Living in Roppongi Hills...

Sing to the tune of Weezer's "Living in Beverly Hills":

Roppongi Hills,
That is where I want to be!
Living in Roppongi Hills..



Not so much. One of my housing options, International Plaza Akasaka, is right outside Roppongi. But when I move to Tokyo, Roppongi is one of the last places I want to live (although the brand new Roppongi Hills shopping center looks pretty nice). Roppongi is one of the seediest districts of Tokyo. One travel site descibed it like this(Warning: PG-13).

No, I want to live on the clean side of town. I will probably be staying at TUJ House, an apartment building owned by Temple University Japan. The school website describes it like this:

"TUJ House is a two-story apartment building located in a residential district in Tokyo (Jiyugaoka). The commuting time from the dorm to campus is approximately 50 minutes by public transportation. TUJ House is fully furnished. It has study rooms, a laundry room, a common space, and 10 two-person units. The room size (including bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom) is approximately 28 square meters."

A more detailed description is available here.

When I first heard that the rooms were 11'x27' I thought that quite generous. However, looking at the pictures, I can see that the room is broken up between kitchen and bedroom leaving very limited space. This concerns me a little because I don't see anywhere to set up my computer. I may have to get a lap top after all. More Pictures

It is required that I stay in TUJ housing for my first semester. The school wants to keep track of new international students to make sure that they adjust properly. This seems like a wise policy to me. Unfortunately, the TUJ housing is very expensive. Regardless of which building I choose to live in, I will have to pay ¥430000, about $3,700 for a little more than three months. That's more than 1200 a month! I could rent a house in my neighborhood for that much. After my first semester I expect to move into significantly cheaper accomodations.

In addition to rent I also need to plan for a daily train fare. According to the Tokyo Transfer Guide, provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Transportation, it will take me about half an hour to get from the TUJ house to the school and will cost about ¥310 or $3. That's a bit more than I used to pay to carpool to BCC but not exorbitantly so.

In conclusion, it appears that my first semester living arrangements won't be too bad. Things will be a bit inconvenient but problems should be manageable. If God blesses me with a good roommate, it should be a great experience.