Yen & Zen is written by a Spanish-Japanese couple living in Kanagawa Prefecture, in the Tokyo metropolitan area. We have been in Japan since 2010.
The project came out of a simple observation: practical information about Japan is scattered across official sites in Japanese (hard to access for most foreigners), personal blogs with outdated data, and commercial aggregators that often prioritize affiliate income over honesty. There was no place that gave the real numbers, the verified figures, and the clear explanations — for both tourists coming in for a few days and foreign residents trying to file their taxes or understand a visa.
We build the calculators and articles from real problems we and our friends have run into. Each calculator is based on the official rules in force (Japanese National Tax Agency, Ministry of Justice, JR Central, etc.), and each article cites its sources. When we make a recommendation based on personal experience, we say so explicitly.
The site is bilingual in English and Spanish. We plan to add Japanese later, when the content has grown enough to justify the translation work.
We focus on practical information with verified figures and no editorial filler. We do not publish sponsored content, we have no affiliate links at this time, and ads (when they arrive) will be clearly identified as such.
Yen & Zen is a hobby project, not a full-time business. That keeps us free to write what we actually believe rather than what generates the most clicks.
If you spot an error in a calculator, a figure that doesn't add up, or an opportunity for improvement, get in touch through the contact page. Reader corrections are the fastest way to keep the site reliable.