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Rakuten
Joined: 14 Jun 2010
Posts: 67
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| baki wrote: |
I stayed in a capsule room for 7 months.
You get used to it  |
7 months in a capsule room?? Pray tell, why on earth would you stay there for 7 months, and what's more- what capsule hotel even allows such a long-term stay??
That is madness to me, but I suppose if it was one of the ones with a sento on the roof and a shared laundry, it would be doable, I suppose.  |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:37 am Post subject: |
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| ruby_silence wrote: |
| 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. |
Did they really say that in the email or is that what you interpreted from the email? Are you sure that they aren't saying something like that they'll give you a week from now to scour the net in attempt to find something of your own?
Depending on when you arrive for training, when you get to your placement and when your schools start, you may not even have a week before you start working.
Plus it can take longer than a week to get everything sorted with a real estate agent and the landlord so that you can get keys... lots of complicated paperwork, umm-ing and ahh-ing and sometimes even a cool off period before you get to sign the final contract.
It took me about 3 weeks from first visiting an agent to signing the contract.
This may not be a problem if you are in a urban area and can set up temporarily in a guest house, but if you are not...
Another thing to consider is money: cost me about 200,000 to move into my furnished Leopalace place including rent paid until the end of May... cost me double that to move into my new apartment plus another 100,000 just furnishing it with bits to make it livable (not including luxury items such as TVs, sofas, etc).
It doesn't always cost that much to get a private rental and you can always visit a recycle centre to pick up furnishings on the cheap, but with real estate agents normally taking a month's rent as payment for their services, damage deposits, the possibility of key money needing to be paid to the landlord, etc, private rentals can often prove quite costly initially. |
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Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:53 am Post subject: |
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| seklarwia wrote: |
| Bread wrote: |
| 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. |
As in basically 2 single futons side by side?... Christ that's small! I've never even seen a guest house room as small as that. Well perhaps one guest house room was close, but still not that small!!! And I can't see how balancing would solve anything if the person had a normal amount of luggage.
And what would happen to your head if there was an earthquake whilst you slept... I'm going to stop thinking about it before my head explodes. |
No, nothing as luxurious as that. It was long and thin, and could only fit one single futon. Actually it was more triangular. Nothing would fall on my head in the event of an earthquake because my head was at the end that was only wide enough to hold my head. There was one of those moving luggage racks with a bar to hang stuff on and a folding card table thing just big enough for a laptop at one end. Kind of nostalgic, looking back on it. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Bread wrote: |
| No, nothing as luxurious as that. It was long and thin, and could only fit one single futon. Actually it was more triangular. Nothing would fall on my head in the event of an earthquake because my head was at the end that was only wide enough to hold my head. There was one of those moving luggage racks with a bar to hang stuff on and a folding card table thing just big enough for a laptop at one end. Kind of nostalgic, looking back on it. |
I'm trying so hard to imagine it but all that keeps appearing in my head are memories of this crazy waldrobe that I used to play in and occasionally sleep on top of with one mental kitty in an aunty's old house. It had this fold out ironing board that I used to stand on as I made my way up... somehow I think I might still be thinking too big 
You don't happen to have a pics of the place or know links to pics of something similar, do you? I'm quite curious... |
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ruby_silence
Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 31
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| I meant they said I'd have a week to look once I am in Japan. Six days to look for an apartment, four days of training, and then work starts. Their e-mail said they needed to know which apartment I want of the two choices they sent me ASAP. That makes it seem like I need to choose it now. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| ruby_silence wrote: |
| I meant they said I'd have a week to look once I am in Japan. Six days to look for an apartment, four days of training, and then work starts. Their e-mail said they needed to know which apartment I want of the two choices they sent me ASAP. That makes it seem like I need to choose it now. |
Your mails are not all coming from the same people are they?
You've been speaking to someone from housing who is tell you to choose an apartment now and someone from your branch who is saying that you will have a week to house hunt?
That would make more sense as to why you are getting mixed messages since they are separate departments who work independantly of each other.
Have you even asked the housing people about the possibilities of hunting on arrival at your placement?
How is your Japanese? Have you checked out real estate websites for your placement area to make sure there are things on offer near your school(s)? Have you the funds to set up a private rental if you should find one? Have you the extra funds to pay for alternative accomodation whilst you hunt for a place of your own? Have you discussed guarantorship with Interac and thought about what you'll do if they refuse? |
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ruby_silence
Joined: 27 Oct 2008
Posts: 31
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| Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I'm receiving e-mails from three different people.
They said they won't know which school I'm going to until I get there, so I can't look ahead of time. They're supposed to put me up in a hotel for 6 days when I first get there and that's the time I have to hunt for a place (unless they do want me to pick one not knowing where the school is, which is what the one person emailing is suggesting. He is saying that as long as I live near a bus station, it should be fine). Of course, I'd rather see it in person first. |
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baki
Joined: 29 Dec 2010
Posts: 72
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| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:04 am Post subject: |
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| Rakuten wrote: |
| baki wrote: |
I stayed in a capsule room for 7 months.
You get used to it |
7 months in a capsule room?? Pray tell, why on earth would you stay there for 7 months, and what's more- what capsule hotel even allows such a long-term stay??
That is madness to me, but I suppose if it was one of the ones with a sento on the roof and a shared laundry, it would be doable, I suppose. |
Haha, yeah it was crazy but it was a great experience at the time. The capsule room was about 1 metre high, 2.1 metres long and 1.2metres wide. Certainly not for the claustrophobic. It had no heater or air conditioning, just a wall light and a power plug. You have to buy your own futon or mattress. They had shared kitchen, toilets and bathrooms but that's it. It was essentially like camping. I stayed with a bunch of long term residents at the same place and made friends with a few Japanese from out of town. I saved a lot of money, up to 40k-60k per month.
Never regretted it but once is enough! 
| Quote: |
I meant they said I'd have a week to look once I am in Japan. Six days to look for an apartment, four days of training, and then work starts. Their e-mail said they needed to know which apartment I want of the two choices they sent me ASAP. That makes it seem like I need to choose it now.
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If the choice is for a leopalace place then I think it shouldn't be a huge problem choosing between the 2 that they've given you. You can always move again to another leopalace unit later since you've paid all the big fees at the start. Have you seen pictures of these places yet? I would check out the pictures and locations first before deciding as the smaller one could be quieter or the larger one could be easier to get to.
Please make sure your room offers plenty of sunlight, I cannot stress this enough. |
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jcook77
Joined: 08 Oct 2010
Posts: 32
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:29 am Post subject: |
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Do your research from home, before you come to Japan. You can even reserve a place by making a deposit online before you get here. Places like Fontana will do that. Study the maps of where your schools will be, check out the train lines and calculate how long your commute would be by using Hyperdia. (I'm exposing myself as a huge nerd, because I find that kind of thing fun).
Leo Palace is always there if you need it. I just think you should explore all options, especially when some places won't make you pay key money -- just a deposit and the first month's rent. If you're not staying in Tokyo, your options change a lot. But most larger cities have companies catering exclusively to foreigners.
So hop on the internet and start exploring |
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formersensei
Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 6:22 am Post subject: |
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| I'm interviewing with AEON soon. On their website,they describe their apartments as being 6 tatami in size. That's pretty small, right? Does that size include the bathroom? I never measured my previous apartment in Japan, but it was a 2 bedroom shared place, so quite large. I wouldn't mind a smaller location, so long as I have enough space to stretch out and store things. |
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jcook77
Joined: 08 Oct 2010
Posts: 32
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:52 am Post subject: |
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Not all AEON apartments are the same size. A lot of it comes down to location. If you're in Tokyo, more than likely the apartment will be a standard, 6-tatami room with a small kitchen and unit (bath and toilet together) bathroom. When I came for AEON training a few years back, one of the teachers was in the Tokyo area and was set up with a huge, 30-square meter palace. Another teacher in another area of Tokyo had the more standard 20-square meter set up. Them's the breaks.
However, if you're in a more rural location, your chances of having a bigger apartment increase. I lived in northern Japan and at first had a semi-small place. After another teacher left, I inherited his place -- a big, spacious apartment with a 10-tatami room, large kitchen and plenty of furnishings. The building was a 5-minute walk from the main station and an 8-minute walk to the branch school. Basically, you won't know how big your place is until you've been placed and gone through training.
On the bright side, the rent is subsidized and location is rarely far from the school. Also, should you have any problems, the staff is pretty on the ball about helping out. |
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Sweetsee
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: ) is everything
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| Our place is 95m2. That's going on 22 years. Gives you something to shoot for. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:45 am Post subject: |
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| Sweetsee wrote: |
| Our place is 95m2. That's going on 22 years. Gives you something to shoot for. |
I'm on 55m2 after less than 2 years. That's more than big enough me both space-wise and cleaning-wise. |
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Sweetsee
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: ) is everything
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:56 am Post subject: |
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| Breed. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:34 am Post subject: |
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No thanks. Pregnancy is not for me, nor are babies; the mere smell of the evil little parasites makes me sick.
I've already discussed this with my boyfriend. I am going to be one of those crazy old women who keeps a menagerie of animals instead of having their own family and if he didn't like it he knew where the door was... been together 11 years and counting  And I already have a house large enough for my zoo when I eventually head back. |
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