Monday, November 10, 2008

Teaching Japan: The Living Space



Source: Darkside Dreamland

Ever wanted to teach in Japan? Want that big paycheque and that Japanese cultural experience? Here's your apartment :)

It could probably be regarded as a common fact that the average Japanese apartment is smaller than the average American apartment. The lesser known extension of this fact is that the average apartment for a teacher is smaller than the average American closet.

1 comment:

Roger Williams said...

It IS theoretically possible for a foreigner to get a Japanese apartment bigger than a walk in refrigerator, but it is extremely expensive (and difficult to arrange) in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka, where the right connections and "key payments" (ie, bribes) are a must. Many Japanese landlords are hesitant to rent to foreigners, and those that do will often charge a premium price for a lousy apartment on the premise that beggars can't be choosers (they're right!).

If you can arrange for a Japanese friend or roommate to live with, the prospects are better, but apartments are still tiny by American and Canadian standards. The apartment I shared in the Ikebukuro outskirts was less than 220 square feet to be shared by two people. This meant the toilet was in the shower stall, the refrigerator was under the sink, and the futons were hung out on the tiny balcony during the day to have a living/dining space.