and we need to find a new place to live ASAP.

Finding a home for a family of six in the Tokyo area is challenging enough, but will it be an impossible task for foreigners?

Find out in this Life in Japan.

OK let's see, what does the kitchen look like?

Oh, this is tight!

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

Like any search these days, it usually starts online,

and that's exactly where we're going to see if there's any housing suitable for a large family near us.

Nothing?

No 4LDKs, oh here's one.

It's kind of far.

¥230,000/month

Well...

And a little smaller than I'm in.

And 3 floors. Won't work.

So either I'm going to have to go far far away,

Pay a ton of money

Or go smaller.

We thoroughly searched the popular Japanese real estate websites at home, sumo and others to find options, but the results were not encouraging.

Look at that. I'd have to have a little burner stove.

Nope nope nope, not going to work.

We really wanted to stay in the same neighborhood so that our kids could go to the same Japanese public schools

and because it is also very close to where we work

so we compiled a list of possibilities and sent them to our realtor.

When she got back to us, the challenging reality of foreigners finding a place to live set in.

What's the word now?

Well we got a couple of properties that we wanted to see,

None of them here close, kind of far.

And we sent them to the realtor and she got back to us

And one of them is not going to open up until next March,

One will not rent to us because we're foreigners,

And one we can go see.

So we're...every third I guess we can go see.

The next day, we would go look at some options together as a family.

OK guys, where are we going now?

To look at houses!

We go in the house!

And we get to go in the house!

The first place we visited had just gone on the market, so it was still under renovation.

We were glad we were able to go in and see it anyway.

This one to us on paper it looked like a very ideal layout.

Whoa, look at the size of this.

You might need to change these curtains...

Yea, we would change the curtains, that's for sure.

But boy, look at all that light!

But look at this though, it's got a big [storage room]

Oh yea, boy that's nice.

The house was spread vertically across three floors, a common building practice these days in the greater Tokyo area.

We tried to picture what it would be like if we did indeed live here.

Oh but the toilet's in here with the washing machine.

Oh that's a little different.

It's so big in here.

Wow, wow.

It's big Mommy!

Look at mommy's face.

OK, I've got to see the kitchen.

OK, let's see. What does the kitchen look like?

Oh! This is tight!

Yea. So the kitchen is a downer.

It was time to check out the upstairs bedrooms.

This must be the toilet...

Oo large

Is it? That's nice.

Here's a closet.

It's nice.

Oh wow, yeah.

This one has no air.

I want this to be my room.

Well Ruth, what do you think here seeing this place?

This living/dining area is amazing.

The kitchen's—I'm used to a large kitchen,

So I don't have much space.

But I would probably try to put our dining here so that could all be living.

I know, that would be awesome, wouldn't it?

And then we could always put out an extra table if we need to.

Well let me tell you what, this first house definitely a contender.

Did you guys like this one?

I loved it.

OK, let's go see the other ones.

Alright, we're checking out the next place.

And it is like 2 minutes from the station, it's so close.

We're the only ones living on the 5th floor?

Oh my goodness! This is the tiniest!

Look at the tiny little elevator.

How do you move stuff in here? That's what I want to know.

I don't think our things would even fit.

Here comes 5.

Do you hear them coming guys?

Yea, I see them.

You can see them coming?

Here we go guys Take off your shoes.

Look, it's a big bathroom.

Big bathroom. Oo la la.

Ooh! Oh this is the living/kitchen.

Oh look at that.

It's all in one.

Wow. Now that's something else.

Oh, and look at the kitchen, Ruth.

Bye bye!

I want to see what Momma chan thinks of the kitchen.

Oh wow, this could almost be a room.

This right here?

It's a storage, but it's really big.

Holy cow!

Look at the pantry.

Oh my goodness!

Tatami!

This would be your office, and this would be our room.

Yeah.

There's a lot of storage in here. It smells mildewy

Wow, good-sized room here.

This is nice.

Whoa!

Yea but look at this! Holy cow. This is like a whole other bedroom.

It is.

The space in here is just ridiculous.

I don't know if my stuff would fit in here because the elevators the size of a peanut.

So now we've seen the second one. Decision's harder, huh?

The thing with this house is that it's next to the station,

The space is amazing

They said it's been cleaned, but I would probably have to hire cleaners because it just kind of—yuck.

I don't know how long it's been opened.

And the elevator is like me and her wide.

And you guys aren't wide.

Yea, like that!

It's teeny teeny tiny.

We were squished.

Over the course of several days, we went back and forth,

searching for options on line, sending them to the realtor, getting turned down for nearly half of them and seeing the other half.

All that searching almost makes you a little bit crazy,

so we needed to take some time with family to clear our minds and make a decision about where to live.

What's happening Sarah?

The hunt begins again.

The hunt begins again? What are you going to find today?

What's on your list?

A frog or a lizard.

Oh ok.

That's a scary path.

I just found some poop.

Huh?! Fresh poop.

You found some fresh poop! Awesome!

Let's put it in the bug box. Gross.

Oh, we see a grasshopper! Oh!

OK get it.

We're still going for the big hunt?

I guess so!

We're going to find some bugs here.

Good things we have Ben here to help us out!

When we made our big international move over 8 years ago, we moved close to where other friends and family were living.

Those relationships were key for us adjusting to life in Japan.

But then, along the way, we've built some strong friendships here in this area.

It's fun to imagine ourselves in a bigger house with more space, which we could afford if we move over 30 minutes away from here.

But our life revolves around these relationships and this area.

In the end, the decision of a bigger place or a closer location became clearer.

Izzy, what did you get?

I got a grasshopper!

You got a grasshopper? Yeah.

Oh that's pretty good. That's a start, huh?

I got a pikachu.

A pikachu?!

Yeah!

What? You got three grasshoppers?

Hold 'em up, let me see!

Oh nice.

The day out did just the trick. In the end, we knew which place we needed to move on.

We just needed to make the phone call and make it happen.

We put in an offer on an apartment... Oh!

Now we're just waiting to see if we get accepted.

The movers came this morning, gave us an estimate,

And now we have to pack, pack stuff up and throw stuff away to make it work.

Ties ties ties. I used to wear a lot of ties, but now hardly anymore.

We chose a place that is more convenient over a place that was a bigger house

But a long ways off from the station, a long ways off from all that we do here at the coffee shop.

So we have to downsize a little bit.

A full life is built on good relationships, first with God and then with others,

so prioritizing these relationships will only help our lives flourish more and more.

Read the Bible and asking God to speak to me through your word this morning.

[Japanese translation]

Look at the Sakura trees, they are changing colors.

Fall is on the way, oh boy!

And in case you think this episode is going to end on a cliff hanger, I have good news for you.

Guess what? We just got a big call!

We're going to move!

I've gotta call my sister...

I'm going to be close to my sister!

The search is over. Oh!

Hello?

[Excited noises]

Yea!

Oh, it's so exciting!

It happened, wow!

Oh my goodness!

Our new neighbors! Say hi!

Did you hear the news? We're going to move, it's official!

In two weeks we're moving.

But with the good news, came some not so good news.

What's that say there?

Japan braces for flooding/destructive winds from super typhoon Nanmadol

Anyway, is it going to come hit us?

Yea, category 4 major hurricane.

Just what you need while you're trying to move, right?

Hopefully it passes within the next week because we move in two weeks.

Sustained winds of 130-156 mph.

Whoa.

We might be able to skip school.

We're getting like...

Oh yea, baby.

Yeah, we'll keep an eye out.

Next time on Life in Japan

Now that the huge hurdle of finding a place is done, we move towards an even bigger challenge —

getting ready to move out while a typhoon moves towards Japan.

We do our best to keep things moving forward, but a snag in the process could put everything in jeopardy.

We got the word, tomorrow we are signing the papers for our new place.

And then very soon after, the move!

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