Frugal Japan website
(2) Credit Cards category on the Frugal Japan wiki
Payment Options
There are a number of different ways to pay off your balance.
1. Pay in full each month.
2. Pay a certain set amount each month and carry the rest of the balance forward. (This is called "revolving payment" [リボ払い = ribo barai]). You can set your monthly amount at 50,000 yen, for example, and you will only ever be charged that much (plus interest, I think) per month, no matter how much you put on your card that month. Of course, you will have to pay a lot of interest on the balance that is carried over, so it is not a good idea to go over your set amount very often. However, this can be a good way to do it if you have a limited monthly budget and your expenses fluctuate a lot from month to month. It can also be good as a temporary measure to get yourself through a rough period when you know that you will be in better financial shape in a few months' time.
3. You can also transfer money from your bank account into the credit card account if you want to pay off the remainder of your revolving balance.
At the point of sale, they may ask you how many payments you want to split it into (this is called split payment [分割払い=bunkatsu barai]). Sometimes your credit card will allow this and sometimes it won't. This means that the store may offer it, but your specific credit card may not. In some cases, the store won't allow it. The number of payments you can split the purchase into also depends on the store and the card. The standard is two payments, but sometimes you will get other options. If you decide to pay it in two, you will be charged half this month and half the next, but the way that you pay your credit card balance will not change. If you use a regular card, you will have to pay off half this month and half the next. If you use a revolving card, half will be applied to this month's amount and half will be applied to next month's amount, but you will still only pay the amount that you set per month.
When you get a Joyo credit card, you will be asked if you want a revolving account. If you do, you will get two cards in the mail, a regular one and a revolving one. Use the regular one when you want to pay off the full amount the following month and use the revolving one when only want to pay a certain set amount per month. Of course, if you use both in one month, you will have to pay both the set amount for purchases that were made with the revolving card and the total amount for purchases that were made with the regular card.
Using a Credit Card in Tsukuba
It is possible to use your credit card for many purchases in Tsukuba, but you may have to do a bit of detective work to figure out which companies accept them (some examples: Jusco, Seibu, Gran Stage, most of the stores in LaLa Garden except for Grand Plechef which only accepts its proprietary card, Car Dock [mechanic], Tsukuba Jui Shinryo Center [veterinarian], etc.).
Benefits of Using a Credit Card in Japan
Using a credit card can help you keep track of your expenses more easily. It is also a better option than carrying around a huge amount of cash (or making a lot of trips to the ATM). I think many credit cards also offer point systems that let you trade in points for products. (I recently traded in my points for a new vacuum cleaner.)
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More wild fruit picking in Japan- YAMABOSHI (山法師)- the fruit of the kousa dogwood tree!
By Avi Landau
It’s early autumn, so when Noriko Iwamoto told me that she had brought some fruit from her garden, visions of nashi (Japanese pears), grapes, and chestnuts danced in my head. What she pulled out of her bag, however, came as a complete surprise — a handful of what looked like small lychees or large raspberries, the fruit of the Japanese dogwood tree, called yamabo-shi in Japan. Interestingly, this can be written either as 山法師 (literally: mountain monk) or 山帽子 (mountain hat), with the same pronunciation. I’ve also heard some Japanese call this fruit yamakuwa (mountain mulberry).
Most people don’t seem to know that this fruit, which grows on a very common tree, is edible and sometimes delicious. My friends and I cracked open the crusty shell and sucked out the guava-like pulp — mmm, a treat indeed!
As do all trees of this type, Noriko’s Japanese dogwood (also called a kousa dogwood), blooms with a distinctive white ninja-star shaped flower in June and July, and bears fruit in September. In Tsukuba you can find these trees on the side of roads and in parks, as well as in private gardens. They can be enjoyed for their flowers and autumn foliage (a spectacular red), as well as their fruit.
While you are out collecting the ginkgo nuts which will be falling to the ground in greater and greater numbers over the next few weeks, keep an eye out for the Japanese dogwood and you can probably score a handful of the beautiful yamaboshi for yourself. According to traditional Asian beliefs they have beneficial effects on the liver and kidney. You can also find some recipes for jam, liqueur, etc. on-line.
I could tell you where to look, but then that would take most of the fun out of it for you!
Happy hunting (fellow foragers)!
Here are some more pictures.
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Picking Wild MUKAGO (零余子)- again
On my way to a little adventure in the woods surrounding the ruins of Konda Castle ( 金田城), near Sakura Junior High School, I turned off the road and headed onto a little dirt trail. I then noticed a neighbor of mine busily doing something by a bush of some sort. I called out a greeting so as not to startle her (Have you noticed that when Japanese are doing work outside, they never seem to glance up or around? I always attribute this to a deep focus on what they are doing, which is probably true, though some have told me that it’s just a way of avoiding having to say hello!), and then I asked her what she was doing. “I’m picking NUKAGO,” she said, “why dont you join me?” I thought, ”Well, why not?!”
Nukago is the archaic name (still often used by native Ibarakians) for MUKAGO (零余子), which look like tiny potatoes (they are actually tiny yams) clinging delicately to vines which grow out of the stems of the yama imo ( Japanese yams). I say delicately, because to be picked, they merely have to be touched and they come right off. I helped my neighbor gather up a small bag-full. She said she was going to cook them up with the rice in her rice cooker (some people also add ginkgo nuts and some kombu stock). Some Ibarakians also fry, roast, or boil them with salt, sake, soy sauce, etc. I found some original recipes online as well.
Mukago can actually be found on sale at some supermarkets for about 500 yen a fistful (as you can see in the blog linked above), but buying them could never match the fun of finding and picking them yourself. Kids, especially, always enjoy cooking up what they have foraged.
Many of your Japanese friends might not have ever tasted or even heard of mukago (also remember that in Ibaraki it is often called nukago), and those who HAVE might not rave about their taste. Still, having mukago at least once in autumn is considered a MUST by many, since it is a rustic symbol of the season and a welcome change of pace from just plain ol’ rice.
Mukago can be found in this area throughout autumn. In English they are called wild yam propagules (or bulbils) as they are how the yam plants propagate (by dropping these little babies to the ground). You can find them in wild fields, by the side of the road, and even in some parks.
Happy hunting!
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Search for Books in Tsukuba Public Library through Amazon.co.jp
When you find a nice book on Amazon.co.jp, you may instantly click on "Add to Shopping Cart". But wait! The book may be available at a library nearby.
The following user java script adds the search results of the Tsukuba Public Library database on Amazon.co.jp pages (see the screen shot below). You can directly go to the search result page of the library from the Amazon search results.
CLICK HERE to download the user java script to add Tsukuba Public Library Search on Amazon.co.jp (or save it by right clicking).
Screen Shot:
In order to use this java script, you need a user java script engine.
For Internet Explorer 6:
- Download "Trixie"
- Install it
- Copy the user java script into C:\Program Files\Bhelpuri\Trixie\Scripts
- Restart Internet Explorer and access Amazon.co.jp
*I haven't tested it but IE7 Pro should work for Internet Explorer 7.
For Firefox:
- Download the "greasemonkey" add-on
- Install it
- Drag the user java script and drop it into Firefox
- Press the "install" button
- Access Amazon.co.jp
Save money and enjoy a frugal life!
Notes:
- This script searches for an ISBN code on the Amazon page and hands over it to the book search system of the Tsukuba Public Library. Therefore, if there is no ISBN code on the Amazon search result, it will not work.
- In order to borrow books at Tsukuba Public Library, you need to have a membership at the library. You can sign up for a membership at the main counter of the library in about minutes (you will need your alien registration card or another certificate to prove that you are living/working in Tsukuba).
- You can reserve books through the website only when the book on the search result is currently being borrowed by someone. When it is returned, library staffs will keep it at the counter and the system will send you an email. You can just tell a library staff that you have the book reserved. Please note that you cannot reserve the book in case nobody is currently borrowing it. It means the book is available at the bookshelf.
- And also remember, before starting to use the online reservation service, you need to register your email address on the library website.
- Use Trixie, IE7 Pro, greasemonkey and this user java script at your own risk. The author assumes no responsibility whatsoever for any damage resulting from the use of these applications.
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