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UK - HK - Tokyo -
12-19-2009, 07:29 AM
We are a British couple who are currently living in central Hong Kong and have been asked if we would consider moving to Tokyo for my husband's job. I have been to Tokyo many times - maybe 9 or 10 and always love my trips. I have a few questions though and wondered if anyone can help.
My husband will work near Imperial Palace, where would be a good place to start looking for somewhere to live so he doesn't have a long commute to the office. We don't have children so school is not an issue. We would need about 1600-2000 sq ft living space. what sort of budget will we need for that. We currently pay around a mil yen for our place here in HK but have 3000 sq ft. are housing costs similar ?? Are there any specific areas with expat communities ?? Realistically if we lived near Imp Palace would I need a car ?? The trains are really good even for getting outside Tokyo...... Do the grocery stores deliver ?? Or online shopping for heavy items bottles water etc If i decided no to get a car?? We will get full medical cover but are there any other things we should be thinking about when we start negotiating the 'package'. Is it normal for the company to cover the cost of Japanese lessons ?? I am sure there will be loads more questions as I am trolling through the forum but any help with these would be greatly appreciated . 
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Golf weekend / part time study -
12-20-2009, 05:30 AM
Just thought of another couple of questions.... Is it easy to play golf in / around Tokyo. We have never played there so have no idea how much it costs. We both have handicap cards and if we want to play now tend to do weekends to Thailand / Shenzhen, Mission Hills where we stay and play. How much would this kind of 2 night 3 round stay be Japan ?? Nothing fancy, its about the golf not the hotel...
Second question is if there are any part time japanese classes/schools anyone can recommend. Lots of the posts I have read here are for schools for teens/early 20's..... I would rather be amongst adult students. I am early 40's and it would be nice to be in a class with people of a similar age who I can then meet up with for lunch etc and practice....
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12-22-2009, 02:37 AM
The Imperial Palace is in the Marunouchi district of Tokyo. There are lots of offices in this part of the city, but there isn't in the way of housing. Most expats live in the Roppongi Hills area, which is upscale, and offers a variety of shops and services convenient to foreigners. The Hibiya subway line runs directly from Roppongi Hills to Marunouchi, and the ride takes 10 minutes or so.
Grocery stores do deliver, anything from fresh vegetables to bottled water. Foreign Buyers Club has a store online where you can find things from home which are not easily available in Japan. Owning a car is a rather difficult option. Cars themselves are not expensive, but taxes, inspection, and parking are outrageous. Most apartment buildings have only 6 or 8 parking spaces in their garages, even if they have 40 or more apartments. A lottery system is used whenever a space becomes available. My GF lives in the metro area, and also works in Marunouchi. After 3 years of lottery drawings, we still haven't won a parking space. There aren't any real golf courses in the metro area, but there are many in the surrounding areas. Chiba, Saitama, and Kanegawa all have great golf courses, though they can be quite busy on weekends. The farther you get from Tokyo, the less crowded these golf courses get. There are a great many language schools in Tokyo where you can learn Japanese. One of the best is Meguro Learning Center, which is in the Meguro district, not far from the center of the city. I hope the advice is helpful, but I'm sure your husband will receive most of the information he needs from the HR department of whichever company he will be working for here. Most larger companies will have a list of real estate agencies, car rental/purchase agencies, and the like. Good luck, hopefully you'll make it in time for Hanami season.
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12-22-2009, 05:01 AM
Hi Sangestu
Thank you for your reply.  I am sure the company do have real estate agents etc but we have had a few bad experiences with them when we have moved in the past so I think I will spend a few hours/days/weeks searching the real estate sites after we have a better idea about the different areas. In Hong Kong we were only shown 'expat apartments' and when I found what eventually was the ideal apartment ( on the internet ) the agent was reluctant to show us because she didn't have a relationship with the management ( is didn't get a backhander) and she said because there weren't any expats there we wouldn't like it. We spent 3 very happy years there... I need to do a bit of pricing research so we know what we want when the company put the offer on the table. Rappongi wouldn't be too bad an area as it would be close to the office and from what I remember the last time I spent a day wondering around the area there were some nice little side roads with small houses and low rises. Can anyone tell me the name of an everyday supermarket chain that does 'online shopping' ?? Another things I did before I moved to HK was a pretend monthly shop so I could estimate the cost and factor this into the monthly outgoings.... as I love to cook I am very excited about being able to go to the fish market and buying lots of goodies... As owning a car is looking like a nightmare - is it common to hire cars for the weekend / to go on holiday ?? Thank you for all your help in advance.
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12-22-2009, 10:48 AM
Quote:
My GF does her online shopping at Ito Yokado, and their prices are not bad, considering the service they provide. If you prefer to do your own shopping, there are plenty of markets to choose from. My GF and I prefer Costco (about 40 minutes by train, but worth the trip). They have excellent prices, a huge variety, and they will ship anything you like to wherever you want quite cheaply. Most quality department stores have extensive food markets in their B1 level, and the nicer stores have incredible varieties of meats, fish, and vegetables. I like Takeshimaya in Nihonbashi, but the department store markets are pretty much all the same. I believe there is a good one at or in the Mid-town shopping center in Roppongi as well. Another good area which is convenient to Marunouchi is Shinkawa and Tsukishima (in the Chuo Ward). These are located on the Sumida River (across from each other), about 20 minutes walk from Marunouchi. I prefer this area (I live here) because it's less busy than the older parts of Tokyo, and the river offers wonderful scenery and a great place to walk dogs or exercise. It's convenient to the Keio line, Hibiya line, and Yurakocho lines, all of which run to Tokyo Station (which is in Marunouchi). Ginza and Tsukiji are both within walking distance of Shinkawa and Tsukishima. The Millenium Towers overlook the river, and are somewhat less pricey in the current economy than they once were. Selling prices are $750k to $3 million, depending on the size, floor and view. Rental properties should be less than what you are paying now. There are other buildings in the area also, I see plenty of "for-rent" signs wherever I go.
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12-22-2009, 02:54 PM
OK that gives me something else to consider.... I had been looking at Shibyua and Rappongi but as schools are not a consideration we can go anywhere that is an easy commute and it would be nice to have some green around...
I have learnt to be very direct and no nonsense with Real Estate agents - and to be honest this didn't go down well with HK Chinese guy RE agents, but it got me what I wanted so I didn't care how 'bruised' their egos were. Basically If I say 200 sqm with a balcony and they take me to 170 without I'm not even wasting my time getting out of the car... Do I need to be a bit more softly softly with Japanese RA guys ??? or is the don't want to waste anyones time a good approach from the start ?? Things are progressing and we will come and have a look see in the new year. I know I can be a bit too direct - which is fine when you can understand humor etc so direction would be appreciated... 
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12-23-2009, 01:31 AM
I have little experience dealing with real-estate types. My GF's father purchased our apartment through his company. The process was surprisingly quick, less than one month from looking at the property to moving-in.
The direct approach should be fine; most wives in Japan are very direct when it comes to financial matters. With the current housing market as it is (many vacancies), you should find agents to be quite flexible. Many are waiving excess move-in costs such as "key money" (a non-refundable deposit which is actually a bribe of sorts). In better times when occupancy rates were high, landlords could easily charge 2 or 3 months worth of key money, which could make move-in costs very high.
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