Sofirstthingsfirst, thereasonwhywe'removingiswellbecauseyouguysknowthat I'm pregnant, goingtohave a baby, I'm 17 weekstoday, mybabyisasbigas a poptart.
Poptartsareprettybig, whichjustkindofblowsmymind.
We'reinthesecondtrimesterandas I getbiggerthingsarejustgettingharder.
Especiallysincewemovedintothisplace, whichishonestly, itis a blessingtolivehere.
It's reallyhardtofindanapartmentthathastwofloorsandwereallylikeditbecauseithadtwofloorshad a state, ithadsomestairs.
Itlookedlike a littleminicondo, muchsmallerthan a condo.
Itdidhavesomestairsanditwas a designerapartment.
Soitlookedreallynicebutitisquiteold, notasoldas a lotofapartmentshereinJapan.
Whenyoudogosearchingforapartments, itdefinitelyhasitsfairshareofmoldanddustproblems, whichisthemajorityofapartmentsinJapan, I hatetobreakittoyou, butyou'regoingtohaveproblemswiththat.
That's whytheyhavelike a wholesectionatthegrocerystoreofsomethingcalledCobbyKillerinJapanwhereyoujustbleachandusetonsofchemicalstobasicallycleanyourapartment.
Sowhenthebaby's bornjustcarrying a newbornupanddownstairsisnotgoingtobeidealforusgoingupanddownthreeflightsofstairseverysingledayisnotgoingtobeidealeither.
Alsospace, weliveinwhat's calledtwoLDKsoinJapantheapartmentsizesgolikethree L.
D.
K.
To D K.
OneDK.
Itdependsonthesize, sowhatthatmeansistworoomsmeanslivingroomand D meansdining K meanskitchen, soithas a livingroom, a diningspaceandkitchen.
A lotofpeopledoliveinapartmentswithyoungChildreninthissize.
It's doable 100% butnotidealinmyopinion.
Anotherthing I havetosayisthatourareaisn't exactlyfamilyfriendly.
It's notexactlythebestplacefor a familytoliveinmyopinionand I willsharewithyouwherewelivewhenwedomoveandwhy I don't reallyrecommendit.
100% feltlikeweweren't completelyentirelysafe.
Myhusbandhascomeandgottenmeatthestation a fewtimesbecause I wassonervousandkindoftraumatizedfromthosesituationsandmoments I livedherebecausemyworkwascloseby.
Butnow I don't workatthatplaceanymoreso I cangoprettymuchanywhere.
ObviouslymyhusbandworksinTokyosoweneedtofind a placethat's closeforhimtocommute.
Sowhenitrains, itgetsrusty, someonekeptliftingthatcoverupandlookingatourroomnumberandlikeitwasjustreallyshadystuffgoingonanditkindofscaredme a littlebit.
Therewere a coupleoffamiliesthatlivednextdoortous.
Theyallmovedout.
Mostpeoplemovedoutactuallybecausewethoughttherewas a suicidethathappenedbelowus, whichissuperunfortunate.
Butwhenwetalkedtothepolice, um, itwasn't a suicide.
Itwassomeonewhodiedofnaturalcauses.
A lotoftheapartmentsbelowusaresingleapartments, sonobodyknewwhathadhappenedtohimuntil I guesshissistercalledandwasconfused.
It's veryheartbreakingthatthathappened.
Butthepolicenevertoldanybodywhathappened.
Soatfirst I waslike, well, itcouldbeanything.
Itcouldbe a suicidewhichhappens a lothereinJapanoritcouldbe a murderwhichscaredmethemostbecauseyouneverknow.
Itblowsmymindthatthepolicedon't tellanybodyinthisapartmentbecause I guessit's likeconfidential, butlikeinmyopinion, I wouldwanttoknowifitwas a murdererornotbecause I don't wanttolivein a placewheresomeoneismessingwiththeirbikes.
Itcouldbethesameperson.
I don't know.
I wasjustcreatingallthesescenariosinmyheadanditwasjustlikeonethingafteranotherofeventshappening.
Soeverybodymovedout, thepolicereassuredusatleastandtoldusbecausetheyknewthat I waspregnantand I wasscaredthatitwasn't a suicide, itwasn't a murder.
Itwasjustliketheuniversetellingusandconfirmingyoushouldleave, youshouldleavefind a safeplacetoraiseyourkid.
It's moreaboutlikespacesafety.
I just, I'vebeenlivinginthissameplacefor I thinkfiveyearsthat I'vebeeninTokyo.
Thatisthereasonwhywe'removing.
It's prettystraightforward, We'rehaving a babyandwereallywant a nicerspaceandwewanttofeelsafewhereverwe'regoingandin a morefamilyfriendlyarea, ifthatmakessense.
I'm notgoingtosharewithyoumylocationofwherewe'relookingobviously, but I justwantyoutogetanideaandwhatapartmenthuntingactuallylookslike.
Anotherthingthat I wanttoaddressisthereareapartmentsthatdon't allowforeignersunlessyouhave a Japanesehusbandorwife.
I knowit's crazy.
Myhusbanddidn't believeuntilwewenttotalktoanapartmentcompanyandhelookedattheapartmentthatwewerethinkingofgoingtoseeanditsaidnoforeignersallowedandtheapartmentcompanyactuallyhadtocallthemupandsaythere's a foreignerhere.
Thereis a lotofracismanddiscriminationwhenitcomestorentingapartmentshere.
It's noteasyforforeigners.
Actuallyifyou'rejust a foreignerinlookingforapartment, don't expectanythingshinyandbeautifulwhenitcomestothelookoftheapartment.
Thereasonwhytheydothisisbecausethereare a lotofforeignersthatrentapartmentsthatjustleaveandgobacktotheirowncountryandtheydon't paythefeesandtheytrytoavoidit, whichishowsomeforeignersruinitforallofusbasically.
Fortunately I'm married, I havehusbandsthatisjapanesethatcando a lotofthenegotiating.
I remembermyhusbanddidn't evenhave a job.
I livedinJapanforsevenyearsatthatpointand I spokesomejapaneseand I had a legitjobandtheystillwouldn't letmesigntheapartmentcontractoranythinglikethat.
Thereisnoenglishonthiswebsiteumandkanjicanbeveryoverwhelming, especiallyifyou'relookingfor a placelikeforexample, I meanit's googletranslatesolikethisisnotchinawebsite, it's calledsumoisthemostcommonwebsitetofindapartmentsinJapan.
Youactuallyhavetomanuallygoonhereandlookonyourownunlessyouhire a realtor.