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  • of all the things we've seen in this gigantic apartment so far.

  • This is the thing that impressed me the most, the concept of a garden on the rooftop of a building in the center of the city, Japan often gets a lot of attention for its tiny apartments and small spaces.

  • I mean for my first three years living here in my apartment, I to use an ironing board was valuable kitchen space as a kitchen counter.

  • Uh it was pretty, pretty sad in hindsight, but what is life like on the other side of the fence?

  • A good friend of mine living here in Tokyo who runs a luxury real estate business recently got in touch to say that he could get us inside one of the biggest apartments in all of Tokyo, an apartment that costs a staggering $20,000 per month.

  • Now to put that in perspective a studio apartment in Tokyo on average costs about 100,000 yet about $1000 and you get about 35 square meters for that.

  • So what do you get when you pay 20 times that amount?

  • Honestly, I don't know, I've never been inside anywhere like this before.

  • So let's go and find out.

  • This is going to be depressing.

  • Hey Alex Shapiro home real estate.

  • Yes, what have you got for me today Alex mentioned $20 apartment.

  • Yes, I have an amazing place for you right in between two of Tokyo's most desirable neighborhoods with probably the best rooftop garden in all of Tokyo, maybe all Japan actually, I don't think I've been anywhere with a rooftop garden before.

  • So I could barely believe that scotty, can't even believe that Also the camera person should probably introduce who they are because there is somebody who's good.

  • So charlotte.

  • Hi, She is joining us today, Charlotte is gonna look at a separate property.

  • I'm gonna make a video about that and I'll link that in the description box.

  • You can check out as well.

  • So two properties, the one I'm looking at is $20,000 and the one you're looking at is $13,000.

  • So both pretty exclusive, exciting properties.

  • So check out the video.

  • Let's go if you were to pick two of the trendiest neighborhoods in Central Tokyo odds are that shopping districts of Harajuku and Amati Sander will be at the top of the list and our property today is just a two minute walk from Harajuku infamous Turkish Destry nestled on the fourth floor of what is essentially a postmodern castle to the elevator, intimidating looking door here.

  • But if you look around here, you can actually see the garden, it falls that by standards of the garden in Tokyo, that is pretty damn impressive.

  • I just want to stop you right there.

  • That's not actually the garden by the way, that's not the yard, that's just the inner garden, I will show you the way the actual garden in a second.

  • But if you look right over there, you can see that little faucet over there, right that is where you wash your dog's feet after you've taken for a walk.

  • So it's the dog washing feet.

  • Got Exactly.

  • It's the technical term for it.

  • Good God.

  • Alright, let's let's go down to go through this.

  • All right, your nuclear bunker door.

  • How sick that is, solid wood.

  • And then you go through here, you have a solid wood.

  • What you think is a wall.

  • But this is actually all shoe storage or if you take a look right over here, there's a lot of few story chess.

  • But if you come over here, let's check out the living spaces first.

  • So if we come over here, you'll see the first part of the living forest.

  • This is the first bedroom.

  • How many bedrooms?

  • All That's four bedrooms.

  • Actually bedroom.

  • So this is the least big.

  • Let's call it the smallest of all the bedrooms.

  • Of course you have plenty of storage space over here.

  • If you go around all this is closets on the wall again.

  • So this is a bit bigger than most bedrooms in most apartments in Japan.

  • And this is just the first bedroom.

  • I'm also the smallest, You'll see a lot more sun here because it's a corner room, windows on all sides.

  • And by the way, all these windows very rare for Japan.

  • If you take a look, this is dual pane glass.

  • So nice in the winter.

  • Also nice in the summer and also better any noise.

  • We're right in the middle of the world's biggest city.

  • You could barely hear a pin drop.

  • The only thing you hear in here is the running.

  • That's pretty much yeah, look at that.

  • Yeah, for me, that's already my favorite thing about this apartment.

  • The view is really quite impressive.

  • You can go through the master bathroom to get to the master bedroom.

  • If you take a look over here, you have the first of two Jacuzzi baths.

  • Also, if you look over there, that's a tv.

  • So you can watch, watch the abroad Japan channel, watch Ron Japan weeknights at seven on Youtube.

  • And if you look over here, this is amazing.

  • This is where you can hang your clothes because people in Japan don't really use driers and this kind of stores up if you don't want that is also we talked about ironing boards, you can use that as an ironing board holder over there.

  • Oh wow, this is the kitchen, that is the kitchen.

  • Yes, that's your kitchen.

  • Exactly.

  • I mean this is well, is this again, this is like the hanging clothes room.

  • Exactly.

  • This is basically already bigger than my kitchen.

  • Yes, that's sad.

  • I think that says more about me than the house, but that's cool.

  • All right now let's go check out the master bedroom and oh my God, it is massive.

  • Take a look around.

  • This is essentially the size of my apartment.

  • One room.

  • Yes, one rooms.

  • It's a very open place and when you mentioned it's bigger than your apartment, it might be because this place is actually over 40 square meters just for this room.

  • So most Japanese apartments in Tokyo released are a bit smaller than that.

  • So why would you put the bed in bed?

  • Do you think you could live if I have a California king size bed right in the middle?

  • I go off punctuated in the middle, nothing touching the walls because they're on our goals.

  • And also you don't need to have any kind of wardrobes or anything because if you come over here, you'll see the entire wall here is your closet and you got to remember in Japan, they don't usually keep shoes in the closet door.

  • This is just for clothing and you know, suitcases and you put your socks in here.

  • Beautiful.

  • All right, great for putting your socks in.

  • Yeah.

  • So I want to take you to the first part of the living room area which would be the kitchen.

  • Come on over here like amazing.

  • Here it is.

  • It's amazing.

  • There we go.

  • He's very, he's very good at this.

  • That's right.

  • I tried, this could go in the living room and dining room.

  • Yeah, this is it.

  • I mean, what is this?

  • Not awesome.

  • About 40 m square.

  • That was just over 40 m square.

  • This is 83 square meters large.

  • So again, you said, that's about the size of your apartment.

  • You could fit two of your apartments in here.

  • But you couldn't hear well you could the airplane, you baseball airplane but airplane nonetheless, I mean if you want to do it by vehicles, you could actually fit four cars into here.

  • So that's one thing.

  • That's a new unit of measurement.

  • How many cars can you fit in the room, your living room in your living room?

  • You know, I mean really the biggest thing you have to wonder is how big of a tv do you get?

  • How many sofas do you want?

  • It's that kind of stuff.

  • How big of a dining room table do you want?

  • But this is the perfect place to have any kind of reception or any kind of large parties.

  • Also, if you don't want the kitchen, if you just like that.

  • He goes, yeah, but I would have my way.

  • You just, you just hit in the kitchen.

  • I don't like that look like.

  • It's not spectacular.

  • That is ridiculous.

  • Hid in the kitchen with the door.

  • So it's mm hmm.

  • Not many apartments can do this With the marble counter tops by the way.

  • What would you say?

  • It's probably just over two million.

  • Yeah, let's see.

  • I went to T.

  • V.

  • Over here.

  • We have a big, maybe a 100 inch or something like that.

  • Why not?

  • Right there.

  • Why not write big L shaped couch or something like that.

  • That's what I would do here.

  • What would you do?

  • Just rolled around on the floor and laugh about how brilliant I was if I lived somewhere like this, just roll and roll and roll.

  • Who actually live somewhere like this?

  • Because I don't know anyone who would live in this apartment.

  • So who actually is aimed at this is mostly for diplomats and also like high level diplomats, usually the minister counselor type of level and also the heads of different companies over here and just very, very rich folk.

  • So it's paid for by typically companies or embassies that people would pay for it Speaking expenses.

  • Uh this guy is the intercom.

  • This is so when people want to buzz in, when you want to buzz in people, they show their faces over here.

  • But you know that's pretty normal for japanese houses and apartments.

  • But very very strange thing that this has right here is this button right here, it's in japanese, but it translates to uh button used to allow the elevator to come up here.

  • This elevator does not come up to the fourth floor.

  • Usually this is on the fourth floor.

  • So what you have to do is either use a key to get in or if you just want somebody to come up without you having to go downstairs, you press that and the elevator will start working to the fourth floor as well.

  • I want one.

  • I don't even have an elevator to buy 11.

  • That's so cool.

  • Can I come up?

  • No, I'm gonna press the button unless he's got chocolate.

  • So just one more thing I want to show you if you step out of the living room come over here, there's one more bedroom and it's just the guest bed but I would still like to show it to you.

  • Everybody's seen a bedroom that was the size of a small airport.

  • So yes, now just keep in mind this is the guest bedroom and this is larger than most master bedrooms in Japanese apartments.

  • And again these are all closets right here for when you're don't know your parents come in way just put your parents in the, gets taken right, it's amazing that my whole family in there, most apartments and houses in Japan only have one bathroom, full bathroom with a bath and shower and everything.

  • But this one they decided you know what I'm not gonna do that, we're going to have the bathroom over there for everybody that lives here generally, but we're also going to have a specific bathroom for the oh here's well that's very nice.

  • Yeah, floors heated, yeah floors, somebody left the floor heaters on and they are very very nice.

  • Oh wow.

  • Yeah, that's that's nice.

  • So nice that winter will be perfect.

  • So now we're in the mini garden, It's on the 4th floor but Kris likes to call it the dog garden by the way.

  • Dog God and the Sacred guard.

  • That secret because every single room can say exactly christmas secret garden, The secret yes.

  • The reason it's called the dog garden is because of this guy right here which is a shower specifically made to wash your dog's feet.

  • If only lived in it.

  • Which is never gonna happen.

  • I would probably just sit like out here.

  • Maybe I have like a table here.

  • Yeah.

  • Sit, drink my coffee, play with the dog.

  • I don't wash my dogs be glorious.

  • Now this is again the mini garden.

  • And when I said that there's a big garden, this is not the big garden, we're gonna go see that in a second.

  • So now we're on the top floor and we're ready to go out to the garden ready for this.

  • I'm ready to do this.

  • There we go.

  • Right out here is the garden that I was talking about and this is just the entrance to the garden.

  • Let's take a look over here, get going.

  • Yeah, follow me.

  • So now we're just kind of in the hallway area of the garden.

  • If you come on over here, you can see the main part of the garden itself.

  • This is like your own private english garden of anything.

  • You can kind of walk around here, you know, just through and get lost on your rooftop.

  • How many places have you been to where you can get lost on your rooftop nowhere.

  • No, this is a great place to certainly muffins.

  • It is.

  • That's what I'm thinking, muffins and crumpets yes and scorns whatever you call them up there.

  • Okay, so we were just in the jungle side of the garden.

  • I want to show you the more I'd say functional side of it.

  • You come on over here, just over these rocks on the grounds that you'll see this beautiful bench built right into the wall over here and I would actually put my table out here.

  • I would have some kind of dinner parties out here.

  • What would you do?

  • Would you just sleep there?

  • Meditate, Meditate, meditate.

  • So this is the meditation garden.

  • It's just really peaceful.

  • Like a little bit of a zen garden vibe going on here.

  • I would sit here, morning coffee crumpets, scum of all the things we've seen in this gigantic apartment so far all the rims and there were many uh this is the thing that impressed me the most.

  • I think the concept of a garden on the rooftop of a building in the center of the city.

  • I mean my garden space is, is like a balcony, this big covered in dirty washing and it's not nice.

  • This is like an oasis in the heart of the city.

  • Yes, and I am quite envious.

  • I mean seeing a big apartments one thing but seeing a garden like this, it's just I'm quite jealous.

  • Do you feel jealous when you come to these apartments?

  • You're showing people around.

  • Well of course I am jealous of people that are able to live in these kind of places.

  • I mean this garden is probably the size of my entire apartment.

  • Yeah.

  • But no, I hope one day that I can get to the level that I can have a garden like this.

  • That's how I feel.

  • You keep selling apartments like this.

  • Yeah, You can believe in this area.

  • Here is the size of my entire apartment and just the fact that they have an outdoor space is just crazy to me.

  • I've lived in Japan for 15 years.

  • I've never had a garden, I've only had a little balcony that was maybe half the size of this bench.

  • So yeah, this is pretty amazing.

  • I honestly didn't even know that houses of this size existed in Central Tokyo Just blows my mind.

  • The kitchen 80 m2.

  • What?

  • I've never had an apartment that big While this post modern castle already clocks in at $20,000 a month just merely deciding to move in, will set you back a further $130,000 in fees up front.

  • There's the first two months rent, security deposit, the insurance, the lock changing fee, the guarantor company fee and finally the agency commission and if you pay all that, congratulations, the place is all yours.

  • And if you're not bankrupt by this point, don't worry.

  • The neighborhood car park will finish off what's left.

  • Yeah, so we just left.

  • We've only been here for, I don't know, maybe an hour or two or something and it came out to 1800 yen for that $20.

  • Yeah, more or less.

  • Don't you love hard liquor Thank you for showing us around Sir Alex, there's a lot of fun.

  • One of the most difficult things foreigners face when coming to Japan is getting an apartment.

  • Certainly when I moved to send nine, when they found out I was a foreigner, they were like you can't stay here, you can't put that kind of shut me down.

  • Have you found that to be a problem in Tokyo as well?

  • Yes, it is absolutely a problem over here and I have to ask every time are foreigners allowed to stay here?

  • And yeah that takes up probably half of my time when I'm searching for places, calling them up and asking if they're foreign friendly and even still if they are foreign friendly, a lot of the times they will change the conditions that you have to meet.

  • You know, they'll change the amount of money that you have to pay in order to move in.

  • Why is it more difficult for foreigners to get an apartment in Japan your experience, they think of foreigners as a flight risk so you can just take off without paying for that.

  • And also they mean sometimes they've had bad experiences with foreigners in the past and sometimes it's just kind of like they don't trust foreigners and you have to look for both sides of the coin to some extent.

  • Why?

  • Absolutely if your landlord and you've got 10 applicants, one of those for and maybe you are going to skew towards japanese tennis.

  • Right less risk.

  • So you've been running this company for two years now.

  • Yes.

  • What led you to get into the world of real estate in Japan?

  • I mean that's pretty impressive.

  • I think you're the only foreign business owner I know working in the world of real estate.

  • So my partner and I saw that there was a big gap between you know the amount of foreign people that want to live over here and a lot and the places that actually can deal with having foreign people coming to the opposite.

  • So this is a big problem is that even if you know, even if there are properties out there that are foreigner friendly, it's still hard to find the real realtor that can actually deal with you.

  • And that is one of obviously one of the services that we provide.

  • But uh the dog is sleeping, she's snoring.

  • My snoring well away.

  • Well yeah that's what they do hugs hugs is snoring and yeah, all they want this guy is the real star of the show today.

  • I did, aren't you?

  • Fantastic.

  • Thank you so much Alex for Shea goes around fun, you can check out my home real estate in the description box below.

  • If you want to contact Alex more directly, you have kind of more exclusive hidden properties as well, website.

  • So a lot of the places that I actually have, I can't show on the website.

  • So if yes, there's a lot of secret places.

  • So including the one that I showed you today, I was secret.

  • Yes.

  • Don't tell anyone.

  • And if you want to see the second video we did with charlotte on her channel, you can click on the card above here and see how we got on in property number two.

  • And thank you to charlotte for being the world's best.

  • Can remember for now, guys, as always, many thanks for watching.

  • We'll see you next time.

  • Yeah.

  • Thank you very much.

  • Good bye bye.

  • Okay.

  • Mm hmm.

of all the things we've seen in this gigantic apartment so far.

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