Live the life in Tokyo while pursuing your dreams of e-sports glory.
In Japan, every apartment building has a name, but that name may or may not actually be very representative of the living space. For example, the incredibly cramped bachelor bunker I used to live in was called “Villa,” and a friend of mine spent a year in a building called “Pegasus Mansion,” yet never saw so much as a single flying horse.
So when you hear that a shared house in Tokyo looking for tenants is called “Gaming House,” you might think it’s just another example of Japan’s penchant for tossing random English words around to sound cool. But nope, Gaming House is exactly what it says it is: a shared house specifically for people who’re looking to become professional e-sports competitors.
While semi-furnished apartments aren’t all that uncommon in Japan, Gaming house goes above and beyond to satisfy its target market. In addition to already being outfitted with premium Nuro Hikari Internet service (as a countermeasure against lag and lost connections during online gaming), Gaming House is furnished with gaming PCs, monitors, and gaming chairs. More mundane, yet still appreciated, amenities include a shared kitchen with multiple microwaves, rice cookers, kitchen supplies, washing machines, dryers, and a shared shower and dining space.
▼ Extra sinks for shorter waits to brush your teeth or shave
Private bedrooms each come with their own bed, compact refrigerator, electric hot water kettle, and clothes hanging rack.
e’sPRO, the company that manages Gaming House, actually has three pro gamer-oriented share houses, all located in the Tokyo suburb of Tamagawa Gakuen, which is connected to downtown via the Odakyu Odawara Line, with the ride into the bustling Shinjuku neighborhood taking just about 35 minutes.
Later this month, e’sPRO will be holding an open house for prospective residents, with reservations available online here for February 23 and 24. Rent is expected to be around 100,000 yen (US$900) monthly, but at least there’s no key money required.
Sources: 4Gamer, PR Times, e’sPRO
Images: PR Times
Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s surprised there’s no anime series about a zany pro gamer share house where the main character’s lifestyle gets upended when first his little sister, and then the childhood friend he has a crush on move in, since the script practically writs itself.