Best Way to Find Housing in Japan for Vacation

There are two main options for apartments. Either your employer provides 1 (and possibly pays for information technology), or you accept to find ane.

For nigh teachers in Nihon you'll end upwardly with the beginning option (your employer won't pay for it, but it will be subsidized). That'due south because there are a whole bunch of problems with finding an flat in Nihon every bit a foreigner.

If you're just interested in the process of being given an apartment or finding i you tin use the contents to skip forwards, just it'southward useful to wait at the large differences betwixt Japanese apartments and what y'all're used to back domicile.

3 differences between Japanese and Western Apartments

1. Size

They're pocket-sized. Japan is a modest country with a lot of people. As a result the apartments end upwards being a lot smaller than you're used to back home.

As a teacher coming here for the first time your apartment is likely to be vi – 12 tatami in size.

What's Tatami?

Tatami (or Jo), is the measurement system used for near Japanese apartments, based on the size of a tatami mat (a traditional Japanese floor mat).

A tatami mat is approximately 18sqft (6 ten three). And so the average apartment size for a instructor who's just starting out volition be 108sqft – 216sqft.

Wondering how big that is? It's pretty damn small. Aeon take a diagram of how a 6 tatami apartment volition expect, it'south pretty much a single room and a bathroom. The 12 tatami flat is obviously bigger but it's withal pretty tiny, ordinarily the extra infinite is used to put the kitchen in another room. Yous can come across a layout here. (It'due south the 1K apartment, the kitchen is marked with a K, the largest area with a half dozen in it is your combined living room chamber expanse).

2. Deviation in apartment furnishings

When you rent a typical Japanese flat, you lot get a completely empty space. That means completely unfurnished, no washing machine, no cooker, no zippo.

Hopefully your school will have filled it upwards (unless you're going at it alone, we'll deal with that in a bit), but still don't go expecting the world. Aside from the common items listed below, you're unlikely to get much else and as y'all'll find some of the items are not what you'd get in a western apartment:

• Small gas hob (one or two burners, non a western oven)
• Air conditioning unit
• Heater unit of measurement
• Basic cooking utensils
• Fridge
• Idiot box
• Tabular array
• Possibly a bookshelf

You lot may have noticed I didn't say bed. That'south because you won't have 1. Instead you'll have a futon, a traditional Japanese mode mattress that you'll roll out in the evening to sleep on. It'll be swell for your back. Your main living room is likely to double equally the bedroom.

You'll too unremarkably take a very minor balcony, which is a expert place to dry out dress.

3. Upfront Money

Along with rent, Japanese apartments are notorious for having pretty monstrous upfront fees. The common ones are:

• Cardinal money: This is a gift to your landlord and information technology's non-refundable, usually 1 or two months rent.
• Deposit: The same as a eolith back domicile, a couple of months rent.
• Agency Fee: A fee to the agency for helping you observe the apartment, usually a months hire.

Put this all together and you can cease up dropping iv - six months rent when you offset motility in, virtually of which you won't get back.

The usual solution to this trouble is for your employer to provide you the money at the starting time and and then take information technology out over a couple of months paychecks. That's because about teachers won't take that sort of money floating well-nigh to spend when they make it. If your employer is providing you with the house then you'll unremarkably simply deal with them and non the landlord.

As a teacher mentions in one of our perspective series, this is fine with a good company, but a problem with a bad company. Yous're less probable to get the money back if you split badly and at that place's often little you tin can do about this.

Being Given an Apartment

Beingness given an apartment is good because it saves y'all from the pain of having to find one yourself. You'll avert many of the common bug you can run into with renting an apartment in Japan. (Take a expect at the finding an flat sections, and then express mirth considering yous don't take to deal with information technology).

The normal wisdom with beingness given an apartment applies, get equally many pictures equally possible and ask plenty of questions beforehand. If y'all get options information technology'll help you selection the all-time one and if you lot don't accept options, well at to the lowest degree you'll know what you're going into before you jump on a plane.

Questions to ask

• What size is the apartment? (Wondering nearly Tatami mats or Jo? Take a expect at indicate 1.)
• What is the apartment fabricated of? (Wood, or physical and more modern materials. Every bit y'all might imagine the 2nd blocks out sound a lot better)
• Is it furnished?
• If it'southward non, will they exist able to provide whatever pieces? Can you lot buy it off the previous tenant?
• If information technology is, tin you get an inventory of the furnishings? (Encounter point ii, this'll exist quite small)
• How much are the rent and utilities?
• Find out how much the upfront cost is, it'll probably be coming out of your bacon for a couple of months. (See point 3.)
• How long is the commute time?
• How close is it to train lines and primary roads? Japanese apartments are not the most soundproof and living next to a train line will exist a very loud feel.
• Which way does the apartment bespeak? Pointing towards the lord's day volition accept a big touch on the temperature in the summer and winter.

The most important thing as always is to get pictures and to enquire all these questions before you leave. Y'all need to know you'll be comfy living there and possibly get things solved earlier arriving.

We'll split finding an apartment into four sections:

1. Finding an Apartment: What to practice when you first arrive?
2. Finding an Apartment in Japan: Hunting for a identify
3. Finding an apartment: Signing the contract
4. Finding an apartment: Finishing Up

Finding an Flat: Where practice you stay when you lot first get in?

When you first arrive a good option to take the stress off the search, is to stay in a guesthouse (also called gaijin houses).

They're aimed at foreigners newly arriving in Nihon and provide cheap curt to medium term housing.They typically accept monthly contracts and are either shared or private apartments.

Although they're small and bones, they're a very practiced fashion to take the stress off the apartment search and avoid racking upwardly a giant hotel or hostel bill.

Sites like Sakura Business firm are a good place to start looking.

Finding an Flat in Japan: Hunting for a place

The best mode to observe an apartment is through a real estate agency a lot like you might do dorsum domicile.

And equally with existent estate agencies dorsum home the all-time way to find a skilful one is personal recommendation, and so it'southward well worth googling around your expanse and seeing if you tin can find a couple who've got good reviews.

If you're in a larger metropolis, particularly Tokyo you might exist able to find real estate agents who'll focus on the expat community. These'll help with the bug that foreigners tin run into trying to rent apartments in Japan (which nosotros'll come to in a minute).

In order to save fourth dimension when you lot get there and brand sure you lot're looking at the right apartments, it's a practiced idea to check out the listings online before you go and if yous can, print them out and bring them with you (because you'd be doing this on your first visit anyway).

It'due south at this point you'll brainstorm running into bug.

Bated: Very few apartments in Japan allow pets. If you're thinking of coming over with 1 it'll brand your apartment search a lot harder.

Trouble one: 2 Year Leases

Most leases in Japan are for 2 years. For many people this is going to be a problem, because you don't know if you'll be staying for two years. Schools patently circumvent this problem, they can hire out an flat on a multiple year contract and and then re-use it as teachers come and get.

Solving it: Common solutions to this include temporary housing companies and solutions aimed at expats like, LeoPalace21, All-time Estate JP or Minimimi. Finding a skillful real estate agent who's used to working with expats is too invaluable.

Problem 2: The linguistic communication and civilization barrier

Well-nigh Japanese landlords only speak Japanese and even though in Japan difficulties are usually dealt with through your real manor amanuensis, the worry nigh having a tenant who can't speak your language is all the same very potent.

The culture gap between a Japanese landlord and foreign tenant as well tends to be filled with bad stereotypes about westerners, that they're noisy, dangerous, unable to deal with the Japanese trash system and so on.

Put it all together and Japanese landlords will often not desire to hire to foreigners.

Solving it: Same as above, using temporary housing companies or ones aimed at expats are going to filter your options downwardly to those who'll take foreigners.

And again getting an estate agent who'south knowledgeable and skilled enough to be able to find some apartments who'll take foreigners is incredibly useful.

2 things to you can do to help your estate agent discover them:

1. In one case you've put together an apartment shortlist (either from website listings or with the estate agent), brand sure the estate agent then checks all of them to run into if they'll take gaijin. (Sounds obvious merely sometimes it doesn't happen.)
2. Give your estate agent every bit many arguments as possible to convince the landlord to take you. Usually this ways Japanese connections then: Japanese language ability, Japanese other half, respected Japanese employer etc. The estate amanuensis is plain on your side (they get commission), but they'll need to exist able to convince the landlord.

Hopefully you manage to detect a couple which adapt you and now can go and view them.

As you lot're viewing the apartments, you'll get a chance to spot anything you don't similar or missed in the pictures (dissimilar those who are given their own apartments). For example, one thing that you tin't check from pictures is the insulation. Tin can you experience drafts by the windows and doors when they're closed? Japanese winters are common cold. And how loud is the apartment, could y'all sleep there?

Finding an apartment: Signing the contract

When it comes to signing the contract, you lot'll now run into the next ii set of issues:

Trouble 3: The upfront money

This problem is described in this department here already.

Solving it: The usual solution to this problem is for your employer to provide the money at the beginning and then take back over a couple of months paychecks.

If you're going with housing aimed at expats then you may detect the key money can be lower or non-existent. (However if yous practice notice a belongings without key money, generally the price has been made upward elsewhere.)

Problem 4: A Japanese Guarantor

Most Japanese apartments require a guarantor. Specifically a Japanese guarantor without a criminal tape. This is the person who'll be responsible if you suddenly have off, finish paying hire etc.

If y'all've just arrived in the country, it's often a problem considering you don't know someone who can take on this serious delivery for you.

Solving it:

• Your employer can serve as your guarantor. As we mentioned above, this is fine with a good company, terrible with a bad i. If you lose your task you'll usually lose your guarantor and your housing. (Having said that, if you accept housing through your schoolhouse, this is the norm).
• Got any close Japanese friends, other half, or family? Fourth dimension to go enquire very very nicely.
• If you're in expat specific housing or temporary housing then occasionally information technology can be skipped in render for a one time fee.
• There are companies who'll serve as guarantors in return for a fee.

Bright, if you lot've managed to sort out all of that, you've got yourself an apartment.

Finding an apartment: Finishing up

Ii final things. Start the expert news, when things go wrong your real manor agent volition act as an in-betwixt for you and landlord and assist go problems sorted, especially at the beginning. Secondly the bad news. Furnishings.

Problem 5: Furnishings.

You might have been lucky enough to go a furnished flat, places targeted at expats might come furnished, in which case move on. However if you haven't then yous'll demand to get your brand new empty apartment a set of furnishings.

As y'all might remember from the first department, most Japanese apartments come unfurnished and not just empty, but completely bare without fifty-fifty basic appliances. So how exercise nosotros start hunting down information technology all?

Solving it: Can you purchase anything from the previous tenant? If it's another teacher, perhaps heading home subsequently didactics for a yr or ii at that place's a skilful take a chance they don't want to take their furniture home. But suppose that's not an pick or it doesn't get you lot everything. What side by side?

Well your employer may too be able to provide you with some basics, it's well worth checking to see if they have anything lying about from previous teachers. What else?

The guaranteed solution is to either rent a set of furnishings or buy them. IKEA has made it to Nippon, Craigslist remains a nifty way to hunt down bargains and there are a number of rental companies or who'll rent you a whole gear up of furniture for a yr.

Finally Apartment Images

To give you an idea of what your flat might expect like here are a collection of blog posts and videos which show teacher'due south apartments.

liningertheming.blogspot.com

Source: https://teflsearch.com/knowledgebase/japan/housing

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