Apartment Hunting as a student in Japan
January 12, 2008
Even though a friend had given me more than enough information to get a head start on the housing situation in Tokyo, I somehow found myself among those scrambling for housing, since I did not want to sign a lease without having seen the place first. After spending all day Thursday at City Hall registering as alien residents (top right, a temple in front of Mita City Hall. Tokyo Tower peeks out above the roof), we decided it was time to start the house hunt.
The Options
Shared apartment with a roommate (my buddy John), solo apartment, or a room in a gaijin house (GH) .
In a GH, you have your own private room with a lock on the door, but you share a common area, common bathroom, and common kitchen. The utilities are included in the rent, and it is typically cheaper because you are sharing accommodations. For a solo apartment, short term stay presents a different price range from the regular Tokyo citizen looking to rent. In Japan, there can be many types of upfront payments upon move-in: key money, first month, last month, and a deposit, plus a one or two year leasing agreement. However, for short-term (under a year maybe?) there are a places that require less money upfront. Our school was nice enough to have a few leasing agencies come speak at orientation to give us a better idea of our options, prices, and what the accommodations include. And two bedroom apartments in short-term seem pretty nonexistent - maybe only because John and I want to spend less than JPY 200,000 per month?
We made our way through Shinjuku station, miraculously only stopping at one amazing-smelling bakery (top left). John and Christine got some reportedly delicious confections to tide them over, as we struggled on our first subway trips (so far we've been sticking to the JR, or Japan Railroad, line).
We gave up on two-bedrooms pretty early,
and the GH I saw involved too many people sharing one bathroom. This is true, even though I shared a pretty dingy house in college with about eleven guys (does this look familiar, Barnard people?), but at least I didn't have the bathroom that was constantly clogged with the body hair of a certain upstairs roommate whom shall remained unnamed (ahem, Timmy).
John and I spent the entire day being driven around by our leasing agent Tommy (top center), looking at apartments in my original budget (JPY 80,000) and John's range, which was significantly higher. In the states, nearly $800/month could get you a pretty decent apartment for one. In Japan, it gave me the option of a place in a pretty, quaint town called Hiro-o. But, since housing is traditionally more modest than American housing as it is, you end up with about 11 square meters at best. The "kitchen" was one stove range and a sink, the bathroom is standard (i.e., tight) and then you have a twin bed. What you don't have: a closet, a living or dining space, utilities are not included, and there is definitely not even enough room to have a guest in a sleeping bag on the floor beside you.
The AnswerWhile the 10 square meters would have been fine as far as the bare necessities of living go, and would allow me more money to save, spend on activities in Japan, or shop in expensive Japanese boutiques, I thought about the many depressing, quiet, often scary nights I spent in my East Falls apartment with no one to save me from loneliness or the more-than-occasional water bug.
After a sleepless night weighing money and quality of life, I upgraded to an A2 model in my fellow classmates' building where I will be near friends, have a laundry machine, a bigger "kitchen" (2 stove ranges), room for visitors (like you, perhaps?) in the 23 square meters, internet, heat, a bigger bathroom, and - most importantly - FOX television in English to watch Sunday night cartoons. The price? Well, it's worth it to me, no matter how long it will take to pay it off.
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