Renting an apartment is seemingly not a straight forward proposition for foreigners in Japan. The internet is full of stories of places that only rent to nationals, key money (a socially sanctioned quasi-bribe/gift to the renter for allowing you to rent the place - believe it or not) and outrageous rents. We were expecting a rather difficult and expensive transition from hotel to home. Luckily that was not the case as there are rental agencies that deal specifically with foreigners and their ways, so after speaking with one of them and being shown several places, we selected an apartment. No key money (just a deposit like normal) and no problems. It actually worked out very well.
"Yeah yeah yeah" you say "enough with the yammering and tell us what it is like".
The western Tokyo neighbourhood is quiet yet with very good access to the many subway lines. We have a subway station that is, oh, perhaps a five minute walk from our door to the ticket booth. Since we do not have a car (egads!), that means public transport and walking are our means of travel. Luckily, the former is very efficient and the latter is still holding in there with only some signs of abject failure. Anyway, the "neighbourhood" will be a discussion for another blog entry.
"Get on with the apartment" you burst out...
Fine...fine...
Two views. Front steps (top) and back balconies (bottom).
There is no doubting that the apartment is expensive. Tokyo is, after all, one of the most costly places on the planet to live. However, it is manageable. It is also tiny. The total floor space is about 425 sq ft and consists of three main "rooms"; those being a kitchen with eating area, a bedroom and a living room. Dividing one from the other are the modern equivalent of sliding shoji screens, of which I am becoming a growing fan. I like the idea of being able to frame an environment differently depending on need. Need more light? Open up the screen! It is like being able to move the walls in your house back home.
View from the kitchen near the front door to the eating area and living room. Bedroom it to the right.
We are comfortable enough here, but I have to say that the first week was bad for my back as I felt that I was always crouching due to the low clearance between the rooms. I can just pass under standing straight. The apartment came furnished, but we asked for a sofa instead of the chairs that we here for comfort's sake. Shoji screens also close off the large closet where such things as our suitcases are stored. Handy having them out of the way and all that.
Tight squeeze: Living room sofa with shoji screens to closet and bedroom (which is which?)
The living room connects to the patio/balcony on which the small washing machine resides. It has some neat features, just as jiggling when you put in your dirty load so as to tell you how much water and soap is required to wash the load. Although we have not witnessed it, it will also detect when the load becomes unbalanced; whereupon it will stop and jiggle some to align it properly again. There is no dryer...that is Mother Nature's job. Luckily the balcony catches lots of sunlight (when there is any) to facilitate this. It is amusing to see balconies around the neighbourhood festooned with drying clothing after a period of stormy weather had prevented washing for days.
Deceptively fancy: The washing machine.
The kitchen area is not a bad size, but the work area is very small. The fridge is small compared to those commonly found in North America, but it works well. The toaster is evil; heating equally well on the outside as it does on the inside. To make matters worse, it also does not pop, forcing you to touch the searing metal surface. Proof the Hitler is alive and well and working for a toaster company somewhere in Japan. No oven, which seems typical. Just a two-element gas burner and a microwave oven.
The Kitchen. Note step on the left for shoe storage. Shoes off in Japan!
In order to get gas to the burner, you need to turn on the gas. More specifically, you need to start up the flame for the water, which resides in a water heater contraption in the bathroom. This also applies if you want hot water. This is a minor pain in the ass, but I suppose it has a few good benefits. Namely, you only use gas when you want it (when you are home) and the hot water does arrive immediately after turning it on. The system must rely on heating the water quickly as it passes through pipes as opposed to heating and reheating a water tank. It is manual because it is good to turn off the gas when you leave or perhaps when you are asleep. Japan is a nation of earthquakes and the less gas being spilled into the air, the better.
So, each morning it is "click click" on the gas thingy to ignite the flame and start the day. Like starting your gas bbq....with a jalopy crank.
Torture chamber: The Cube with the water heater adjacent.
This brings us to the bathroom. Or more explicitly, The Cube. Ahhhh....my friend The Cube. The bathroom is actually two rooms. One holds the toilet and the other the sink, Cube and aforementioned water heater. The toilet is interesting in that there are two flush settings; one for small "loads" and the other for....for....you guessed it. The tank refills from a tap at the back of the toilet that allows water to fall freely (like a tap) into the tank. Fountain-like which is nice, but odd nevertheless.
The sink/Cube/heater is adjacent. Now we meet some definite cultural differences. Cleaning oneself in Japan is commonly done outside of the bathtub. So it is here. There is a drain in the floor that allows the passage of waste water. Once clean, you then soak in the tub which is filled with piping hot water. The tub, what we call "The Cube" is about 2.5 feet in width, 2.5 feet in length and...you guessed it, 2.5 feet deep. It has facets that can swing around and drop in hot or cold water. It also has a couple of connections to the water heater that will allow you to reheat the water should it become cold. Ahhhhhhhh! So what is going on here is that members of a family can clean themselves outside of the tub, then share the same, reheatable water once clean. Makes sense actually and rather eco-friendly. The problem from our perspective is two-fold. The drop into the tub is, as Bugs Bunny would say, a doozy. The other issue is actually being in the tub itself. Although no giant, I am relatively tall here. That makes actually sitting in the tub somewhat akin to practising yoga. So, what happens is that I just skip the shower and sit on a stool in the cube and shower there. Don't tell the neighbours! I leave soakings for special occasions. One last thing, The Cube drains directly out onto the floor to access the shower drain, making for a mini-tsunami when you pull the plug.
Before I leave I would be remiss not to mention the garbage. Well, where to start? Different types of litter is picked up on different days. We have:
Monday: Burnable trash - paper, food waste
Wednesday: Recycling - newspaper/magazines which must be bundled with string in two piles, glass bottles, food containers with recycling glyphs, metal cans
Thursday: Non-burnable trash - broken glass, ceramics, metal, some plastics
Saturday: Burnable trash (again)
Sounds simple? Well, it can be rather confusing at first as you kind of have to guess as to what the classifications are and where it all gets put. If you do not do it right they will not pick it up. We are supposed to have a bin that it all gets placed, however I think it is only unlocked for about two hours early morning every garbage day. The idea is to prevent crows and ravens getting at the garbage for an easy meal. Most apartment folks just dump their bags in front of the bin the night before. For us, it was a bit of a case of trail by error. Plus you need about four or five different containers for the different items.
There you have it...the apartment. Next time I will talk about another trip or two, then pop back and describe the neighbourhood.
Side note: According to the last poll, it seems that not one of you feels I will make it through our time here without succumbing to at least a single sesame allergy attack. Pessimists! Well...you are probably right. However I can almost state in Japanese that I have an allergy with the evil seed, so that helps.
