Apartments out here are fairly expensive. They also dont look nearly this nice and roomy.
Your places always look amazing (it's the lighting isn't it ;), anyway I hope I'm able to afford apartments like this one day.
I must say Im very envious of your home Danny! It's got that modern sleekness to it; clean and hardwood flooring. Of course, I've got hardwood flooring in my home, but it's an older home and the floors have probably suffered 50 years of abuse :p. On the other hand, I liked the one image of the small counter, but I'm more of a fan of islands for counters :3.
I can honestly say I have never had the experience of living in an apartment. Immediatly upon moving out of my parents house, I bought a house. This makes financial sense if you have the down payment, as renting an apartment can be just as expensive, if not more so, than a house. I have a 2200sq. ft. house, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a two car garage attached with a decent sized backyard. When I bought it three years ago it was $140k. Not bad, considering its around the corner from major freeways, schools, and shopping, plus its in a gated community. Save your money and buy!!
Excellent post - its great to see pics of various japanese apartments and the amount they cost. the 140,000 yen rent doesnt sound an awful lot different from the rates in Birmingham (UK) city center. How much bills go on top of that, on average? I would love to live in Tokyo at some point in my life, but due to recent developments, i guess im staying in the UK indefinately.
I didn't know you were related to Jimmy Choo?!?! (O.O)
Some of the prices don't look half as bad as they seem to be... unless I'm reading the site wrongly ^^; Won't mind renting a place somewhere nearer to Yamamoto Line. Traveling from my friend's place in Toyoda was a killer ORZ
Cool! Its good that you got a chance to experience living in lots of various places! I have so far only lived either at home or in student accommodation. To be fair the student accommodation hasn't been too bad! Maybe not as big as any of your places though :-p Was looking to buy a house next year, but there is something about apartments that is so appealing! Hmm..
Wow...i just move 3 times in my life and was shocking. I can't imagine the life, changing houses every time. I hope in your new house you found a place to call home. Greetings from Venezuela.
The view from the Seattle place is very nice. I also assume apartments in front of graveyards are dirt cheap compared to others as with houses?
It would be impossible to live here with those kinds of rents since normal salaries go around 1000€ per month, the rents also varies from city to city, town to town but most people don't want a rent an apartment, instead they buy one. Here in my town a T3 apartment (three bedroom divisions, living room, kitchen and two bathrooms) goes around 150.000€ and it's really big.
Wow Danny, nice apartments. Living expense in Calgary right now is going up as we speak. 2 roommates and I are renting a 4 bed room house for 1460 CND a month. It suppose to be close to 2000, since one of my roommate is dating landlord's daughter, so we got discount. rent alone is 462 a month, food is around 200 (not counting going out) usually 200 for utility and 75 for public transportation.
I'm the only one who voted for cheap I guess. I mean, it's not exactly cheap, but comparing to rates in Japan and US... it's a breeze. My city is a small touristic point in Brazil. So we do get to know people from around the world sometimes. Japanese people are always surprized by two things: - Price of fruits, vegetables and meat; - Rent prices; Right now, I'm looking for a small apartment on the capital of the state I live now... bigger city, more oportunities, you know the drill. Not only we don't have all those extra costs to pay on the first month, it would already be too expensive to pay R$1200 for such an apartment. R$1200 is about 600USD. But I'm talking about a small 2 bedroom apartment here. Anyways, the only apartments that seemed attractive to me in Japan was those "for tourists only". None of those 1st moth taxes. But dunno what's the catch. :P Also... something I'm curious about, but I dunno if I'm being impolite to ask: Danny, are you still working on some job or just taking care of the blog right now? I'd love to live in Japan, but to be completely happy, it would be something like working or having a blog just like this... I know it's hard work, I know it's very very hard to create and maintain something like this, I know it's not for everyone, etc etc... but I can dream can't I? And I think I would be happier writing blog content rather than programming... :P
My region is currently going thru a huge economic boom because of the oil & gas industry. Housing in particular has skyrocketed where the average price for a one family home is now about $402,000. This is already down $50,000 from the summer median price. Rent is also incredibly high because of lack of regulation. Can be around $1200-1600/month. It's no Tokyo, but would you be correct in stating you have to be well off to live comfortably here? You bet your booty buttocks baby!
The range of renting is from US 800-2000 over here. The rent has gotten so high as of late resulting in much more becoming homeless because of it. You can find some pretty good location and price if you don't mind a roommate.
thanks for this nice post danny. I gonna need an apartment for 1 and a half month next year... around october. What do you think of Sakurahouse? Any sugestions for other solutions to rent an app. without needing to pay deposit/guarantor etc. ? arigatou
oh i forgot... i paid 1200$ for my app. A nice 4.5 room apartment a little bit outside from the city. 100m2 with a damn big balcony and a fireplace in the living room :) not bad huh?!
Tokyo and San Francisco seem to be equally expensive. 1000 USD for the simplest studio/ single bedroom. 700 USD if you share a flat or house full of students. Of course these are no where near the choice neighborhoods either.
Those apartments are good enough for me, the 2LDK would be nice. Now, Danny, I've heard from many sources(including yourself)that many apartments don't allow foreigners that much, why is that? I'd love to stay and live in one of those, the first video was a good-looking apartment. About $1,000 a month for a 2LDK? (Correct me if I'm wrong)
The first video would be about $1000 USD here and the second one would be about $800 USD. It's nearly impossible to find anything here below $700, but it is also equally impossible to find anything above $1200, regardless of extravagance.
Wow, thats pretty steep, but I guess thats to be expected in Tokyo. The apartments that are really close to UCLA, for the most part, are expensive and relatively crap quality for the price. I'd say the average is $2400 for a 2bed 1bath, kitchen and dining. There are more expensive places that look a bit better. Finding parking is also a horrible issue around here. Hopefully I'll have enough money to buy my own house in Tokyo one day. Yours looks really nice btw.
the prices for apartment rentals in my region is pretty much affordable but ever since splitting from my gf, i couldn't afford the high end one that we lived in so i had to move out to a cheaper option, bleah ^^" on another note, are you serious that jimmy choo? lol. my ex loves his shoe designs. i heard he's gonna be back in malaysia to open his own store?
You can't rent an apartment in my state unless you: a) Make a six-figure income. b) Have a full-time job and a roommate with a full-time job. c) Have a very generous, very rich, and very dead relative.
Apartments around here pretty affordable, especially when compared to places up north. I mean, even the one I would consider high end (like ones in Midtown or Buckhead) are very cheap compared to lodgings in say for instance, Boston or Philadelphia. Living here is relatively inexpensive. Which is why everyone is moving here haha.
If I could get a Tokyo sized apartment for about half of what I'm paying for my current place, I'd be a very happy person. I'm currently renting a two bedroom place for $400/mo that looks like a mansion when compared to the ones from the video. I don't even use the other bedroom, though I could probably set a table up and use it as dining. But I already use my living room for that (less table more PC desk) so... Honestly I don't need the space. But it's impossible to find single bedroom apartments in my area.
I pay $1650/mo. (USD of course) for an 800 sq. ft. "corner studio" in Boston ("1LBK" I guess you would say. :) Moving to Tokyo would probably be more affordable at this rate...
These are the kinds of posts I love! Truly about living in Japan! Thanks dannychoo.com!!! :)
That's a very nice house you have. The lighting makes it look even better, as well. But these apartment prices seem unreal to me. I'm living in Canada. We rent the top floor of a house. It's comparable in size to a 2 bedroom apartment. 2 bathrooms, plenty of storage space. We pay $800 a month, + utilities. My aunt has a three bedroom apartment, 1 bathroom, full living room, compressed kitchen and dining room. $650. Paying ¥220,000 a month seems, incredible compared to that. It makes me wonder, what is an average worker's wage in Japan?
Danny: I've read somewhere on this site that you used to design shoes for you father and now with the reference to Jimmy Choo here would I be right to assume that Jimmy Choo is your father?
Here comes a poor guy's report. ^ ^ currently i am living in a apartment with a friend, a dingy-looking 2dlk for 1000CNY(~$135) a month, about half hour subway to the downtown. Considering the avarage income(~ $500/month) in this place, the price is not cheap. @XSportSeeker Seems we have the similar story, hope your dream can come true. @Danny I like the lighting work of your apartment. BTW, can you embed the post-comment box into the blog view directly(maybe in a AJAX way), instead of opening a separated post-comment page? i think it could be easier for us to refer to something in the page when writing a message.
How did you manage to move your TV and not get it broken? We'll be moving soon and wouldn't mind some tips. Thanks.
heehee my husband kept saying your house looks so big!
140,000 JPY being about 650 UK pounds, that isn't a huge amount more than a scruffy three room flat over a run down shop in the area I used to live. 1000 pounds a month isn't unusual, although it would get you a pretty good place, if you could afford it. Rental property is very hard to find in the UK, most of it being run by housing associations - great if you have three kids and don't mind living next door to a convicted criminal or two.
I always heard Tokyo was one of the most expensive cities in the world. Well, I got that beat. I live in the Republic of Ireland, and I seem to be paying more for rent than your average apartment listed at 140,000 Yen. That is around 870 Euro. I pay 900 euro a month for a tiny apartment I share with my girlfriend. It has a good location (15 minutes walk from the city centre), and it's in tip-top shape... but the kitchen isn't even separate from the living room, so small it is! Dublin is a rip-off anyway... but God, I never imagined it was THIS BAD.
Those prices don't sound bad. If there wasn't the language barrier I'd be out in a flash (I've heard my C# and SQL Server Otaku skills would be in great demand in Tokyo). FYI A 1 modest bed flat in Colchester, Essex, UK is about 94,000 Yen per month and you will probably have chavs for neighbours.
haha, danny moving up in the world. good for you. one question, how big are the apartments and houses in sq. ft. so that i may get an idea of the sizes. one of my relatives is moving to japan in a months time.
Hey I'm a lucky bastard...I live in a green area outside the capital in a little town reputated to house a great number of diplomatic people, eurocrats and members of our Royal family all in all a whealty place.....and I managed to find myself a 2LDK 65sq.m. with a small terrace and green view for converted...72.723 yen (450 euros)... but nevertheless the rents go ballistic here...I was damn lucky
nice post for those thinking on how to fullfill their otaku dreams of living in Japan... anyway, what's the average salary for a full-time non qualified job? Just to have an idea on how japanese support themselves. And, in my Country, rents are usually 250 usd for a 2 rooms, 1 kitchen and 1 bathroom in a rather nice neighbourhood. Since the average salary for an 8hs job is 500 usd, things can get complicated u_u
Depends on what you want in singapore though. Basic room rental costs varies from 200SGD(15,175Yen) to 600SGD(Around 37,000Yen), and an entire apartment/HDB flat rental ranges from 1600SGD(121,422Yen) to 3000SGD(227,624Yen) each month. Its not too bad I suppose.
In Indonesia, most people owns their own home, housing is very affordable here. By the way, I've been meaning to ask, in Japan, there is this "LDK" terms, where "LDK" stands for Living Dining Kitchen, so, does that mean there is no bathroom and toilet?
I am curious about doing laundry in Japan. I know in anime you see a lot of people hanging undies out to dry on the balcony but do people go to laundrymats. Do any apartments have washer/dryer or do they have them in houses? Also, do people use dishwashers there?
well i live in long beach, CA and i'm paying 700bucks a month for a single which is really expensive in L.A. a single it's just 400bucks
I live in a pent house Condominium here in Canada toronto. This building looks like one of those new york chrylser buildings, and beside it are similar looking ones, also has rockafeller and Daniel's which is pretty nice too.. The penthouse was $500,000 to Buy and not rent. So it it pretty cheap. and the location is great, right in front is a mall with grocery store, and right beside it is at least 3 subway station entrance. I really want to move to japan and live my life there, but apprently, due to my Career choices (concept art designer/art directpr) I don't think I can make that come true. I will visit there someday and I will make sure i get to meet you.
my family owns a house in the suburbs and a condominium unit in the financial city ^^ Danny, have you had a hard time looking for an apartment or a house in Tokyo? 'coz i have heard some landlords doesn't like gaijins (racists lol)
Some of the Apartments look really nice, especially the one in Seattle. I myself have to find a reasonably priced apartment soon so I can commute to the University I'm attending come January. However it's kinda tough looking for one that's close to the Uni, offers good deals on utilities covered, is safe and most importantly affordable for a college student. Le Sigh.
the apartments here that I have come across so far doesn't have much of an asthetical look, mostly for convenient purpose.. I'm not good with the average rental rate here but I've heard that they've a fair cost unless you met a real demanding landlord.
Rent prices here are pretty cheap compared to those in Japan. And I mean dirt cheap. We rented a 2 floor house (3 bedroom and 2 bathroom) and it was only P17k (around 50k yen when converted). But none of it comes even close to looking like the apartments in Japan. The apartments there looks great. Is it fully furnished or is it bare bones when you rent one? :D
OK, 100% CONFIRMED. Jimmy Choo indeed is Danny Choo's Father. Despite the chronological of Date of Birth between Dato' Professor Jimmy Choo OBE & Danny Choo. (I won't disclose the details here as I fully RESPECT & ADMIRE Danny Choo)
