Hello everyone I’m heading to Asakusa high school in the middle of August. Unfortunately I still haven’t gotten in touch with my predecessor 😞 so I’m turning here for advice/help. I just recently had a zoom meeting with a real estate agent with regards about renting an apartment. I was kinda worried about the price and size of the apartment as he showed me places in walking distance to my school. I was wondering if anyone had some advice/tips with living close in the city vs living further away and commuting. Thanks in advance!
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Don’t worry about size. You’re gonna be in one of the most interesting cities in the world. If it’s under 1k and has a washing machine, I would take it.
Commute. Save that ¥¥. Commuting to work by train is a quintessential Tokyo/Japan experience you need to have, IMO. Yes, it can suck… but if you don’t commute, how will half of your conversations with your co-workers start? 🙂
Asakusa rent has going up considerably over the past years, living around there can certainly eat up your budget.
Consider neighboring areas like Adachi city which is just over the river, but rental prices slash to almost half. Still a reasonable commute to the inner city. Kita city is another good and cheaper alternative.
Commuting can be hectic and bad in Tokyo so a rule of thumb for peace of mind is 30-45 mins on the train max.
Unless we are talking price ranges specific sizes here it’s hard to give solid advice. Also what you consider to be “walking distance”.
As for commuting here’s the rub, commuting in Tokyo is horrendously miserable. Unless you are going against the rush. And you likely won’t be. Now Asakusa itself isn’t that bad compared to some of the more major stations but still ask yourself, is it worth wasting one or two hours every day being jammed into a train ass to ass with sweaty salarymen just to save a couple hundred on rent?
My advice is keep the commute as short as possible. If say living a couple stops away is significantly cheaper I’d do that. But unless you have some pressing need for a larger and cheaper place like say, a family, then do yourself a favor and spend the extra to live close to work and make your life that much more pleasant.
I’d rather pay more and be much closer after a long day at work than pay less and worry about trains and delays, personally. I could see if you were a dispatch ALT, but you’ll be fine on a JET salary.
Plus, Asakusa is bloody awesome.
If you can swing a bike commute, I’d consider that, but it’s still kind of hectic in that area.
I’d personally rather live in a shoebox within walking/biking distance then do rush hour trains in Tokyo.
Commuting by train Tokyo is painful. It’s SUUUUPER crowded. Plus looking at a map your closest station is a 10 minute bus ride away anyway, so you’re tacking on (and timing) a bus ride too.
Even outside your immediate area it’s not going to get significantly cheaper/bigger without a significantly long commute. Maybe you could get something within biking distance that’s a little better, but I personally would prioritize proximity over size. Life in Japan is more compact than your used to back home, but it’s not so bad once you get used to it.
You’re better served making sure your close to grocery/convenience store/restaurants for your day to day life. Plus trust me in the dead of summer or winter you’ll appreciate a short commute.
One thing to consider when commuting is what your start and end time will be for school and whether or not you will be in the dead of rush hour or just outside of it.
I live in Saitama but my work place is actually on the border of where Saitama ends and Tokyo begins. I take the train towards Tokyo each morning and get off on the last stop in Saitama before hitting Tokyo. Thankfully my start and end times put me just slightly outside of rush hour so the trains really aren’t that bad most days despite all of the traffic going between Saitama and Tokyo. If I had to do it everyday in the dead in the dead of rush hour, it would be miserable.
Also, try to avoid buses that you aren’t taking directly from the station if possible. Anything not starting directly from the station is always late.
I had to commute to Tokyo for something one time in the middle of rush hour, and especially during the peak summer and covid, it’s absolutely miserable. I would really suggest an apartment closer to the school, even if it’s a bit expensive, because it will be worth your comfort and save you a lot of time. You really do not want to be crushed into the glass doors and spooned by a stranger every morning, people do not exaggerate with how awful the rush hour is.
Live further away and commute. I think it’s better to live in a less congested suburban area with more space and cheaper rent. As long as the commute is within 30 minutes! My Tokyo commute is not that bad at all, but I guess you won’t know until you take it.
Its up to you. I would prefer living in a smaller and more expensive place if it was close to my school. Imaging going to school by bicycle or walking!! No trains…
Its a great area! You can walk to other places in Tokyo, you will be very happy.
Hey, I ended up moving from my first apartment a few months after my arrival in 2017 because it wasn’t a great fit (1hr walk each way to and from school….I marked “I can drive” on my app form, not understanding that implied I’d have a car), and though it was a little bit of a pain it showed me two things:
1) have a place to land. If I’d been pickier when I first arrived, I’d have had a way worse time. Settling into the “easy choice,” pre-arranged apartment allowed me to take my time in finding what I really want.
2) if you take the effort to move, take your time to find the perfect spot. It won’t be cheap to move, and the process will be complex depending on your CO, your realtor, and your Japanese level, so make sure the move is worth it.
It sounds like you have a good option in front of you. If you’re pushing up on your housing deadline, consider the caveat that it’s generally much easier to move in Japan than to Japan, and possibly that might make the smaller place worth it while you find your feet.
By the way, I ended up in a teeny leopalace loft close to my school, and honestly even though it was small and pretty expensive for my city (~600$/month in Takasaki), having not too much space to care for and all utilities linked into my lease made it easy.
Ultimately up to you as a person.
Commuting can sometimes wear on you especially with some busy train lines, waking up earlier, etc. But some people very much enjoy the time they have on the train.
On the other hand, living close in the city can be up there rent wise for sure, you might have a smaller apartment, or maybe you don’t like the idea of being so close to your school. At the same time it’s great to be able to get up and walk to school or take a bus, going home and not wasting an hour for commute is also a godsend, at least to me.
You might get the suggestion that you’ll run into your students if you live close, honestly who cares and I live super close to my school and can only think of a few times I ran into my kids.
Either way, can’t go wrong especially in Tokyo.