Job Discussion Forums

[ruby_silence]

Hello,

I just got info on two apartments in Japan from Interac. The reasonably priced one is 19.87 square meters and the expensive one is slightly larger.

What are some of the smallest apartments you have lived in while in Japan and how did you deal with having such a small living space? I'm assuming I'll have to get pretty creative.

[seklarwia]

My leopalace was 26m squared. It was just like living in uni dorms again (apart from my dorm apartment had a huge shared kitchen dining area for use by the seven of us). But in urban areas, apartments can get scarily small. A friend of mine in Tokyo was living in a shoe box room (not Leopalace) that was only about 12m squared and had her kitchenette (i.e. stove, one cupboard, a tiny sink and a baby fridge) barely a couple of metres from the head of her bed... at least my Leopalace had the kitchen area out in the coridoor.

If you are young or not long out of uni then it shouldn't prove that much of an issue. If you are older or previously owned your own house or much larger apartment, you could find it difficult to adjust.

Take the Leopalace place, then save and move out into a place of your choosing when you are ready. You are under no obligation to live in the Leopalace place provided. I just moved out of mine not 2 weeks ago into a nice 5 year old 2LDK. I was in mine for almost 2 years but that was because I had no idea whether I was going to be working at the same school the 2nd year and didn't want to fork out to move only to find that I had been moved to a new school too far from my new apartment (I don't have a car so that would be a huge problem with our the lack of local transport around here).

[ruby_silence]

oops. you know what? i messed up. the cheaper one is 13 square meters and the super expensive one is 19 square meters.

do you guys think an extra 6 square meters is worth almost 20,000 yen per month? haha.

[-E-]

I'm looking at apts now, too, and I have a related question:
In people's opinion, what is a reasonable upper-bound price for an urban (not Tokyo) apt for someone getting the typical ALT pay?

I've been looking at a few online while I wait for my employer to present their suggestions. I know what the company booklet says apts might cost, but I'm wondering what people actually pay.

Not being in Japan, I don't have the access to word-of-mouth. So, I'm just putting the question out there, since I'm also looking to maximize my space, but don't want to get totally ripped off.

[Apsara]

[jcook77]

It depends on what your savings goals (if any) are. As for Kanto (Tokyo), I have an older, 20 sq. meter apartment in a nice, convenient neighborhood and pay 75,000 yen/month. It's not a LeoPalace, which to me is a good thing. Do a little research online and you'll find companies that provide assistance with a lot of the minor details of getting an apartment. The prices will range from around 60,000 and up in Tokyo, but I can tell you firsthand that I used to live in Tokyo's Nerima-ku, 10 minutes from Nerima station on foot, and the rent was 59,000/mo. I was into saving money and hustling at three jobs, so for me, not having an extravagant place was fine. If you're here for only a year and want to enjoy the time more, by all means snag the bigger apartment for comfort's sake.

Any other questions, feel free to PM me.

[mattmusashi]

if you go on youtube and type leo palace, you can see first hand some typical leo apts for ALTs

[move]

Ah, Leo Palace. Expensive, small and with thin walls. But usually newer and clean, and easy to heat. My previous Leo Palace pad was big enough for me, except for the kitchen. If you like to cook it will probably be a pain.

I'm guessing you have to pay the key money? Once you have paid that money, you can always move to another LP and not have to pay it again.

[Bread]

The smallest place I've lived in was two months in a room that was 4.95 square meters INCLUDING the balcony. Stacking and balancing skills are key.

[seklarwia]

[ruby_silence]

Yep, they're both LeoPalaces. Interac is making it sound like I have to choose one before I get there, but then in an email they said I'd have a week to apartment hunt, so I'm a tad confused.

4.95 square meters! Wow! The 13 square meters are sounding pretty good now.

[baki]

I stayed in a capsule room for 7 months.

You get used to it

[flyer]

[baki]

I don't know if I can take the freezing cold, like, it's really cold up there compared to Tokyo right?

[flyer]