🇯🇵 Remember to use code ABROAD to get $5 off your first #Sakuraco box now: team.sakura.co/abroadinjapan-SC2308 | Experience Japan from the comfort of your own home!🍡 NOTIFICATION SQAUD: It certainly makes a change from the crazy luxury apartments we've been used to. Which of the three apartments do you think YOU could live in and WHICH do you think is worth the value for money? Let me know below!
apartments in small cities all acress Canada currently have very similar prices to the first apartment show. a quick look found me a 55 square meter apartment in London Ontario for $1000 USD, sure it's 40% bigger for 20% less, it's also in an unremarkable small to medium city , not in a highrise, no view of mount fuji, and minimum wage is 22.7k US. same building has an appartment 10 square meters larger and it's $1300 USD. -edit- to compare apple to apple looked up toronto, not even waterfront or anything. found a 27 square meter apartment for $1450 USD as a Canadian, can you give me any suggestions on how to move to the comaprativly incredibly affordable megacities of Japan? because we are all losing our abilities to put a roof over our heads here.
Being a truck driver for nearly 10 years ive learned just how much you can really fit into such a small space. Honestly i feel like i could definitely live in any of these and be perfectly happy, less space to fill up means your less inclined to fill it up with random stuff and almost everything has a purpose or at least means something.
I've had to move a few times in the last few years, each time to a place that is an over 20 hour drive away from me. it's just me and my Cat, and the expereince has taught me just how little I need to be happy. I could absolutely live in spaces this small and love it you just need to be smart about storage and only keep things you know you will use
In late 80’s, I was starting out living in Tokyo, and I had chosen just like #3. I signed up a fitness club membership with unlimited use for all amenities for my daily morning routine - shower/big public bath/sauna after gym/fitness class/running track and basic skincare (toner/lotion/cotton), hair dryer, complimentary towel service and use their locker/laundry service. They even had a restaurant for breakfast and juice bar. My work was flex hours, so I hop on my subway after peak hours. It worked out fantastic for me.
there's a hotel in San Francisco that rents rooms about a queen bed size and nothing else in the room for more than $250 a month with a shared bathroom for the floor. a place the size of this Japanese micro would go for a lot more in New York
the thing I think about most, living in a city in canada where the cheapest ancient run-down apartments will run you $1500 cad, is the fact that there even exist options at this price-point. It's really understated how much an affordable unit can help someone who's fallen behind get back on their feet. If you want to get anywhere near that price here you'd have to jam 8 people into a 2 bedroom apartment
fucking mood. I'm not even renting an apartment. I'm renting a room in a 30 yr old townhouse for 1400 USD in south florida,I'm not even in a city. And now it doesn't matter if I move out to the swamp. Most rooms for rent are 1350-1700.
yeah i was looking and a bachelor apartment in Ontario the cheapest i could find was $1400 a month in a tiny ass town, like wtf is going on around here
Where I live in the U.S., thanks to speculation and various AI driven pricing, the cheapest places that are still in sketchy neighborhoods are $1500. I'd jump at a clean little place like that fist one.
Southwestern Ontario I'm guessing? A decent bachelor where I am in eastern Ontario is anywhere between 750-1300. I'm planning on moving into one soon and have been watching the listings like a hawk. First 800 dollar bachelor I find that's nice and livable, I'm jumping onto it cause I know they're not getting any cheaper.
Honestly, the thing about the last one that makes me say no is the lack of bathing facilities on site. It's not just that there's a shared bathroom, there's NO bathroom and you have to go pay at a separate business to bathe. If it's $4 to bathe at a public bath it would be $120 a month to bathe every day. I'd be desperately trying to find an apartment that was $120 a month more that came with a bath
With that large of a storage space you could store a small tub and use the sink to get enough water to keep yourself clean with at least enough that you wouldn't stink. The lack of AC would be worse.
I love the first one.. One thing about Japanese apartments. Something about having the water on the floor around the toilet bothers me immensely. I would much rather take space from the living room in order to have a normal American tub. Or just a half tub even. Just anything where I can walk in to take a piss without worrying about the floor being wet. Just wanted to say large open homes bother me. They make me feel vulnerable? I could never live in a mansion. I would spend an hour just checking all the damn doors and locks.
⭐️🏆🥇 Gold star for correctly spelling it "every day." I usually don't pay any attention to spelling and grammar errors, but I swear 99.9% of the population incorrectly writes "everyday," and it fills me with irrational rage lol. Thanks for brightening my day. I want to shake your hand.
My first Tokyo apartment was 17m² and it was long and narrow. Felt like living in a fancy hallway. It was cozy, though, and honestly a perfect size for single guy living alone.
The first two apartments are actually very livable, I could see myself living in them in the case that I couldn't find anything else, but the third one I wouldn't live in even if it was Free and the Japanese Government promised me a free Doraemon
Even with in the larger Tokyo area that is easy. It's only with in the former Tokyo city area where it is so extreme. If you go even beyond that point. away from the agglomeration you can even get farm houses for 1 yen.
@@jtho8937 still very affordable even if you will have to rebuild from nothing. land is in most places the biggest cost. if it is connected to the water and energy grid then building new can be really cheap. as houses are build only to last for about 30 years. they stay cheap.
As a Canadian, the price reveal of the first apartment hit hard. taking a quick look at the rental market in Toronto right now the cheapest apartment i could find is 1400 USD (1900 CAD). for 27.8 square meters.
Yup… I legitimately don’t know how people are supposed to live in the city as single people when rent is that absurd. I’ve seen places where I would have a comfortable living space of 600sqft going for $2600; anyone making under 70k yearly legitimately would either have to live with relatives or have roommates just to survive.
@@AznMagicks im in that exact boat, literally driving to MB next week to live with a friend because it's the only thing i consider realistic. I don't make 70k, but i'm not far off of it and it's still not realistic once you add in other cost of living components and any desire to save any significant amount of money. I could stretch things and just barely make enough to afford soemthing on my own, but then i wouldn't be saving much and just setting myself up for failure down the line.
same in my country. i saw chris overreact to 1200 usd for a brand new appartment and was like damn youre lucky if you think thats too much. thats a steal here.
Having just spent 2 months in Japan I can totally see why you discuss the kitchen and the space to prepare food at some length. The creativity needed to find places to cut carrots and onions in the average tiny apt in Japan is staggering.
The first apartment is literally my dream apartment. I don’t need a dining table, I’ll put my desk and laptop there and change the sofa for a smaller one or an armchair. Love it❤
I don't need a dining table I could probably use a little desk because I work from home. And then I can just eat on the couch. Heck I might just get like bunk beds or something for the first department and then I have more space and a book to put stuff on the closet is sweet
Can you imagine making that bed in 1st apartment? Tightly against the walls...so you have to pull mattress OUT to put sheets on head of bed then push back into the space tween walls? Or climb on top and pull each corner up to install a fitted bottom sheet? ????
This video has made me realize how realistic it would be for me to hypothetically live in Tokyo, Japan because I'd be completely fine with living in the 21 meter apartment and it's really affordable.
I think the issue is that it seems affordable to us but that people probably aren't being paid that well in Japan. Maybe if you have a remote job for an American company, you could afford it.
Also it's a city with tons of food and entertainment. You're not gonna be spending all your time in your apartment. Plus this is the centre of the city. You can live further away, still connected by a train line that takes you anywhere and you can go much further.
That first apartment is lovely! I love the wood tones and it's very well laid out. I live in a 530sq ft apartment and I'm not sure if I could realistically live in anything smaller than 500 sq feet.
I feel the same way. The only time I stayed in a place that was less than 500sqft was in an Airbnb condo that was 350sqft. Realistically, I can only ever see this being good is if you’re never at home, and just need a place to sleep for the night.
I also love the colour of the green couch but I agree that it’s slightly too big for that apartment. I currently live in 70sqm but with two roommates so the idea of having 35sqm just for myself is heavenly.
500 feet? thats 250 pairs of feet! Jk, but please start using metric ffs. For others of the 99% of the world that use metric and would like to relate to comment: its 46.45 m².
You live a privileged life, and it shows. "Anything less than 500 is too small" I know enough people who have 300 at best, and enough people who have to share their apartment with others and their own room is 150 sq ft. And no, I dont live in a 3rd world shithole, I live in Germany. So check yourself, you are pretty damn well off.
Coming from Toronto, it blows me away to see a beautiful, new, clean, centrally-located apartment with a view for ~$1600 CAD/month in Tokyo. There are shared bedrooms here in Toronto for over $1000/month. In fact a central, single bedroom in a shared apartment or house is easily $1600/month.
Me too, I am in Melbourne and the cheapest place that is not a sharehouse is $250 a week (~$1000 p/m), and even then there are very very few of them. Even though the apartments in Tokyo are small, they exist at that price which is wild. Living in Melbourne
one thing i will say about small apartment spaces is furniture placement is EVERYTHING. With the second space, a futon sofa bed would fit quite nicely facing the back wall adjacent to the breakfast bar. then you have room for perhaps a beanbag by the closet with room for light socializing. its about separating the living area from the social area creating 2 spaces that fill the differing needs of a living space
At least it wasn't a vicious hunter spider. lol. I can't stand spiders. I've probably killed 50 of them so far (some pretty large ones) in my gf's cursed house over the years lol
When you had three stink bugs in the house this week and also had to yeet out a house centipede (the horror they saw in a cave on JaJ once) last night.... ::laughs in trauma::
In the late 60's I was stationed in Japan. My American wife and I had a very small 1BR house that cost us about $$60 USD per month furnished. It had a bath, but it was a lot of trouble to heat the water, so we went to the bathhouse every night. It was about 3 blocks away and cost 27 yen (about 9 cents US.) I loved my 35 month in Japan!
I lived in a 1K, which was about 25m2, for 10 years. It was in a nice location and fine. Simplicity is kinda addictive, but it never felt like a home, just my crash pad.
I lived in a very small house with my wife and toddler son back in the early 1990s in Hiroshima. I'd have to guess the size to be around 30m2, two tiny rooms upstairs good for nothing but sleeping, tiny kitchen, tiny living room, 1 toilet, 1 tub, and an entryway. The lintel of every doorway was at about 6' so I got used to walking around stooped so as not to whack my noggin. No air conditioning, no heating. The heating was less of an issue than the summer heat/humidity of Hiroshima. It did have double doors off the "living room" looking onto a dirt garden, and my next door neighbor was Yakuza (long hair, covered in tattoos, drove a Camaro). We loved our time in Japan and the low price allowed us to travel extensively.
living in small space can be cathartic to some people. it forces you to get out and meet people outdoors. that kinda makes me excited about these places. so many opportunities out there and still all you need to survive day to day.
in the 90s i lived in a "efficiency" apartment that was the size of that last apt chris showed but it was laid out much better and still had a full baththroom, normal fridge, small stove and sink. The bed doubled as a sofa but it was a "full" sized bed. Rent was $75/week, roughly $300/month. It had a window a/c unit. Think i lived there 2-3 years. The only real issue i had was one winter laying in bed sleeping i kept subconsciously hearing water running, till i opened my eyes and jumped out of bed to find water just pouring down the wall through my cabinets and all the dishes and pooling up in my floor like a lake. The pipes in the apt above me froze and burst.... ya, fun times lol
The fact that Japan has so much housing, so little space and still manages to keep nature and old structures in tact and preserved in commendable. As someone who lives in the US, the most nature I get these days in the city is a potted plant.
Watching crazy high $3000-$10,000 apartments’ videos from New York City, they are actually reasonable apartments to rent in Tokyo! I like living in Tokyo.
My family home was a 21m² flat for up to 7 people. Two small rooms - one for all the kids (bunk beds ftw) and one for the parents, tiny kitchen and toilet/washroom. It was originally a shoe repair shop, so not really made for families, yet we lived there for over 20 years. Right now my living room is almost the same size. It's a huge upgrade, but tbh the most important thing for me is the feeling of security and that's something you can get in a microapartment as well.
@@kellycornell7510idk what people have going on in their heads when it comes to Japan. They seem to expect developing world prices just because it’s in Asia.
@roygbiv9038 true. Where I live a bedroom is rented for a minimum of $700 per month. So to have your own space for under $500 is cheap. I wish we built more micro apartments in Canada so more options were available to renters.
Where I live in California, for what you got in the first apartment, it'd cost you about $1500-1700 here. I've lived in a 200 sq ft apartment that only had 4 burners and a mini fridge. It had a shower, but no tub and a toilet.
That's kind of a weird statement. It's like saying western cartoons do a good job of creating real life apartment and house sizes. They do because they have seen references or lived that way. I love anime, but let's not make comparisons like that.
It's always fun to watch Alex with Chris and/or Sharla -- we all just want as many videos as you folks can crank out! And special thanks to Chris for giving credit to the people and the equipment he works with. Much appreciated!
Apt #2 would be perfect for a single person who works. Honestly, I'd have 0 issues setting up a futon and just shoving a desk under that little island door thingy. Perfect for making a meal and coffee, placing it there and retrieving it on the other side once all assembled and sitting at your computer.
Places like the last apartment mean people in Japan can sustain their lives even on low wages in convenient large cities with amenities nearby in SAFE neighborhoods. That's simply not possible in the US anymore. Seeing a place where they've found a way to make those accommodations WORK is kind of amazing.
I love the craftsmanship of the wood cabinets, closets, and walls of the 3rd apartment. My only "no deal" items is the lack of bathing space(even if just a shower), need the Japanese western style toilet shown in other two(Those bidets seem legendary), and the ability to use an AC. Those $2-$4 sento daily visits would add up to $60-$120 in monthly costs in addition to toiletry needs. In a small apartment like that, a washer/dryer clothes machine would be a very happy bonus. So an extra $100ish per month would be absolutely necessary to have a more modern apartment even though those 50s-80s Japanese craftsman like apartments are so friggin cool.
cheap?! are you kidding me? :D for 300-350€ you can rent a 40m2 flat in a good place in hungary's bigger cities, and that's considered expensive. I also don't deny london is expensive, but tokyo is not cheap too, if you calculate for 400$ for 40m2 and compare 200$ of 10m2 in japan, than it's 800$ for 40m2, at least I guess in London you have a 15-20m2 room, and access to bathroom, kitchen, toilet still within the confines of the same flat, don't you? japan is more expensive in some places. also if you compare it to the 1200$ 30m2 flat, I understand the argument, that's a way better value, but still not cheap, the problem is, that towards the more wealthy western country people are conditioned and have already accepted to renounce ownership of everything and to be service-ified in every aspects of life, not even owning your own living place, and that's the transitioning we are feeling in our country too...my generation may well be the last generation here to have the opportunity to own flats/houses etc.
I rented a single room in a flatshare in London for £850 a month a few years ago and it was gross. That 11m2 room looks like a palace in comparison and for significantly cheaper and in a nicer city.
Ive just returned from a 2 week trip in Japan and I enjoyed it so much I want to live there. All of your videos helped me to have the best holiday of my life and continue to give me hope for my future.
Japan is a great holiday destination, but from what I heard not so good to work in. Of course, coming from Sweden I would say that working under US conditions are also bad.
my thoughts exactly. im at uni in exeter and my rent is 130 a week and thats pretty cheap for here. even the campus accom thats a room, shared kichen and shared shower is 90 a week at cheapest
@@Boomdizzle99 Narrower margin ratio in comparison. You're more likely to afford an apartment in Tokyo compare to NYC or Singapore having the same job.
She laughed when I first showed her my micro-apartment. Undeterred, I reassured her, and myself, that it isn't about how big it is. It's how you use it! By the end of the night, she was completely smitten with my micro-apartment. And it's all thanks to you, Chris 😎👍
With how good transporation is in Japan, it seems bizarre to cram yourself into a pillbox with negative quality of life as opposed to being a bit further out, enjoying a decent home and having to make a small commute to more central locations
@@TheDudeWhoCommented imagine you are obligated to go to a fkng drinking party with your boss and your colleagues, you have to eat and get drunk, and then pay for a capsule hotel because you miss the bus.. aside all those hours you put into the job because in japan you have prioritize your work on top of everything else..
San Francisco Bay Area: We lived in a place the size of the last studio apartment (100 square feet) and paid $900 per month. WE = TWO of us. But somehow a tiny shower and toilet was squeezed into the space. We got bonus adventure value, too: The location was 2 blocks away from gang territory where as a bonus one can witness or be subject to being held up at gun point. We were there for several months. (Desperate times.) The next place we 'moved to' (another 10square meter room at best) had a crazy landlady who refused to turn the house keys to lock the main entrance.. Japan seems so appealing...
The 2nd was perfect, but I would need it in a less expensive location. I could do the 3rd if it had a/c and heat and a better toilet set up. I'm only 4'10" so I'm sure that's got to make a difference in making a small space comfortable. My first apartment was 15 sq m (160 sq ft) and had everything I would need. I could sleep, shower, and fix my meals all in that space.
The first appartment is very similar to the one I live in in Europe; small but very light, nice wooden flooring, modern furniture. Only I don't have that view and mine is a bit older :') Tbh with housing shortages I think people could already be happy in a smaller home as long as the kitchen and bathroom are nice. Also in regards to the cheaper ones, something is probably better than nothing. We usually say here that you have to start somewhere and that your first appartment/ student home probably won't be the best one you'll ever be in.
Honestly that second apartment would be my pick of the lot, I'm not much for the modern sleek style and if you'd shove a sofabed in there it should be pretty good.
It really is a matter of perspective. Having growing up poor and almost on the streets way more than once, even the third place looks very much livable for me. I won't say it's the best thing in the world for sure, but being a person that has had to start over multiple times, it looks very much like something I'd have no trouble starting from once more.
I would totally live in that first apartment and it's cheaper than I thought, too. (I guessed 2k USD because even where I live one bedroom apartments start around 900-1000 USD). And I love that Sakura Co transition. Hilarious 😂
The third apartment wasn't too bad until they said there is no way to install an AC, Japan, like most of Asia, is a hot and humid place in the summers. I would probably go crazy from the heat 😂 I think the best deal would be the 2nd apartment, it's very small but livable.
having no ac isn't a complete turn off or deal breaker. i've dealt with no ac in my current apartment in the states and when i worked in a different state our housing didn't exactly have ac either. It wasn't fun but i could find ways around it to make it bareable
@@julieg25 the real pain is hot + no bathroom + can't fit in the fridge (mini fridge might work?) if i can't cope with shower/or cold drink in hot day i gonna go crazy. forget going out to place with ac like cafe, department store etc. because that gonna cost you something along the way... considering a broke guy perspective xD
I fail to see how that's an issue, though. There are portable AC's. Just put one next to the sink, throw the hose out of the window there et voila. And to not lose valuable kitchen space, you could jerryrig a fill-in table, put it over the AC (but not block the vents), put a two-burner induction cooktop on there, et voila: you have an AC *and* a place to cook. And still have the original countertop to chop your food on.
You'd wanna keep that window cracked for sure. But a nice oscillating fan would do wonders. It's not like it has to cool off that large a room, y'know? If I _had_ to stay there, and I had a choice of what part of the year to do it, I'd still choose winter. A space heater would be more than enough. The toilet situation is the bigger problem for me, personally. Agreed for price vs space, I think. The first one is actually _very_ nice as far as I'm concerned. I could see myself decorating the hell outta that room and making good use of all the space. The second is fun 'cause it's a strange shape and I like weird-lookin' rooms. It takes some creative thinking to lay a room like that out, but I could totally do it.
I've thought about things like micro houses and I'm pretty sure I could live in one relatively well. The issue is I'd need to design it myself so I can be sure it has all the things I want. There are clever ways to make more room via hiding storage, having slide out furniture, etc. But with pre-built apartments like these you're just left to deal with however they're originally set up which is... tougher.
I will say this Tokyo atleast has a wide variety of options due to them have much different zoning and building codes than the US. None of these apartments could exist in America except maybe NYC. So it does give low and affordable options to people that need it. Is it the best? No but it's better than being homeless. Also I imagine most people in Tokyo probably spend most of time outside of their home. Working, school, hanging out with friends, etc. You home becomes a place where you just store your stuff and sleep
I think #1 for most people is definitely a great place. #2 is doable as well, considering it has all the essentials and it's good to have a roof over your head. #3 is a nah for most people. It's not terrible terrible if there is at least a standard shared bath and toilet (that's not super old and dirty).
I like seeing the real estate & apartments with Alex, would be interesting to see the ones with a shop on the ground floor, or workshop like you can see out side of the big city centres , and used to be common elsewhere.
I can imagine that those are tougher to see as a renting realtor. Often those are family owned. You have to buy the entire property both shop and living space.
@@sirBrouwerI live in Tokyo and you'd be surprised. In my area, most buildings facing the street have shops on the ground floor and a lot of them were in my realtor's system. I ended up not getting one of those bc he told me a. the streets are loud sometimes and b. There could be roaches if it's a food shop or a restaurant. Idk if all of it was true or he was upselling me, but I love my little studio apartment so I'm not complaining.
Thank you for another interesting video! I love imagining how I would make tiny apartments work, but squatty potties…. I don’t possess that skill set. As for the prices, I’ve lived in a city (USA) for too long because they all seem affordable. And I’m quite jealous. Thanks again! Take care!
I lived in a place slightly bigger than the last apartment for just under 6 months (the actual tatami room (also rather old) was smaller [3 jyo] but we had a shared kitchen of a fairly proper size & a free pass to the Sento below the building) the location was also really nice, between Kapa-Bashi and Asakusa, great Vibe place when you just come to Tokyo.
I'd definitely choose the first flat. I could definitely live in that! It looked really nice despite its size. Definitely not the last one, I think even stink bug and size aside the lack of air con would be the deal breaker. Sounds like you can get loads more for your money by moving a bit further out though so that sounds like the most realistic and affordable option.
We get stink bugs here in the states in the summer and fall, chill little dudes just usher them outside, don’t squish them though they live up to their name! 😂 I also loved the first one, could very comfortably live there (If I lived in Japan and was single, and 30 years younger…WHY AM I WATCHING THIS??😄😄)
The lack of a shower and electricity (or the ability to have electricity) plus the presence of insects is an absolute deal breaker no matter what the price is
I used to live in a 10 m^2 micro apartment in Australia which goes for USD$1200/month! Then I moved into a 16.5 m^2 and with a 3.3 m^2 balcony. The first apartment in your video is a relief compared to my apartment. I have to pay USD 1136/ month! I must say, living in micro apartments is ideal for someone living alone but not for families. I had friends coming over and it feels very stuffy (literally) sometimes
1136 USD would be a steal... I couldn't find a comparable sized Studio in my city... Most are 300sqft or more(which is almost twice the size of a 16.5sqm place), and those all run for 1400+ and the lowest... I've found a few that are cheaper, like 900 to 1200... But that's probably because they are in neighborhoods where you WILL get shot or attacked just trying to check your mail.
My main critisism of espetially the first space is that it really seems like it's missing a lot of 'clever' features to help you get more out of the space. The kind that tend to have to be integrated into the walls, pull out shelves, counters, etc. If a space is going to be that small I think it's best if it's 'transformable' very easilly to suit different configurations for your needs
This video made me realize that I live in a "micro apartment"... it's 21 sqm. 🙃 I always thought of it as a normal studio apartment here in Sweden, not necessarily a "micro" 😅
as someone who grew up in poverty...I have never lived in a place that anyone would consider nice, so I would say the first 2 apartments were 'really very nice' to me, but the one I could see myself in is the last one! It is nicer than anything you can get for 220$ in the States (you can sleep under a bridge by the highway for $220 lol) to put in perspective, an apartment in San Fransisco (a similar size city to Tokyo) for $750 USD you can get a 200sqft apartment without a bathroom and kitchen, communal showers and toilet, in a horrible part of the city. I would take the squat toilet for $220 and the safety of tokyo over that any day.
For the five years I lived in Tokyo the smallest apartment I had was 11m2 and my biggest was around 25m2 (They were work supplied). The good thing with those though was there was a loft for sleeping above the kitchen/bathroom area. After a year in the small one the 25m2 was luxurious.
Look wise I'd choose the third one, because I really like the aesthetic of tatami-rooms and find the square floor plan much more functional than the shapes of the other two apartments. Aside from that: The functions, or more the lack there of, would throw me off. Firstly: I can't stand the summerheat. Second: I really enjoy cooking and absolutely NEED a "big" kitchen or atleast a real counter. Third: I really like to have a bathroom and a toilette (and not a squat!) for myself.😅 Thanks as alwasy for the deligthful insight, Chris~
I literally rented a closet to sleep in under the stairs for a few months in college. Granted, it was part of a larger 2 bedroom apartment, so I had access to a kitchen and bathroom and living room, but every night I slept on a small bed under the stairs lol
I didn't expect that such a small apartment could look as nice as that first one did. If I were single and didn't need a lot of space, that's definitely a space I would enjoy living in! As it stands though, with me, my wife and my cat living together, that entire apartment is about as big as our living room alone xD Edit: Also our apartment costs half of that first one from the video xD I guess that's the pros of living in a rural area and, well, not in Japan.
I’ve been living in Korea for the past five years in what they call one-room apartments (first one was 25m2, current one 31m2, though it feels smaller in some ways because they divided it into two rooms so there’s NO floor space). It’s made me realize I can live in a much smaller place than I thought! Definitely influenced my future house dreams. I will say I want something a little bigger though - I have so many craft hobbies so I need more room for supplies and a table, do a ton of baking so need more counter space, and would love to be able to take a shower without getting my toilet wet 😂
As someone who lives in a converted van, these seem huge to me! My van is probably around half the size or even less than the last apartment. You learn how to make things multiuse though!
I think there are ways to save space in apartments that would be socially unacceptable in Japan: A shower cubicle, toilet, washing machine and dryer in the same space. Those tiny baths do take up a lot of space actually.
I shared a 20m2 apartment between 4 people (not family) for 6 months so I'd have zero issues living solo in one 😂And if you only pay $200/month, I don't think any size is too small
Third flat… is hot water included? Usually for Showa-era apartments like this, you have to buy everything - kitchen water heater, range, and light fixtures. I came close to living in a place like that in Shitamachi. This place might be manageable if there are more than two outlets. A squat toilet is a better idea for shared bathrooms since you don’t have to touch anything.
I’m sitting here in my 25m2 apartment in Tsukiji suddenly aware this is a micro apartment (according to the video). I think it’s normalish. I do miss my Tulse Hill flat sometimes 🥲
"tiny 25 sq meters" Chris, you're hurting my feelings haha. My first three apartments here were under 23 sq meters. They were also under ¥50,000, though.
I lived in a small warehouse for a few years and it’s amazing what you can rig up. I did have a restroom but had to rig a shower. In the winter I’d do sponge baths. For my kitchen I had a microwave, crock pot, and electric skillet. It was fine for a few years until I saved enough to buy a house.
I have Cyclic vomiting syndrome (a neurological condition that causes really severe vomiting episodes along with neurological symptoms) and nobody knows why but a hot bath really helps during an episode, so hearing that theres a bath re-heating system is so cool to me😂 when im in a bath during an episode, ill sleep because its the only time i can stop vomiting long enough to sleep, and i cant even count how many times ive woken up freezing cuz the bath water got so cold😂
It would be awesome to see how good of an apartment you could get let's say an hour away from the action like you guys mentioned, as a contrast to these ones!!!
I am currently living in 91 sq ft. in the US. No bathroom, just a bucket with lid for emergency toilet and a toilet within walking distance but only open 9am-9pm daily. I heat up water in a kettle and wash up in the sink. It's better than homelessness, which as a disabled senior on only social security, was my only other option. In Hawaii I lived in a smaller space and the landlord asked $750 a month 6 years ago! Life has become very difficult for quite a number of us.
In Paris is normal to find a 10, even 9 m2 "apartment" to rent and they can be pretty expensive if they are situated in a good neighborhood. It was a fun video to watch 😊
And anywhere else in France, lots of students live in apartments that are between 15 and 20m². I'm genuinely surprised Chris thinks 30m² is small for one person.
We have lived aboard a 44ft (13.4 meter) sailboat since 1998. Which isn’t spacious but is about on par with the first place you were shone. Has washer/dryer, full bathroom, central HVAC/heat, fully equipped Galley, frig/freezer, deep freeze, sleeping accommodation for 2 couples.
The 1st one seemed very reasonable; in Los Angeles even 20 years ago a $1200 studio in a really nice area would have been about that size, and even more in SF. That last one would be great for a party animal that's never at home; basically a storage unit & emergency crash pad. It could be air-conditioned BTW; there are units that would sit on the floor & have an exhaust hose that could be run out of the window.
Curious if you've heard of David Bull, the Canadian who moved to Japan to learn traditional woodblock printing. I think it would be cool for you to visit his shop in Asakusa and maybe interview him for the channel.
As a young single soldier in the early 90s stationed in Germany, I had a living space in a four man room about the size of #3. Needless to say, i had to be very creative with what space I had. Being use to sleeping on the top bunk, i was able to utilize the bottom area to keep my "entertainment center"(cheap three shelf unit), desk, college frig and microwave. Luckily, my inspectable wall locker was used to help make a wall between my area and the next. My personal wall locker(where I kept most of my civilian clothes) was used to keep my bunk stable. So I'm pretty sure i could live comfortably in #3. Spending an extra $120/month for use of a bath house might not be too bad if I were making good money and a gym wasn't close by. A motivated individual could come up with a way to make a shower space that could stow away. I think my biggest concern would be cooling the apartment down.
🇯🇵 Remember to use code ABROAD to get $5 off your first #Sakuraco box now: team.sakura.co/abroadinjapan-SC2308 | Experience Japan from the comfort of your own home!🍡
NOTIFICATION SQAUD: It certainly makes a change from the crazy luxury apartments we've been used to. Which of the three apartments do you think YOU could live in and WHICH do you think is worth the value for money? Let me know below!
great video! Totally watched all of it.
The first apartment was lovely! The staging wasn’t showing its potential.
Where is Chris Okano? Did you eat him??
apartments in small cities all acress Canada currently have very similar prices to the first apartment show. a quick look found me a 55 square meter apartment in London Ontario for $1000 USD, sure it's 40% bigger for 20% less, it's also in an unremarkable small to medium city , not in a highrise, no view of mount fuji, and minimum wage is 22.7k US. same building has an appartment 10 square meters larger and it's $1300 USD.
-edit- to compare apple to apple looked up toronto, not even waterfront or anything. found a 27 square meter apartment for $1450 USD
as a Canadian, can you give me any suggestions on how to move to the comaprativly incredibly affordable megacities of Japan? because we are all losing our abilities to put a roof over our heads here.
Indoor a/c units were designed for places like japan. pshh. hahahaha EDIT: I would take a long vacation here. What. Is wrong. With. That. hahahaha :)
Being a truck driver for nearly 10 years ive learned just how much you can really fit into such a small space. Honestly i feel like i could definitely live in any of these and be perfectly happy, less space to fill up means your less inclined to fill it up with random stuff and almost everything has a purpose or at least means something.
I've had to move a few times in the last few years, each time to a place that is an over 20 hour drive away from me. it's just me and my Cat, and the expereince has taught me just how little I need to be happy. I could absolutely live in spaces this small and love it you just need to be smart about storage and only keep things you know you will use
i agree but not a place with no ac or ventilation though.
Just wanted to stop and say thank you for keeping our supply chain moving. Truckers are under-appreciated.
@robertlaidlaw4592 yea that one sounds super brutal in the summer especially Japanese summer. Space wise though I could definitely make that work
same. i liked the first one. but the price... oof.
In late 80’s, I was starting out living in Tokyo, and I had chosen just like #3. I signed up a fitness club membership with unlimited use for all amenities for my daily morning routine - shower/big public bath/sauna after gym/fitness class/running track and basic skincare (toner/lotion/cotton), hair dryer, complimentary towel service and use their locker/laundry service. They even had a restaurant for breakfast and juice bar. My work was flex hours, so I hop on my subway after peak hours. It worked out fantastic for me.
thats what i call being SMART, the best of both worlds as i see it, keeping fit and not being broke, lol
smart indeed
there's a hotel in San Francisco that rents rooms about a queen bed size and nothing else in the room for more than $250 a month with a shared bathroom for the floor. a place the size of this Japanese micro would go for a lot more in New York
I was just thinking the reverse, I currently work remote 100% so a more spacious, but backwater place would fit better.
That sounds awful
the thing I think about most, living in a city in canada where the cheapest ancient run-down apartments will run you $1500 cad, is the fact that there even exist options at this price-point. It's really understated how much an affordable unit can help someone who's fallen behind get back on their feet. If you want to get anywhere near that price here you'd have to jam 8 people into a 2 bedroom apartment
fucking mood. I'm not even renting an apartment. I'm renting a room in a 30 yr old townhouse for 1400 USD in south florida,I'm not even in a city. And now it doesn't matter if I move out to the swamp. Most rooms for rent are 1350-1700.
yeah i was looking and a bachelor apartment in Ontario the cheapest i could find was $1400 a month in a tiny ass town, like wtf is going on around here
@@stlsamiayeah in Nevada random town crap 1 bedroom apartment is $990 average hourly pay is $13?
Where I live in the U.S., thanks to speculation and various AI driven pricing, the cheapest places that are still in sketchy neighborhoods are $1500. I'd jump at a clean little place like that fist one.
Southwestern Ontario I'm guessing? A decent bachelor where I am in eastern Ontario is anywhere between 750-1300. I'm planning on moving into one soon and have been watching the listings like a hawk. First 800 dollar bachelor I find that's nice and livable, I'm jumping onto it cause I know they're not getting any cheaper.
Honestly, the thing about the last one that makes me say no is the lack of bathing facilities on site. It's not just that there's a shared bathroom, there's NO bathroom and you have to go pay at a separate business to bathe. If it's $4 to bathe at a public bath it would be $120 a month to bathe every day. I'd be desperately trying to find an apartment that was $120 a month more that came with a bath
With that large of a storage space you could store a small tub and use the sink to get enough water to keep yourself clean with at least enough that you wouldn't stink. The lack of AC would be worse.
I love the first one..
One thing about Japanese apartments. Something about having the water on the floor around the toilet bothers me immensely. I would much rather take space from the living room in order to have a normal American tub. Or just a half tub even.
Just anything where I can walk in to take a piss without worrying about the floor being wet.
Just wanted to say large open homes bother me. They make me feel vulnerable?
I could never live in a mansion. I would spend an hour just checking all the damn doors and locks.
⭐️🏆🥇 Gold star for correctly spelling it "every day." I usually don't pay any attention to spelling and grammar errors, but I swear 99.9% of the population incorrectly writes "everyday," and it fills me with irrational rage lol. Thanks for brightening my day. I want to shake your hand.
@@Adelicows "Every day" means 'each day'. "Everyday" is synonymous with 'typical', really.
Maybe a gym membership and use their showers.
My first Tokyo apartment was 17m² and it was long and narrow. Felt like living in a fancy hallway. It was cozy, though, and honestly a perfect size for single guy living alone.
The first two apartments are actually very livable, I could see myself living in them in the case that I couldn't find anything else, but the third one I wouldn't live in even if it was Free and the Japanese Government promised me a free Doraemon
i think if you could get a free doraemon for living there you could make one of those portal things to your parents’ house (?) and sleep there 😭
@@SrijananiViswanath Yeah but the downside would be that you would have to tell your parents that you're living in a glorified cupboard
The third one legit looks like somewhere a horror movie would take place. Like, if you live there you WILL end up a vengeful spirit
Ah, the famous Free Doraemon scheme!
@@mauriciopimentel6451 i personally wouldn’t mind if it meant i got a free doraemon icl 😭
Please do another video that shows the equivalents outside of Tokyo! I'd love to see what you could get for the same prices, just outside of Tokyo.
Or how cheap the same thing is.
Even with in the larger Tokyo area that is easy.
It's only with in the former Tokyo city area where it is so extreme.
If you go even beyond that point. away from the agglomeration you can even get farm houses for 1 yen.
@@sirBrouwer*does not include renovation costs
@@jtho8937 still very affordable even if you will have to rebuild from nothing. land is in most places the biggest cost. if it is connected to the water and energy grid then building new can be really cheap.
as houses are build only to last for about 30 years. they stay cheap.
Please do Fukuoka
As a Canadian, the price reveal of the first apartment hit hard. taking a quick look at the rental market in Toronto right now the cheapest apartment i could find is 1400 USD (1900 CAD). for 27.8 square meters.
Yup… I legitimately don’t know how people are supposed to live in the city as single people when rent is that absurd. I’ve seen places where I would have a comfortable living space of 600sqft going for $2600; anyone making under 70k yearly legitimately would either have to live with relatives or have roommates just to survive.
@@AznMagicks im in that exact boat, literally driving to MB next week to live with a friend because it's the only thing i consider realistic. I don't make 70k, but i'm not far off of it and it's still not realistic once you add in other cost of living components and any desire to save any significant amount of money. I could stretch things and just barely make enough to afford soemthing on my own, but then i wouldn't be saving much and just setting myself up for failure down the line.
same in my country. i saw chris overreact to 1200 usd for a brand new appartment and was like damn youre lucky if you think thats too much. thats a steal here.
Yeah even the last apartment would be x2 the price in L.A. with free graffiti on the door instead of a stink bug 🗿
Yo stink bug graffiti would be pretty dope though
Having just spent 2 months in Japan I can totally see why you discuss the kitchen and the space to prepare food at some length. The creativity needed to find places to cut carrots and onions in the average tiny apt in Japan is staggering.
Cutting board overtop of the entire kitchen sink was my solution.
The first apartment is literally my dream apartment. I don’t need a dining table, I’ll put my desk and laptop there and change the sofa for a smaller one or an armchair. Love it❤
I don't need a dining table I could probably use a little desk because I work from home. And then I can just eat on the couch. Heck I might just get like bunk beds or something for the first department and then I have more space and a book to put stuff on the closet is sweet
Can you imagine making that bed in 1st apartment? Tightly against the walls...so you have to pull mattress OUT to put sheets on head of bed then push back into the space tween walls? Or climb on top and pull each corner up to install a fitted bottom sheet? ????
@@debrawarren3023 I have to do that currently too😂You climb on too and only lift the corners to put the sheet on
I'm watching the first one now and see nothing bad about it. 😊
This is probably the most expressive and fun I've seen Alex on this channel; glad he's gotten comfortable with your operation!
This video has made me realize how realistic it would be for me to hypothetically live in Tokyo, Japan because I'd be completely fine with living in the 21 meter apartment and it's really affordable.
Or you can just live anywhere other than central Tokyo and enjoy a good life. The further away the better, in fact...
I think the issue is that it seems affordable to us but that people probably aren't being paid that well in Japan. Maybe if you have a remote job for an American company, you could afford it.
Also it's a city with tons of food and entertainment. You're not gonna be spending all your time in your apartment. Plus this is the centre of the city. You can live further away, still connected by a train line that takes you anywhere and you can go much further.
@@cooljammer00 tokyo literally has one of the highest average salaries in the world, housing is comparatively affordable due to different zoning laws
@@rapeofficialhighest GDP of any city in the world too. Japan has a stagnant economy sure. But Tokyo is always growing.
That first apartment is lovely! I love the wood tones and it's very well laid out. I live in a 530sq ft apartment and I'm not sure if I could realistically live in anything smaller than 500 sq feet.
I feel the same way. The only time I stayed in a place that was less than 500sqft was in an Airbnb condo that was 350sqft. Realistically, I can only ever see this being good is if you’re never at home, and just need a place to sleep for the night.
I also love the colour of the green couch but I agree that it’s slightly too big for that apartment. I currently live in 70sqm but with two roommates so the idea of having 35sqm just for myself is heavenly.
500 feet? thats 250 pairs of feet! Jk, but please start using metric ffs.
For others of the 99% of the world that use metric and would like to relate to comment: its 46.45 m².
You live a privileged life, and it shows. "Anything less than 500 is too small" I know enough people who have 300 at best, and enough people who have to share their apartment with others and their own room is 150 sq ft. And no, I dont live in a 3rd world shithole, I live in Germany.
So check yourself, you are pretty damn well off.
Isn't 530sq feet 50m2? We used to live in an apartment that size as a family of 4. So stop complaining
Coming from Toronto, it blows me away to see a beautiful, new, clean, centrally-located apartment with a view for ~$1600 CAD/month in Tokyo. There are shared bedrooms here in Toronto for over $1000/month. In fact a central, single bedroom in a shared apartment or house is easily $1600/month.
Me too, I am in Melbourne and the cheapest place that is not a sharehouse is $250 a week (~$1000 p/m), and even then there are very very few of them. Even though the apartments in Tokyo are small, they exist at that price which is wild. Living in Melbourne
And, I'm not even gonna tell ya what nightmare prices abound here in NYC...those places are clutch!
In Texas I can get a two bed two bath apartment in a city of a few hundred thousand for $700 a month.
@@kassi3538 Hollly smokes I better start looking at how a Canadian can get a green card! Is there much work around there for a hard-working smart guy?
@@brendan12882 there’s a ton of jobs here. Texas is the best.
one thing i will say about small apartment spaces is furniture placement is EVERYTHING. With the second space, a futon sofa bed would fit quite nicely facing the back wall adjacent to the breakfast bar. then you have room for perhaps a beanbag by the closet with room for light socializing. its about separating the living area from the social area creating 2 spaces that fill the differing needs of a living space
It’s not an Abroad in Japan video without featuring some kinds of gargantuan bug. I swear this is pushing my phobia of bugs to the absolute limit
stnkbugs are the very tip of the iceberg, there is some seriously ignorant shit out there🪳
At least it wasn't a vicious hunter spider. lol. I can't stand spiders. I've probably killed 50 of them so far (some pretty large ones) in my gf's cursed house over the years lol
Shinto is my 2nd favourite religion after Islam
See it like a form of exposure therapy. by this time next year you will be able to just jump in with the insects.
When you had three stink bugs in the house this week and also had to yeet out a house centipede (the horror they saw in a cave on JaJ once) last night.... ::laughs in trauma::
In the late 60's I was stationed in Japan. My American wife and I had a very small 1BR house that cost us about $$60 USD per month furnished. It had a bath, but it was a lot of trouble to heat the water, so we went to the bathhouse every night. It was about 3 blocks away and cost 27 yen (about 9 cents US.) I loved my 35 month in Japan!
I lived in a 1K, which was about 25m2, for 10 years. It was in a nice location and fine. Simplicity is kinda addictive, but it never felt like a home, just my crash pad.
I currently live in 25m2, the space is used amazingly and looks & feels bigger than the first one in this vid
How much did you pay for it though
@@MajorAddiction €588 per month
I lived in a very small house with my wife and toddler son back in the early 1990s in Hiroshima. I'd have to guess the size to be around 30m2, two tiny rooms upstairs good for nothing but sleeping, tiny kitchen, tiny living room, 1 toilet, 1 tub, and an entryway. The lintel of every doorway was at about 6' so I got used to walking around stooped so as not to whack my noggin.
No air conditioning, no heating. The heating was less of an issue than the summer heat/humidity of Hiroshima. It did have double doors off the "living room" looking onto a dirt garden, and my next door neighbor was Yakuza (long hair, covered in tattoos, drove a Camaro).
We loved our time in Japan and the low price allowed us to travel extensively.
@@MajorAddiction 50000
living in small space can be cathartic to some people. it forces you to get out and meet people outdoors.
that kinda makes me excited about these places. so many opportunities out there and still all you need to survive day to day.
23:00 dunno why, but zooming in on the bug synced with the music was a great creative choice
in the 90s i lived in a "efficiency" apartment that was the size of that last apt chris showed but it was laid out much better and still had a full baththroom, normal fridge, small stove and sink. The bed doubled as a sofa but it was a "full" sized bed. Rent was $75/week, roughly $300/month. It had a window a/c unit. Think i lived there 2-3 years. The only real issue i had was one winter laying in bed sleeping i kept subconsciously hearing water running, till i opened my eyes and jumped out of bed to find water just pouring down the wall through my cabinets and all the dishes and pooling up in my floor like a lake. The pipes in the apt above me froze and burst.... ya, fun times lol
Yikes.
The fact that Japan has so much housing, so little space and still manages to keep nature and old structures in tact and preserved in commendable. As someone who lives in the US, the most nature I get these days in the city is a potted plant.
Watching crazy high $3000-$10,000 apartments’ videos from New York City, they are actually reasonable apartments to rent in Tokyo!
I like living in Tokyo.
My family home was a 21m² flat for up to 7 people. Two small rooms - one for all the kids (bunk beds ftw) and one for the parents, tiny kitchen and toilet/washroom. It was originally a shoe repair shop, so not really made for families, yet we lived there for over 20 years. Right now my living room is almost the same size. It's a huge upgrade, but tbh the most important thing for me is the feeling of security and that's something you can get in a microapartment as well.
How do people have sex in such a small space.
@@MrBud85 its is crazy how that's the first thing that came in your mind
@@00Human0 nah thats a normal thought
@@MrBud85🤡
@@notimportant8882 incel?
17:25 Chris’ ironing and/or chopping board would be a great space-saving tool for this micro-flat 📦 ✨
Despite being a bit pricey I really like the first apartment. I'd definitely live there.
Where I live that is not pricey at all.
@@kellycornell7510idk what people have going on in their heads when it comes to Japan. They seem to expect developing world prices just because it’s in Asia.
@roygbiv9038 true. Where I live a bedroom is rented for a minimum of $700 per month. So to have your own space for under $500 is cheap. I wish we built more micro apartments in Canada so more options were available to renters.
Where I live in California, for what you got in the first apartment, it'd cost you about $1500-1700 here. I've lived in a 200 sq ft apartment that only had 4 burners and a mini fridge. It had a shower, but no tub and a toilet.
Anime really does a good job of creating actual real life apartment sizes and I'm surprised of the similarities
This is where the artist get their inspiration from. They live/lived with it.
@@sirBrouwer they are living the dream as a mangaka
That's kind of a weird statement. It's like saying western cartoons do a good job of creating real life apartment and house sizes. They do because they have seen references or lived that way. I love anime, but let's not make comparisons like that.
Honestly the last apartment reminds me a LOT of Majima's apartment in Yakuza 0.
@@justaguy12345 I was thinking the same thing.
It's always fun to watch Alex with Chris and/or Sharla -- we all just want as many videos as you folks can crank out! And special thanks to Chris for giving credit to the people and the equipment he works with. Much appreciated!
Thanks!
Apt #2 would be perfect for a single person who works. Honestly, I'd have 0 issues setting up a futon and just shoving a desk under that little island door thingy. Perfect for making a meal and coffee, placing it there and retrieving it on the other side once all assembled and sitting at your computer.
Places like the last apartment mean people in Japan can sustain their lives even on low wages in convenient large cities with amenities nearby in SAFE neighborhoods. That's simply not possible in the US anymore. Seeing a place where they've found a way to make those accommodations WORK is kind of amazing.
Work is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. I'd rather commute from outside the city
I love the craftsmanship of the wood cabinets, closets, and walls of the 3rd apartment. My only "no deal" items is the lack of bathing space(even if just a shower), need the Japanese western style toilet shown in other two(Those bidets seem legendary), and the ability to use an AC. Those $2-$4 sento daily visits would add up to $60-$120 in monthly costs in addition to toiletry needs. In a small apartment like that, a washer/dryer clothes machine would be a very happy bonus. So an extra $100ish per month would be absolutely necessary to have a more modern apartment even though those 50s-80s Japanese craftsman like apartments are so friggin cool.
My biggest takeaway is how cheap housing in Tokyo is. I've known people in London renting a single room in a 4 bedroom flatshare for £800.
That's currently a thing in Edinburgh, too
that was my takeaway, too. you'd pay over 1k for that last apt in NYC or LA in the states
cheap?! are you kidding me? :D for 300-350€ you can rent a 40m2 flat in a good place in hungary's bigger cities, and that's considered expensive.
I also don't deny london is expensive, but tokyo is not cheap too, if you calculate for 400$ for 40m2 and compare 200$ of 10m2 in japan, than it's 800$ for 40m2, at least I guess in London you have a 15-20m2 room, and access to bathroom, kitchen, toilet still within the confines of the same flat, don't you? japan is more expensive in some places.
also if you compare it to the 1200$ 30m2 flat, I understand the argument, that's a way better value, but still not cheap, the problem is, that towards the more wealthy western country people are conditioned and have already accepted to renounce ownership of everything and to be service-ified in every aspects of life, not even owning your own living place, and that's the transitioning we are feeling in our country too...my generation may well be the last generation here to have the opportunity to own flats/houses etc.
I rented a single room in a flatshare in London for £850 a month a few years ago and it was gross. That 11m2 room looks like a palace in comparison and for significantly cheaper and in a nicer city.
Is it cheap or is London expensive?
The first one was obviously the best one, and I think you could argue that it's worth the price imo
Ive just returned from a 2 week trip in Japan and I enjoyed it so much I want to live there. All of your videos helped me to have the best holiday of my life and continue to give me hope for my future.
Japan is a great holiday destination, but from what I heard not so good to work in. Of course, coming from Sweden I would say that working under US conditions are also bad.
The fact that there even is a place to rent for around 200$/month is crazy to me.
At the heart of Tokyo too!
Right?! I rented one ROOM for $200 mo. about 15 years ago, and even then that was a great deal! 😂
@@KDu400 To be fair, your one room probably came with access to a shower..
I was balling it at $400, that's my londoner showing lol
my thoughts exactly. im at uni in exeter and my rent is 130 a week and thats pretty cheap for here. even the campus accom thats a room, shared kichen and shared shower is 90 a week at cheapest
Im amazed that first apartment in Centralish Tokyo is only $1200/month. I feel like that same apartment would go for like $3000+/month in Manhattan
Same here in Singapore.
Bear in mind average wages in tokyo are like 320k and that apartment is 182k
affordable ONLY if youre being paid in USD. If paid in yen that place wouldnt be very affordable. median household income in much higher in NYC
@@Boomdizzle99 Narrower margin ratio in comparison. You're more likely to afford an apartment in Tokyo compare to NYC or Singapore having the same job.
Same in LA now. WITH the requirement that you can prove you have an income of three times that per month.
This reminds me of the tiny apartment tour video that Tokidoki Traveller did all that time ago. I used to wonder how she survived 🤯
i wish things like this existed in canada. I know its not entirely pragmatic long term but for a college student this would have been a god send
They would be good when moving out for the first time. Small but manageable, depending on price it could be perfect.
Nice seeing a "small Japanese apartment" video on UA-cam where the creator doesn't go mental in the comments section. Great as always, Chris.
She laughed when I first showed her my micro-apartment. Undeterred, I reassured her, and myself, that it isn't about how big it is. It's how you use it!
By the end of the night, she was completely smitten with my micro-apartment. And it's all thanks to you, Chris 😎👍
Are you sure it wasn't the thunder nuts?🤣🤣
As someone who is currently sleeping on a pile of old, ripped blankets on the floor, a tiny apartment sounds like bliss to me.
With how good transporation is in Japan, it seems bizarre to cram yourself into a pillbox with negative quality of life as opposed to being a bit further out, enjoying a decent home and having to make a small commute to more central locations
... good transportation? what? those are crammed as fuck, and if you are a girl you are fucked
Because it stops at midnight and many people work till very late or go drinking with boss afterwards
@@WojtekGolaBezPindola Good point. I would try to get a small motorcycle or a bicycle.
That's why some people just stay in capsule hotels after work
@@TheDudeWhoCommented imagine you are obligated to go to a fkng drinking party with your boss and your colleagues, you have to eat and get drunk, and then pay for a capsule hotel because you miss the bus.. aside all those hours you put into the job because in japan you have prioritize your work on top of everything else..
San Francisco Bay Area: We lived in a place the size of the last studio apartment (100 square feet) and paid $900 per month. WE = TWO of us. But somehow a tiny shower and toilet was squeezed into the space. We got bonus adventure value, too: The location was 2 blocks away from gang territory where as a bonus one can witness or be subject to being held up at gun point. We were there for several months. (Desperate times.) The next place we 'moved to' (another 10square meter room at best) had a crazy landlady who refused to turn the house keys to lock the main entrance.. Japan seems so appealing...
The 2nd was perfect, but I would need it in a less expensive location. I could do the 3rd if it had a/c and heat and a better toilet set up. I'm only 4'10" so I'm sure that's got to make a difference in making a small space comfortable. My first apartment was 15 sq m (160 sq ft) and had everything I would need. I could sleep, shower, and fix my meals all in that space.
The first appartment is very similar to the one I live in in Europe; small but very light, nice wooden flooring, modern furniture. Only I don't have that view and mine is a bit older :')
Tbh with housing shortages I think people could already be happy in a smaller home as long as the kitchen and bathroom are nice. Also in regards to the cheaper ones, something is probably better than nothing.
We usually say here that you have to start somewhere and that your first appartment/ student home probably won't be the best one you'll ever be in.
Honestly that second apartment would be my pick of the lot, I'm not much for the modern sleek style and if you'd shove a sofabed in there it should be pretty good.
It really is a matter of perspective.
Having growing up poor and almost on the streets way more than once, even the third place looks very much livable for me.
I won't say it's the best thing in the world for sure, but being a person that has had to start over multiple times, it looks very much like something I'd have no trouble starting from once more.
I would totally live in that first apartment and it's cheaper than I thought, too. (I guessed 2k USD because even where I live one bedroom apartments start around 900-1000 USD). And I love that Sakura Co transition. Hilarious 😂
The third apartment wasn't too bad until they said there is no way to install an AC, Japan, like most of Asia, is a hot and humid place in the summers. I would probably go crazy from the heat 😂
I think the best deal would be the 2nd apartment, it's very small but livable.
having no ac isn't a complete turn off or deal breaker. i've dealt with no ac in my current apartment in the states and when i worked in a different state our housing didn't exactly have ac either. It wasn't fun but i could find ways around it to make it bareable
@@julieg25 is it Japan tho ?
@@julieg25 the real pain is hot + no bathroom + can't fit in the fridge (mini fridge might work?)
if i can't cope with shower/or cold drink in hot day i gonna go crazy.
forget going out to place with ac like cafe, department store etc.
because that gonna cost you something along the way... considering a broke guy perspective xD
I fail to see how that's an issue, though. There are portable AC's. Just put one next to the sink, throw the hose out of the window there et voila. And to not lose valuable kitchen space, you could jerryrig a fill-in table, put it over the AC (but not block the vents), put a two-burner induction cooktop on there, et voila: you have an AC *and* a place to cook. And still have the original countertop to chop your food on.
You'd wanna keep that window cracked for sure. But a nice oscillating fan would do wonders. It's not like it has to cool off that large a room, y'know? If I _had_ to stay there, and I had a choice of what part of the year to do it, I'd still choose winter. A space heater would be more than enough. The toilet situation is the bigger problem for me, personally.
Agreed for price vs space, I think. The first one is actually _very_ nice as far as I'm concerned. I could see myself decorating the hell outta that room and making good use of all the space. The second is fun 'cause it's a strange shape and I like weird-lookin' rooms. It takes some creative thinking to lay a room like that out, but I could totally do it.
Tokyo has some of the most affordable housing for just about any very large city in the world.
I've thought about things like micro houses and I'm pretty sure I could live in one relatively well. The issue is I'd need to design it myself so I can be sure it has all the things I want. There are clever ways to make more room via hiding storage, having slide out furniture, etc. But with pre-built apartments like these you're just left to deal with however they're originally set up which is... tougher.
I will say this Tokyo atleast has a wide variety of options due to them have much different zoning and building codes than the US. None of these apartments could exist in America except maybe NYC. So it does give low and affordable options to people that need it. Is it the best? No but it's better than being homeless. Also I imagine most people in Tokyo probably spend most of time outside of their home. Working, school, hanging out with friends, etc. You home becomes a place where you just store your stuff and sleep
I think #1 for most people is definitely a great place. #2 is doable as well, considering it has all the essentials and it's good to have a roof over your head.
#3 is a nah for most people. It's not terrible terrible if there is at least a standard shared bath and toilet (that's not super old and dirty).
I would be cool with the third one too if it had a normal toilet / small shower, there were definitely too many closets in there
I like seeing the real estate & apartments with Alex, would be interesting to see the ones with a shop on the ground floor, or workshop like you can see out side of the big city centres , and used to be common elsewhere.
I can imagine that those are tougher to see as a renting realtor. Often those are family owned. You have to buy the entire property both shop and living space.
@@sirBrouwerI live in Tokyo and you'd be surprised. In my area, most buildings facing the street have shops on the ground floor and a lot of them were in my realtor's system.
I ended up not getting one of those bc he told me a. the streets are loud sometimes and b. There could be roaches if it's a food shop or a restaurant. Idk if all of it was true or he was upselling me, but I love my little studio apartment so I'm not complaining.
Thank you for another interesting video! I love imagining how I would make tiny apartments work, but squatty potties…. I don’t possess that skill set.
As for the prices, I’ve lived in a city (USA) for too long because they all seem affordable. And I’m quite jealous.
Thanks again! Take care!
I swear last week Chris was complaining about tiny apartment videos
When you live long enough to become the villain
I lived in a place slightly bigger than the last apartment for just under 6 months
(the actual tatami room (also rather old) was smaller [3 jyo] but we had a shared kitchen of a fairly proper size & a free pass to the Sento below the building) the location was also really nice, between Kapa-Bashi and Asakusa, great Vibe place when you just come to Tokyo.
I'd definitely choose the first flat. I could definitely live in that! It looked really nice despite its size. Definitely not the last one, I think even stink bug and size aside the lack of air con would be the deal breaker. Sounds like you can get loads more for your money by moving a bit further out though so that sounds like the most realistic and affordable option.
Yeah, like I could deal with a lot for a low rent but with how hot it gets no air con would be the deal breaker for me also.
I feel like you'd catch a disease or die from mold if you lived in the last one
@@unterhau1102 But for $200 dollar a month rent? 😂😂😂 I'll take your disease and mold.
We get stink bugs here in the states in the summer and fall, chill little dudes just usher them outside, don’t squish them though they live up to their name! 😂
I also loved the first one, could very comfortably live there (If I lived in Japan and was single, and 30 years younger…WHY AM I WATCHING THIS??😄😄)
@@brandchan Maybe buy a little one, it wouldn’t need to be that powerful for such a small place.
The lack of a shower and electricity (or the ability to have electricity) plus the presence of insects is an absolute deal breaker no matter what the price is
I used to live in a 10 m^2 micro apartment in Australia which goes for USD$1200/month! Then I moved into a 16.5 m^2 and with a 3.3 m^2 balcony. The first apartment in your video is a relief compared to my apartment. I have to pay USD 1136/ month! I must say, living in micro apartments is ideal for someone living alone but not for families. I had friends coming over and it feels very stuffy (literally) sometimes
Which state? Some are way more affordable than other
1136 USD would be a steal... I couldn't find a comparable sized Studio in my city... Most are 300sqft or more(which is almost twice the size of a 16.5sqm place), and those all run for 1400+ and the lowest... I've found a few that are cheaper, like 900 to 1200... But that's probably because they are in neighborhoods where you WILL get shot or attacked just trying to check your mail.
Hello Chris. Love the channel. Seems to be progressing quite nicely.
Chris I just finished reading your book. It is an absolute delight to read, and you crushed the voice acting. Keep up the amazing work, man!
My main critisism of espetially the first space is that it really seems like it's missing a lot of 'clever' features to help you get more out of the space. The kind that tend to have to be integrated into the walls, pull out shelves, counters, etc. If a space is going to be that small I think it's best if it's 'transformable' very easilly to suit different configurations for your needs
That your new retro Japanese living room studio set in the beginning of the video? If so, looks ace! 🛋️📺🇯🇵
Aw I love tiny apartments! Thanks for uploading when you're on the RV trip!
RV trip? last podcast (this week aired) he was just about to leave the UK back to Japan. I can not imagine to then hop in a RV jetlagged and what not.
@@sirBrouwer Check out CDawgVA's twitch channel, they're on an RV trip at the moment with Ludwig and American Pete!
@@sirBrouwer Well the past two days he was in full day live streams on CDawgVA's Twitch channel.
You have live proof
This video made me realize that I live in a "micro apartment"... it's 21 sqm. 🙃 I always thought of it as a normal studio apartment here in Sweden, not necessarily a "micro" 😅
as someone who grew up in poverty...I have never lived in a place that anyone would consider nice, so I would say the first 2 apartments were 'really very nice' to me, but the one I could see myself in is the last one! It is nicer than anything you can get for 220$ in the States (you can sleep under a bridge by the highway for $220 lol) to put in perspective, an apartment in San Fransisco (a similar size city to Tokyo) for $750 USD you can get a 200sqft apartment without a bathroom and kitchen, communal showers and toilet, in a horrible part of the city. I would take the squat toilet for $220 and the safety of tokyo over that any day.
For the five years I lived in Tokyo the smallest apartment I had was 11m2 and my biggest was around 25m2 (They were work supplied). The good thing with those though was there was a loft for sleeping above the kitchen/bathroom area. After a year in the small one the 25m2 was luxurious.
Look wise I'd choose the third one, because I really like the aesthetic of tatami-rooms and find the square floor plan much more functional than the shapes of the other two apartments.
Aside from that: The functions, or more the lack there of, would throw me off.
Firstly: I can't stand the summerheat.
Second: I really enjoy cooking and absolutely NEED a "big" kitchen or atleast a real counter.
Third: I really like to have a bathroom and a toilette (and not a squat!) for myself.😅
Thanks as alwasy for the deligthful insight, Chris~
I literally rented a closet to sleep in under the stairs for a few months in college. Granted, it was part of a larger 2 bedroom apartment, so I had access to a kitchen and bathroom and living room, but every night I slept on a small bed under the stairs lol
yer a wizard @littlekirby6
I didn't expect that such a small apartment could look as nice as that first one did. If I were single and didn't need a lot of space, that's definitely a space I would enjoy living in! As it stands though, with me, my wife and my cat living together, that entire apartment is about as big as our living room alone xD
Edit: Also our apartment costs half of that first one from the video xD I guess that's the pros of living in a rural area and, well, not in Japan.
I’ve been living in Korea for the past five years in what they call one-room apartments (first one was 25m2, current one 31m2, though it feels smaller in some ways because they divided it into two rooms so there’s NO floor space).
It’s made me realize I can live in a much smaller place than I thought! Definitely influenced my future house dreams. I will say I want something a little bigger though - I have so many craft hobbies so I need more room for supplies and a table, do a ton of baking so need more counter space, and would love to be able to take a shower without getting my toilet wet 😂
i cant believe people think tokyo is expensive... its actually so good value for money
As someone who lives in a converted van, these seem huge to me! My van is probably around half the size or even less than the last apartment. You learn how to make things multiuse though!
I think there are ways to save space in apartments that would be socially unacceptable in Japan:
A shower cubicle, toilet, washing machine and dryer in the same space.
Those tiny baths do take up a lot of space actually.
SUGOI
Very Sugoi
すごい！
Finally, an unbiased opinion.
I shared a 20m2 apartment between 4 people (not family) for 6 months so I'd have zero issues living solo in one 😂And if you only pay $200/month, I don't think any size is too small
wow! that is like...jail
Third flat… is hot water included? Usually for Showa-era apartments like this, you have to buy everything - kitchen water heater, range, and light fixtures. I came close to living in a place like that in Shitamachi. This place might be manageable if there are more than two outlets.
A squat toilet is a better idea for shared bathrooms since you don’t have to touch anything.
honestly, living so long with a bunch of hoarders makes me very tempted to live in this tiny kind of places where I can live with the bare necessities
Same.
Enjoying the audiobook Chris :) Can't wait for the sequel!
I’m sitting here in my 25m2 apartment in Tsukiji suddenly aware this is a micro apartment (according to the video). I think it’s normalish. I do miss my Tulse Hill flat sometimes 🥲
Come on man! It’s not “tiny”, it’s pretty average to me, 25 is a normal size apartment… I would even say it’s huge!
"tiny 25 sq meters" Chris, you're hurting my feelings haha. My first three apartments here were under 23 sq meters. They were also under ¥50,000, though.
I lived in a small warehouse for a few years and it’s amazing what you can rig up. I did have a restroom but had to rig a shower. In the winter I’d do sponge baths. For my kitchen I had a microwave, crock pot, and electric skillet. It was fine for a few years until I saved enough to buy a house.
I have Cyclic vomiting syndrome (a neurological condition that causes really severe vomiting episodes along with neurological symptoms) and nobody knows why but a hot bath really helps during an episode, so hearing that theres a bath re-heating system is so cool to me😂 when im in a bath during an episode, ill sleep because its the only time i can stop vomiting long enough to sleep, and i cant even count how many times ive woken up freezing cuz the bath water got so cold😂
Be awesome to get a spin off series called abroad from japan, in which natuski and chris visit places where japanese people go on holidau 😊
They go to Guam in great numbers.....300,000 per year back in 1985...I was active USAF
Love the banter. Quite the dynamic duo these lads are. Would love to see more videos from this team.
It would be awesome to see how good of an apartment you could get let's say an hour away from the action like you guys mentioned, as a contrast to these ones!!!
The first one is pretty cozy tbh. Good design can make a small space still feel comfortable
I am currently living in 91 sq ft. in the US. No bathroom, just a bucket with lid for emergency toilet and a toilet within walking distance but only open 9am-9pm daily. I heat up water in a kettle and wash up in the sink. It's better than homelessness, which as a disabled senior on only social security, was my only other option. In Hawaii I lived in a smaller space and the landlord asked $750 a month 6 years ago! Life has become very difficult for quite a number of us.
To be fair £180 for a flat that well-located is starting to get me wondering if I should fly out 😂
For real. Rent under $1000 doesnt even exist in canada
@@dtann even in towns out in the middle of nowhere ppl still want you to pay like $2000 for rent here lol
By all accounts finding an apartment as a foreigner can be an absolute nightmare so I'd keep my expectations in check haha
4:42 guess he didn't look at his own shirt before making that joke XD lol
:D
In Paris is normal to find a 10, even 9 m2 "apartment" to rent and they can be pretty expensive if they are situated in a good neighborhood.
It was a fun video to watch 😊
And anywhere else in France, lots of students live in apartments that are between 15 and 20m². I'm genuinely surprised Chris thinks 30m² is small for one person.
We have lived aboard a 44ft (13.4 meter) sailboat since 1998. Which isn’t spacious but is about on par with the first place you were shone. Has washer/dryer, full bathroom, central HVAC/heat, fully equipped Galley, frig/freezer, deep freeze, sleeping accommodation for 2 couples.
The 1st one seemed very reasonable; in Los Angeles even 20 years ago a $1200 studio in a really nice area would have been about that size, and even more in SF. That last one would be great for a party animal that's never at home; basically a storage unit & emergency crash pad. It could be air-conditioned BTW; there are units that would sit on the floor & have an exhaust hose that could be run out of the window.
We need japanese car scene videos!
Yeah!
Wow... $1200 a month for an apartment that size would actually be a good deal in California.
Curious if you've heard of David Bull, the Canadian who moved to Japan to learn traditional woodblock printing. I think it would be cool for you to visit his shop in Asakusa and maybe interview him for the channel.
Love this guy
As a young single soldier in the early 90s stationed in Germany, I had a living space in a four man room about the size of #3. Needless to say, i had to be very creative with what space I had. Being use to sleeping on the top bunk, i was able to utilize the bottom area to keep my "entertainment center"(cheap three shelf unit), desk, college frig and microwave. Luckily, my inspectable wall locker was used to help make a wall between my area and the next. My personal wall locker(where I kept most of my civilian clothes) was used to keep my bunk stable. So I'm pretty sure i could live comfortably in #3. Spending an extra $120/month for use of a bath house might not be too bad if I were making good money and a gym wasn't close by. A motivated individual could come up with a way to make a shower space that could stow away. I think my biggest concern would be cooling the apartment down.
Average Tokyo Micro apartment is a LUXURY in London !!