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Columns about Daily Life
145–156 of 288
A complete guide to confirming share house cleaning rules, rotation systems, and common area management before moving in. Includes 10 essential questions to ask the operator and tips for preventing cleaning disputes.
A detailed breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks of share houses for foreigners, along with common issues. Learn how to find properties with lenient eligibility screening, zero key money and guarantor-free options, plus share houses with established foreign communities.
We explain furniture layout for studio (one-room) and 1K apartments by room size (6, 8, and 10 tatami mats). We introduce optimal placement of beds, desks, and storage, practical room layout examples, and furniture selection tips for foreign residents arriving in Japan.
When retrofitting a smart lock to a rental property, learn whether management company permission is required and what your restoration-to-original-condition obligations are upon move-out. We explain how to obtain permission, recommend products, and highlight practical safety benefits for foreign residents.
A guide to solving slow internet issues with complimentary building internet. We explain speed testing methods, common causes of slowdowns, how to contact your building management, benefits of getting your own fiber connection, and cost comparisons.
Learn how to test-run your air conditioner after moving and before summer, plus how to check for malfunctions, unusual noises, and water leaks. This guide also explains which cleaning tasks tenants can handle themselves and how to determine when to request repairs from your property manager.
Cigarette odor problems in rental apartments are becoming increasingly serious. This guide explains how to address smoke from balcony smoking in neighboring and adjacent units, ventilation duct infiltration, and corridor smoking—including sample notification letters to management companies and DIY ventilation duct solutions.
Footsteps from the unit above, running sounds, and falling objects are among the most common issues in rental apartments. This guide explains step-by-step solutions—from reporting to your building management company to negotiating directly, soundproofing measures you can implement yourself, and legal remedies.
Learn soundproofing DIY methods for rental apartments that require no permission. We cover acoustic material for walls, soundproofing mats for floors, weatherstripping for windows, and more—all reversible upon move-out and within restoration limits—with cost estimates for each solution.
Ready-to-use templates for rental noise disputes. Includes property manager notification emails (with subject lines in Japanese/English), direct letters to noisy neighbors and upstairs residents, and practical escalation procedures from follow-up reports to consumer centers, local government offices, and small claims court.
Japanese apartments and condominiums have unique living rules. This guide explains trash separation and collection schedules, acceptable noise levels, greetings in hallways and elevators, courtesy visits upon moving in, and other lifestyle etiquette that foreigners often learn the hard way and that can prevent neighbor conflicts.
Rent payments in Japan offer four options: bank transfers, automatic account withdrawals, credit cards, and online payments — each with different fees, late payment risks, and contract conditions. This guide provides a practical comparison of the best payment methods for foreign residents.
