Housing in Tokyo

Finding a hostel or a hotel is very easy in Tokyo as there are millions to choose from, whether it be capsule rooms or traditional hotels/dorms there are beds a plenty. When we first arrived we stayed in Khaosan Annex, a chain of 5 hostels; this one was in the larger capsule room style. Their rooms are all about $25 a night; I recommend that if you stay at one of their 5 hotels then pick one of the newer ones.

Inside my capsule.

When we returned to Tokyo from the Potato House we stayed in a very nice hostel near Minamisenju Station. It was a small room with traditional tatami mats and just enough room to fit a suitcase, a table and a shelf. It was cozy but I liked it, the shower and bathrooms were clean and the internet wasn't sketchy. Huzah! Unfortunately for us we had to move on the weekend since everyplace located in convenient area Tokyo had been fully booked.

So we had to book the last one available in what seemed like all of Tokyo at an all female dorm near Kita-akabane. Kita-akabane wasn't even on the Tokyo metro map; this means it wasn't part of Tokyo any more. It was off in the suburbs, the area was nice enough for the two of us but we had to be closer to the centre for work and hitting up more interviews.

Staff housing.

We overheard from one of the staff at Annex (or maybe it was a random traveller, I forget) that we could do housekeeping in exchange for free accommodations, what a money saver. For 3 hours of work a day, 5 days a week it seemed like a wonderful deal. We applied and met with one of the hiring staff on the day we checked out in hopes that we got the job. Luckily for us, we did, or we would have had to book another hostel on short notice draining funds that we really did not have to spare.

BAM! We landed the job and was able to move into the all female staff house right then and there! Phew. Most of the girls living in the staff house were from Taiwan, one from Korea and then us two Canadians. There were 10 girls in total, everyone was super friendly and we instantly made friendships there.

The day before we left the staff house.

While we were doing the housekeeping we were adamantly looking for a guest house to move into, as the 11am-2pm cleaning shifts were breaking up our days, taking unfortunate time out and leaving us feeling exhausted by the afternoon. Guest houses around Tokyo for a dorm and shared housing run you about 40,000-50,000yen/pp ($400-500CAD) on average. Some have incentives like 10,000yen off the first month or it would be all inclusive including your internet and utilities.

After a recommendation to check out Air B&B (catering from a week-length stay to potentially years),  we found a place near our job in Shinjuku. It was an old office building that had been converted into an apartment building with plug in stove tops, very little wiggle room and showers on a different floor of the building all together. The kitchen at this place was filthy!! On top of that they were trying to charge us 60,000yen/pp and utilities.Back to the drawing board.

In the end we found a wonderful one-bedroom apartment within walking distance of our work. We don’t have to share our fridge, kitchen, toilet, shower or even pay extra for laundry. It includes a balcony, AC (all places should have this anyways), dishes, blankets and plenty of space for shoes, clothes and two built in desk-like cupboards and a chair. All we have to do is pay for our own internet and make sure we don’t break anything.

My Bed!

Balcony!

Our own kitchen!

We lucked out once again!! Usually one would have to pay key deposit, damage deposit and a fee to the agent you hired to help you find the apartment. Praying at Senjoji temple during the Cherry Lantern Festival really did give us 46,000 x more luck.

This is a beautiful flat and on top of that we face a large park we can take walks in everyday, in Tokyo's bustling gay district.