# Advice Needed. Moving to TOKYO next month



## Kgeoffrey

Anyone have advice on where to live as a single guy in his early 30s .. Love sports , nightlife etc and would like to be around westerners if possible as well as locals. Also wont know many people as our office is very small so am hoping to meet friends fairly quickly. A lot to ask I know! Thanks for reading .


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## larabell

Tokyo's a huge city -- it might help to know where you'll be working, whether your employer is going to foot all or part of the bill for housing, and how far you're willing to commute. The West side of the city, inside the Yamanote-sen loop (Roppongi, Azabu, Mita, Meguro), should put you in close proximity to other Westerners, but... that's also a fairly expensive area. Plus, unless you plan to be out on the town till the wee hours every day, it might make more sense to find a quiet place not too far from where you work, even if it means spending a bit more time on the train on those days you *do* go out to party.

You might check out Sakura House -- you should be able to find their web site easily enough. They have guesthouses peppered all over the city, some in lively places and some in quiet residential neighborhoods (there's even one in my neighborhood). That should give you the chance to meet and hang out with many ex-pats without having to live right in the center of town. If, after being here a few months, you decide you really do want to live in the center of town, you can always change your mind.

If you'd prefer an apartment, make sure someone in your office is willing to help find you a place. Finding an apartment almost always involves a realtor and, while there are some who specialize in ex-pats, you can usually get a better deal from a local realtor in your target neighborhood.


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## Kgeoffrey

*Moving to Tokyo*

My budget will be approx 250,000 Yen per month and my office is in the Bunkyo Ward area.. Just wanted to clarify. Thanks to all!


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## larabell

Kgeoffrey said:


> My budget will be approx 250,000 Yen per month and my office is in the Bunkyo Ward area.. Just wanted to clarify. Thanks to all!


Bunkyo-ku is still a fairly wide area which includes Tokyo University and Tokyo Dome, both of which might be interesting areas to live but neither will put you in proximity to many Westerners (as far as I know, at least). It's also served by six subway lines so I'm afraid that's still too vague to make any concrete suggestions on specific places to consider.

Your budget should be enough for at least a 1DK (one-bedroom) place in the city or a 2DK/2LDK (two-bedroom) if you don't mind commuting for 20 or 30 minutes. I could find a nice 2LDK in my area for that price but I'm clean on the other side of town so that wouldn't help you much.

It might work to your advantage that Bunkyo-ku isn't far from the Ueno/Asakusa area which are considered "downtown" (Jap: "sh-itamachi" -- excuse the hyphen... the forum s/w deletes what it things might be cuss words ;-) and therefore might be a bit cheaper than most places West of the city. I think either of those areas would be interesting if you like Japanese culture but, again, neither will put you in close proximity to many ex-pats.


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## Kathrinjapan

Konnichiwa Geoffrey!
Welcome! Given everything you are saying, I would suggest living near the Roppongi area. You should be prepared, living in Gaijin ghettos with access to nightlife can be pricey. I should know. The realtors who helped me were Sun Realtors and Ken Corporation. They tend to specialize in foreign relo. Check out areas in Hiroo, Azabu-Juban, and Roppongi Hills. 

As far as meeting people, your new Tokyo office should become your new "work family". There will be plenty of opportunity to get to know co-workers. Being a single man in his 30's, assuming you don't look like The Elephant Man, you should have no trouble meeting Tokyo's loveliest ladies. 

Another way to meet people would be joining the Tokyo American Club. Due to recent economic changes, the club too has evolved and become more Japanese, but if there are foreigners to meet, a lot of them are members here, and they host a plethora of social events. It is pricy to join, but depending on your package, corporate sponsorship is possible. 

Hope this helps. Check through some of the archives. This forum is full of useful information!

Gambatte!
K


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## Rube

Shouldn't be hard to find a place with that budget anywhere in town.


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