2-47-17-204 Shinozaki, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan, 803-0861

福岡県北九州市小倉北区 篠崎町2-47番17－204号  804-0861

You are replacing a married ALT, so between the two of us we only used one apartment.  Mike and I chose not to live in the apartment that Kokura Minami offered for our own reasons. I therefore am not certain about anything to do with your apartment. I asked Murakami Sensei, your supervisor, if you would be living in the same apartment as my predecessor and I was told yes. However, as I was nearly finished collecting information about this apartment for you, I was told that the school was in fact not certain where you will be living. For this reason, you will find this part of the site less informative than others. In case that you do end up in my predecessor's apartment, I have left the following information to try to help you. It was written before I was informed of the possible change. You can be assured that you will be offered an apartment similar to what we are describing. If you are curious for pictures and other information, please see the apartment that Hibiki provided for us. Having said that, I do believe that the information below about rent is accurate.

This was all written before the school changed its mind, therefore ignore confusion with "the apartment is...", we do not in fact know what it "is".

The apartment that you are being offered by the school is in a teachers’ “jutaku” building, and is owned by the school, meaning no key money is needed (key money is a one time payment for new owners, usually equivalent to several months rent, we checked, and even if the apartment is changed, you need not worry about it).  The building has 16 apartments, on four floors.  Your apartment is on the second floor.  There is no elevator to the apartment, but that is not normally a factor (unless you have just visited Koichi-San, but that is a different topic).

The rent for the place is fairly cheap, but it will be rising due to circumstances beyond our control.  Even with the raise in rent, it is still only ¥12300/month, which you pay at school on the 21st of each month, to Nakatomi-san in the downstairs office.  On top of rent may be an additional fee. At most apartments there is a community cleaning fee. Twice a year (June and October), or even monthly, all the tenants get together to clean the area around the building.  Your participation determines the fee you have to pay.

All of the other bills associated with the apartment will be set up with your supervisor, and can be paid by bank withdrawal, or you can pay at the convenience store.  They include gas, electricity and water.  I have set up a table here to show you the expenses associated with our apartment, keep in mind there were two of us, but the apartments are the same.

The only other thing to worry about would be garbage day, which is every Tuesday and Friday.  Kitakyushu requires all garbage to be in special bags, purchased anywhere.  The garbage must be out front of the building before 8:30 am, but not over night.  Recycling is done on Wednesdays, alternating cans and bottles every other week.  The recycling will need to be placed somewhere near the building.  The info can be found here.

The apartment itself consists of six rooms and a hallway.  There are three tatami rooms, two are approximately 9’ x 9’ and the other is 9’ x 12’ (this does not include the closets).  There is also a kitchen, 7’ x 10’, a shower room and a toilet room.  The picture below shows a mirrored layout of the apartment (our apartment and your apartment are basically identical, just reversed.  Also note that the furniture is from our apartment, you will have the furniture listed below).

In the kitchen there is a small hot water device, there is no hot water from the taps.  For showering there is no hot water.  You will have to fill the tub, then heat the water.  To get this water through a shower you can use a pump, which we have available for sale.  The toilet is a western style toilet, which is very good news.

There is a lot of closet space, both for clothes and storage.  Each of the rooms is separated by sliding, removable doors.

The temperature and humidity in Japan have been found to cause a lot of problems with moisture in the apartment.  Our clothes feel damp when we take them from the closet, there is mould that will grow on the walls, and it is difficult to dry things.  To help protect your clothing and blankets I would recommend buying de-moisturizers (the name I made up for them because I have no idea what the Japanese says).  These things are fairly cheap and last about 50 days.  Basically they suck the moisture out of the air, instead of it getting into your clothes.  They may be purchased in most stores, such as a pharmacy, grocery store or Daiei.

The temperature in the apartment is controlled by a small AC/Heating unit. The apartment without this unit is absolutely blazing hot in summer, and below freezing in winter. The unit can heat or cool one of the rooms, two if you are lucky, so depending on how you use the rooms, you may need to find a second heater.

The front tatami room has a window and the two other tatami rooms have sliding glass doors onto a balcony.

Outside of the building there should be a shed. Ours is large enough for us to store two bikes, I would guess about 3' x 7'.

*Note:  This is the picture used from the other apartment.  The furniture shown above is not included with yours.

The school owns a few things that will be in the apartment when you arrive.  If it is not listed below, then anything you see in the photos (taken by Jeanette's predecessor) are things that belonged to him, and will not be in the apartment when you arrive.  Also we can not guarantee that all of this stuff will find its way to your apartment.  Things like the desk or space heater may have moved on to other uses, but the AC, stove, fridge, water heater and washing machine will be there.