Pic taken of the inside of a ‘social apartment’ in Matsubara-Danchi, Saitama.

Social Apartments is a new kind of guest house which aims to dispel the image of old, smelly and cramped and replace it with all the mod-cons you’d expect to find in an upmarket serviced apartment.

There are a bunch of things to consider when choosing a place to call home in Japan.  With many landlords not accepting foreigners and all apartments coming empty, the list of things to think about gets even longer.

Staying in a guest house or if you can afford it, a serviced apartment is one way to get around that.  You will get some basic amenities plus there are always some new people to meet.  The one problem with that, though, is guest houses and shared apartments are generally of poor or basic quality – mostly because they are using old or converted buildings which weren’t designed to be home to a whole bunch of people at the same time.  Rents can also still be pretty high, especially if you want to be in a location close to Tokyo.

Social Apartments will cost you around 43,000 yen a month.  This link (Japanese) will give you a good look at all the options available but generally the rooms are 7.7 tatami in size, include a bed and desk for you to work on and your own fridge, so your food doesn’t go missing.  Should also point out that Internet comes as standard too.

Here is a pic of the main communal area of a social apartment.  This is another big reason why these kinds of apartments make great places to stay – Japanese and foreigners alike can hang out together.

This is the billiards (pool) table in the corner.  Plenty of ways to break the ice with the people you are staying with and one of the best ways to unwind after a hard day’s work.  If snooker is not your thing you can also give table tennis or boardgames a try.

Plenty of space to introduce your food too!  Most kitchens in a guest house or apartment are tiny, with no room to cut up your food and no way to oven cook your food.

Shot of a soundproofed room with a guitar and fender amp for you to rock out with.  No chance of doing this in a private house in Tokyo…

All Social Apartments have housekeeping services for the common area, 4-6 times a week (average). Some of the Social Apartments also provide cleaning services for your private room at an extra charge.

As social apartments are in different locations,  each one comes with its own design.  This is a pic of the Asaksua residence.

This time the more modern styled Ebisu complex.

Another thing to deal with when renting a regular apartment in Tokyo is key money and deposit (aka Reikin and Shikikin).
This can get really expensive as you have to hand over these extra costs as a ‘ gift.’  Social Apartments only require a 50,000 yen deposit, 25,000 yen of which goes towards your room cleaning fee.  When you do choose to leave, you also only need to give one month notice compared to the usual two months you would have to give when renting from a private landlord.

Head over to the website to find out more about Social Apartments in the Tokyo area.