What Are Japanese Share Houses?

by 21 Comments

Last week I wrote a post about how male-female cohabitation is viewed in Japan and the concept of share houses came up a lot in the comments. Two weeks ago I knew very little about the Japanese concept of share houses but now that I’m more informed on the subject it seems like something worth exploring, especially if you’re thinking of moving and living in Japan at some point. So what makes share houses worth living in and what sort of people would you expect to find in one? Let’s find out.

The Concept

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Share houses are pretty similar to dorms or big hostels/apartments. A handful of people all live under the same roof and share common living areas, the kitchen, and bathrooms. At the very least they’ll have a bedroom to themselves which can be stocked with their own mini fridge and television. That way the most private of folk can pretty much live out of their bedrooms. But if you’re that private, you probably shouldn’t be living in a share house in the first place.

Like apartments, there’s some sort of landlord or administrator overseeing things at the share house so if any disagreements arise during your stay, you can always take it up and work it out with the landlord. Since you don’t really know the people you’ll be living with, chances are something will come up at some point.

Share houses are most common in city areas and can range from pretty basic set ups to lavish living arrangements. Some even come pre-loaded with cutlery, appliances, and furnishings.

Who Are They For?

share-people

Photo by Borderless-Tokyo

While there are no restrictions on who can live in these share houses, they seem to be most popular with people in their 20s and 30s, mostly students and young adults new to the workforce. With the average stay being anywhere from a month to a year, share houses don’t seem to be all that popular for long-term housing. However, they’re great if you’re staying in Japan for longer than it would make sense to live out of a hotel but not so long that you’d actually want to rent or buy a house or apartment.

There are also these so-called “gaijin houses” that are basically share houses geared towards foreigners living in Japan. Those would be better if you’d like to live with people who (most likely) speak English, but where’s the fun in that? Nowhere. The answer is nowhere.

Pros and Cons of Share Houses

pro-consShare houses are great for those living on a budget. Most don’t even require deposits or initial fees of any kind as is common in the United States. Even when a share house does have initial fees, they’re usually pretty low. Costs of living can vary greatly depending on the location and condition of the share house and you should expect to pay between 40,000 to 100,000 yen (~$395-$985) per month per person, depending on the share house in question.

Living alone in Japan can be expensive. Add in the fees you have to pay before you actually move in and all the furnishings and appliances you have to purchase and you’re spending a lot of money. Share houses are definitely a lot cheaper than living on your own.

Share houses are great for those who enjoy living with others and like to socialize. Or maybe you’re a foreigner and just want to be around Japanese people to practice speaking with all the time. However, all this social exposure isn’t for everyone so if you are a very private person or can’t handle sharing a bathroom or kitchen, share houses obviously won’t be your thing. And then there’s all the usual roommate issues, plus you don’t really get to pick who you live with in share houses so you might get stuck with a few weirdos.

share-house

Photo by SapporoShareHouse

Share houses can be co-ed but some offer male only or female only houses as well. Some people aren’t so keen on living with the opposite sex, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a share house. This seems to be more geared towards women who don’t want to live with males, but I’m sure there are some guys out there who would prefer not to live with lady roommates as well.

Also, share houses aren’t available everywhere. Most of them are concentrated in the big cities and their surrounding areas so you might have some trouble finding one out in the country.

How to Find a Share House

sakura-groupSpeaking of finding a share house, what’s the best way to find one? Well, the internet is here to help. Since they know that share houses/gaijin houses are popular with foreigners, a lot of these share house websites will also be in English. Like with any sort of living arrangement, there are big firms owning many share houses and smaller ones that don’t own many and will require more searching around for.

If you Google “Share House in Japan“, or “シェアハウス“, you’ll get plenty of results to browse through. It all depends on where you’re planning to live or visit, but you should be able to find something suitable to your needs. It also helps a great deal if you can read Japanese, especially for those intimidating results from that second search.

share-room

Most of the pictures I’ve seen of share houses look pretty nice. They definitely seem like a great option if you’re looking for a short to medium term living arrangement while in Japan and you enjoy the company of others. If you’re thinking of spending some time in Japan, I’d recommend giving these share houses a healthy consideration.

So tell me, have you ever lived in or visited a Japanese share house? What do you think of them? Would you ever live in one yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments!

  • DAVIDPD

    These sound like a really good idea. The only caveat being the room mate factor. If you get shit room mates it would be terrible, but that is the case in the US as well. I would give this a try.

  • FoxiBiri

    WOAH!! That’s my friend in the picture under “who are they for” xD!!! Gyahhaha! No joke.

    Anyway, I’m glad there’s finally an article about share houses! If you’re moving to Japan for the first time, you don’t know anybody, you don’t have any friends, you land in the county and forget all your Japanese, staying in a share house is the best thing you can do to adjust! You think all your dreams are coming true until all the huge changes finally hit you. I was lonely and scared when I first moved, I thought I’d made a huge mistake, until I started making friends with the lovely people that lived in the share house ^.^!! And it didn’t take long at all. We all had our own bedrooms, but shared the kitchen and bathrooms and those were the best days :) We’d all go out, cook together, watch variety shows, but we could always retreat to our rooms to study or skype, or be alone. You really form a network, and that’s invaluable when you’re staring a new life somewhere.

    So I was talking to that friend in the picture not too long ago, and we had lived in the same share house, sakurahouse, before she moved into borderless tokyo. In sakurahouse they have people to come and clean the living spaces and bathroom once a week and take care of maintenance things. In her house they didn’t have that and because the residents were in charge of all those, they often met and talked about what needed to be done and then run errands together :) Once she got sick and a japanese girl she lived with called out of work to take care of her for the whole day :D Like a big family! So share houses are great and everybody planning to move to Japan for the first time should definitely stay in one at least for a little while in the beginning :)

  • http://twitter.com/elaineczech Elaine Czech

    I love this article, it is so relevant to me. I will be doing independent research in Kyoto next year and I actually just applied to live in a Share House that has 3 other people. A neat bonus is that the owner actually has a network of houses so he even plans parties for his rentees they can meet people outside of their house. Since I was heading alone to Kyoto, a Share House made sense, since it is a great way to get established in the city quickly and practice Japanese (kind of like a homestay)

  • Guest

    And practice Japanese!

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

    The only cheaper way to live in Japan would be on the streets and I hear that the available in-home amenities aren’t very good. Of course, the fact that there’s a public version of just about anything you need at home available somewhere down the street means it wouldn’t be as horrible as being on the street in the US.

  • http://twitter.com/Cupucuups Hamyo

    Sounds like much more better than a guest house. i guess…. –”

  • alua

    I’d be game, but I’ve lived in shared accommodation almost all the time since I was 16 (only time I didn’t was when I was in Costa Rica, and could afford a 2-bedroom house that was half the price of my London sharehouse room now!).

    Of course, I’d want a sharehouse as gorgeous as the one in Sharehouse no Koibito! :-p

    “Those would be better if you’d like to live with people who (most likely) speak English, but where’s the fun in that? Nowhere. The answer is nowhere.” That’s very, very true. I frankly don’t understand people who go to live abroad and then only hang with the expat community. You need some expat friends of course because sometimes you need someone who can relate to any alienation (or fascination) you are experiencing, but generally I’m a firm believer in full immersion living!

  • http://twitter.com/IamJsquared ジョジョ

    I took a month trip to japan last year and stayed with sakura house the hostel and also rented an apartment with them. I didn’t have a shared living situations with either; other than at the hostel it was a shared kitchen, but I didn’t stay long enough to use it anyways. However, I did talk with some of the people who were staying there and everyone seemed really cool; enough that next time I will consider share houses an option. All in all my experience with Sakura house was really awesome.

  • sina

    Mh, the article says at least 40,000 yen. Next year I’ll stay at a small appartment (more of a small room with bathroom and kitchenette) which will be around 30,000 yen. It’s equiped with the most necessary things, I’ll only have to wash my laundry somewhere else and find some cheap cuttlery.
    And I’m sure that there are even cheaper versions to stay off the streets if you just take the time to search and maybeknow the right people.

  • Lorinc Del Motte

    Sounds like a bedsit.

  • Yuume

    The concept itself is pretty cool, but I don’t know if it’s for me. I like my space XD Plus, it’s bound to happen that you’ll get roomed with someone that you just absolutely butt heads with.

    Makes me think of the anime/manga Kuragehime. They live in a share house if I remember correctly.

  • Michell H.

    I actually lived in a shared house in Sendai (tohoku) for half a year. I loved it. Though I did think it was expensive at first, I only had to pay rent each month, and that included water, gas and electric costs as well, making it a lot cheaper then the houses of my classmates in Sendai and fellow-classmates/exchange students from my home country and university.

    I really did see the pro’s from living in a shared house. I could practice my Japanese and the fellow residents of the house had experience with foreigners which made communication and weird behavior on our side a lot easier. They would also point out things that we could and could not do, as they were not afraid to point out our faults, like so many other Japanese are afraid to do (sidenote: the house had experience with western exchange students for our school, so they knew we wanted to learn and wouldn’t mind being told on our mistakes).

    If I went back to Sendai for a longer period of time, I would most definitely return there. It was a great experience!

  • John

    Haha! That’s awesome.

  • ステイブン

    This seems like a really good idea and I definitely would consider staying in a share house. It can be extremely lonely in another country, far away from your friends and family. So, this would be a great way to make lasting connections and have a sociable experience.

  • metasyn

    I recently spent a few weeks at a share house. It was really great! Everyone was really nice. It was interesting to see some people be more social (cooking dinner together every night, talking often) and other people mostly living out of their room. There were 4 people living in the one I visited with a 5th person moving in soon. They shared bills for food and seemed to be pretty good friends, or at least warm acquaintances at the least. I had a great time, and would probably try to live in one when/if I live in Japan.

    It actually reminded me quite a bit of the cooperative housing that I live in near University of California, Santa Barbara. Good vibes, nice people, cute garden, cheaper rent. I guess besides the fact you have to meet strangers and learn to deal with them, its pretty perfect. I personally like that aspect of living with people (usually).

  • marksball

    I did not do well living with others however this takes a lot of things into account such as dishes and kitchen space. I think it would be a lot of fun!

  • Alicia

    Cool! Now I know where to stay. :D

  • Ernovace

    Reminds me of Maison Ikkoku, even though it is a pretty old (but golden) anime.

    The concept was similar and it seems fun.

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

    True, if you look hard enough, you can almost always find something. It’s just that, as a general rule, apartments are more expensive than share houses or other accommodations where you have to put up with other people.

    Also, are utilities included in your rent? I know that some places do that and others bill you for usage. I think some even mix it up a bit and give you an allowance and then charge you for going over.
    Basically, do you have to spend another ~20,000 on utilities (water, electricity, gas, possibly internet) or are they included?

  • Y.

    My boyfriend lived in a shared house, and the community was wonderful. If someone saw you in the hallway, they’d stop and introduce themselves or at the very least, greet you. Wifi was provided as well as shower and heating, etc. etc.
    The landlady was really nice and let me stay over a certain number of nights each month without charging my boyfriend extra.

    The only drawback was that the walls were paper thin! In the morning, you could hear his neighbor’s alarm go off, then here the neighbor fumble around to shut it off. A lot of older buildings have walls like this…

    I really like the idea of share houses! They’re pretty inexpensive too!

  • http://www.seriouslyspain.com/ Seriously Spain

    I’m actually looking into doing this next year. I’m a writer that currently splits my time between Spain and Thailand, but have always wanted to visit Japan. A month in Tokyo living in a share house sounds like incredible fun, and a great way to meet Japanese people as well.

    Hey, I’m an ex-teacher – I could even offer my roommates free English lessons :)