Job Discussion Forums

[lam]

WWA, it cost them 50,000 yen a month for that shabby place..

[johanne]

Lam,

Yokohama and Kawasaki are not that far apart. The main Yokohama station and the main Kawasaki station are only 10 minutes apart on the Tokaido line. I'm not sure exactly where your respective NOVA accomodation train stations are, but more than likely the 3 of you could find a place together for less than 180,000 yen that NOVA will be charging you in total with everyone being able to communte in less than an hour. When I lived in Yokohama my commute was 50-60 minutes and I didn't find it too bad.

Even if you don't seak Japanese, there are quite a few real estate companies in Yokohama that are used to dealing with foreigners, especially in the Motomachi/Yamate neighbour (4 stops on the Negishi line from Yokohama station), where there are 2 international schools. Those are fairly pricey neighbourhoods, but they should be able to help you learn the ropes about apartment hunting in Japan and they probably have connections with realtors in other neighbourhoods.. One thing you do need though is a Japanese guarantor. I'm not sure if NOVA will do this for non-NOVA accomodation.

Good luck

[lam]

Thanks for your advice Johanne, much appreciated. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can find a nice place once we arrive...
Only 9 days to go.. we are soo excited..