Hi everyone,
So my partner and I just moved into our unfurnished apartment in Tokyo and need help about what necessities we should buy (other than a mattress). Honestly, this is actually our first time moving out into an apartment since we’re pretty young (I know, stupid idea to move to another country for first time moving out but oh well), and an unfurnished one as well.
– Any tips on moving into an unfurnished apartments? And also which stores/where can we find cheap furniture and household goods in Tokyo?
– Other than furnishing our apartment, we’ve been researching which bank to open an account with, any recommendations? And overall what is the process like?
– Lastly, for setting up internet, does anyone have any recommendations on which internet provider to choose? And the process of setting it up.
I’m sorry if these questions seem a little stupid, like I said it’s our first time lol. I appreciate any input and advice!!!
10 comments
If you can read and write Japanese, use the app ジモティ for free or very cheap stuff.
Check out the local リサイクル shops.
If you want new furniture, Nitori or IKEA.
For banks, I’d recommend Rakuten since they aren’t strict with getting a credit card.
Internet: Nuro
Phone: Rakuten is cheap but Shitty service.
Housing:
Go to Daiso first and buy what you think you might need. It won’t break your wallet and fill half the apartment.
Take a look at your local Hard Off for second hand furniture etc.
Buy stuff cheap the first time and when it breaks buy again or upgrade on quality for it to last longer. No reason to buy everything on high quality the first time around.
Bedding:
Buy the duvet a size bigger than your bed.
There are also some sayonara sales online from people leaving Japan, so you might get stuff there for cheap. Just make sure to have a way to get it to your apartment.
Do you have a car? If you do, driving to get things you want would probably be easier. If not, you could always use the delivery service most places offer. Personally, I buy a lot of my furniture and goods from Nitori or Cainz. Not sure about cheap though because I buy more for aesthetics/functionality lol. But maybe you can also check out second hand stores if there is one close by.
Ultimately it depends what or how you would like to decorate your home so you could start with just browsing on the internet what things are out there.
As a tip, it’s best to measure out the spaces in your apartment. It would really suck to find out that nice furniture you bought could not fit through your door because it’s too big. Also, while most places offer delivery, you may be charged extra if your room is above the 3rd floor and your apartment does not have an elevator to make it easier for the delivery guys.
Can’t say much about banking and internet because I’ve only used the same services for a long time (Yuucho Bank and Softbank Hikari Internet) so can’t compare.
Make sure you have lights. The first unfurnished place I moved in to didn’t, but I didn’t even think of getting any until, exhausted after moving everything myself, I lay down on the floor and saw nothing on the ceiling.
In Tokyo, go to the Salvation Army Bazaar next Saturday. They have a lot of cheap, serviceable furniture and (last time I bought some, at least) will deliver for a fee.
As someone else mentioned, Nitori is fine for cheap to moderate-priced furniture and things like curtains, utensils, etc. The big one is in Shinjuku. They will deliver everything.
If you need a credit card, Rakuten or Sony. Otherwise, pretty much any major bank would work. They all suck the same.
I don’t know what your apartment is like, but mold is a problem. Get a bunch of cleaning supplies. (Flooring spray, kitchen spray, toilet spray, bath/shower cleaning chemicals.) These are cheap.
If you have shitty flooring, you might want to think about matts or rugs to cover some of the floor up as typical Japanese flooring is easily damaged. I.e., total shit.
Also, hybrid washing/dryers usually are useless. Great if you want to dry A shirt and a pair of underwear. A real dryer sounds like it might be out of your current price range—and they are energy sinks.
Ah this brings back memories. We used a small ironing board as our dinner table for a month or two. Nothing but that and a futon. Simpler times…
If you’re cool with used stuff I’d go to your nearest hard off or treasure factory and order all the stuff you need in one go, they have box trucks and will deliver straight to your door.
Also if you’re lucky you can get a sayonara sale from Facebook and just get someone’s entire apartment for sale, buy the lot for cheap and arrange a box truck to get it all delivered.
Ikea ships online here, nitori is alright as well. Muji sells nicer stuff but of course it’s more expensive.
https://www.kawaeco.com/ is a good place to buy second hand stuff. they come over and set it up for you and all that
Of course, what others say about getting things at Hard-Off or some other recycle shop, they probably will deliver anything big like washing machine or refridgerator.
The thing I have not seen yet mentioned is about buying a range stove. If your place has gas, get the details about the nozzle in the apartment. Just take a picture to show at the store and they will make sure you get the right fixtures to hook it up. It is annoying to get home and find your nozzle is different type, or the tubes are not long enough or it is located to the side instead of the middle etc. Also the location of the stove in relation to the wall in the apartment will matter a little in terms of which stove to buy.
As far as Internet provider, Honestly, I do fine with using my mobile phone and tethering for my computer, so my provider is my mobile provider. I don’t watch too much Netflix or other streaming services, but I am sure I watch at least average and have youtube on most of the day when home stream music and podcasts without even worrying about hitting my monthly limit. If there are two of you with two limits, you will probably have no trouble just sharing the data usage when at home.
The process of setting that up is just getting a phone.
I would question if you need a mattress. It is big and bulky and difficult to move if you move again. At least try just a futon or two stacked up. If you don’t get used to it, then think about a mattress. If you don’t like being on the floor, get a bed frame from Ikea or similar from recycle shop that you can put the futon on instead of mattress.
For bank account, I use Shinsei and have for many years now. No complaints. There is probably something “better” now, as I have not even looked around for almost two decades. There have only been a few things that I have had to opt to pay at convenience store instead of transfer because the receiver can not receive from Shinsei, but some of those places can still only get from Post Account or Farmer’s Coop bank as well. Shinsei has a good English Help line, and you can keep your balance in yen or foreign currency and no fee for transfers or ATM withdrawls.
Amazon has been great for us. We moved to Tokyo this year and even though we could save some money buying from cheaper stores, etc the fact that Amazon has free shipping and delivers everything to your door so you don’t have to stress about having to transport it or spend a certain amount so you can have shipping to your door (along with the paperwork to have it shipped)
So Amazon or other websites that deliver to your door were the best. The rest that you can get from a close daiso is good. 👍👍