Ah, that's unfortunate. The other thing that drives me crazy is the fact that no one will give me a credit card here. I understand that I have no credit history

Ah, that's unfortunate. The other thing that drives me crazy is the fact that no one will give me a credit card here. I understand that I have no credit history in Japan, but can't they at least give me a crappy ~$500 limit card to start with or something? I've applied to probably 10-15 cards and have been rejected every time. My theory on why a lot of these things happen is that the companies or establishments have been burned by foreigners too many times in the past. For example, SoftBank does a background check when you try to open a cell phone plan with them. They don't tell you what they're checking, but if you fail the check, you have to pay for the phone up front instead of paying monthly. I'm guessing a lot of people came here for half a year or a year, opened up the contract, then left the country without paying. I've also heard that getting an apartment is quite tough as well, but I had no trouble going through an agent and I got my first choice. You have to pay an exorbitant amount of money to move in (guarantor fee, key money, first month's rent, agency fee) but that's not really a foreigner-only thing. If I had known someone in Japan who would have been willing to pay my last month's rent if I flew back home without mentioning anything, then I wouldn't have needed the guarantor service.