I was given the option to choose between private and BOE provided accommodation by my BOE rep.
They were helpful in giving me a insight into the differences between the two.
Main differences being that private would be a modern apartment with wooden flooring and modern kitchen, bathroom etc. BOE provided is likely to be an old apartment with tatami mat flooring, squat toilet and no guarantee it has been renovated recently. But it would be significantly cheaper than private.
I am pretty set on choosing private as the estimated rent is much lower than I had budgeted for. Plus I would absolutely hate not having a nice toilet and bath/shower.
I would love to have some insight from people who lived in new apartments and those who lived in older apartments. From YouTube videos I’ve seen I’m not keen on the cheaper old apartments.
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All comes down to price, what are we talking regarding the private costs?
If it was anything over 50,000 – 60,000 then I’d probably think about BOE housing but that squat toilet would probably be the deciding factor to go for the private place alone.
If it’s well within your budget then I’d say it’s a no brainer. The older boe place might end up causing even more issues down the line as well. Also, if you bring a date back, a squat toilet would not go down well I imagine.
You should really reach out about the hidden costs of renting a private apartment before locking down your decision.
[This is a good write-up](https://matcha-jp.com/en/4418) on it but to summarize:
> While the initial cost of your apartment will depend on the area, it typically takes four to six months’ worth of rent for your security deposit, key money, and real estate brokerage fees as upfront costs. For example, if your rent is 70,000 yen, then upfront costs will range from 280,000 yen to 420,000 yen.
– Key Money is typically **one to two months’ worth of rent**. It is separate from your security deposit and is **non-refundable**.
– A security deposit is one to two months’ worth of rent in Japan. The deposit is partially returned after deducting cleaning expenses
– Real Estate Brokerage Fees One months’ worth of rent is paid in brokerage fees when hiring a real estate firm
– Guarantor Fees, hopefully your school will take this responsibility and you can avoid this monthly fee
Oh and don’t forget that to ask if your school will supply you with things to furnish your apartment. A standard apartment comes with the following. A bathroom and cabinets in the kitchen. You will need to supply all light fixtures, a fridge, a stove, a washing machine, etc.
For what it’s worth, I haven’t known anyone have a squat toilet in their own private home. It’ll be a regular toilet (as opposed to a fancy robot toilet.)
My first apartment should’ve been condemned. When I transferred my new BoE put me in a good apartment, but it was extremely small (Tokyo sized in the inaka) with double the rent price. When I married my wife and I moved into what is basically a townhouse with more than quadruple the space and the rent was a couple 万 cheaper. My advice is go private, but ask if the BoE will still provide the rent subsidy. Hearing the specs of the BoE provided apartment though subsidy or not I’d still go private
I’m really shocked that they said you’d have a squat toilet. Are you sure it wasn’t some horrible mistranslation? I live in a house built in 1971 (which is *ancient* by Japanese standards) and I have a regular toilet. I have a room with tatami but the rest is wood floors. The main issues age wise is that the breakers can’t handle much electrical load and I can only run once kitchen appliance at a time (excluding the fridge). The house is also really drafty.
I’ve had craftspeople yell at the boe about how the conditions at *my* house are inhumane and the boe needs to put more effort into maintenence and renovations. I’m shocked that your boe said that those are the conditions of their teacher’s housing
I did private because I wanted pets. Mine is around 78,000 to 82,000 per month. It’s really new, everything is amazing and locations is great. Don’t have as much travel spending as I would with a 20,000Â¥ place but ehh.
A lot is included like gigabit internet and subsidized electricity due to solar panels, etc.
Ask your BoE rep how old the “modern” apartment is.
Can you deal with bugs in your house? If modern is less than ten years old, you’re much less likely to encounter them, and that makes all the difference for me, coming from an area where they don’t really exist except for 2-3 months, and certainly not where you live.
If it’s true that it’s a squat toilet I would definitely go for the modern apartment. I personally couldn’t deal with that! I live in prefectural housing and while it’s old and some cockroaches last summer, the cheap rent and convenient location make it really worth it. Though I got lucky – I’ve heard some prefectural housing is in awful conditions.
Feel free to PM me for more info!
My apartment was old as heck but I still had a basic western toilet. Just knowing that it’s a squat toilet… I can’t imagine how old that place is. I would also choose the private place if was still within the budget I had planned to pay anyways. If the BOE apartment is that old… might have bugs or not even a good AC for summer or heating for winter either. Unless you really need to save money any way possible, the private place seems 1000% better.
The teacher housing situation should be easy to clarify. They own it, they know what it looks like and what features it has.
Ask for specifics before making a decision.
In general, saving the money is a good idea, but some old houses are expensive to heat, but then again, so are cheap new houses.
You do not want a squat toilet as your main/only toilet. Take the private unless you can ensure they can install a toilet.
I’d go for BOE, it’s likely old but much larger and better built. It’s pointless choosing on price and age alone – need more details like size and layout.
Squat toilet is an immediate deal breaker imo. Old apartments with dingy kitchens and beat up tatami mats are still totally livable if your goal is to save money but squating every time you need to use the bathroom in your own home is killer if you’re used to a western toilet
I lived in a somewhat older building with tatami when I was on JET. It was fine for the most part (tatami is a little hard to clean), but I enjoyed the cheap price and extra space.
That being said I would probably draw the line at a squat toilet. There are attachments you can put on the toilet so that you can sit on it. But when I moved within Japan and was looking for housing, I saw some old apartments with squat toilets and in general those apartments as a whole were not very nice…
Some other things to consider…older apartments will have more bugs. They also may not be as earthquake proof as modern apartments.
If I was you, I’d want to know when exactly each apartment was built and see some pictures of both before deciding.
Squat toilet = really, really old = smell that will make your eyes water = bugs = shower that will probably not feel safe to be barefoot in, and did I mention the smell and the bugs… get the private apartment. Or make sure there is a nearby 7-11 and use their restroom.