I figured that we could start a discussion to help each other with questions you may have about the JLPT. Specifically grammar questions, but if there’s anything non-grammar related I’m sure someone knows an answer. Personally I find I learn as much or more when I respond to people’s questions, and sometimes the practice tests and workbooks give the right answer without a proper explanation as to why. So if anyone has any grammar questions, ask away!
Here is a list of podcasts to help you learn Japanese in no particular order.
Japanese Pod 101
http://www.japanesepod101.com/
This is perhaps the most popular and professionally recorded podcast for learning Japanese. There is free and premium audio and video content which included lesson notes and other learning materials.
Japancast.net http://japancast.net/
Our competitors! A good homegrown podcast done by Paul and Hitomi Griswold. They regularly update their site and have plenty of content for you get your teeth into. Nice format and examples of Japanese from everyday life conversations and anime. Well worth listening to.
Osaka dialect 大阪弁 Japanese lesson in English http://mayumik.seesaa.net/
I enjoy listening to this podcast as I used to live in Osaka and I can get my fix of the Kansai dialect. The format is simple but effective. You can read the entire transcript of the podcast in Japanese with an English translation. A very good learning resource for learning real Japanese in context.
S-J-P Study Japanese Podcast http://sjp.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/
From what I’ve heard so far it is hosted by native Japanese with no silly gaijin to mess things up. Minimal English so it’s quite a good immersion into Japanese. Perhaps good for low intermediate and above. Unfortunately they haven’t updated their website recently.
Japanese LingQ http://www.japaneselingq.com/
Podacsts are 100% ( from what I’ve heard so far) Japanese so good for total immersion if you are of an intermediate level. You have to sign up if you want to read the transcripts. It has some “revolutionary learning system” a rather questionable phrase in my humble estimation however it’s worth checking out.
Survival Phrases – Japanese http://survivalphrases.com/japanese/guest.php
Very professional – annoyingly so. It’s so produced and corporate that it sounds like a commercial. Waaay too much English. But maybe good for complete beginners in Japanese.
Nippon Voice Blog http://www.voiceblog.jp/nippon/
Hmm…Super zannen. I opened the page to find some long transcripts about Japanese culture. Great for reading and vocabulary BUT none of the mp3s were working. That’s probably something to do with the fact that the last entry was back in 2006.
If you know of any good podcasts for learning Japanese then feel free to post the urls in the comment section below. I’ll be sure to add it to the list here.
岸和田港まつり花火大会 Kishiwada Minato Festival Fireworks
Time: 20:00 – 21:00
Location: MAP/地図30 mins walk from Kishiwada station (岸和田駅), Nankai hon line (南海本線)
1500 fireworks / 20000 spectators / TEL: 072-423-9618/
(Hyogo)
芦屋サマーカーニバル Ashiya Summer Carnival
Time: 20:00 start
Location: MAP/地図Ashiya City Park 芦屋市総合公園/Nearest station -Ashiya station / 芦屋駅 /
5000 fireworks / 90000 spectators / TEL: 0797-35-0871/
(Hyogo)
姫路みなと祭海上花火大会 Himeji Port Fireworks Festival
Time: 19:30-20:45
Location: MAP/地図 25 min walk from Shikama Station on the Sanyo Dentetsu line 山陽電鉄本線飾磨駅
教祖祭PL花火芸術 Kyoso Festival PL Fireworks Display
Time: 19:45 – 20:45
Location: MAP/地図10 mins walk from Tondabayashi station (富田林駅), Kintetsu Nagano line (近鉄長野線)
20000 fireworks / 300000 spectators /TEL: 0721-23-6625/ http://www.perfect-liberty.or.jp/
7th August (Friday)
(Shiga)
びわ湖花火大会 Lake Biwa Fireworks display
Time: 19:30– 20:30
Location: MAP/地図 5 mins walk from Hamaotsu station (浜大津駅)
10000 fireworks / 350000 spectators / TEL: 077-511-1530 / http://www.biwako-visitors.jp/
8th August (Saturday)
(Osaka)
なにわ淀川花火大会 Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Display
Time: 19:50– 20:40
Location: MAP/地図 10 mins walk from Jyuso station (十三駅), Hankyu line (阪急線)
or Tsukamoto station (塚本駅), JR kobe line (JR神戸線)
3000 fireworks / 380000 spectators /TEL: 06-6307-5522/http://www.yodohanabi.com/
15th August (Saturday)
(Kyoto)
あやべ水無月まつり Ayabe Festival
Time: 20:00– 20:45
Location: MAP/地図 10 mins walk east from Ayabe Station 綾部駅
４000 fireworks / 35000 spectators /TEL: 0773-42-0701
This is the Kanto Fireworks Calendar covering the greater Tokyo area and surrounding prefectures. Be sure to check out the Kansai Fireworks Calendar here. We will be adding extra information to this calendar as the festival season progresses here in Japan. Also check out our Japan Guide Page for general event and cultural for Japan.
Every year hundreds of thousands of people gather wearing 浴衣 – Yukata – summer kimonos and try to keep themselves cool with their 扇子 – Sensu – fans during the warm humid summer. Many of these fireworks displays have long histories stretching back hundreds of years so this is a great way to experience Japanese culture at it’s most exciting.
Please leave your comments, questions and fireworks tales on the comments below. Enjoy!
Eating out in Japan should be one of the greatest experiences any travelling foreigner should ever encounter. Yet while it creates quite a lot of excitement for some (i.e. me. My mantra is “I can’t say I don’t like something if I haven’t tried it”) for many Japanese dining is cause for nerves and stress. Some worry that they may not understand the menu and end up with a plate full of sea creatures still alive enough to crawl down their throats, or that no-one in the restaurant will speak any English. Others worry about the cost too, which is definitely a concern in Tokyo – and I should know. A few months back, my boyfriend and I, on an impulse, ducked into a tiny teppanyaki restaurant in Roppongi. 2 hours and ¥70,000 yen later, we left full albeit a little dazed and confused too.
But a meal here with all the trimmings doesn’t ever need to cost you your month’s rent. An eatery in the heart of Ginza has the matters at hand covered, providing English and picture menus, the occasional bi-lingual waitress, along with a traditional Japanese dining experience.
Introducing Umenohana. Umenohana is actually a chain of restaurants found all across Japan that offers customers kaiseki style of dining within a small quiet dining area or in the privacy of your own tatami room. Kaiseki loosely translates to mean a customary multi-course meal and with Umenohana offering two set menus specializing in yuba (a tofu derivative) and tofu, this restaurant is a must-go for all foreigners in Japan.
Now for those of you unsure about tofu and yuba, let me assure you that I have taken even the most ardent “meat and potatoes” man to Umenohana and he loved it, even admitting that most of the time he could not tell it was tofu. In fact most people leave the place having learned a thing or two about tofu – firstly that it is incredibly delicious and secondly that they had no idea it could be prepared, cooked and served in such a variety of ways. I will let the photos speak for themselves…
As is customary with kaiseki dining, each portion is small, but with the courses number over 10 (I always lose count!), you will not leave hungry. The cost of the set menus are a very reasonable ¥4600 for Umenohana-zen and ¥5100 for Shiawase-zen and I recommend going at least twice as both menus are entirely different from each other. Drinks are not included in the price, but start around ¥530 for beer and shochu, going up to ¥5,500 for bottles of good quality sake.
Bookings are essential, particularly if you want to dine in a private tatami room (recommended, and at no extra cost too!) – use the opportunity to practice your Japanese over the phone. I always start off saying I do not speak Japanese very well and have my key phrases rehearsed concerning the time, day and number of people the reservation is, for and the receptionist has never been anything less than extremely helpful.
Umenohana is definitely one of those restaurants to take visiting friends and family to. The staff is warm and welcoming, and the “Japan-ness” of the encounter is second to none, with some great photo opps and interesting conversation points amongst scrumptious food and drink guaranteed.
Getting there: Rail: Osaka-Temmangu Station on JR Tozai Line Subway: Minami-mori-machi Station on Tanimachi Line or Sakaisuji Line
I took this video of the Tenji festival in Osaka in 2006. It is one of the “big three” festivals in Japan and is an incredibly crowded but fun experience. The festival is held in late July and over a million people regularly attend each year. It has everything a good Japanese festival should have, stall food, games, people in Yukata and fireworks. There is also a procession of over 100 boats on the river which is an incredible site.
It has over 1000 years of history and is one of the main cultural events in Kansai. So if you are wondering what to do on your trip to Japan this is a must.
<p><a href=”http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/ff20090515.mp3″>Directly download the Fun Friday MP3</a></p>
<p>On this week’s Fun Friday Podcast, I interviewed Stone River and Goldhorn, two friends of mine who have just completed a 1200km bicycle tour of Japan. Their trip started in Tokyo and took them up the east Coast of Japan to Sendai via route 6. From there they cycled north west over the mountains, through some amazing hot springs and eventually Akita. From there they took a ferry to Sapporo their final destination. </p>
<p>Judging by the silly smiles on their faces they had a great time when I met up with them in Tokyo after they had completed the trip. According to them it went very smoothly and people were very supportive and helpful along the way. Although they broke a few spokes they didn’t get a single flat tire during the entire trip. When Stone handed back my bike which I had given him for the trip I managed to get a flat within five minutes of riding home. Thanks Murphy</p>
<p>We will be adding more detailed information about their trip soon including diary entries, equipment, things to take or not and general advice for the dos and don’ts of doing cycling tours of Japan. In the mean time, here is a partial map of their progress on the tour. </p>
<h2>The Grand Tour</h2>
<p> </p>
<iframe width=”640″ height=”480″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ src=”http://www.google.com/maps/ms?source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&near=&split=1&msa=0&msid=100340913416573645891.000468d12bf8ca37698dc&ll=39.571822,140.339355&spn=8.127639,14.0625&z=6&output=embed”></iframe><br /><small>View <a href=”http://www.google.com/maps/ms?source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&near=&split=1&msa=0&msid=100340913416573645891.000468d12bf8ca37698dc&ll=39.571822,140.339355&spn=8.127639,14.0625&z=6″ style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>Stone’s Tokyo to Hokkaido bike tour</a> in a larger map</small>
Nostalgia has got the better of me so I made a map of some of my favorite hang outs in Osaka. These include bars, restaurants and possibly one of the best pizza restaurants in the whole of Osaka, well worth checking out. This is an ongoing project which I hope to be adding to regularly. If you have your own recommendations please add them to the map. Hopefully, it will end up as a resource for people looking for a fun night out in Osaka city.
I have two friends riding from Tokyo to Hokkaido over golden week and so I thought I would document their progress. One of them is “Stone River” from the forums and the other is “Goldhorn” as they have asked me to use their handles…bless. So I’ve made a google map to illustrate their progress with pics and information for anyone interesed and for those who might be considering a similar trip.
Here’s some information:
Equipment:
Goldhorn’s bike: Specialized rock hopper with rack mount for bags
Stone’s bike: “A piece of c### bridgestone” which he bought for not much. It has a rack mount too which is making more trouble that it is worth.
They also have a tent as they’ll be camping along the way. They started out from Akihabara on Tuesday night and have been following route 6 into Ibaraki. They’re following the coast and should be hitting south Sendai prefecture sometime tonight.
Here is the google map I have made of their progress so far.
Here is a break down of the JLPT contents and what you need to know to pass it.
JLPT Level 1
Sections
Time
Points
Writing / Vocabulary
45 mins
100
Listening
45 mins
100
Reading / Grammar
90 mins
200
Total
180 mins
400
Kanji you need to know
2,000
Vocab you need to know
10,000
NOTES: You can demonstrate an advanced mastery of Japanese grammar and knowledge good enough to integrate into Japanese society. This usually takes about 900 hours of study
JLPT Level 2
Sections
Time
Points
Writing / Vocabulary
35 mins
100
Listening
40 mins
100
Reading / Grammar
70 mins
200
Total
145 mins
400
Kanji you need to know
1,000
Vocab you need to know
6,000
NOTES: You are able to demonstrate a relatively advanced command of Japanese grammar and can talk, read and write on topics of a general nature. This usually takes about 600 hours of study
JLPT Level 3
Sections
Time
Points
Writing / Vocabulary
35 mins
100
Listening
35 mins
100
Reading / Grammar
70 mins
200
Total
140 mins
400
Kanji you need to know
300
Vocab you need to know
1,500
NOTES: You have a limited understanding of grammar but can take part in simple daily conversation and can read and write simple sentences. This would normally take about 300 hours of study
JLPT Level 4
Sections
Time
Points
Writing / Vocabulary
25 mins
100
Listening
25 mins
100
Reading / Grammar
50 mins
200
Total
100 mins
400
Kanji you need to know
100
Vocab you need to know
800
NOTES: You have a very basic grasp of Japanese grammar and can communicate in very simple conversations. You can read and write simple sentences. This would take about 150 hours of study
I will adding more information regarding the JLPT soon. Watch this space…
Since we’ve been getting some great posts on the forum, I thought I would feature some of the best ones on the front page. In this way, the really useful and interesting information can reach a bigger audience.
This post is by Stone River, a veteran of the forums,a man of many talents one of which is being an expert and connoisseur of beer living here in Japan. This is interesting considering the fact that the mirco brewing scene in Japan is starting to take off. Far be it from me to pretend to know much about this industry. Suffice it to say that you can find a lot of information on food and beer in Japan here: http://www.bento.com/tokyofood.html
I got my exercise in right after work last night. I went for the daily run along the sumidagawa river, passing the familiar blue cardboard and plastic crate tarpaulin homes of 台東区’s homeless population. They’re a peaceful lot, often shouting ganbatte to me as I slide past at the old man 7 minute mile pace. The river was higher than usual, and a passing boat spilled a bit of that brown water onto the path. Moonlight beams bounced off the ripple dipple as it rolled over my decorative brick running course. All in all quite serene. I was feeling very much at home, finding a comfortable place in a foreign city where my language skills sometimes fail me. At least the aesthetic is comforting. A warm blanket of welcome. That, and I am beginning to realize there are nooks and crannies in this city that cater to my every homesick whimsy.
Post run stretching led me to a craving for hops. Strong hops. An overwhelming nosebloating bouquet that would bring even the most casual consumer to the brink of nosgasm. Green Flash. Having read a friend’s brief review of the Bulldog Pub above Ginza Station, I decided to jump on Vader and press her rubber tires to pavement.
Leaving 台東区 on route 6 I headed first toward 東京駅. I knew the general direction, so I skipped the main roads and tried to stick to the vacant backstreets that often provide a bit of solace from the incessant traffic. Though I rode the 10 odd kilometers to and again fro work, and then found the energy to get in a run, my quadraceps and calves were screaming for more. Faster. Vader herself was feeling light and bouncy, like she wanted to play in the pasture with the other war ponies. Somewhere in the back of my mind Chewbacca screamed out in his garbled wookie dribble, ‘hyper-drive fixed, let’s make the jump to lightspeed!’
Neon lights traced through my periphery and my over-sized pre-homosapien like chest heaved as my ass was outta the saddle and legs pumped for gold. Throughout my body the capillaries dilated, force-pumping oxygen from head to toe. The descent into Ginza station was beautiful. Already 7p.m. and the flourescent spotted grey, dull steel-reinforced cold concrete monsters spit blue and black suits onto the streets.
I stopped at the koban to get my bearings and press one of those street beat cops to do some leg work for me. Directions. I over shot the bar by one block, but this would give me a chance to get some quick cash. Between 有楽町駅 and 銀座駅 lies a 三井住友 ATM. I tied Vader up to the metal bars that line the sidewalk and entered a building called Inz (インズ). Second floor, can’t miss it. Bulldog Pub has a large selection of West Coast IPA’s (Stone, Green Flash, Rogue, Anderson Valley, Speak Easy) and a live magician on Tuesday nights. Pizza’s not bad either.
This is an awesome little vlog for people wanting to learn Japanese in bite sized chunks. 12 second chunks to be exact. In Each lesson “ThePete” gives us some useful, short, everyday Japanese phrases. Very good for those beginning in Japanese and want to know more about the language. So check it out and please make some more lessons ThePete!!! You can find his blog here: ThePete 12 second Japanese lessons.
The following advice was written by "seantothefox" from the forums on how to climb Mt. Fuji. Check out the full thread here. I thought it would be useful for people thinking of doing some hiking this year.
I climbed it last year, and it went pretty awful, mainly due to my poor punctuality. However, albeit that I still enjoyed the experience.
I advise you to:
- Not to be late, in fact turn up early to allow for not being able to find your bus station etc – I can’t stress this enough!
– Take two large bottles of water and some food to save you having to buy food on the mountain which is crazy expensive. For example, you usually pay 120 yen for one can of drink in a regular vending machine, where as the mountain vending machines charge 500 yen!
- Wrap up warm, during the climb at one point you’ll probably feel comfortable enough to wear just a jumper and a t shirt, but then when it hits evening it can get pretty chilly depending on the amount of wind and whether it rains. It’s always better to have too many clothes rather than too little, since you can just remove a few layers if you get too hot.
- Purchase a torch! I purchased a small wind up one and it was such a life saver once it had got dark, without it I would’ve been in trouble at certain points. Wind up ones are good too because obviously there’s no risk of running out of battery.
- If you’re climbing with someone make sure you both have cell phones! This is because me and my climbing partner both got separated and with just a little more battery life I could have contacted him to find him again. Even at the top of the mountain you can still get signal, with Japanese cell phones being amazing and all. On top of that, make sure they’re fully charged – if you phone however has a shit battery life then I strongly recommending bringing a spare one if possible. Maybe a prepaid mobile wouldn’t be a bad idea, when I was over there I bought mine for 1000yen and could top it up with 1000, 3000, 5000, 10000 yen prepaid cards.
- Allow for enough room in your backpack to put rubbish in it, there’s no litter bins on the mountain, well they’re rare.
- Make sure you descend down the same route that took you up the mountain! I went down the wrong one at the other side (one of the many reasons why it went awfully wrong) of the mountain due to not being able to see and it caused me to be able to meet up with my climbing partner again and made me have to fork out a lot of money for the shinkansen to get back into Tokyo and bus to the JR station!
- Take a camera, the views at the top are stunning and you don’t want a successful climb without a photo of yourself doing the ‘buisign’
When asked what the kanji with the most strokes was I originally thought that the upper limit was around 30. I had a look on the net and in fact it goes way higher than that although it is debatable into which is officially recognized as a kanji. More about that later. Here are some examples of kanji comprised of 30 strokes ( randomly taken from jisho.org)
（らん）Ran – A mythical bird
（ライ、り、レイ）Ri – A Chinese oriole ( a kind of bird )
Some kanji characters are formed by repeating the basic radical character two, three or even four times such as 林 or hayashi or 晶. My personal favorite is 姦 “kashimashii” which is made up from the basic radical for woman written three times. It means “noisy”. Here are a few more examples of kanji with repeated radicals.
（ショウ）Shou – Many horses – 30 strokes
（ セン ）fresh – 30 strokes
large group of horses traveling in a line – 34 strokes
In the following kanji, the basic radicals have been repeated four times to produce 64 strokes.
(てつ）Many, numerous (words)
The big hitters in the kanji stroke department are the following. This kanji (おういちざ) – has an incredible 79 strokes.
But the winner here weighing in at an incredible 84 strokes is “Daito”:
According to this site, the last two kanji (ouichiza and daito) were invented by a playwright for a play during the Edo period. However this fact hasn’t been substantiated so it is doubtful as to whether this could be recognized as an official kanji. It doesn’t appear in any of the dictionaries I have checked and is not in popular use or even known about by most Japanese people.
According to jisho.org䯂 is the kanji with the highest number of strokes at 34. However for a kanji with a high stroke order which is in common use, 鬱（うつ） at 32 strokes is a safe bet.
All of this information is not a definitive guide and is posted to inspire anyone who has the time and resources to look into this further. I also wrote this for fun and because I hadn’t found any articles about this in English.
As Japan is becoming a popular destination amongst foreigners for skiing, more and more people are finding what Japan has to offer in the form of hiking. With 70% of Japan’s land mass covered by mountains there is everything from easy forest walks to advanced ice climbing. Recently there has been an increase in English language blogs on hiking and climbing in Japan. Here are a few that might help you to plan a hike in Japan
The first blogs are written by the prolific Wes Lang, a highly experienced climber who has climbed all Hyakumeisan (100 famous mountains) in Japan.
1) http://hikinginjapan.com
Hiking in Japan is a guide written by Wes packed with information on mountains and trails in Japan. He has over 100 mountains listed on his site.
Japanese uses different levels of politeness for dealing with specific situations. The vocabulary you use when speaking to your boss is different when speaking to your friends or children. One telling example of the importance the Japanese place on respect and hierarchy is found in the seven different words they have for saying “you”. Here are some examples.
あなた Anata
This is the politest way to say you in Japanese. Housewives also use “anata” when talking to their husbands. The plural form is “anatagata”. In some cases it can aso be a little rude, for example: あなたはどう思いますか – anata wa dou omoimasu ka – What do you think,is sometimes best not used when talking to your boss. Instead どう思いますか or 田中さんはどう思いますか would be better where you simply omit the “anata” and use the person’s name.
君 Kimi
Kimi is a familiar term used between friends. It is also used when speaking to children. The plural form is “kimitachi” usually used when speaking to a group of children.
お前 Omae
Omae is usually used by men between very good friends. As it is quite an abrupt way of saying “you” it can vary from friendly and casual to rude depending on the situation and tone you use.
あんた Anta
Anta is a little old fashioned these days so it is usually used by older people when speaking to friends or younger people.
われ Ware
Now we are getting into the realms of fighting talk. Ware actually has a few meanings but in terms of “you” it is very abrupt and quite rude. it is usually used by angry men in Osaka.
てめえ Temee
Again, this is quite an aggressive way to say “you” usually used by men when tempers are flaring.
貴様 Kisama
Interestingly enough, kisama was originally used as a term of respect. “SAMA” on its own is used as a term of respect after someone’s name. For example ありがとうございます田中様 – arigatou gozaimasu tanaka sama – Thank you very much Mr Tanaka. However, KISAMA is close to calling someone a wretch in English and best avoided if you are not looklng for a fight.
So good luck in working out which word to use. When in doubt ANATA is usually a good bet. It may be a mistake but you certainly won’t offened anybody.
Over the past month I’ve been going through the herculean task of apartment hunting in downtown Tokyo. After having lived in Japan for over 12 years this is now my third time although it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I wanted to share my experiences in the form of a guide to help those either moving here for the first time or people already here looking for their next apartment.
The zen of apartment hunting covers a wide range of issues so I’ll tackle them in small bite sized chunks. In this first article let’s take a look at the possible break down of cost which vary from from case to case.
敷金
Shikikin: This is a refundable deposit. How much you get back depends on the state of the apartment when you move out and the honesty of your landlord. Generally speaking you should get a majority of it back although this can vary form case to case. It is not uncommon to have to pay “敷金：２” or two months rent up front.
In Osaka and other parts of Japan 敷金 is called 保証金 hoshoukin. After moving out you can expect to be charged a cleaning fee which can be anything around 30,000 yen.
礼金
Reikin: 礼金 generally translates as “thank you money” and is a non-refundable deposit. Not only that but depending on the apartment, you might have to pay “礼金：２” or 2 months rent up front with no refund. This is where Japan gets it reputation being an expensive place to move apartments.
仲介手数料
Chuukaitesuuryo:A finder’s fee. You’ll usually use a 不動産 (fudousan) estate agent (realtor) to help you find a place. The finding fee is usually one month’s rent.
共益費
Kyouekihi: Monthly building management fee. This is a monthly cost to pay for general cleaning and upkeep of the building. It can vary from only 1000 yen ($10) to 10,000 yen ($100) or more. Make sure you add this onto the basic monthly rent.
保証会社
Hoshougaisha: To move into an apartment in Japan you need to have a guarantor. The guarantor is financially liable for any major damage or toruble you might cause. Your parents or company can be your guarantors. However if this is not possible you can use a Hoshogaisha or guarantor company. They usually charge 50% of one month’s rent to act as your guarantor.
Other costs
鍵交換代: kagikoukandan: This would be the costs for changing the locks which is about 30,000.
クリーニング代: Kuriiningu dai: Cleaning fee. 30,000 yen. This is usually paid when you move out
サッポートシステム: Support system: 15,000 yen a year for 24 hour emergency service dealing with things such as burst pipes or being locked out.
火災保険: kasaihoken: Apartment insurance which covers you for 2 years for about 15-20,000 yen.
So, let’s imagine you have found a desirable residence in town for about 100,000 yen or $1000 a month. This is an estimate of the single initial deposit to move in.
Shikikin X 2
Deposit
:¥200,000
Reikin X 2
Deposit (non refund)
:¥200,000
Chuukai tesuuryou
Finder’s fee
:¥100,000
Kyouekihi
Manager fee
:¥10,000
Hoshougaisha
Guarantor
:¥50,000
Kasaihoken
Insurance
:¥20,000
一ヶ月前払い
1 month rent up front
:¥100,000
Total cost: 730,000 yen
So if you add on another 100,000 yen for the removal company you are looking at 7 to 8 times your monthly rent as a first payment to move in…ouch. After that your rent will be 100,000 yen plus the managerial fee which will bring it up to about 110,000 yen per month.
Of course this is a high ball estimate. You can negotiate and each case is different. So don’t go just yet to buy a tent to live in Yoyogi park. Therefore in my Apartment hunting (part 2) I’ll show you some ways to avoid paying such high costs.
I would love to hear your ideas and opinions on this so please feel free to leave a comment below.
Eating out in Japan should be one of the greatest experiences any travelling foreigner should ever encounter. Yet while it creates quite a lot of excitement for some (i.e. me. My mantra is “I can’t say I don’t like something if I haven’t tried it”) for many Japanese dining is cause for nerves and stress. Some worry that they may not understand the menu and end up with a plate full of sea creatures still alive enough to crawl down their throats, or that no-one in the restaurant will speak any English. Others worry about the cost too, which is definitely a concern in Tokyo – and I should know. A few months back, my boyfriend and I, on an impulse, ducked into a tiny teppanyaki restaurant in Roppongi. 2 hours and ¥70,000 yen later, we left full albeit a little dazed and confused too.
Introducing 
Bookings are essential, particularly if you want to dine in a private tatami room (recommended, and at no extra cost too!) – use the opportunity to practice your Japanese over the phone. I always start off saying I do not speak Japanese very well and have my key phrases rehearsed concerning the time, day and number of people the reservation is, for and the receptionist has never been anything less than extremely helpful.
Over the past month I’ve been going through the herculean task of apartment hunting in downtown Tokyo. After having lived in Japan for over 12 years this is now my third time although it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I wanted to share my experiences in the form of a guide to help those either moving here for the first time or people already here looking for their next apartment.
