apartments
Architectural landmark is in a fantastic location from which to immerse yourself in the Tokyo lifestyle while seeing the city’s sights.
And even if the owner won’t budge on the rent, you can still negotiate for some concessions that could save you a ton of cash.
Golgo 13 has spent his life putting bullets in people, and now you can put your life in him.
Tokyo’s much-ballyhooed Kichijoji only makes it to number-three, while an outsider with easy access to Tokyo takes the top spot.
In Japan, it’s all about finding an apartment that’s close to the station, and they don’t get any closer than this one outside downtown Tokyo.
While they might look appealing to visitors, according to residents, these suburbs can be hell to live in.
This expat shows us why she loves her 8 square-metre (86 square-foot) living space in Japan’s crowded capital.
If you love anime and you’re looking for affordable housing in Tokyo, your search may be over.
Seeing as how the entire English-language RocketNews24 team is composed of people who at some point moved to Japan, we’re pretty big proponents of living here. One unpleasant part of the package, though, it that since you can’t claim the whole country as your residence, living in Japan means finding an apartment in Japan, which is generally agreed upon as one of the least enjoyable parts of the expat experience.
Why? For the following four reasons.
There’s a huge variety of fees that need to be paid when renting a new apartment in Japan. In addition to an advance payment of your first month’s rent, there’s insurance, the security deposit, the realtor’s fee, and the dreaded “key money,” basically a sign-up cost that you pay to the landlord for the privilege of being allowed to start giving him money on a monthly basis.
Add it all up, and you’ll probably find yourself out several months’ worth of rent before spending the first night in your new home. But there’s a nice upside if you chose to go through one unique realtor, because while you’ll still have some fees to pay, you’ll also get a nice housewarming present in the form of several hundred dollars’ worth of anime merchandise.
When hunting for an apartment in the Tokyo area, it’s important to keep in mind what you’re really looking for in a living space. Housing is expensive in general in Japan, and that goes double for the neighborhoods in and around its biggest city, so after picking out a few features or aspects you have to have, it’s best to be willing to compromise on other factors.
For example, you might have your heart set on a corner room, but don’t mind tatami reed floors. Maybe you can deal with having a wall-mounted water heater if your living room gets a lot of natural light. Or perhaps being less than a 15-minute train ride from downtown Tokyo will instantly seal the deal, even if the trade-off is that the apartment’s bathroom doesn’t have any walls.
Tokyo is a big place, both in terms of population and area, and if you’re moving here from anywhere else, you might be at a bit of a loss in terms of where to look for an apartment. Obviously, a large part of that decisions is up to personal preference, but we do happen to have some advice for areas to look at if this will be your first time living alone!
These five areas were selected by a local real estate agent, so you know they must be good, right?
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