Rent. Jail.

I have -really- started to look for an apartment now.

I gotta move! I can't go on living with my host family forever. I have to move on! I have to spread my wings! I have to be free!

Not that my host family is bad, they're great! But what is a grown man (okay... so I'm only 23.) doing still living with a family? Eating their food... Having his laundry done... Being introduced to people... Having to only pay 50,000 yen a month for rent... Geh. I need to stop talking.

Anyway.

Japanese apartments usually look like this.

Just kidding. This is a restaurant in Shibuya called Lock Up. You should go there, monsters run around while you are eating. It is in other places in Japan too.

As you may have heard, renting in Japan is not easy. First off you need a guarantor (保証人). In my case, my company will hook me up. Then, you need to pay something like 6 months rent up front, never to return, when you first rent an apartment.

These apartments don't come with jack. They usually have an air conditioner/heater.... a toilet... and a stove... but that's it. Everything else you have to buy.

Not only that but they are small...

Usually the bathroom and shower are together, or you can get them separate. The kitchens are ultra small, and usually there is some guy in the living/bed/study room playing on the computer all day.

Another option is a Monthly Mansion. Smaller, for about twice the price. They do not include all of the shikikin, reikin, and finders fee that the regular previously mentioned chintai' regular apartments do though.

Also monthly mansions usually include everything, all the way down to a television. However, they are freaking expensive. An average apartment in Tokyo should cost you about US 800 a month if you look. A monthly mansion should cost about US 1200 or something a month. Not including electricity and all of that.

Anyway. There are some links to help you look for a place to live over here. Check it out.

MiniMini was very helpful for me when I went to their office. Also Hello-Monthly is a good place for monthly mansions.

Good luck!

Posted by Harvey at September 25, 2002 09:28 AM