I was recently asked by one of my readers about living arrangements in Tokyo. Since I moved to Tokyo relatively recently (about five months ago), I can't give a full picture of the real estate scene. In fact, when I moved here for my new job because of some confusion I only had two days to find a new place. My friend, who happened to be a real estate agent (here in Japan) suggested that since two days is not enough to find a real apartment, I should try one of the guest house services like Sakura House, which she had heard good things about.

Sakura House is a large, Tokyo-based company (over 2000 rooms) that serves only foreigners. (They say very clearly that they will not rent rooms to Japanese. At first I thought this was quite strange, but I think what they really mean to say is they don't want Japanese-foreigner couples in their rooms.) They offer a variety of rooms around the city (all of their rooms are in the 23 ku) ranging from 40,000 yen (tiny room in a shared guesthouse in the middle of nowhere) to 150,000 and beyond (apartment in Akihabara). They're not particularly cheap, but they require a deposit of only 30,000 yen, 20,000 yen of which they will return to you if you don't damage your room and wash the sheets before you move out. (Consider the 10,000 yen one of those gifts to the landlords that the Japanese seem to be fond of.)

Moving in to Sakura House was easy- after paying the deposit, they had my room ready the next day. (Of course, to get a room so quickly you must choose from the list of available rooms- for better locations, there is often a waiting list.) Also, sharing facilities like the kitchen and toilet may not appeal to everyone; personally, I never minded living in a dormitory when I was in college, but I must say that some of my housemates in Sakura House were rather dirty people. Thankfully, the company cleans the shared bathroom and kitchen of the guest houses regularly, so the place never gets too awful, although there were times I didn't want to use the kitchen.

If you really do want your own private space, Sakura House offers a wide range of apartments. In fact, I recently moved to just such an apartment. Now, I'll be the first to say that the company is not the cheapest around. However, in my mind they offer several advantages:

• No matter what room you choose, the "key money" is only 10,000 yen.
• All rooms include a bed, desk, chair/stool, bookshelf, and a basic plates and silverware package. In the guest houses, the common kitchens include everything you would expect- refrigerators, microwaves, pots and pans, trash bags, and the like. The apartments are even better: in mine, I had a bed, two desks, bookshelf, TV, refrigerator, toaster oven, microwave, pots and pans, stove, toilet brush, hangars, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. In a country like Japan where apartments usually come unfurnished (read: with nothing), this is a great value.
• Rent includes your utilities: gas, water, electricity, and even the Internet connection. (A caution about the Internet: some of the rooms require a LAN connection, and others require a wireless connection. Make sure you check to see what you're getting into before you move in!)
• They are open seven days a week. If you have any problems, you can call or e-mail them and get a prompt response. In my experience, although they were not always quick to fix the problem, they were easy to get ahold of.
• They offer service in English and Chinese as well, so if you're still learning the language, you don't have to worry.
• They are a large and established company (over ten years old). They won't cheat you. When I was in Tohoku, I often heard horror stories from foreigners who found that their landlords were charging them double rent- because they could, as they didn't think the foreigners would ever find out. Of course, the majority of Japanese landlords are honest (probably), but it's nice to know that you're dealing with someone trustworthy from the start.
• The contract is renewed monthly. Personally, I really appreciate this, because it allows you the freedom to move somewhere else if you get a better offer- or just stay put with the nice place that you have.

And now for the bad:

• They are a little expensive compared to the competition. But, the service is great and there are a lot of wonderful extras.
• How much you enjoyed living in a shared space really depends on the people you are sharing with- and this you have no control over.
• You have trash duty. Now, for me separating the garbage and taking out the trash is not such a problem, but for your neighbors it might be- and since trash duty rotates, your place can get stinky. When I was living in the guest house, I often ended up taking out the trash even when it wasn't my turn, just so that the place wouldn't smell.
• The Internet connection is not always reliable. It's included in the price, and well, you get what you pay for.

You can search the available rooms on their website, http://www.sakura-house.com/