End Of An Era

After more than three years in the urban, fashionable, and hip Harajuku district I have moved to residential, unfashionable, and quiet Bunkyo-ku area near Ikebukuro. It was long time coming, but various factors kept me in Harajuku: uncertain future, laziness, lack of money needed to finance a move, the convenience of living in a city hub, hatred of looking for places to move, hatred of the moving process itself, etc...

The main reasons for the move were a desire for more space and a less active neighborhood. My old room was about 18 square meters I think and quite old, thus there were some peculiarities about the place. For example a shower in the kitchen (older buildings didn't have showers since the occupants would use the sento (public bath) daily. That being said it was a step up from the gaijin house (guest house), I was staying in when I first moved to Tokyo. God knows how small those rabbit hutches were with no storage space and a "communal" men's shower in the kitchen.

Living in a popular place like Harajuku is a curse and a blessing. It's great, because it is conveniently located in the center of Tokyo near lots of fashionable places like Shibuya, Omtesando, Aoyama, and Nishi-Azabu. But because it is a destination place for the young set, it is overrun with aimless youth from early afternoon until early evening and all day on weekends, thus making simple tasks like going to the station or the gym a chore.

At first I thought I would move to an equally hip area like Ebisu (a place a little further south that has lots of great restaurants and bars), but after several abortive attempts to find a reasonably large place that wasn't too old or decrepit, I gave up. I realized that the $6,000 I would have to put down in order to move in was too daunting. I was operating through a local Japanese real estate office. The fees involved include first month's rent, a month's damage deposit, two months key money (a nonrefundable gift amount for the privilege of renting from the landlord), as well as one month's rent for an agent fee for helping you find it. But the insidious thing is that I was willing to part with the dough on a couple of occasions and was denied because I was a foreigner. This despite the fact I speak Japanese, am over 30, work at a university, and am from America-all pluses, I feel sorry for people from Asia they must really have limited choices. This frustration led to searching out other options.

So I decided to call an agency that caters to foreigners, much like the one from which I was renting from in Harajuku. They showed me a 2K, which means two rooms and a separate kitchen, which was about twice the size of my former abode and 30,000 yen ($250) more expensive. It is closer to where I work and in a year when my campus moves I will be able to ride my bike to the campus. So I decided to make the move and now I pay basically $1000 a month, it is not much different from the prices of other places I looked at. The big difference was that I only had to pay one month's rent for deposit, which has allowed me to furnish the place with a new refrigerator, washing machine, double bed, double American style-futon that folds out into a bed, and 29 inch TV. So I finally feel set up.

The main set back is that I am somewhat isolated located near two subway stops, Myogadani (Marounochi line) and Edogawabashi (Yuracho line). The subways stop running a little after midnight, thus making connections from elsewhere difficult. However, a small price to pay for a comfortable apartment.

I have had over a week to get used to my new apartment and surrounding area. There are several schools in the neighborhood, a women's college, a co-ed college, as well as several elementary, junior high, and high schools. The area is located in shitamachi (or downtown). And this is synonymous with traditional not new neighborhoods. My neighborhood is quiet and residential and it feels like I have stepped back in time. An acquaintance said he lived near where I do several years ago and thought that it seemed like it was the 70s here. Gentrification has definitely not reached my part of town by any means, but that's OK, I've already had my season in the sun so to speak...sayonara Harajuku.

Comments

[mjv]

nice wiki, pat. can you post photos of cute japanese chicks?

[Ray]

Women's college?
Shower in the kitchen?
Communal shower in the kitchen?
Women's college?
Thanks for the update, Pat. It is good to hear from you. Sounds like you made a good move for yourself. I had no idea it was so expensive to live in Japan. Go Ichiro.

[Lou Ford]

Are you saying I'm going to be stuck in a 70's neighborhood when I come to visit? I live in West Seattle already. You promised me a "communal" men's shower. How's that gym?

[phatrick]

Glad I got to visit the Harijuku party pad when I did. Your going to miss being able to scramble eggs while you are in the shower. Does this mean you actually have a toilet instead of an indentation in the floor? Glad to hear you have a guest room - I'll be back. Will you still be able to get to and from Gas Panick? Speaking of which, how about a log entry (including pics) of a night at the Panick?

[amyc]

Pat,

I found your journal in a google search. It brought back memories of my time in Japan. I had forgotten all about that key money and racial dicrimination thing at the real estate agencies. I am looking for a good source (in English) that describes the history and present-day character of the Myogadani neighborhood. Can you recommend anything?
--Amy C.