Moving house in Japan
Since I am starting my job in the big city, at the end of this week I will be moving from my lovely 3LDK apartment to another equally lovely 3LDK apartment. I am super fortunate to have been assigned such spacious housing, and I’m really looking forward to having a big space close to the city! But as always, with moving comes plenty of expenditure and communication hardships. Remember that every situation is different and nothing about moving house in Japan needs to be difficult at all! In this post I’ll talk you though my situation.
When I moved into this apartment two years ago, I didn’t pay any security deposit or key money, which was very lucky for me at the time. I was told then about the moving-out fees and I was shocked by them, but their reasoning made sense. The move-out fee for my apartment is 88,000 yen (USD$840; GBP£650) in order to change the tatami mats and the paper sliding wardrobe doors, which they do for each new tenant. I called the landlord to ask if this was necessary since my tatami and wardrobe doors are in perfect condition, but he just got mad at me for questioning the system and refused to accept any waiver.
Sometimes, one would be allowed to leave furniture in their apartment when leaving on the JET Programme, as their successor would shortly move in to the apartment when they arrive. However, my situation is different for a number of ways. Most obviously, the new JET intake likely will not be able to enter Japan this year, so my successor would not have been here to move in for a year, and the apartment could have been given to another Japanese government worker. That is not the factor governing my situation, though. For me, in an unusual turn of events, my successor already lives in the area, and therefore doesn’t need any of my things. Therefore, I must empty my apartment completely and take it all with me! Not a problem, but this means that I had to hire a moving company.
I am very fortunate to have wonderful office staff in my base school. I have a knowledgeable friend in the office, so he contacted a cheap moving company which he recommended himself. I have heard stories from other friends here in Japan that it is common for moving companies to charge in excess of 50,000 yen (USD$475; GBP£370), but luckily, since I will be moving very early in the morning and out of the typical moving season, my total should come to less than 20,000 yen (USD$190; GBP£147)! I’m super grateful that the move will be cheap compared to all the money I had to shell out to leave the apartment.
The company came over the other day to give me cardboard boxes to use for free. I’m now in the process of packing said boxes and will hopefully be finished within the next couple of days. Then, at 8am on Sunday, I will start the move! I do feel very sorry for the movers, though… That day is forecast to be 31 degrees and extremely humid. Thankfully I have aircon installed, unlike when I moved in, so I might blast it to give them some respite.
My lovely supervisor has helped me with things like transferring my internet to my new apartment, cancelling all my bills, and she will also drive me to the new apartment. This weekend is only for moving my belongings; I will be coming back to my current residence and living with a friend to complete the last three contract days at my schools. After school on Wednesday, I will take my remaining belongings and travel to the city myself in the evening, spend the night in my new apartment, and get ready for my new job the following morning! Conveniently (heavy sarcasm), my new supervisor will be on a business trip the whole of my first day, so I will most likely be strikingly akin to a lost puppy in the morning at work, and in the afternoon when I need to be at home for them to install internet in my house! Japanese skills, here we go.
This has been the biggest sum of money I’ve had to pay out since I arrived; even more than what I paid when I went to hospital with a broken elbow. In addition to the moving fees, I had to pay out for some rather pricey medicine, too. Plus the last of my rent here. Plus the price I paid to buy furniture from other ALTs. In total for this moving period, I have had to pay over 180,000 yen (USD$1715; GBP£1325). As an inexperienced young adult with a very lucky situation of cheap rent, I don’t know where this price falls in relation to normal moving prices in Japan. All I know is that these necessary and sometimes unexpected large expenses are exactly the reason why I like save my money. I feel very fortunate that I can make this move without worrying financially, and I’m super excited to see where my life goes in the big city!
