Accomodations in Japan

[JFTVT]

Does anybody know the cheapest way to live in Japan?

Homestay or staying with a roommate for example? Any help would be appreciated!

Jeff

[synthia]

Welcome to the forum! It depends on where you are going to be. In the bigger cities the cheapest option is usually what is called a gaijin house, basically a group house where you rent a room or a bed. In some places an apartment will be reasonable, or a share situation might work. I only knew a couple of people who rented rooms in a Japanese home, and neither were happy with the arrangement. On the other hand, those I knew who were studying Japanese and had enrolled with a homestay as part of the course really enjoyed it.

[JFTVT]

Originally Posted by synthia

Welcome to the forum! It depends on where you are going to be. In the bigger cities the cheapest option is usually what is called a gaijin house, basically a group house where you rent a room or a bed. In some places an apartment will be reasonable, or a share situation might work. I only knew a couple of people who rented rooms in a Japanese home, and neither were happy with the arrangement. On the other hand, those I knew who were studying Japanese and had enrolled with a homestay as part of the course really enjoyed it.

Yes, thank you for your reply! I'm seriously considering homestay, but am a little worried about it because I'm turning 24! Wouldn't that be a little weird? haha

Indeed I will be studying Japanese, probably at a language school or private tutor so homestay sounds very attractive, other than some obvious factors like curfew and privacy.

I really appreciate your input.

[synthia]

One of the advantages of a homestay is that if you get a good situation, it will be good for your language skills. Japanese is very difficult (it takes 18 months for the average student to learn the same amount of Japanese as could be acquired in three months of Spanish). One of the problems, besides the two alphabets and the characters and the rapidfire talk, is that there are local dialects, so that a lot of what you here isn't really useful to you. People speak proper Japanese when they talk to you, but the trick of eavesdropping or picking up things by listening to the person in front of you ask questions of the salesclerk doesn't work so well.