Is your apartment subsidized? An informal poll.

44 comments

1. This is from a LONG time ago but my apartment was subsidized (1998 – 2000). I paid 5800 Yen a month in rent for a two bedroom place.

   It was old and kinda gross, though. There were rust flakes from the pipe in the toilet, there was no shower with hot water and the kitchen wall was completely black with grease. And no A/C, either, I had to buy/install that.

   But yeah, it was subsidized.

2. I have a house. Initially I was offered 3 properties, none are ALT or teacher housing. Housing here is expensive especially for an outer island – I had the choice of an old shoebox for 40k, a nice new apartment shoebox for 73k (internet included) or a whole house for 60k with utilities included. I took the house.

   Then after a few months the landlord decided not to include utilities in the rent anymore. I complained to the BOE about a bait and switch and asked about other apartments. There was really nothing cheaper than 50k, and I was still in a big house, so I decided all things considered it was best to just stay put. On a visit to the BOE I made an offhanded comment about asking about having my rent subsidized as a condition for recontracting, but didn’t press too much into it.

   Then, about 2 months later I get a call from my BOE explaining that my supervisor has gone to the trouble of negotiating with the Town office and the Landlord to offset my rent, as there was room for it in the budget. It didn’t come to fruition immediately because it came to the Mayor’s desk and ultimately he said no, but that there was an election coming up so if the opposition is elected, they’ll try again. Well they had an election party around the corner from my house so I showed up and spoke to some people, introduced myself, and of course brought beer and Awamori and drank with whoever would talk to me. Turns out it was the opposition party who were based in my town.

   And what do you know, they won the election. And my Supervisor’s application for a rental subsidy was approved, bringing my rent from a 2-bedroom house down from 60k to 20k. Not only that, but rent was returned to my bank account retroactively to the beginning date of the lease, minus utilities included (fair is fair.) all in all it saved me about 240,000 yen.

   It’s not usual and it’s a very special consideration for me. My predecessor suffered from severe depression so I feel everyone at the BOE is bending over backwards to accommodate me because his mental health issues are still fresh in their mind.

3. No but it’s only 5000 a month cause inaka

4. I’m in a apt in the inaka but it doesn’t really feel like it since I live in essentially suburbia. My rent is ¥28000 since my school covers half of it. I gotta pay for my utilities and Internet which add up to around ¥15000 total.

5. Nah, I’m in a city but nothing is subsidised by my BOE. Rent is only ¥43,000 though, plus bills and internet which takes it to around ¥53,000.

6. Inaka (but has everything and 2hrs from Osaka and Kyoto). My town subsidises the rent so I pay 18,500¥ out of 33,000¥. Also gave me a bike and furnished the place for a single.

7. Inaka. Teacher’s housing owned by BOE that is designated as an ALT apartment (I found items owned by my predecessors dating back to late 1990s). Only ¥7,200/month. Apartment is town-house style but an old building (like 1960s-70s built old).

8. Not exactly Inaka but pretty Inaka. BOE subsidizes a bit more than half of my rent. I only pay 25000 ish a month.
   Edit: fixing the amount

9. Im out in Inaka inaka (some students get to school by boat) and the BOE owns the apartment building I live in. Rent is 14750, but gives me all of it in my paycheck (they subsidize 30000) so essentially im just paying my utilites (about 12000…gas is more expensive than eletric out here)

   edit: I live in a 3DK, and its actually a little big even for me.

10. Very very inaka, but my 2ldk apartment is completely free. It’s very old teachers housing

11. Inaka. After all rent and fees I’m paying around 60k no subsidies. However I chose the place and it’s brand new. I had BoE housing that was cheaper at 40k but not subsidized, but that place was a dump.

12. Not subsidized and live in the inaka. 49,000 yen a month plus all utilities.

13. Suburban and absolutely no subsidies. ¥47,550 a month with utilities as extra for a 1k

14. Inaka. Rent is 45000 but is entirely paid by the town. I pay for utilities. Apartment is pretty old, but definitely could be worse.

15. Suburban and subsidized! Not the newest apartment(no elevators so carrying groceries up is a pain lol) but it’s pretty quiet except for the neighbors above. Sometimes they’re kinda noisy 😅I live in a 3LDK which is pretty big for 1 person.

16. I’m in an Inaka town up in the mountains (not as Inaka as many of the others though). My place is a 2K (2 rooms and a kitchen plus bathroom and toilet, where some older houses and apartments don’t have bathrooms since I live in an onsen town) and rent is 45,000 yen a month (with 2 parking spots included) but no subsidies.

    My previous supervisor chose the place thinking a newer place would be nicer. I could ask to move into the Town Employee housing (right next to town hall) which only cost about 8,000 yen a month but it’s a really old building and I don’t fee like moving.

    All in all, location is good and the landlord takes good care of the place so I don’t really have anything to complain about.

17. In a small city (would say suburban given proximity to larger cities) unsubsidised. 60 000 plus utilities, all electric, not old but not new, it has been recently renovated. Its about 60 square metres, smallish LDK and 3 bedrooms.

    Municipal JETs are more likely to have subsidised housing compared to prefectural JETs.

18. Technically yes. My building is owned by the Prefecture, and my rent is subsidized. I pay rent like everyone else, just a lot less rent.

19. Yes, it’s subsidized at about 70% of the cost of my apartment. Located in the inaka. Pay about $100. It comes directly out of my paycheck. So, I barely notice. 2DK. Old af building.

20. I live in Higashiosaka-Shi, about a 30 min train ride from the main part of Osaka city! My rent is not subsidised, but my BOE paid half of the move in fees for me. The only thing my BOE covers is transport to work 🙂
    My BOE doesn’t own any apartments themselves, so they helped me look for one as they do with everyone

    Rent is 62,500 for a 1LDK (plus an extra 6,000 for utilities roughly)

21. Kind of inaka. Subsidized teacher housing, pay about $100 for rent. Building is kind of old and no elevator, but it’s spacious and comfortable.

22. Inaka, apartment is subsidized. Only pay half of what it actually costs which is 30,000 for 2LDK

23. I left Japan in 2017 my apartment in a rural city (30k people). My apartment was subsidized but in the following years the buildings were torn down in my region and there is no longer a subsidy for housing. My understanding is that they were all built in the 70s before the expressway came through so it was to incentivize teachers to work outside the major city. Due to the age, and the access to the expressway, they are opting not to rebuild the old buildings.

    Generally the more out of the way the higher the chance of having a subsidy but really every situation is different.

24. Inaka (8,000 people in town). I pay around $215 USD per month. It’s not subsidised but the apartment is a new and super nice 3LDK. I didn’t choose it, but I actually really love my apartment.

    I did however find out last week that my town has the most expensive water bill in all of Japan.

25. Inaka city, for a 1DK I pay 29,500 yen which is just over half (the employer pays the rest). That includes water, internet, maintenance fees etc, but I pay gas separately

26. Urban and not subsidized. My rent is about ¥45,000 not including utilities.

27. I’m in a -Cho, my housing is 8400 per month for a smallish house.

28. 2LDK, 62sq meter apartment. 170000 a month I split with a roommate. No subsidies for us Tokyo JETs. Most of my Tokyo JET friends are living in shoeboxes for 75000-90000 a month.

29. I live in a fairly inaka 2DK apartment (40,500) that I pay 20,500 for, the other 20,000 is subsidized by the BOE.

30. Inaka (small city of 115,000 people) apartment. 2LDK, 54 square metres, in a really good location (100 metres from closest convenience store and 50 metres from closest supermarket). BoE pay 33% of the 45,000 rent so I pay 30,000!

    That doesn’t include bills.

    Electric can be 10,000 in the winter but 1,500 in spring and autumn.
    Gas is always around 5,000.
    Water is 1,500 a month.
    Internet is 4,000 a month.

31. No. My prefectural BOE does not subsidize rent or help out with anything financially. You get handmedowns from previous ALTs but that seems to be it.

    I pay full rent at ¥55000 for a 3DK.

32. No, urban. everyone in Tokyo should receive some help. I pay 86,000/mo for 12 sq meters.

33. I live in a small-ish city in Hiroshima-ken and the BoE subsidises our rent — in my case, down to about ¥7,000 per month, which is very generous. It’s about 30sqm and the road outside makes an absolute racket (a lot of late-night motorcycle enthusiasts around here), but the location is fairly central so it’s a good trade-off.

34. Urban area, no rent subsidiaries or set up assistance, 75000¥ for a 2k.

35. Suburban/semi-rural area, no rent subsidiaries, 45k a month for a 1LDK w/ parking and (really shitty) internet included in rent. 43sqm
    Okinawa so summer bills are 99% A/C at around 12k.
    Winter bills total around 5k (really just gas and water).

36. Inaka, in Shikoku. Live in a 2LDK teacher’s housing that is fully subsidized by the BOE for ¥15000 monthly. I pay the annual maintenance fee of ¥36000 in April. Apartment is old and full of stuff from former ALTs and last winter was very rough, tbh. All in all though, still a really sweet deal and I love the view from my 2nd floor balcony.

37. Inaka, in Saga. I was told 50% of it is covered, and currently pay ¥19200 for a 2LDK. That being said, I pay for a lot of different utilities since it is an old place: Kerosene, Gas, Electricity, Hydro, and Septic Tank which tend to be a lot more than what I pay in rent (around ¥20000-¥30000 depending on the month)

    ​

    Edit: I can’t count, 2LDK not 3LDK.

38. Semi-rural, in the top 5 most populated cities in Kyushu. Teacher’s housing 1LDK apartment for 12000 or 1.2万円/month. Not sure what the full cost would look like as the building is owned by the prefectural BOE. Utilities are a separate cost but average around 15000 or 1.5万円 a month for internet/water/gas/electricity.

39. Urban, no subsidization. The place the BoE set me up with costs ¥70000 per month but it’s on the very outskirts of the city

40. urban city a in rural area, apartment was subsidised but gave it up to live where I want.

41. No, urban, 23-ku. Rent is not covered and finding the place was not done with the BOE. I pay about 70k yen a month.

42. Very inaka area, rent not subsidized. However, I’m pretty sure my town is literally the only one in my prefecture that doesn’t at least partially subsidize housing. Luckily my apartment is only about 30,000 a month.

43. Inaka and yes. I pay 9700 a month (Taken out of my paycheck)
    3LDK

44. The town I was in owned a plot of land behind the town office, on which they built a house for their ALT. No rent and internet was subsidized (I think I paid like 300yen/month).

    Only real out of pocket expense was gas/electricity.

    The catch, of course, was that I was in a town of 2000 people an hour away from…everything.