Housing

One of the first things you want to start on before you go to Japan is housing. You might be lucky enough to find a job which provides housing, but in most cases you will have to secure it yourself. If you have no one willing to put you up, there are two basic possibilities: gaijin houses (dormitories which specifically rent out rooms to foreigners) or apartments. If you are living in the countryside, there will not be gaijin houses, so it will probably have to be an apartment. (Public housing is also a possibility, but I don't know how great a one it is; check with your local city or prefecture for details.)

Unfortunately, there are three major down sides to apartments: first, most landlords will not rent to foreigners; second, most landlords require you to have a sponsor and sometimes schools will not do so for you, and third, you have to pay a lot of "key money" in advance, which can be equivalent to up to 6 months' rent (half of which is either gift money or a commission for the agent, neither being refundable). Most people do not come to Japan with that much money. Therefore, if you get a job in the countryside, you should ask the school hiring you to help out; they should be doing so already, but some schools may just leave it up to you.

KEY MONEY -- Key Money consists of four things: 1. 1 month's advance rent, 2. commission for real estate agent, or "tesuu-ryo" (equal to one month's rent), 3. deposit, or "shiki-kin" (equal to up to two months' rent), and 4. so-called 'gift money,' or "rei-kin" (equal to up to two months' rent). Some apartments may be offered with half or none of the deposit or gift money listed above, depending on how difficult it is to rent the place. Count on paying the equivalent of at least 4 month's rent before you walk in the door, though. Also, be aware that leases are for two years, after which you will often be asked to cough up another month's worth of gift money if you want to stay on; this can be negotiated, though.

In big cities, however, you have more options. Where there are a large number of foreign residents, there will usually be housing services to suit your needs. In Tokyo, for example, Kimi Information provides a housing service that offers apartments with no key money; instead, the rent is slightly higher so that the difference is made up over a few years. This can be a lifesaver if you come to Japan with limited funds. If you come to Japan with even less money, or don't want to pin yourself down to a certain location before you find a job, you might want to stay at a "gaijin house." "Gaijin," of course, means foreigner. A gaijin house is a kind of dormitory that caters specifically for foreigners, many of whom tend to be English teachers. For perhaps a third or even a forth what you might pay for apartment rent, you can share a room in a gaijin house; for a bit more, you can often get private rooms. Some people stay in these houses permanently, rather than pay the full amount for an apartment. The down side to this is that you are always surrounded by non-Japanese, which can help isolate you from Japanese society and culture outside, especially if you spend all day teaching English in the company of other non-Japanese teachers.

If you look for an apartment, there are several points you should keep in mind:

Rent
This depends completely on where you will live. In a metropolis, expect to pay about 70,000 yen a month for a standard 1-room apartment (unless you get lucky, or decide to live way outside the city). The smaller the city, the lower the prices tend to be.

Size
Japanese rooms are measured by "tatami" (woven thatch flooring); each tatami mat is 6 feet by 3 feet. A standard room is 6 mats, or 9 feet by 12 feet (pictured at the top of this page). Some rooms can be as small as three tatami, others as big as 9 or even 12. Some apartments have no tatami and are carpeted; they are still measured in "tatami," as determined by square footage. If you're looking for an apartment for one person, you should accept a 1-room apartment with a small kitchen, a bath and a toilet (bath and toilet are sometimes in separate rooms). Studios are also available for relatively low cost.

Location
If you're lucky, you can find something within walking distance of your school. Just as often (if not more often), you'll have to take a train into work. There are lots of trains in Japan; you will probably have at least a few choices of train lines, with lots of stations on each. The real estate agent will tell you how far your apartment is from the train station; don't trust this, as it's usually understated. Scout out the station where your desired apartment is located; time the walk yourself. Make sure there is a supermarket and/or convenience store nearby. If possible, try to visit at night as well so you can judge neighborhood sound levels. Zoning is not usually observed in Japan, and you might find a small factory or truck loading area on the other side of the block. If there is a major road nearby, you might be bothered not just by regular traffic but by "bosozoku" as well.

BOSOZOKU -- Bosozoku are young delinquents, yakuza wanna-be's on motorcycles and scooters. They will repeatedly ride up and down main roads and avenues for hours after midnight, constantly and noisily revving their engines--made worse by adjustments to their mufflers, intended to make the bikes as loud as possible. For some reason, police do little to stop them except in the rare cases where they become violent or congregate into groups numbering as many as 100.

Age and Condition
Keep in mind the quality of the room you'll be getting. I once got a place that seemed OK at first, but later turned out to be a virtual sieve, with cockroaches running all about. Try to get a place no older than 10 years old. If possible, get a room above the ground floor (harder to get; sometimes reserved for women). Avoid concrete block housing; mold is a big problem in Japan, and concrete block housing with no windows (just your front door and a balcony window door) can become unbearable. Think about temperature: it gets hot and muggy in summers, so unless you live far north or in the mountains, you want an air conditioner (trust me on this); winters can be quite cold, so think about how you will heat the place. Strangely, insulation is not widely used in Japan.


Finally, there is the issue of discrimination. If you go to a gaijin house or to a real estate broker that caters to foreigners, you will not have this problem. If for some reason you can't or don't want to use these resources, then you will quickly learn a new phrase in Japanese: "gaijin wa dame" ("foreigners are no good/not acceptable"). You will hear this only about 80 or 90 percent of the time if you're lucky. Your clothing, salary, sponsor, experience living in Japan and Japanese language proficiency will matter very little if at all; when the agent calls the landlord to ask if you can view the apartment, all the landlord has to hear is the word "gaijin," and that will be that. This can be a problem in the countryside if your school does not take care of the apartment for you; however, they usually will do so, or else they will probably send someone along with you to help you out.


If you'd like to see what an apartment in Japan looks like, visit a site set up by my sister-in-law; she and my brother have been living in Japan for almost 10 years now, and have it all pretty organized. Their web site is full of great pictures of life in Japan.



Here is some useful vocabulary for apartments:

apaato apartment
mansion condominiums, Japanese-style; high-quality, sometimes rented
heya room
yachin rent
genkan small area behind front door where shoes are removed
unito-basu "unit bath," small prefab unit containing bath, sink & toilet
ofuro bath, traditional; large, in separate room, with committed heating unit
ea-con / reidanbo air conditioner; sometimes doubles as heater
oyasan landlord / landlady
fudo-san (-ya) real estate agent (shop)



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