# Where to live in Tokyo?



## ctopp

My husband and I and our two kids (aged 1 and 2) are considering a move from Europe to Tokyo for a few years. My husband will be working in Shinagawa and we would like to start looking at options of where to look for somewhere to live.

Ideally we are looking for somewhere:
- within a 30 minute commute of Shinagawa
- kid friendly (parks, popular with families)
- walk to several cafes / restaurants
- within a 30 minute commute to a good international school
- I have a fear of the kids falling out of windows / balconies so we would ideally like a ground floor place - I assume this severely narrows our options... Is a small outdoor area for the kids to run around in at all feasible or completely unrealistic?
- I will be working from home - assuming an apartment with a kitchen, dining and living area, is a 3 bedroom WITH an additional study / den / family area where I can set up a small home office at all feasible? 
- our budget is around 600,000 yen

What would you recommend? Would very much appreciate any comments.

Thanks!


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## larabell

If that's your per-month housing budget, you should have no trouble. I'd look at Azabu-juban, maybe (though I can't speak for the schools around there, there is a sizable ex-pat community and plenty to do).

And 30 minutes from Shinagawa doesn't put Yokohama out of reach, either. It seems a number of participants on this very forum live or have lived in Yokohama. If your husband doesn't mind a slightly longer commute, Den-en-chofu is really nice and St. Mary's International school is on the same line only a few stops away. I visited the home of a friend who lived in Den-en-chofu once and it was almost as big as most single-family homes in the States.

If you want your own small outdoor area for the kids, start by looking at detached houses. Few apartments that I've seen, even in the more expensive areas, have outdoor play areas. People seem to rely more on public parks for that.

As for kids falling out of windows... all you need is a place where the balconies have decent barriers so the kids can't squeeze out. The place I was in before had balcony walls made of concrete and foggy-glass and you'd have to be at least a meter tall or less than 10 cm across to exit the balcony by any route other than the door. Decently-built apartments are usually pretty safe, kid-wise.


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## Singapore Saint

As Larabell says, a house on that budget is no problem at all. We live between Yoyogi-koen station and Shoto, 10 mins walk to Yoyogi Park and are in a 4-bed house where I use one room as a study to work from home. Even the smallest room would be plenty big enough to use. You'd probably get more for your money here than closer in and I think we'd be around 30-35mins to Shinagawa, including the walk to the station. Lots of little bars, cafes and restaurants around us, and the 'Youth Capital' of Shibuya also a 10mins walk away.

Just the other side of Yamate Dori (a ring road around central Tokyo) is a nice area around Yoyogi-Uehara, and you can generally get the same size places for slightly less. You probably won't get huge gardens, but I've been surprised by the size of some of them.


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## Patch66

how about Meguro, close to all the major spots and you get a JR connection what with the Yamanote Line and a number of underground lines too. not too many high rise in the area too, we viewed some nice houses in the area when we first came over..., azabu juban also pretty nice place, if you dont mind travelling in then some say pick a place on the Denentoshi line route, someone said to me the other day , people look different who use that line (middle ,upper class) , your budget for accommodation puts you in the higher bracket....




QUOTE=Singapore Saint;1124685]As Larabell says, a house on that budget is no problem at all. We live between Yoyogi-koen station and Shoto, 10 mins walk to Yoyogi Park and are in a 4-bed house where I use one room as a study to work from home. Even the smallest room would be plenty big enough to use. You'd probably get more for your money here than closer in and I think we'd be around 30-35mins to Shinagawa, including the walk to the station. Lots of little bars, cafes and restaurants around us, and the 'Youth Capital' of Shibuya also a 10mins walk away.

Just the other side of Yamate Dori (a ring road around central Tokyo) is a nice area around Yoyogi-Uehara, and you can generally get the same size places for slightly less. You probably won't get huge gardens, but I've been surprised by the size of some of them.[/QUOTE]


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