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parasitegirlMy hands were shaking. All of my insecurities from the last hunt started bubbling up.He asked if I had a guaranteer and I was all “Yes! My boss. My boss at CITY HALL! STABLE GOVERNMENT WORKER! Old married Japanese man! YES YES YES!!!...um..yeah.” He smiled.
Kazu enumerated my needs:
“Flooring” instead of tatami mats…or at least the room I sleep in must have flooring. (allergies)
No more than 15 minutes from a station.
Joban train line.
Preferably near Shin-mastudo or Kita-kogane stations so I can still bike to work.
No first floor apartments.
Light.
Not ok with my washing machine hook-up and drains being outside on the balcony…I have a nice enough washing machine that I don’t want it exposed to the elements.
I prefer the sink to be separate from the bathtub/shower room so I don’t have to stand on possibly damp floor each time I want to wash my hands/bush my teeth/whatnot.
Old bathtubs that I must sit in a fetal position and lower myself into will cause me severe depression in the winter.
A good kitchen and two rooms because I have a lot of stuff and I like to cook.
The agent started showing us (gaijin ok!) listings that suited my needs. He and Kazu discusses how hard it is to get a no tatami-mat apartment and what sorts of things jack up the prices. We chose two apartments to go tour. When the agent was getting the car ready, Kazu consulted me about if I wanted to go to another agency after this and I said “yeah, just in case…you never know. I want to know my options.”
The first apartment broke my 15 minutes away rule but was big so we checked it out. It was nice and big and all…but a 19 minute walk from Kita-kogane when I am in heels and lugging a gig suitcase on wheels? NOPE! The agent kept stressing the fact that the walk was all on main streets but…nope.
Kazu and I chatted on and off in the car.
The second apartment was in Shin-matsudo (which gets JR Joban line and JR Musashino line as well as the tiny train that goes to city hall) and was a 15 or so minute walk. It was on the second floor above a yet to be rented workplace (so at night it would be close and quiet below me).
It was just alright. Unlike my first apartment hunt I wasn’t seeing any place that filled me with deep sorrow but I wasn’t love anything either. It got pretty good light but there were so many sliding doors that there wasn’t enough wall space to put my giant dance-practice mirror anywhere that made sense and there were a few support beams that stuck in from the wall in a manner that made me wonder how I’d place my bed. It was registering as “well, it’s not bad…”
We went back to the rental agency and put a temporary hold on the last apartment. This required me to sit through 30 minutes of legal explanations and sign stuff and hand over a 3,000 yen temporary deposit. I’d have 4 days to say yes or no.
I was knackered by we headed to our second agency.
This agent nearly lost me in the first 10 minutes. He made the assumptions that Kazu would be filling out everything and kept addressing his questions and eye contact to Kazu. My Japanese speaking skills were showing signs of exhaustion but I could still understand. My tolerance for people addressing questions for me to the nearest Japanese person is always pretty low. I was pretty close to walking.
Luckily I eventually spoke enough Japanese and proved my reading skills (while looking at listings) enough that he started addressing me.
Kazu explained the hunt parameters.
We narrowed down the pile to go look at two.
The first apartment we looked at was in Kita-Kogane about 13 minutes from the station. It was a little cheaper than the others. It had one room, not two, but the kitchen was large enough to fit much of my second room needs. It was on back roads but also near a variety of small farms that I know to have good vegetable stands (more important for me than crappy department stores.) It reminded me of my first apartment in
Then we got to the second apartment. This one had tatami in one room, but it had a total of three rooms (in addition to the kitchen) and would only be 6 minutes from Kita-Kogane station and 15 from Shin-Matsudo station. When looking at the listing we kept asking ourselves “what’s wrong, this is too good…what’s wrong.” Some of the price reflects the fact it’s a two apartment building with a landlord instead of an apartment agency running it. No key-money or deposit needed, but there was a refreshingly frank “this is how much it cost to fix up everything” one-time charge of about a month and a half worth of rent. No extra monthly charges and there was the possibility of a few thousand yen getting knocked off the monthly rent.
On the way we ended up talking about basketball (
It was a goofy looking building. Peach colored and kinda house shaped two floor odd building. I started giggling. The agent got nervous. I started giggling because it was goofy looking in a way I thought suited me.
First thing: SHOE CLOSET! YES!
Then it came quickly
Closets/Storage in EVERY ROOM!
Because it takes up the whole second floor, all rooms (except the kitchen) have windows on at least two walls. LIGHT!
The tatami matt room is delightful. I think it will be my craft and tv room.
I am sure my laughing made the agent twitchy. Kazu was laughing a little bit, but only because he was being reminded of how I lit up last time when we found the apartment I am currently in. At that time I ran back and forth saying things like “Closets!” “Kiiiiittty kitttty kitttty” (6 years later the local kitty is looking pretty scruffy as are my tatami) “Kazu! I want this!!!”
There is no airconditioner/heater. If I really need one I’ll buy it later. It seems to get a good enough breeze. The windows may mean a cold winter, but I have multiple heaters and can always buy more.
Second floor, and the stairs, mean I must get a moving company or risk being hated by all local friends and co-workers…but it also means no one above me when I zill.
It’s really easy to get to from the station…and give directions to.:take the correct exit, turn left, walk for 6 minutes and keep an eye out for the peach place. It is on a main road that isn’t so busy as to be a noise issue but busy enough never to be deserted.
And…unlike my current place…there isn’t a dance club or a live venue where young intoxicated folks loiter outfront of and/or a ton of hostess bars between the station and home...which hasn’t helped my going-home-at-night issues.
We started the paperwork last night. Today I’ve been busy faxing things to my new agent and getting my supervisor the call the first agent and say “Sorry, found a place!”…I’ll bike the agency #1 to get my 3,000 yen refunded after work. Tomorrow at lunch time I’ll be near agency #2 and the ever helpful Mrs. N will swing by so we can do the “listening to the legal stuff and signing” part of this. I am pretty sure (from agency #1) that I understand enough to do it solo, but we all agree the agency will feel more cozy if I have a member of my bi-lingual help squad to say “she really understands!”
And a fellow dancer who I contacted asking her translation fees (not Farasha, who I know is hella busy, but a dancer who translates the nightly news for NHK) just sent me an on-the-house translation of my “don’t fuck me over with my security deposit” letter due to the situation. When I get home I’ll ask if she has any costume fixing needs.
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