To become truly established in Japan, you will have to find yourself an apartment or house in which to live. Although there are now a number of estate agents (fudousan, ふどうさん, 不動産) in the bigger cities in Japan who cater for foreigners and their housing needs, and companies might sometimes sort out the housing for employees who are new to the country, there are still numerous pitfalls in this process, and the better that you understand the rules involved, as well as the vocabulary that might arise, the better. Indeed, your Japanese proficiency may well be strictly evaluated during the application process, by estate agents, on the behalf of landlords (ooya, おおや, 大家), or by guarantor companies, whereby the success of your application may be dependent on your ability to convince others that your non-native status in terms of the Japanese language will not prevent any necessary communication with you or reduce your ability to fulfill your duties as a tenant.
Searching for a home
Once you know which area you want to live in, you need to narrow down the options. The major metropolitan regions are divided in wards (ku, く, 区), or in the case of Tokyo, wards and cities (shi, し, 市). The ward or city in which you live is sometimes important, as you must register your arrival at the ward or city office (ku- or shiyakusho, 区/市役所), and local taxes are administered at the ward or city level. Rather than searching on the basis of cities or wards, locations along train lines (sen, せん, 線) can be requested, generally in consideration of one’s workplace, as well as places with a certain walking distance (time) from the nearest station (ekitohobun, えきとほぶん, 駅徒歩分) .
The type of home may be describable using katakana, such as the somewhat misleading term manshon (マンション; an apartment in a larger building) or the familiar sounding apaato (アパアト; apartment in a smaller, often older, building). Types of such residences are further classified into 1K, 1DK, 2LDK etc., terms that shouldn’t prove a problem to English speakers, with the area (menseki, めんせき, 面積) generally given in m2, although the term tsubo (つぼ, 坪), equivalent to two tatami mats, can be used. The year in which the building was built is also more of an issue than it is in the West, with the dates of implementation of new building codes, with a view to earthquake durability, being key thresholds.
Moving in
Once you have found a suitable abode, all that is left is completing the application. Moving into a home in Japan can initially be expensive. Extra fees such as shikikin and reikin (refundable deposit and non-refundable ‘key money’; 敷金 and 礼金) can be added to the initial month or two of rent (chinryou or yachin; ちんりょう [賃料], やちん [家賃]) that is required upfront. Additionally, confirmation from your employer that you are employed is required, or an additional ‘guarantor’ fee is charged. However, nothing can beat the feeling of stretching out on the tatami for the first time with a heated boxed lunch (bentou, べんとう, 弁当) from the nearest konbini (コンビに; convenience store) and feeling truly at home.
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