Thank you for this informative and lovely post. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My girlfriend and I spent three weeks in Japan a few years ago and we are desperate to go back soon - particularly to Hokkaido. Will be looking out for your trip there.
When I first moved from Kyoto to Nishinomiya (near Osaka), I was a bit sad at leaving Kyoto and was often quoted this saying - 住めば都 sumebamiyako If you live somewhere, it becomes home. Your essay reminded me of that quote!
A delightful love letter to your home city.
Also, side note but those plants and that carpet are gorgeous 😍
As always, thank you for your time and thoughtful comment. As you might have guessed, I brought the carpets from my home in Istanbul. I love having a little touch of my other home in my Tokyo home ☺️
Tokyo is actually surprisingly affordable as a place to live if you are OK with (as our hostess is) a smallish flat. Her one is actually significantly larger than some - when I lived in Tokyo 30+ years ago my place was a 9 jo (15 sq m) apartment which was definitely small and my girlfriend's was a mere 6 jo (both measures exclude the tiny unit bath and kitchen).
It wasn't that exciting. Imagine living in a hotel room. With the slight difference that I had a washing machine and 2 ring cooker, which most hotels tend not to have. And no room cleaning service :-(
It was in the sort of shitamachi that is on the other side of Tokyo (nearest station Togoshi Ginza). I ran past it a few months ago on a business trip to Tokyo to see and the building is still there and the Domino's Pizza on the ground floor is still there. Sadly the sento across the main road from it has been turned into another block of flats.
Probably the most interesting story is that when I moved in I had a housewarming party to which I invited various people I knew vaguely and said they were free to invite others. One of my friends brought a smartly dressed Indian gentleman with him carrying a briefcase. I suggested he put the briefcase down somewhere and was told that this was not possible because the case was chained to his wrist. Why? because inside it were very many diamonds so that briefcase was worth probably US$1 million or so.
I loved this one! Thank you so much!
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for the article, it is very inspiring!
Thank you for your time Roman 🙏
I'm going to Tokyo next year and want to explore the city while avoiding the tourist traps, this is a great resource, cheers!
Thank you Martin. I hope you enjoy your trip!
We've always been surprised at how inexpensive Tokyo is, providing you lay off the whisky and wagyu and eat sushi off a 'train'
Luckily, I am not much of a foodie ☺️
Thank you for this informative and lovely post. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. My girlfriend and I spent three weeks in Japan a few years ago and we are desperate to go back soon - particularly to Hokkaido. Will be looking out for your trip there.
Hi Cormac! Thank you for reading and kind note. I love Hokkaido and hope you get to visit soon.
When I first moved from Kyoto to Nishinomiya (near Osaka), I was a bit sad at leaving Kyoto and was often quoted this saying - 住めば都 sumebamiyako If you live somewhere, it becomes home. Your essay reminded me of that quote!
A delightful love letter to your home city.
Also, side note but those plants and that carpet are gorgeous 😍
As always, thank you for your time and thoughtful comment. As you might have guessed, I brought the carpets from my home in Istanbul. I love having a little touch of my other home in my Tokyo home ☺️
Fascinating!
Thank you for your time Liam.
Great read! Thank you so much. Happy Christmas, birthday and looking forward to Hokaido.
Thank you Soren, as always. Happy Christmas to you too!
I’m surprised how reasonable your rent in Tokyo is given its reputation for being expensive. Excited to see snowy photos from Hokkaido!
Strangely, even I was surprised by how reasonable it was after converting it to USD :)
Tokyo is actually surprisingly affordable as a place to live if you are OK with (as our hostess is) a smallish flat. Her one is actually significantly larger than some - when I lived in Tokyo 30+ years ago my place was a 9 jo (15 sq m) apartment which was definitely small and my girlfriend's was a mere 6 jo (both measures exclude the tiny unit bath and kitchen).
I hope you someday write about your experience in a 15 sq m apartment! I would so love to read it.
It wasn't that exciting. Imagine living in a hotel room. With the slight difference that I had a washing machine and 2 ring cooker, which most hotels tend not to have. And no room cleaning service :-(
It was in the sort of shitamachi that is on the other side of Tokyo (nearest station Togoshi Ginza). I ran past it a few months ago on a business trip to Tokyo to see and the building is still there and the Domino's Pizza on the ground floor is still there. Sadly the sento across the main road from it has been turned into another block of flats.
Probably the most interesting story is that when I moved in I had a housewarming party to which I invited various people I knew vaguely and said they were free to invite others. One of my friends brought a smartly dressed Indian gentleman with him carrying a briefcase. I suggested he put the briefcase down somewhere and was told that this was not possible because the case was chained to his wrist. Why? because inside it were very many diamonds so that briefcase was worth probably US$1 million or so.
Beautifully written, made me want to move to your neighborhood
I really enjoyed this, thank you.
This is so cool 😎
I'm curious to know if you have visited small landmarks of Japan like the Ozamu Tezuka museum.