How and why I built Japan Dev(japan-dev.com)
japan-dev.com
How and why I built Japan Dev
https://japan-dev.com/blog/how-and-why-i-built-japan-dev
171 comments
IF you try to understand it from the regulators perspective, it totally makes sense. You see, the law is written for legibility, not for variation, and rightly so. $15k cash in the bank is easier to understand than $300k in ETFs. Your $300k ETF might be stable or it might fall below the value of $15k over 6 months (not likely but government officials are not in the business of investigating the stability of individual ETFs). An old HN comment about makes this point about “legibility” well:
“To the state, one of the most important goals is legibility. The state has an enormous burden of regulation in its various enterprises, and the less variance the easier the job. This certainly isn’t ideal in many, many cases, but in this case a person who likely didn’t make the standards quite rationally trusts a vetted standard over one small trivial test given to them by a company they’re evaluating. FIPs standards are probably much more exhaustive than just a hashing performance test on one piece of hardware.”
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25543818
“To the state, one of the most important goals is legibility. The state has an enormous burden of regulation in its various enterprises, and the less variance the easier the job. This certainly isn’t ideal in many, many cases, but in this case a person who likely didn’t make the standards quite rationally trusts a vetted standard over one small trivial test given to them by a company they’re evaluating. FIPs standards are probably much more exhaustive than just a hashing performance test on one piece of hardware.”
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25543818
This is exactly why we aim for consistent and standard code, even if n specific implementations or different patterns might be a better local fit.
I understand why some governments do such things for businesses but my situation was for an entrepreneur visa application, the cash had to be there for six months to simply begin the process, what happened to it afterwards was irrelevant, I could invest in Dutch tulips for all they cared.
Amusingly I was not even required to incorporate there to get the visa unless going into certain industries, was clear with them that domiciling in Singapore makes far more sense for a saas startup and they had no problem with that.
Amusingly I was not even required to incorporate there to get the visa unless going into certain industries, was clear with them that domiciling in Singapore makes far more sense for a saas startup and they had no problem with that.
FIPs?
In Germany there is a similar thing where you need to deposit at least 25,000 € as collateral to be able to create a GmbH (similar to an LLC). This is meant to pay for debts in case the GmbH goes bankrupt.
But the government recognized that this was a problem so the "UG (haftungsbeschränkt)" was made possible where you are only required to deposit 1 € initially and than can deposit more each year until you can convert to a GmbH. The UG obviously has to pay more interest on loans if it gets any at all but you are not required to be wealthy to be able to protect yourself from bankruptcy.
But the government recognized that this was a problem so the "UG (haftungsbeschränkt)" was made possible where you are only required to deposit 1 € initially and than can deposit more each year until you can convert to a GmbH. The UG obviously has to pay more interest on loans if it gets any at all but you are not required to be wealthy to be able to protect yourself from bankruptcy.
> This is meant to pay for debts in case the GmbH goes bankrupt.
This is only partially correct. It is to ensure that you can pay your first bills without going bankrupt after the first week or so. You can actually use the money right away to pay for bills. Also, if you pay in cash, you only have to deposit 12,500€.
This is only partially correct. It is to ensure that you can pay your first bills without going bankrupt after the first week or so. You can actually use the money right away to pay for bills. Also, if you pay in cash, you only have to deposit 12,500€.
That's really interesting. Here in the UK you can set up a limited company (i.e. if the company goes out of business, you are not personally liable for any debts) in about a day and there's no collateral requirement at all.
If you’re interested in doing this, here’s the step by step guide:
https://www.gov.uk/set-up-limited-company
and here’s the registration form:
https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-c...
(“It costs £12 and can be paid by debit or credit card. Your company is usually registered within 24 hours.”)
https://www.gov.uk/set-up-limited-company
and here’s the registration form:
https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-c...
(“It costs £12 and can be paid by debit or credit card. Your company is usually registered within 24 hours.”)
a lot of people overlook the UK - in terms of the simplicity of doing business. from favourable taxes etc. however the biggest con in the uk, is unmotivated people.
*chronically underpaid people
In what sense? I've worked with people around the world from a base in the UK and to be honest, don't find staff in other countries are much different. Certainly the quality of output doesn't seem any better.
Unmotivated people are the easiest to motivate with money. Motivated people don't want to stop what they're doing to do your thing.
Why do you think people in the UK are unmotivated?
You need to only deposit 12,500 € in the bank account of the GmbH you want to create as capital (Stammkapital). The founder (Gesellschafter) have then an obligation to pay the GmbH the other 12,500 € at a later date. The CEO (Geschäftsführer) can request that the Gesellschafter pay the rest of the capital.
The CEO can use the capital to establish the business. It can be used to pay wages, buy hardware etc.
Of course there are obligations for the CEO to not let the GmbH go bancrupt.
The CEO can use the capital to establish the business. It can be used to pay wages, buy hardware etc.
Of course there are obligations for the CEO to not let the GmbH go bancrupt.
And: In order to keep the spirit of protecting the creditors of GmbH/UG - while having only to deposit 1 EUR to the UG (haftungsbeschränkt), the UG has to "warn" all potential business partners by carrying the "(haftungsbeschränkt)" (limited liability) suffix as part part of the company name in all written communication (roughly).
Is that meaningfully different from the LLC suffix in the US?
Yes, because Germany already has a “LLC”, its GmbH. but if you have less than 25k you have to call yourself “UG (haftungsbeschränkt)”, which, in the end, has the same meaning, only spelled out…
it’s like a warning message or something
it’s like a warning message or something
UG also stands for unlautere Geschäfte, dishonest dealings ;)
Exactly, it's like the government decided to mark all low-/entry-level entrepreneurship as potentially fraudulent - or urge towards that 25K deposit.
In practice it becomes an invisible glass ceiling, you just work/pay your way through it when it's time, otherwise keep playing in the shallow end for as long as you want.
Win-win, surely, but patronizing nevertheless.
In practice it becomes an invisible glass ceiling, you just work/pay your way through it when it's time, otherwise keep playing in the shallow end for as long as you want.
Win-win, surely, but patronizing nevertheless.
it's more like a glass bottom, and for good reason because corporations in Germany (also in the Nordics) have a stabilizing social function. Firms exist to consolidate towards higher productivity. The idea is to avoid an army of one-man businesses without healthcare or insurance or any significant output.
I don't think that there is a difference in terms of liability: Both UG and GmbH are limited liability companies. However, my understanding is that an UG is obligated to retain a quarter of its annual profits as reserves until it has reached the capital requirements of a GmbH, at which point it can be converted.
IMHO, UG are a fudge. They recognised that the barriers to GmbH formation are high but at the same time did not want to drop them so they created something new that allows people to start a company before being able to afford a GmbH.
This contrasts to, for instance, the UK where limited companies (Ltd) are extremely easy and cheap to create and maintain (£1 capital and about £15 cost) so that there is no need for multiple types.
IMHO, UG are a fudge. They recognised that the barriers to GmbH formation are high but at the same time did not want to drop them so they created something new that allows people to start a company before being able to afford a GmbH.
This contrasts to, for instance, the UK where limited companies (Ltd) are extremely easy and cheap to create and maintain (£1 capital and about £15 cost) so that there is no need for multiple types.
The 25k is not the problem, having to spend 3000€ on setting up the GmbH is.
3k is very steep AND so is 25k.
Aren't the 25k euros only capital requirements? (i.e. you have to bring them into the company as capital but then they don't have to remain in the company's bank account).
It is also not strictly "capital" requirement. You can bring in non-capital value (like buildings, machines, etc.) into the company, but AFAIK this is much harder and hardly worth the extra hassle.
It is capital requirement, but it does not have to be cash. It is not unique and is allowed in many jurisdictions.
isnt it pretty common for people to pay their expenses with their LLC bank # because it doesnt matter what you spend it on if x amount of dollars goes through the account it allows you privilege of credit
Correct.
Funny thing is German even more: You can spend the 25k as soon as the company is established for Hardware.
I always thought it was the case that the UG was riskier from a liability perspective but quickly reading over it, it's not entirely clear that's the case.
For Polish sp. z o.o. - initial capital minimum is 5000 PLN. It used to be 50000 PLN before 2009.
Same in Italy
Probably to prove it's unencumbered, liquid collateral. Which makes sense if you disregard all the other ways to determine that
Yeah line of credit would do the trick though. Then once you have cleared the hoop use it to invest!
When I bought a house I had to prove the 20% down was not via debt like a line of credit. Perhaps they would require something similar.
The problem with that is, once you have a mortgage, everything is in effect a line of credit until it is paid off.
Depends on your mortgage. Five years fixed at 2.99% means that it’s often smarter for me to invest the money in a GIC at 4.60% rather than pay it off.
(The risk of course being when I renew and it’s way higher)
(The risk of course being when I renew and it’s way higher)
In the US yes because of tax relief and better investment options? Here I pay nearer 4% mortgage (a 3% 5 year fix like your may have been possible with impeccable timing, just got off a 4.39% 5 year fix), in after tax money, get maybe tops 1% in the bank and have to pay tax on that 1% too!
Technically you can pay off some of the mortgage early, split a new loan account, borrow from that new account, and then use that to invest, and claim the interest of that against tax. So basically those with more money pay less tax, of course.
Technically you can pay off some of the mortgage early, split a new loan account, borrow from that new account, and then use that to invest, and claim the interest of that against tax. So basically those with more money pay less tax, of course.
Canada. And indeed there’s lots of clever tricks like that. I’ve opted lately to put the blinders on, stop gaming the system, and just get out of debt so I’m making extra payments and whatnot.
100% this happens.
As an additional cross-cultural observation, 20-something western young men routinely insist on debating the merits of this policy with the impotent clerk processing their business. I've never seen the clerk unilaterally alter government policy, but the mutual exchange of Confused Face continues just the same.
As an additional cross-cultural observation, 20-something western young men routinely insist on debating the merits of this policy with the impotent clerk processing their business. I've never seen the clerk unilaterally alter government policy, but the mutual exchange of Confused Face continues just the same.
They have a similar rule for "Specified visa: Designated activities (Long Stay for sightseeing and recreation)".
"Documents such as a bankbook to prove that the applicant’s savings is more than 30 million Japanese yen along with the records indicating the current balance as well as deposits and withdrawals for the past 6 months."
https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000738.html
30 million yen is currently 225k USD, but rates can change rapidly so you need significantly more just to be safe as the visa application process is long. In my experience, the "such as a bankbook" is strictly interpreted as a bank account, a stock portfolio isn't acceptable.
Now the Visa is a 1 year visa, but it issued for six months and then renewed for six months. When renewing you must meet all the original requirements. So, you can withdraw the money after getting the visa, but you need to have it back in the account when renewing! The records for six months appear to indicate that you need the money in the account for six months, but I'm not certain if this is the case.
"Documents such as a bankbook to prove that the applicant’s savings is more than 30 million Japanese yen along with the records indicating the current balance as well as deposits and withdrawals for the past 6 months."
https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000738.html
30 million yen is currently 225k USD, but rates can change rapidly so you need significantly more just to be safe as the visa application process is long. In my experience, the "such as a bankbook" is strictly interpreted as a bank account, a stock portfolio isn't acceptable.
Now the Visa is a 1 year visa, but it issued for six months and then renewed for six months. When renewing you must meet all the original requirements. So, you can withdraw the money after getting the visa, but you need to have it back in the account when renewing! The records for six months appear to indicate that you need the money in the account for six months, but I'm not certain if this is the case.
Does that imply that living in Japan for 6 months costs 30 million yen?
Govt want to check balance amount is constantly over(near) 3000 rather than temporary have. This visa is for richer people to stay.
Agreed.
I was specifically told there is no obligation to spend the money. The money just needs to be in the bank.
There are also many other visas available, a two year student visa is probably one of the easiest to acquire, but it does require attending a certified school and the visa is invalidated should you stop attending school.
There are also many other visas available, a two year student visa is probably one of the easiest to acquire, but it does require attending a certified school and the visa is invalidated should you stop attending school.
It makes sense - like Apple's $99 / year developer fee - to keep people abusing the system out. If anyone can create a company for free or for a low admin fee, they will.
...who am I kidding, this happens everywhere all the time and 15K is a low amount to put in a bank account if it means someone can dodge taxes and responsibilities, lmao.
...who am I kidding, this happens everywhere all the time and 15K is a low amount to put in a bank account if it means someone can dodge taxes and responsibilities, lmao.
That's weird. I've heard of requirements that business need to have a certain amount in cash reserves, just to guarantee that they can pay severance packages and other guarantees, to stop the owners from declaring bankruptcy too late. But asking for that and then letting them remove it from the account is just weird.
Maybe it's a 6 month long test to prove that you can handle your finances without that bit of extra money? That said it sounds like a really stupid test.
Well yeah, its to see who has to dip into their money that is supposed to be locked in. If I was in the business of usury I wouldn't want to lend to people who couldn't keep the collateral locked up for 6 months.
Lots of countries have this in their visa requirements, intentionally to keep poor people away.
I had to do this in order to get an apartment in the US, when I first moved here. Needed either proof of income or a large static amount of money in the bank. Static at time of snapshot, they didn't really care if it went away afterwards.
That sounds like the kind of requirement that patio11 would know more of the rationale for, if rationale exists, and the workaround, if a workaround exists.
[deleted]
Had this same issue in Malaysia. Was planning to relocate my business there but they wanted us to deposit $250k USD in a bank account for the first year of business. At least buy me dinner first.
> So we share your jobs on our site. A candidate applies. You interview them and decide to hire them. You notify us you hired them. We send you an invoice. You pay us a fee.
I'm absolutely stunned that this works.
> For one thing, our contract imposes a late fee for failing to notify us of a successful hire. And the fee increases every month that they don't tell us. This is a pretty good deterrent.
Is it? It sounds like a pretty good deterrent to being honest...!
Anyway, I can't argue with the figures, if true.
I'm absolutely stunned that this works.
> For one thing, our contract imposes a late fee for failing to notify us of a successful hire. And the fee increases every month that they don't tell us. This is a pretty good deterrent.
Is it? It sounds like a pretty good deterrent to being honest...!
Anyway, I can't argue with the figures, if true.
I was one of the "Quick aside since I get asked this all the time."[1]
Being from Spain I'm 100% a lot of the companies here would try to cheat this, but he made some good points both in the tweet answers and article; it's better to pay early and low, than being caught very late and having to pay a huge amount (don't know how much better though).
If a company retires a job without paying, I'd def spend few minutes tracking possible candidates (those who clicked "Apply" and put their data, Linkedin/Twitter/etc, follow up emails to the candidates, as he said Amazon gift card, etc).
Some might still fall through the cracks, but seems like if they get enough % of them that's probably good enough.
[1] https://twitter.com/_etdev/status/1552529476164419584
Being from Spain I'm 100% a lot of the companies here would try to cheat this, but he made some good points both in the tweet answers and article; it's better to pay early and low, than being caught very late and having to pay a huge amount (don't know how much better though).
If a company retires a job without paying, I'd def spend few minutes tracking possible candidates (those who clicked "Apply" and put their data, Linkedin/Twitter/etc, follow up emails to the candidates, as he said Amazon gift card, etc).
Some might still fall through the cracks, but seems like if they get enough % of them that's probably good enough.
[1] https://twitter.com/_etdev/status/1552529476164419584
Having also run a hiring company, I was worried about companies ghosting us after making a hire. Turns out the vast majority of customers don't balk at recruiting fees.
They see it two ways:
1) Easier to pay, than review the legal recourses of not paying
2) If they sourced one good candidate from your site, they may source another. So best not to get booted from the platform for delinquency.
They see it two ways:
1) Easier to pay, than review the legal recourses of not paying
2) If they sourced one good candidate from your site, they may source another. So best not to get booted from the platform for delinquency.
It might be different for purely online deals. But for companies working with a local agency, it's definitely not worth the reputation risk.
I think a huge reason this works is that this site is essentially focused on a small niche: (mostly) Tokyo-based, (mostly) English-heavy IT companies.
Everyone knows each other, it’s a high trust environment anyways, and it’s hard to recruit in the first place!
And like the article says, recruiting in Tokyo is kind of insanely expensive, mainly cuz it’s scaled to salary and a big chunk.
But I think the fact that this is… I mean it’s a lifestyle business? I don’t believe this is gunning for Indeed… it makes it easier
Everyone knows each other, it’s a high trust environment anyways, and it’s hard to recruit in the first place!
And like the article says, recruiting in Tokyo is kind of insanely expensive, mainly cuz it’s scaled to salary and a big chunk.
But I think the fact that this is… I mean it’s a lifestyle business? I don’t believe this is gunning for Indeed… it makes it easier
As of 2019, Tokyo was far cheaper in terms of monthly rent than some major American cities.
Rent in Tokyo for a 2BR apartment: $1,903/mo
Rent in NYC for a 2BR apartment: $2,909/mo
Rent in San Francisco for a 2BR apartment: $3,631/mo
Src: Deutsche Bank https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD000000000049...
Rent in Tokyo for a 2BR apartment: $1,903/mo
Rent in NYC for a 2BR apartment: $2,909/mo
Rent in San Francisco for a 2BR apartment: $3,631/mo
Src: Deutsche Bank https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD000000000049...
> Rent in Tokyo for a 2BR apartment: $1,903/mo
NOTE: I wouldn't trust most sources of this kind of data you see online (I can't open your link so I can't verify it) because you simply cannot compare rent prices like that "across cultures".
And I don't mean just "Japanese apartments are small" (this is mostly a myth, although they are smaller on average), I simply mean that it's pretty much impossible to define what "city center" is in Tokyo, and having a good public transportation system and multiple city centers (Tokyo is 23 cities, and more) means that it's kinda hard to find a uniform measure that is comparable to most other cities in the world.
Tokyo is incredibly cheap for such a massive world capital/megalopolis. I can't stress this enough, as someone who's moved to Tokyo from one of the most expensive (yet incredibly small) capitals of Europe as far as rent goes (Dublin). It was amazing to see the contrast.
$1900/mo in Tokyo for 2 bedroom apartment (I assume it'd be a so-called 2LDK) is actually quite overpriced if you know which neighborhoods to look at (and yes, you can still consider them "city center"). I live 20 minutes away from Shinjuku, 30 minutes away from Shibuya, 10 minutes away from Ikebukuro (all three massive city centers) and I pay the equivalent of $1300/mo for a 3LDK apartment (3 bedroom, one living/dining room, one kitchen).
Obviously, if you want to be fancy and live in cool or pricy neighborhoods like Ebisu or Daikanyama or most of Setagaya-ku you're gonna pay much more, still... Definitely waaaay less than other places like San Francisco or New York.
NOTE: I wouldn't trust most sources of this kind of data you see online (I can't open your link so I can't verify it) because you simply cannot compare rent prices like that "across cultures".
And I don't mean just "Japanese apartments are small" (this is mostly a myth, although they are smaller on average), I simply mean that it's pretty much impossible to define what "city center" is in Tokyo, and having a good public transportation system and multiple city centers (Tokyo is 23 cities, and more) means that it's kinda hard to find a uniform measure that is comparable to most other cities in the world.
Tokyo is incredibly cheap for such a massive world capital/megalopolis. I can't stress this enough, as someone who's moved to Tokyo from one of the most expensive (yet incredibly small) capitals of Europe as far as rent goes (Dublin). It was amazing to see the contrast.
$1900/mo in Tokyo for 2 bedroom apartment (I assume it'd be a so-called 2LDK) is actually quite overpriced if you know which neighborhoods to look at (and yes, you can still consider them "city center"). I live 20 minutes away from Shinjuku, 30 minutes away from Shibuya, 10 minutes away from Ikebukuro (all three massive city centers) and I pay the equivalent of $1300/mo for a 3LDK apartment (3 bedroom, one living/dining room, one kitchen).
Obviously, if you want to be fancy and live in cool or pricy neighborhoods like Ebisu or Daikanyama or most of Setagaya-ku you're gonna pay much more, still... Definitely waaaay less than other places like San Francisco or New York.
> I wouldn't trust most sources of this kind of data you see online
Same. But this is published by a large global financial institution, not a crowd-sourced low-quality web site.
Same. But this is published by a large global financial institution, not a crowd-sourced low-quality web site.
The problem isn't the data itself. The problem is how the data is interpreted, unfortunately. Lifestyles don't map properly between cities, countries, and cultures. In the US you need a car in a lot of cities, you might want/expect a "suburban" lifestyle (large house, garden, etc). Healthcare might be an overlooked cost. Taxes and social contributions (pension, etc) might affect all these numbers. It's incredibly easy to just look at the raw data and go "X is more expensive than Y" but in reality the situation is much more nuanced than that.
Also, as I said, Tokyo really isn't one city, it's a huge gigantic collection of multiple cities with an incredible public transport system that really doesn't make you feel like you're not living in a "city center" even if you aren't in one. I can step out of my house and be in a "downtown" area in less than 10 minutes by just taking one train and there is one train every 2-3 minutes.
If anything, I found https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ usually has a much more nuanced breakdown of actual living expenses across cities, although their rent metrics also are quite incorrect because the way rent and housing space is measured in Japan doesn't quite fit a western standard unit of measure.
Also, as I said, Tokyo really isn't one city, it's a huge gigantic collection of multiple cities with an incredible public transport system that really doesn't make you feel like you're not living in a "city center" even if you aren't in one. I can step out of my house and be in a "downtown" area in less than 10 minutes by just taking one train and there is one train every 2-3 minutes.
If anything, I found https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ usually has a much more nuanced breakdown of actual living expenses across cities, although their rent metrics also are quite incorrect because the way rent and housing space is measured in Japan doesn't quite fit a western standard unit of measure.
I'll preface this with: A lot of what you're saying resonates a lot.
That being said, I think what you're saying about being unable to compare rent prices more or less boils down to "ceteris paribus". Of course, not all else is equal, but it's still relatively meaningful to compare rent statistics, especially considering that it tends to be a dominating cost term. And, directionally speaking, the figures they quoted ultimately led them to a conclusion that I believe is right.
That being said, I think what you're saying about being unable to compare rent prices more or less boils down to "ceteris paribus". Of course, not all else is equal, but it's still relatively meaningful to compare rent statistics, especially considering that it tends to be a dominating cost term. And, directionally speaking, the figures they quoted ultimately led them to a conclusion that I believe is right.
i was talking about recruiting costs. I know Tokyo is cheap(er than many places)
Tokyo is routinely ranked among the ~5-10 most expensive cities in the world to live in:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/world-most-expensive-citi...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2022/06/29/these-...
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/world-most-expensive-citi...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2022/06/29/these-...
That's only because all of those comparisons assume cars are free and not part of your living expenses. People in the USA often save money moving to Chicago and NYC because they can get rid of their cars. So yes, the rent is expensive and buying is expensive... but is it really?
The average difference in cost between buying in Chicago versus buying in the suburbs of Chicago is the price of two median cars (~$60K difference total). Over a 30 year mortgage, in the suburbs, you'd probably buy 2-3 cars per adult. If living in the city let's you go to down to 0.5 cars per adult or even 0 cars per adult, then you've broke even or saved money. Heck, even just having a reasonably priced car in the city, driving less, and having leisure use insurance on your vehicle because you don't commute via car can result in thousands per year in savings even after you pay for parking.
The average difference in cost between buying in Chicago versus buying in the suburbs of Chicago is the price of two median cars (~$60K difference total). Over a 30 year mortgage, in the suburbs, you'd probably buy 2-3 cars per adult. If living in the city let's you go to down to 0.5 cars per adult or even 0 cars per adult, then you've broke even or saved money. Heck, even just having a reasonably priced car in the city, driving less, and having leisure use insurance on your vehicle because you don't commute via car can result in thousands per year in savings even after you pay for parking.
Let me tell you, I can guarantee you, that's bollocks.
Yeah that’s just a lie. Those measurements tend to consider purchase cost at a fixed square meter, and doesn’t consider changes in lifestyles as well. Every expat in Tokyo from another big city could confirm this
Tokyo is substantially cheaper to live in than most cities tech workers would live in in the US.
The comment was about the cost of recruiting, not renting.
Japan is a high-trust society. I recently made a booking at a rather expensive inn (ryokan), whose T&C says there are high cancellation fees if you don't show up, but was not required to hand over credit card details or anything else than could enforce this.
You may see the shift in this though.
There seems to be increasing cases for no-shows reported time to time in media, and thus, I wouldn't be surprised if more and more place would start requiring credit cards or deposits.
Would you rather - save the expense of the agency fee (3 months salary) but lose access to the job board which has already found you one good candidate, or pay it and stay on the job board?
Keeping in mind that the employees are likely staying much longer than 2-3 years, because Japan.
Keeping in mind that the employees are likely staying much longer than 2-3 years, because Japan.
Plus burn the bridge completely in an industry where reputation is one of the key aspects?
And on top of that risk a potential legal action?
And on top of that risk a potential legal action?
Companies pay recruiters an insane fee to hire us. $300 is a paltry sum and not worth fighting over. I doubt this is a big problem. It's not zero companies doing this, but I'd be surprised if it was 80% of the listings trying to avoid paying.
It works if you have an ongoing relationship with your clients
That's how any recruiting agency works no ? At least in France it works the same way
By the time you get anyone to post on your website you've already interacted enough with the people in the company to make them want to pay you.
Presumably they charge much less (10% yearly salary) than a normal recruiter would.
Presumably they charge much less (10% yearly salary) than a normal recruiter would.
keep reading, candidates get a little something if they tell the site they used it to get hired
I heard a similar story from a guy who put in relation brands with professionals of the event industry. According to him, not having to put in place and enforce a strict control gave him a lot of bandwidth to work on more impactful parts of his projects. Surprisingly, he made good bucks with this approach... I guess even businesses can be more honest than expected.
Business can totally be done in a fair and ethical way, that's just not western culture. Here you get promoted for stomping on someones neck with your boot
The other day, a career site offered me some amount of money if I told them when I found a job with a company there. (It might've been angel.co, and $150, not certain.)
I guessed that they got paid at least partly as a function of hires, and this incentived disclosure from hirees was a way of keeping its customer companies honest.
I guessed that they got paid at least partly as a function of hires, and this incentived disclosure from hirees was a way of keeping its customer companies honest.
Not sure how prevalent LinkedIn or a similar service is in Japan, but I'd imagine it'd be pretty easy to track how many clicks a customer was getting and investigating any that had anomalously high click / hire ratios.
Yep this is a major part of my strategy (Hi, I'm the guy who built the site).
Like I mention in the post, I have emails, names and URLs for everyone who applies.
I also know how many applicants it normally takes to get 1 placement. So I can easily check which jobs are getting a suspiciously high number of applicants with no successful placements.
And I can reach out to all those applicants with the gift card offer, or take other measures to gather data about them and cross-check it with the company name etc.
This plus the late fee plus the fact that I'm in Japan makes the business model viable.
Like I mention in the post, I have emails, names and URLs for everyone who applies.
I also know how many applicants it normally takes to get 1 placement. So I can easily check which jobs are getting a suspiciously high number of applicants with no successful placements.
And I can reach out to all those applicants with the gift card offer, or take other measures to gather data about them and cross-check it with the company name etc.
This plus the late fee plus the fact that I'm in Japan makes the business model viable.
I think maybe it works due to cultural reasons - Japanese seem quite honest.
in Japan only
It's kinda funny how strategy and tactics can cross over between totally unrelated businesses.
We've taken a pretty similar approach to keeping companies honest. What we realized was that in niche markets, trust drives transactions and people are often aware that burning relationships for short-term gain has a drastic impact on lifetime value, especially if there are strong network effects.
Fortunately, we've only had to threaten to use the contractual stick a handful of times, and in each case, the mere appearance of the stick in the conversation served to recalibrate things, bringing the dialogue back to the fair center.
The cold start problem is real and one that really took us a lot of time and effort. The time spent to understand the mechanics of our marketplace manually paid itself back later on, when we realized that it helped us understand churn, and specifically how to mitigate it.
Enjoy the read!
We've taken a pretty similar approach to keeping companies honest. What we realized was that in niche markets, trust drives transactions and people are often aware that burning relationships for short-term gain has a drastic impact on lifetime value, especially if there are strong network effects.
Fortunately, we've only had to threaten to use the contractual stick a handful of times, and in each case, the mere appearance of the stick in the conversation served to recalibrate things, bringing the dialogue back to the fair center.
The cold start problem is real and one that really took us a lot of time and effort. The time spent to understand the mechanics of our marketplace manually paid itself back later on, when we realized that it helped us understand churn, and specifically how to mitigate it.
Enjoy the read!
> But as a foreigner, most of the companies weren't a good fit. Some were too domestic. A lot didn't have any other westerners working there.
This is a great way to think about how important an inclusive company culture is to you - do you want your org to be thought of by non-natives like many HN posters would think of an old school Japanese one? In what ways is it unattractive to non-natives and do you actually value those characteristics?
This is a great way to think about how important an inclusive company culture is to you - do you want your org to be thought of by non-natives like many HN posters would think of an old school Japanese one? In what ways is it unattractive to non-natives and do you actually value those characteristics?
People interested in this article might also like this list of salary figures for japan. https://opensalary.jp/en/
Good to see the Japanese are in line with western society's unreasonable job expectations.
This first one was pretty typical of the job market and it's complete disconnect of what these positions truly pay.
* Additional Information
* Gender: Male
* Education Level: Masters Degree
* Age: late 20s
* Wage 31k annually
This first one was pretty typical of the job market and it's complete disconnect of what these positions truly pay.
* Additional Information
* Gender: Male
* Education Level: Masters Degree
* Age: late 20s
* Wage 31k annually
Thanks for helping surface these. The sad fact, though, is that Japanese IT salaries even at the "good" companies are still a fraction of the global market rate.
I was recently approached for an engineering management role at the innovation wing of $JAPANESE_MEGACORP (and I see they're one of your customers!). Alas, the top of their range was around half of what I'm getting paid in Singapore, and that's before accounting for much higher taxes etc.
I was recently approached for an engineering management role at the innovation wing of $JAPANESE_MEGACORP (and I see they're one of your customers!). Alas, the top of their range was around half of what I'm getting paid in Singapore, and that's before accounting for much higher taxes etc.
Japan's tech job market is not similar to other countries though. I can bet you that $JAPANESE_MEGACORP you speak of is well known for paying below market rates.
The salary bands in Japan are the following- gaishikei (FAANGs) > Japanese Startups > Japanese Software tech Megacorps > Japanese non-Software tech Megacorps > Everyone else (basically minimum wage)
The salary bands in Japan are the following- gaishikei (FAANGs) > Japanese Startups > Japanese Software tech Megacorps > Japanese non-Software tech Megacorps > Everyone else (basically minimum wage)
So basically they're in line with western society and it's disconnect to real wages
In normal high-tech countries the domestic software megacorps match or exceed FAANG salaries. Spotify & Booking in Europe, RazorPay & Flipkart in India, Gojek in SEA all match or exceed FAANG salaries but not in Japan
Which is incredibly odd, makes you think what was compensation like during Japan's early tech boom of the 80s and 90s?
So to summarise: A dev turned dev recruiter who can write good content (capable of going viral) and who works with only the best companies.
You developed a simple product (extremely well tested business model and done 1000 times), used your reach and writing skills to kickstart the supply / demand and profited.
A mundane idea but executed brilliantly. Well done and congratulations.
You developed a simple product (extremely well tested business model and done 1000 times), used your reach and writing skills to kickstart the supply / demand and profited.
A mundane idea but executed brilliantly. Well done and congratulations.
Off topic: if you’re a private business owner - why share your revenues?
It seems like more negative than good can come from it.
(A) if you’re in enterprise software - potential customers might be scared away by how “little” your revenues are
(b) you’re inadvertently begging for new competition when another solo developer thinks I can do better and cheaper.
Etc.
It seems like more negative than good can come from it.
(A) if you’re in enterprise software - potential customers might be scared away by how “little” your revenues are
(b) you’re inadvertently begging for new competition when another solo developer thinks I can do better and cheaper.
Etc.
Well, it sure got me interested in hearing more about the story. As far as competition, as the article makes clear, it wouldn't be that easy to compete. You'd need to be located in Japan, read English (or you are unlikely to have read this article in the first place), and then go through all the hurdles that they went through.
Option B really never works.
Those who have a relevant set of skills (and it is a lot of skills from different disciplines required to run a business) - can easily estimate how much you can earn from website like this, so if they didn't do it before - they won't start now.
Those who didn't know how much businesses like this makes - lack a ton of other skills to compete. And you can't cheat a ton of time and money investment. If they didn't start a business like this, 99,99% they won't. And if they will, there must be a ton of stars aligned to make it into any viable competition.
Those who have a relevant set of skills (and it is a lot of skills from different disciplines required to run a business) - can easily estimate how much you can earn from website like this, so if they didn't do it before - they won't start now.
Those who didn't know how much businesses like this makes - lack a ton of other skills to compete. And you can't cheat a ton of time and money investment. If they didn't start a business like this, 99,99% they won't. And if they will, there must be a ton of stars aligned to make it into any viable competition.
I think its for Self-Promotion.
100% this - it allows the author to get away with posting what is otherwise a total fluff piece promoting their website.
Without hard data, interesting anecdotes and other facts the post won't gain as much traction on sites like HN/Twitter etc.
Without hard data, interesting anecdotes and other facts the post won't gain as much traction on sites like HN/Twitter etc.
Makes for a good click bait title ;)
Congrats on the traction. Somewhat unrelated, but it seems a lot of bootstrapped success stories are job boards.
Yes, it's probably because this is a proven business model and if you niche-down enough, you will be able to serve the audience better than the bigger competitors.
The biggest problem though is still bootstrapping the demand side (job seekers) of the platform (supply side is fairly easy, as you can even handpick the initial jobs).
We (https://swissdevjobs.ch & https://devitjobs.uk) started with articles how to migrate from other countries to find a job in Switzerland / UK and at some point the organic traffic picked up (but it also took years, as in the case of japan-dev).
The biggest problem though is still bootstrapping the demand side (job seekers) of the platform (supply side is fairly easy, as you can even handpick the initial jobs).
We (https://swissdevjobs.ch & https://devitjobs.uk) started with articles how to migrate from other countries to find a job in Switzerland / UK and at some point the organic traffic picked up (but it also took years, as in the case of japan-dev).
Thanks! Yeah, the space has gotten pretty crowded but it can still work really well if you niche down imo.
And I niched down hard.
And I niched down hard.
We (developers) are the product.
when there's a gold rush, there are a lot of successful hardware stores :)
Considering cost of living, what salary would someone need to maintain a similar lifestyle as a senior engineer making ~$170-230k while living in a major U.S. city?
Some of the jobs on that site have salary ranges below 9 million Yen, which seems to equate to about $67k. Given that consumer goods are generally pricier in Japan, and that cost of living is generally quite high in Japan, that salary seems quite low.
Some of the jobs on that site have salary ranges below 9 million Yen, which seems to equate to about $67k. Given that consumer goods are generally pricier in Japan, and that cost of living is generally quite high in Japan, that salary seems quite low.
Cost-of-living comparisons get complex, but I can give you my personal opinion.
Let's assume SF vs Tokyo.
To live the same lifestyle and have the same amount of disposable income as someone earning $170-230k in SF, you'd need to earn ¥12-18M or so in Tokyo.
You can live in a nice apartment in the center of Tokyo and still save a lot of money as a single person earning ¥12M a year.
Also the yen is super weak against the dollar right now (historically so). So converting to dollars doesn't give an accurate value imo. As long as you earn and spend yen, what matters is purchasing power parity. Not the exchange rate.
To me, living in Japan, ¥9M still "feels" roughly like $90k despite the exchange rate.
Let's assume SF vs Tokyo.
To live the same lifestyle and have the same amount of disposable income as someone earning $170-230k in SF, you'd need to earn ¥12-18M or so in Tokyo.
You can live in a nice apartment in the center of Tokyo and still save a lot of money as a single person earning ¥12M a year.
Also the yen is super weak against the dollar right now (historically so). So converting to dollars doesn't give an accurate value imo. As long as you earn and spend yen, what matters is purchasing power parity. Not the exchange rate.
To me, living in Japan, ¥9M still "feels" roughly like $90k despite the exchange rate.
> To live the same lifestyle and have the same amount of disposable income as someone earning $170-230k in SF, you'd need to earn ¥12-18M or so in Tokyo.
The same amount of disposable income, measured in dollars or yen without PPP adjustment? That's a big gap and I don't think it can be made up with cost of living savings.
> So converting to dollars doesn't give an accurate value imo. As long as you earn and spend yen, what matters is purchasing power parity. Not the exchange rate.
If you ever want to leave Japan, then the value of your savings does matter. Your savings don't get PPP adjusted down if you move.
The same amount of disposable income, measured in dollars or yen without PPP adjustment? That's a big gap and I don't think it can be made up with cost of living savings.
> So converting to dollars doesn't give an accurate value imo. As long as you earn and spend yen, what matters is purchasing power parity. Not the exchange rate.
If you ever want to leave Japan, then the value of your savings does matter. Your savings don't get PPP adjusted down if you move.
Yeah these are good points, I guess if the yen never recovers you'd take a hit. The current exchange rate is an outlier though. At least historically, you've had the chance to convert back at between 100-110 JPY:USD every few years.
There are tons of caveats with cost-of-living. But for me personally, I worked for a company HQ'd in Palo Alto from Japan. And I looked into moving. I calculated that I'd need an extra $50k or so on top of my Tokyo salary to maintain the same lifestyle in Silicon Valley.
That's for me though. If you want a car no matter what, or you buy all your food at import markets, or want a huge apartment in the center of town exactly like the one you had in the US, Tokyo gets expensive. International schools for your kids can also get really pricey.
But if you live relatively closely to how locals do, it's cheap as hell. Seriously. The rent for my nice, new 2BR in central Tokyo is ¥190,000 a month. That's $1,416 at the current exchange rate.
The going rate I saw in Silicon Valley for a similar place was around $4k. And you absolutely need a car there, which means gas and insurance too. Here you can get anywhere super quickly via train, and companies pay your commuting costs if you're not WFH. Plus food is WAY cheaper here in my experience (I paid ¥950 for a big lunch today, tax included, no tip. 7 bucks all-in.)
So YMMV but that pretty much covers the $50k for me.
There are tons of caveats with cost-of-living. But for me personally, I worked for a company HQ'd in Palo Alto from Japan. And I looked into moving. I calculated that I'd need an extra $50k or so on top of my Tokyo salary to maintain the same lifestyle in Silicon Valley.
That's for me though. If you want a car no matter what, or you buy all your food at import markets, or want a huge apartment in the center of town exactly like the one you had in the US, Tokyo gets expensive. International schools for your kids can also get really pricey.
But if you live relatively closely to how locals do, it's cheap as hell. Seriously. The rent for my nice, new 2BR in central Tokyo is ¥190,000 a month. That's $1,416 at the current exchange rate.
The going rate I saw in Silicon Valley for a similar place was around $4k. And you absolutely need a car there, which means gas and insurance too. Here you can get anywhere super quickly via train, and companies pay your commuting costs if you're not WFH. Plus food is WAY cheaper here in my experience (I paid ¥950 for a big lunch today, tax included, no tip. 7 bucks all-in.)
So YMMV but that pretty much covers the $50k for me.
Can you expand on the last sentence?
According to https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?cou..., cost of living in Japan is a good bit lower than the US, and I would consider 67k as a decent wage when in medium COL cities(pandemic times have changes this a bit obviously, but I was able to live quite comfortably at 55k in a MCOL city in 2017).
According to https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?cou..., cost of living in Japan is a good bit lower than the US, and I would consider 67k as a decent wage when in medium COL cities(pandemic times have changes this a bit obviously, but I was able to live quite comfortably at 55k in a MCOL city in 2017).
@Panther34543, sorry that this reply is unrelated. However, I saw your post in another [thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32141962) suggesting people to look at the small business initiatives by each branch of the U.S. military for opportunity. That thread is no longer replyable.
I'm really interested in learning more about that and getting your advice on how to start. Is there any way that I can contact you for that, or can you send me a ping at "<my user name> at gmail"? Thank you very much.
I'm really interested in learning more about that and getting your advice on how to start. Is there any way that I can contact you for that, or can you send me a ping at "<my user name> at gmail"? Thank you very much.
my wife's parents live in Sangenjaya (Setagaya), i've had an eye on apartment rentals in that area for about 5 years, with a view to a perhaps/potential move over there. the prices (yen-usd translated) honestly look like ballpark NYC (Manhattan, not BK or Q etc) apartments from when i lived there 1997-2004. the prices are cheaper than NYC/SF/SEA/LA, but of course as you point out, the salaries are lower. i've not "lived" those expenses month-over-month as a local would do, but my gut feeling after several months "living" there [spread over a few years] in a local apartment is that food/eating costs are lower, but overall, other costs (perhaps not including than commuter travel) are higher. somehow, i think it balances out.
edit for clarity
edit for clarity
I created a physician employment company which operates on the same model. I think Japanese culture has been the unsung hero here, when considering the OP company relies on an honor code of sorts.
"We're sorry but Japan Dev doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Please enable it to continue."
Nope. You want people to read your stuff? Don't force javascript onto them.
Nope. You want people to read your stuff? Don't force javascript onto them.
Awesome job! Job boards are incredibly hard (I should know, I've made a couple)
Interesting business model too - either it makes nothing or big amounts of money when you get a referral
Interesting business model too - either it makes nothing or big amounts of money when you get a referral
I really enjoyed reading this and I hate reading.
How did you go from 12 months of no revenue to actually generating revenue? Did you provide your service for free w/o any payment options? I imagine job seekers were free to use the board but companies were required to pay to post on your board. Did it basically take 12 months to gain enough traction with job seekers to entice employers to post on your board instead of manually adding them for free yourself?
How did you go from 12 months of no revenue to actually generating revenue? Did you provide your service for free w/o any payment options? I imagine job seekers were free to use the board but companies were required to pay to post on your board. Did it basically take 12 months to gain enough traction with job seekers to entice employers to post on your board instead of manually adding them for free yourself?
We made it free to post jobs, and then charged a fee upon successful hire.
So that made it a win-win for companies. We promote your jobs for free, if you don't hire anyone you've lost nothing, and even if you DO hire someone, it's for a lower fee than you're used to paying recruiters.
So the hard part was actually attracting applicants. Ultimately we used SEO + blogging, our email list, a bit of paid advertising and a few other channels to get a good amount of traffic. But this takes a long time when you start from pretty much 0.
So that made it a win-win for companies. We promote your jobs for free, if you don't hire anyone you've lost nothing, and even if you DO hire someone, it's for a lower fee than you're used to paying recruiters.
So the hard part was actually attracting applicants. Ultimately we used SEO + blogging, our email list, a bit of paid advertising and a few other channels to get a good amount of traffic. But this takes a long time when you start from pretty much 0.
Ah ok, thank you for the response and congratulations on your sucess!
Site looks really good. What tech stack did you use?
Thanks a lot!
Here's the basic stack:
• Rails API
• Vue SPA w/ ViteJS
• MySQL
• K8s on Digital Ocean
• Cloudflare worker + caching
• Bento for emails
• Algolia for search / filters
I wouldn't recommend using a client-side rendered application for a project like this though... that was a mistake. Tons of headaches with SEO, social media sharing etc.
Here's the basic stack:
• Rails API
• Vue SPA w/ ViteJS
• MySQL
• K8s on Digital Ocean
• Cloudflare worker + caching
• Bento for emails
• Algolia for search / filters
I wouldn't recommend using a client-side rendered application for a project like this though... that was a mistake. Tons of headaches with SEO, social media sharing etc.
This is so complex! Wouldn't just vercel next.js + prisma be simpler?
Yeah definitely.
I just used the stack I was used to, didn't really turn out to be the best stack for the job...
Kubernetes is completely unnecessary, although I do enjoy using it.
Having a separate API is kinda nice. I could easily spin up a different front-end like an iOS app and share the same API. And I can write all the server code in Ruby instead of JS, which I prefer to do.
But yeah overall, way over-engineered.
I just used the stack I was used to, didn't really turn out to be the best stack for the job...
Kubernetes is completely unnecessary, although I do enjoy using it.
Having a separate API is kinda nice. I could easily spin up a different front-end like an iOS app and share the same API. And I can write all the server code in Ruby instead of JS, which I prefer to do.
But yeah overall, way over-engineered.
Can you explain more about these headaches? So far i'm still convinced of client side SPAs :D
To see your page content, crawlers need to load your JS and wait for it to hydrate the page.
Google does this (but it's still not ideal). Most other crawlers don't. That means they won't see your rendered content.
This becomes an issue with sharing on social media, because your meta tags won't be read properly. If you share a blog post on Twitter for example, it won't be able to fetch your og:image, title etc so it won't look good.
To fix that, you have to use prerendering or server-side rendering. I'm doing hacky stuff with prerendering inside a Cloudflare worker where it detects that it's a crawler and prerenders the page if so.
SPAs also tend to have slow initial load times, which is becoming increasingly important for SEO. You can't avoid at least one additional network call after loading the initial HTML, and if you're not careful you can end up with chained requests for different components etc.
For sites like mine that rely on SEO and social media, it's a pretty big annoyance.
Google does this (but it's still not ideal). Most other crawlers don't. That means they won't see your rendered content.
This becomes an issue with sharing on social media, because your meta tags won't be read properly. If you share a blog post on Twitter for example, it won't be able to fetch your og:image, title etc so it won't look good.
To fix that, you have to use prerendering or server-side rendering. I'm doing hacky stuff with prerendering inside a Cloudflare worker where it detects that it's a crawler and prerenders the page if so.
SPAs also tend to have slow initial load times, which is becoming increasingly important for SEO. You can't avoid at least one additional network call after loading the initial HTML, and if you're not careful you can end up with chained requests for different components etc.
For sites like mine that rely on SEO and social media, it's a pretty big annoyance.
Thanks for your input!
server-side rendering should fix most of the first issue. You can get all the relevant data pre-rendered and it's pretty easy to do with the right framework. I've used quasar.dev for this in the past. It should also solve the initial load times (to an extent).
The chaining can be fixed with lazy loading/code splitting.
The only thing i haven't fixed yet is hiding the cookie banner for bots :/
The only thing i haven't fixed yet is hiding the cookie banner for bots :/
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Nice work! I honesty never would have considered a job board to be able to bring such a large amount. Especially in just a few years.
Good job.
I don't think you mentioned how many employees you have? Not very many I assume if your headquarters is your apartment. Good work keeping overheads low
Good job.
I don't think you mentioned how many employees you have? Not very many I assume if your headquarters is your apartment. Good work keeping overheads low
I think he mentioned it was just him and his wife.
This seems to have been a real passion project, and seems to nearly be retirement money if the growth continues for just a few more years. Have you considered what an exit would look like?
Such a lovely write-up. Congratulations.
Such a lovely write-up. Congratulations.
Thanks a lot!
I'm not really thinking too deeply about exiting yet. But I guess if I wanted to work on other things, the main options would be:
(1) Automate + delegate as much of the work as possible to decrease my time commitment and gain some freedom
(2) Try to sell the business
But for now I'm just focused on improving + growing the business!
I'm not really thinking too deeply about exiting yet. But I guess if I wanted to work on other things, the main options would be:
(1) Automate + delegate as much of the work as possible to decrease my time commitment and gain some freedom
(2) Try to sell the business
But for now I'm just focused on improving + growing the business!
Question, why did you choose Japan specifically ? Feels like it would be wildly more successful in USA, Europe etc?
Website does not load.
Is it possible you have Javascript disabled?
Unfortunately it's an SPA so it requires JS. I regret this decision...
If not then it might be due to an ad blocker issue (specifically triggered by social share buttons) I just discovered from this thread and need to look into.
Unfortunately it's an SPA so it requires JS. I regret this decision...
If not then it might be due to an ad blocker issue (specifically triggered by social share buttons) I just discovered from this thread and need to look into.
Loads just fine. Probably something on your end.
japan-dev.com requires javascript to show any text... I guess it makes sense since they want to show us that popup...
The site is a Vue.js single page application.
That's just the front-end stack I knew the best — I realize it's terrible for those who don't want to run javascript. Sorry!
That's just the front-end stack I knew the best — I realize it's terrible for those who don't want to run javascript. Sorry!
If you don't mind answering, what service are you using to manage the weekly job alerts email (if you're not self-hosting that)?
Sure! I started out on MailChimp, but recently switched to Bento (https://bentonow.com/)
I really like it.
I really like it.
hr has the authority to pay 30-35% yearly charge ?
Yeah they do.
Established companies will have at least one senior HR person who can OK that level of spend.
Small startups might need approval from from an exec like the CTO.
30-35% is pretty standard though so most companies will have a process for it.
Established companies will have at least one senior HR person who can OK that level of spend.
Small startups might need approval from from an exec like the CTO.
30-35% is pretty standard though so most companies will have a process for it.
[deleted]
What % of first year salary do you charge on average?
I'm getting a blank page. Looking at the source, there is no static content on it, only JS. I have JS turned on, but it seems CORS is blocking loading of JS.
Cross-Origin Request Blocked: The Same Origin Policy disallows reading the remote resource at https://static.cloudflareinsights.com/beacon.min.js/v652eace1692a40cfa3763df669d7439c1639079717194. (Reason: CORS request did not succeed).
None of the “sha512” hashes in the integrity attribute match the content of the subresource.
Weird...
I did recently switch to hosting through a Cloudflare Worker, so maybe it's a caching issue. Is it possible you've viewed the site before? If so maybe you have an old version of the index.html file in your browser cache that's linking to the wrong assets.
Either way thanks for reporting — I'll look into it!
I did recently switch to hosting through a Cloudflare Worker, so maybe it's a caching issue. Is it possible you've viewed the site before? If so maybe you have an old version of the index.html file in your browser cache that's linking to the wrong assets.
Either way thanks for reporting — I'll look into it!
I've tracked down the root cause: I needed to disable two uBlock Filters in order to successfully load the page: Fanboy's Annoyance and Fanboy's Social. It seems that they block some JS related to social buttons (https://japan-dev.com/assets/socialButton.9ddbb1cc.js) and that makes the rest of JS responsible for the rest of the page to not execute (due to a failed request).
Sorry for the false flag.
Sorry for the false flag.
Oh wow thanks for checking, that's helpful to know.
I should probably restructure things so that one component failing doesn't bring down the whole site if I can...
I should probably restructure things so that one component failing doesn't bring down the whole site if I can...
Yes, you definitely should. Adblockers is just one reason why networks requests don't always go through successfully expected.
I also get a sha512 mismatch on the CF script.
(Degrading gracefully so content is readable even without client-side JS is an even better idea but that obv takes more effort to sort out on an existing SPA)
Looking forward to reading your article but my reverse-engineering stops here for now (:
I also get a sha512 mismatch on the CF script.
(Degrading gracefully so content is readable even without client-side JS is an even better idea but that obv takes more effort to sort out on an existing SPA)
Looking forward to reading your article but my reverse-engineering stops here for now (:
Yeah, I still get a blank page. (I hope you don't expect us to disable uBlock Origin to see some social media buttons because that's never happening!).
I'm on Windows, blank page with Firefox and uBlock origin. Works fine on Ms Edge (no ad blocker).
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Doesn't load in Safari for me with ad blockers.
Interesting, can you let me know which ad blocker so I can try to reproduce?
I think it's the same social media filters that did it. For reference, I'm using AdGuard on iOS and have the social media button filters on.
Same issue, looks like some uBlock Origin filter list is blocking it.
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Japan has the highest income tax bracket, horrible working culture (confucian hierarchy, ijime, overtime expected to be norm), no mental health support and to top it off a non-competitive corporate taxation.
All of my native Japanese engineers who can speak modicum of English is leaving it to work abroad. I know many startups and companies have pulled out due to the inflexibility of the government (you need to be profitable with your highly failure prone venture by year 2 or you are booted from the country).
I don't know why any sane person would want to work and pay taxes there. Hell, even Japanese don't want it. Japan had 30+ years to recover from its economic slump and I don't see it improving anytime soon.
On the other hand, great place to visit, and on a different type of civilized citizens that you is tough to find in most Western countries these days.
All of my native Japanese engineers who can speak modicum of English is leaving it to work abroad. I know many startups and companies have pulled out due to the inflexibility of the government (you need to be profitable with your highly failure prone venture by year 2 or you are booted from the country).
I don't know why any sane person would want to work and pay taxes there. Hell, even Japanese don't want it. Japan had 30+ years to recover from its economic slump and I don't see it improving anytime soon.
On the other hand, great place to visit, and on a different type of civilized citizens that you is tough to find in most Western countries these days.
[deleted]
[deleted]
Something that resonated:
> We had to put 5 million JPY (~$45k at the time) in our business bank account and leave it there. For... some reason.
Living in Asia I've come across this bizarre government obsession with "money in the bank" when dealing with them:
"You need $15k in a bank account to apply"
"Ok well I have 20x that in an index ETF and it's been sitting there for a decade is that fine?"
"No you need to put that much in a bank account and leave it there for 6 months to qualify"
"What happens after the six months? I can simply take it out again?"
"Yes, that is acceptable"
[Confused Face]
No one seems to know why the rules exist, but everyone is certain there's a good reason for it.