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Do I need to be able to write in Japanese?
honestly for a CS master in Tokyo you can prob get away with minimal kanji writing. most of my friends in science/engineering programs type everything anyway and laptops are fine in lectures. the real pain point is gonna be things like 手続き forms and 履修登録 at the uni office where you gotta fill stuff out by hand but even then you can just ask for help or use furigana if they let you
the bigger issue is reading kanji on lecture slides and exam questions cause they wont always have furigana. if your reading is solid at N2 level you'll manage but writing is rarely tested directly in CS classes. worst case u just type hiragana and convert on your phone when u need to fill something out
tbh you can prob get away with not writing kanji for a lot of things, but it depends on the uni. some profs will handwrite stuff on the board and if u can't read it u're kinda stuck. for computer science in particular a lot of the lecture materials might be in english or have english slides, but assignments and exams are another story. i've seen friends at todai and waseda where they straight up required handwritten answers in japanese for certain classes. if u can type kanji and read it that's usually enough for daily life, but for a master's program they might expect u to write by hand during exams or when filling out forms. imo focus on learning to read kanji first and practice writing the most common ones for your field, like 計算機 or アルゴリズム.
i think people are overcomplicating this. for a cs master, 90% of your writing will be on a keyboard. the real issue isn't exams or forms, it's reading handwritten feedback from your advisor. some older profs at places like chuo or meiji still write comments in a mix of kanji and cursive that's hard even for native speakers. if you can't read it, you'll miss important corrections on your thesis draft
one specific thing: the 研究ノート (research notebook) requirement varies a lot by lab. some labs at waseda's cs department use digital notebooks now, but others require a physical A4 notebook with handwritten entries. i'd email your potential lab directly and ask before you commit. they'll tell you straight up if handwriting matters
for the kanji you actually need, skip the jōyō list and focus on 200-300 that show up in academic settings. 考察, 実験, 結果, 考察 are everywhere. also learn the katakana for english loanwords in cs because your classmates will use them in handwritten notes (システム, プログラム, アルゴリズム). that alone covers most whiteboard scenarios
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.