Job Discussion Forums

[Rooster_2006]

I'm curious about gaijin houses. You see, I'm somewhat averse to handing a wad of money to my richer-than-me landlord as a "gift." I've heard you don't need to do this at gaijin houses. Is this true? I've also had plenty of experience with overly picky Asian landlords who hold me to an Asian standard with regard to how quiet I'll be and how much electricity I'll use. A few dropped kitchen utensils at 2:00 AM, and leaving the lights on one two many times, and they (either the landlord or the princess next door) sometimes flip out, at least in Korea where I'm currently living.

How much is a gaijin house per month, on average, in Tokyo? How about in Hokkaido? Got any monthly prices for gaijin houses elsewhere? I'm just looking to rent one room. A shared bathroom is fine. Any info? Thanks.

[Apsara]

It depends where in Tokyo, but a room in a gaijin house/ guest house is typically 50,000- 80,000 yen per month. I stayed at two gaijin houses early in my Japan stay, and paid 20,000 yen deposit, which I got back when I left, at each of them.

The main problem with both for me is that the common areas weren't cleaned regularly and all you need is two or three people who won't wash their own dishes or clean up food scraps and it can get dire after a while. Some are better looked after I believe.

There is usually quite a mix of people, which included at least 1 or 2 outright weirdos at both places I stayed at. I remember at least one of the guests being arrested for some reason at the Tokyo guest house I stayed at.

There are usually restrictions on how noisy you can be- I would have thought that this was reasonable when living in close quarters with people who may have a different schedule to you and be trying to sleep etc.

I never had any issues with electricity usage during my stays.

[Rooster_2006]

[Apsara]

The first guest house I stayed at the kitchen was a separate building from the rooms and it was locked at midnight. In the second we could use the kitchen any time we wanted. Each place will have its own quirks.

[melonpie]

I stayed at a gaijin house once in Japan, it was an okay stay but as mentioned, the common areas were pretty dirty and poorly maintained. Although I'm not so informed about Hokkaido, there are quite a few decent gaijin houses around Tokyo and surrounding areas, but if you're on a strict budget, you may want to check out gaijin houses in surrounding areas. My friends who stayed at gaijin houses never had trouble with electricity or noise and things like that. People in the gaijin house that I was in before were really cool people, except for one Korean woman who drove me a little nuts sometimes hehe, but other than that it was just fine. And most of the people there stayed up really late at night anyways :]
If you don't mind the commuting, you could check out some guest houses in Saitama etc. My friend found a decent looking guest house in Warabi, Saitama for about 46000 yen, including utilities. It was a private room, and you had to share the kitchen, bathroom facilities. Warabi is about 30-40 minutes to cities like Shibuya and Shinjuku. (I lived there when I first moved to Japan at a friend's house In Warabi, Saitama that is )

But if you're not on a so tight of a budget, you could also try living in a Mansion, not sure if they use this term in Korean, but it's not the kind of mansion we know of in the western world It's basically a high rise apartment complex (or not so high rise lol) with walls re-enforced with concrete so that sound doesn't travel through so easily. I live in a mansion in Tachikawa and I've never had anyone complain to me about playing music all through the night or having my lights on during the night. Everyone generally keeps to him/herself with an occasional "Hello" if you see someone. It's very private. I suggest staying away from older "apaato" complexes, because they are usually built with thin walls and sound travels easily in those. I lived in one in Komae, and I could hear TVs running next door, phone conversations, everything basically.

Also if you live out in the country (as I see you have interest in doing, as you mentioned Hokkaido) people tend to be a little more nosier out there, and it could be a very bad thing as well as a very good thing. They will look out for you and let you know if they see strange people coming to your house late at night (The little old lady next door to me did this for me when I lived in Saitama) but if you leave your lights on overnight, they will let you know that maybe, you should turn them off. They're very polite when they tell you (usually) hehe. But you can just say you have horrible night terrors and need the lights on in that case hehe

So basically, if you're worried about privacy issues, get a place with thick walls, preferrably concrete if you're looking to rent your own place.
If you want to stay in a gaijin house, you can rent your own private room. And check to see if the common rooms are in an area far away enough to not disturb your neighbors. I doubt it would be a problem though.

Also, there are apartments available that don't require gift money or key money. My apartment in Tachikawa now was like this, I only had to pay a deposit fee equivalent to one month's rent and fire insurance fees (around 8000 yen). They are a rare lot, but they do exist :]



Ookay, sorry it was so much information, but I've moved a million times in Tokyo within a time frame of 1 year and 7 months so I've been around the block and back hehe. Hope this information helps you out :]

sorry little edit:
Also, if you're willing to spend a little more although I have seen some cheap ones here and there, you could also try looking for ikkodate, which is basically a stand alone apartment/house. I've seen some run for 60000-80000 yen, like 2DKs and what not, but they were a little bit far from the main cities - about 30-50 minutes out (in Tokyo).

Alrighty hope this helps :]

[Rooster_2006]

[Miyazaki]

[Sweetsee]

Don't know about now, but a few years ago you could get a room for 60,000 yen a month and share one for half of that in Tokyo.
Enjoy,
s

[Rooster_2006]

Well, thanks for the further help. That 60,000 that you just mentioned includes utilities, right? Oh, and one more question:
Let's say a job advertises a salary of 250,000 yen. If I work that job, is that what I take home, or is that my pre-tax, pre-insurance amount? If my salary is 250,000 yen on paper, after taxes and the required insurance, how much will I be making before other expenses like rent and food? If it's important, I have an American passport (I think it's important for tax treaties or something).

[Apsara]

That will be before tax. Income tax is usually 5% on a full working visa.

In your first year you will pay almost nothing for health insurance if you go on National Health, but that will go up from the second year. Also from the second year you start paying ward/ city tax of around 8%, but in many cases that is paid separately so won't be deducted from your pay.

[ghostrider]

It depends with Sakura. They have some pretty sweet guest houses, and some that are over crowded and dirty. Just have a good luck at it in person before you put money down. All of the companies will use deceptive photography to make the place look nicer than it is. I live in a Sakura House (semi-apartment) now. I am not sure any company is better for the price.

[Rooster_2006]

Thanks, Apsara and ghostrider. I checked on Sakura, and it turns out that if you're on an ultra-budget, you can rent a bed only (in a dorm) from them for 39,000 yen a month! Sweet!