By entering inside and opening the door in your right, it connects to the main lounge. “Hitotoki”, the word used as the name of the shared house means “momentary”, but it also comprehends the theme “hito=people to=and ki=a tree”. This room is designed to make people gather around at the big tree standing in the center of the table.

Natural and warm colored interiors produce the warm and relaxing atmosphere.

Plenty of sunlight pours into the room, providing enough light in the daytime.

If you are freelance worker who stays at home, this is the perfect place to concentrate on your work.

Kitchen is at the far end of the living room. There’s lots of space for several residents to cook at the same time.

It is a standard system kitchen, nothing extraordinary, so you probably won’t need any help to figure things out and get to cooking right away.

3 IH cooking stoves are at your service. Since it’s not a gas type, you will find it very easy to clean up after using.

There is standard electric cooking items and tools, so you don’t have to prepare them yourselves. In the picture are coffee bean mill and brewer, enabling you to enjoy professional coffee at home.

Look, there’s many magazines about coffee on the living room wall rack.

Now, let’s move on to the bathrooms. Bathtubs and shower rooms are all located on the 3rd floor.

Shower rooms and bathroom with bathtubs are one each. This picture shows the bathroom.

Have you been wondering what this wooden door on the left is? Surprisingly, this is sauna booth! You can enjoy sauna at your house. Isn’t it fascinating?

Bath tub is wide enough and will help you take a good night sleep after sinking and relaxing in it. Don’t you just love bathing?

Next, we’ll check the 4th floor! This spiral staircase will lead you to it!

Here is the sharing library where residents can bring their books and leave them for others to read. Lie on the floor and enjoy sharing your interests and knowledges with house mates.

You can take a sneak peek into each other’s mind by sharing your favorite books. It will be a great opportunity to know each other even more.

The books already prepared on the shelves are all so interesting with various genres and even picture books.

There’s a big terrace outside the window of the sharing library. In this extremely hot weather, it’s difficult to use the space in the day time. But at night, you can grab a drink or chit chat with your house mates. It can be your hide out space to spill out things you cannot say in public.

By the end of summer, you may even read outside with cool wind kissing your cheek.

As you can see in the picture, there’s a convenience store right in front of the house. You can shop whenever you need to.

Two laundry machines are on the 5th floor.

Going outside from the laundry room, you will find the space to dry your laundries after washing.

Lastly, let’s check out the rooms! There are 8 individual rooms.

The size differs slightly, but in average, 8-12 square meters are assured in every room.

Here at room 502, there’s this huge closet with ample of space for living solely.

At the room on the 5th floor, there’s window in the ceiling providing enough light at the daytime. No need for electricity! Not only the main lounge, but also each room is designed to implement comfort living.

While we were at house touring, preparation for the opening party has been proceeding. From now on, I will show you specifically about the party held on the day of shooting.

Going near the kitchen, I found lots of delicious looking meals set ready on plates.

The person in the picture is a special guest for the event. I will introduce him later on.

Don’t forget about drinks. They have prepared bar-like varieties including original cocktails perfect for the summer.

After many people squeezing in at the main lounge, the party started with greets from Mr. Hiraoka, the representative of Kizunabito. More than 30 people gathered today for this event.

This picture is just the moment of toasting. Look how everyone is smiling.

Everyone, from grownups to little kids are the guest of the house today. This probably is one side of attraction of the shared house, with people enjoying conversations regardless of their age, gender, or nationality.

Great smiles everyone!

Now that the place is warmed up after talking, I would like to introduce the special guest today. He is the famous traveler chef, Naoyoshi Motoyama.

If you’re a cooking-lover, you might have seen his book at stores. This recipe book introduces how to cook 196 country’s local foods, and he’s the one who supervised the piece. Mr. Motoyama is extremely busy developing products, attending events, and giving lectures all around the country. Kizunabito has offered passionately for him to join the opening party, and now, here he is.

The foods offered at today’s opening party were all prepared and cooked by him. Lots of local foods which fits perfectly to the theme “traveling” was lined up. He explained to us how he became as he is now by picture-story show. Let me share his story. He first became interested in traveling when he learned about India.

He used to be a chef at French restaurant but became obsessed with spice when visiting India with his costumer who was Yoga teacher. Once he came home, he started working at an Indian restaurant.

Since then, he has been traveling all around the world whenever he has a free time and learned and acquired how to cook local foods by communicating with residents. He visited over 30 countries. “Travelling Chef” fits perfectly for him.

Recently, he was consulted by government the ways to get rid of Trachemys scripta (red-eared sliders) which increased too much in numbers and has a risk of destroying ecosystem. As a solution, he developed a world’s first boil-in-the-bag food using them as ingredient. It was a rough path to come up with cooking method and handling the hard carapace, but eventually he made it into a product that can be sold.

Since then he has been producing boil-in-the-bag foods of local dishes and calling them the “series of fine appetite worldwide”, wishing to make lots of people to easily experience the culture of different countries.

I will introduce you some foods provided at the event! This one in the picture is called “Bhajia”, an African croquette with beans in it and tomato sauce on top.

This one here is from Romania. A quiet interesting putty made from paste of eggplant. 

Main dish is local food from New Orleans in southern part of US called “Gumbo”. Originally, they eat as a soup, but it goes so well with white rice!

This soup is called “Ajiaco” from South America. Potatoes, giant corns, and avocado is in it. Every dish was not weird at all as I imagined, and although some of them tasted unfamiliar, I found them very delicious.

After eating, we had original blend coffee of Kizunaya. I enjoyed all three flavors.

There were also some activities that every nationality or gender can enjoy. People concentrated on working them.

The event was a full success! They closed the party, not by Japanese’s traditional style of hand clapping, but by showing palms of their hands in a call. Showing one’s palms were probably intended to communicate the concept of this share house, such as connecting people and sharing values.

Recording the memories by taking pictures together! Many people from various backgrounds joined the event, and I assume this circle is going to grow even bigger.

If you are interested in these three keywords, “travel”, “coffee”, or “book”, then please go and see the house for once! Thank you staffs and everyone gathered at the event!

How did you like it? The shared house “Kizunaya Share house -hitotoki- Tezukayama” I introduced you today is run by Kizunabito Inc.

They already have been running 4 other shared houses in Tokyo and nearby areas. The main feature of the houses run by Kizunabito is created by Mr. Hiraoka, the representative himself.

Reading blogs, looking into their SNS, or attending events, you can sense that the residents gets along so well, even with residents at other shared houses. The reason why they are so friendly is that Mr. Hiraoka is willing to enjoy with them despite of his position as an owner. It takes away resident’s hesitation and make them go jump right into the community.

Gorgeous facilities and comfortableness can be one aspect of attraction, but the main feature is the community that the house creates.

Meeting and spending time with your share mates all becoming lifetime memories to cherish. Why don’t you start your shared house life if interested in travel-like living?

/Author: KAGAWA

Find out more about “First house Series”     

Inter-cultural share house mixed with multinational culture, “First house series“ Feel foreign culture. It is a very good experience of noticing the difference with own country, spreading your point of view. When things look different, everyday life may become a bit interesting. The characteristic of the share house of First house series is, by any means, a global house community. Not only people from Europen countries, Asian countries, you can be a friend with people all over the world.
In each property, interwhao regularly hosts the event. Other than that, there are also cases it is held frequently by residents. And here is the one of the actual event held. It is a Halloween party, but surprised by the ratio of foreigners. It seems Japanese are fewer.
The concept is “American Vintage” “First House Mizonokuchi 100 + b“ A large share house of 40 households shared by both sexes. The lounge space that incorporates furniture and interior processed like well-used is zoned into 4 areas, you can choose where to use according to your mood and task at that time. The location of the property is “Mizonokuchi Station” where Tokyu Den-en-toshi line and Nambu line can be used. Good distance to Mizonokuchi station where express is stopped and to Shibuya station which takes only 13 minutes. As of March, 2018 it is the newest property in First house series.  There is a slight distance when walking for 17 minutes from Mizonoguchi Station, there are some commercial facilities around the station and there is MEGA Don Quijote along the road to the property so it does not seem to be a problem for buying consumable supplies etc. From the appearance no one can imagine that this is a share house. It is a 5 story building, the first floor is the common area and from the 2nd floor there are private rooms.  The most eye-catching in First house Mizonokuchi 100 + b is here. There is a billiard table in the playroom adjoining the lounge. Unlike woodgrains in living room, a checkered pattern flooring makes it looks like a Ameriacan diner.  Are you care about water surroundings ? Because it is a powder room exclusively for women, make-up can be done without worrying about eyes of opposite sex.  The bathroom is equipped with a total of 6 rooms ; 3 shower rooms for 3 men and women each.  What is this spacious space ? It is a laundry room. There are washing machines and a driers installed.  Going up the stairs to the room floor, there were doors of the rooms on both sides of the corridor.  Room # 201 was a model room for men. The window is large, and the room is large enough for one person. The next room, # 202 is a model room designed for women.  Fashionable lounge which imaged cafe living “First house Mizonokuchi 100 + a“ You can imagine the name of this sharehouse without saying. It is the sister house of First House Mizonokuchi 100 + b introduced first. The location is also as close as I can call the neighbor. The furniture and the flooring are unified in the dark brown and the brightness of the space as a whole seems to tone down at first glance, but the natural brightness is ensured by inserting sufficient outside light from the big window of the back in the living room.  A total of 62 households and a slightly larger property than 100 + b. We adopt the electronic lock of the auto lock at the entrance.  Tables and chairs in the lounge are wooden. The design of the chair is arranged with different specifications. I see people working on Macbook with drinking coffee in cafe with such this big table but Wifi is equipped in this lounge so it seems that residents can work here.  A luxurious area by a one-sided window. The special seats for breakfast should be here. There is a washbasin with a large mirror on the background of ethnic wallpaper in the shower room only for women.  All rooms are spacious and 13 ㎡ with closet, bed, air conditioner, refrigerator, desk, and chair. A house community “Living in a luxury residential area” Aobadai “First House Yokohama Aoba“ The staff who lives in said that this is the First House Yokohama Aoba as the image of the share house that can be imagined in the general public. Every age group is relatively younger than other sharehouses. Of course, it is a share house with a high percentage of foreign nationals. It is located a short walk from the Aobadai station of the nearest station for 10 minutes on foot. Because Aobadai station stops express, you can reach Shibuya in 30 minutes. The property is located along the boulevard of one road that leads to the station.There are a lot of bus streets and you may use the bus to the station.  Boasting is this living room which it blew through. Flooring etc in the living room have just been renovated last year.  It seems to be comfortable when you want to eat alone with a bar counter at the window. There are two verandas from the living room. On such a day it is more relaxing to eat out. Smoking is also possible here.  First House Yokohama Aoba has a nice billiard table. Wallpaper here has been changed as well. Although it is reasonable, you can live in a large room “First house Ichigao“ Ichigao sandwiched between Mizonokuchi and Aobadai does not stop the express train, but it takes 30 minutes for Shibuya station. If you are in a hurry, we recommend that you should transfer to express train at Azamino station, two stops ahead. First House Ichigao is a historic house opened in the early stage when Interwhao of the management company started the share house project. The sharehouse has went through some renovations and I do not think much that it has taken such a long time since it opened it. From the author who has seen the large number of share houses in the Kanto area, I think that it is just right as the first house to live as a share house considering size, location, and rent.  It is located about 5 minutes on foot from the station, and there are restaurants and supermarket in front of the station, which makes distance feeling not to be a pain even if you bring your luggage from purchase.  Setting up many kinds of furniture in the living room so that multiple people relax at the same time. The living room is the first basement in the basement. but it’s good sunshine. The living room with no one during the day is quiet and it seems to be quite nice.  There is a workbench centering on the shared kitchen as well, and it seems that it will not be crowded even when working with multiple people. The size of the room with 37 households is about 10 to 11 m2. Even if putting a bed and a refrigerator to take up space, it looks as a refreshing room.   The building which was originally a dormitory is diverted almost as it is, so the walls on both sides are also solid. Do not worry about the sound of your neighbor’s life.。 How was that? What I introduced this time was Interwhao’s House Brand “First House Series”. There are many other large sharehouses along the Denentoshi Line, but sharehouses with concepts with added value such as reasonable and international exchange, while being private rooms as large rooms as the first house, are located along the railway line that they will not be found on the top. For example, if there is a need to have a living environment with being able to speak English on a daily basis after returning from studing abroad, living with foreign nationals would be a better choice than going to English learning language school. Also, those who come to Tokyo from the rural areas as a result of finding employment do not know the job habits of the work place, and there is no money enough to buy the necessary items of living. For such a person, it is attractive for him/her that it is possible to exchange information with those who live long in the area, and with all furniture appliances necessary for daily life. In addition to having an environment where you can live a minimum amount of life, new encounters with people inside the house may speed up your life. In Firsthouse, staff members are in charge of each property so that interaction between people happens naturally. Because some of the staff in charge actually live in the house, introduction of people takes place via staf. Staff will follow you even if you are hesitated to talk to people. How about trying to live in the First house for the first share house? /Author:inamine

「For more details of “Firsthouse Funabashi”」　  　       

Feeling nostalgic atmosphere in a daily life The building directly connected to Oomori station has relatively new shops in here, so people can buy foods and other products around the station. There are many local people living from years ago, and they love this lively atmosphere. ”It’s cheaper to buy a side dish here than another supermarket” You may here this conversation. This sort of conversation was heard every time in neighbors. In Japan, the relationship between neighbors was more active but it is rare to hear this now as the time is going on. But I feel that the sharehouse creates this kind of relationship and community.
The sharehouse is in the east exit of the station, but it is faster to walk through the shopping mall “atre” which is directly connected to the station. Walking through characteristic and nostalgic shopping road with yellow arcade, about 10 min walk from the sharehouse.

This is the appearance of Firsthouse Oomori. It may be convenient to ride on bicycle on flat road from the station. Bicycle parking lot stands out.

Let’s go inside. Entrance and other images are the most important impression. This sharehouse is huge, so the common spaces are wide and open.

 

The key is an auto lock type.

 

Hand-made point 1 is the name place.

 

 

I found the next of a bird. You can see his face but it is not real. lol

 

 

Toilets and washing machines are set on every floor, and shower booths are located in the first floor.  

 

Hand-made point 2 is the floor and wall. Normally, these construction were held by the professionals but the staff of the management company did this. The quality was awesome as it’s hard to tell.. 

 

Shower booths are separated in men and women. Also, there is a room with bathtub so those who like to soak in should like here.. 

 

Sharing the common lounge with a stairwell The main living room and kitchen are integrated in one space. Since some parts have been renovated here, Iwill introduce them.

The living room with the yellow wall and the beams going up and down. Brick and the wooden furniture of the color of dark brown create the distinctive space. 

The wide sofa may be the special seat in this house. Plus, hand-made point 3 is the wall paper. It is antique-based world map. 

 

Japanese and other foreign residents seem to surround the high dining table. 

 

At lunch time, take a coffee and break here. It is bright enough by the natural light. You may have a different style from staying in a room. 

 

Let’s check the kitchen next. 

 

Kitchen fitting for several persons cooking at the same time. If you live in a sharehouse, sometimes you will be asked to join the party (not a big one but a small casual party). if the kitchen is small and hard to prepare, the atmosphere may get worse. The space of kitchen in Firsthouse Oomori is separated into a designated usage.”I’ll cut vegetables, so you grill meat please”.And other residents wash dishes. It is a good point that they can do their task at the same time. I can image this situation.

The cooking table being surrounded by 4 people maximum at the same time at the center.

 

2 sets of 3 neck gas stove. Comparing IH (Inductor heater) and gas stove, gas stove may make more delicious foods. Is this only me?

 

A thoughtful small renovation for residents. This building is sort of old but its structure hasn’t been changed much but the management company thinks that they like to provide wider room for customers. So they renovated the room as well.

Each room has different wall papers so if rooms are available, you can choose what you want.   Before the renovation, the management company thought that it was inconvenient where they need to place a refrigerator. It was hard to place it into the storage space but was impossible due to the partitioning plate. By raising it up, they can place a refrigerator in the storage space. Thanks to this construction, a room seems larger.    Furniture in each room is bed, desk, chair, refrigerator, and air conditioner. It is one of the pleasures to arrange according to the wall paper. It is not used now but it is interesting that there are keyholes of old style.

How was it? The sharehouse I introduced is Firsthouse Oomori managed by Interwhao. The design is distinctive with retro atmosphere and vivid color. The renovation took place December 2017. It’ been years since the house has been opened but the quality of hand-made points is almost same as the professionals do. 

As the criteria to decide the place to live, an area is one of the most important points. Oomori station is 6 min from Shinagawa station, 13 min from Shinbashi station, and 18 min from Yokohama station. So Oomori may be the hidden convenient spot. I want people to think about this place to live such here with being close to the central of Tokyo, slow, and nostalgic atmosphere. 

「For more details of “Firsthouse Yokohama Aoba”」　       

Fresh town in Yokohama “Aobadai” The number of population in Yokohama is ranked in the first place in cities in Japan.The name of Yokohama makes you imagine the westernized city near sea. But this image is a part of Yokohama with tourist attractions such as Minato Mirai, Red Brick Warehouse, and China Town. Yokohama city is huge, and the atmosphere in the area of Yokohama which is the next Kawasaki city and Setagaya-ward in Tokyo will be different. Denenntoshi Line is popular as bed town due to the good access to Tokyo area. As the name of this city is “Aobadai” , there are lots of green and full of the fresh atmosphere you can feel as you walk in this town.
On the way to the property, you will get there by 10 min walking straight but if you feel it’s hard, I recommend using a bus. Thanks to the large traffic volume, you don’t need to wait for a bus coming. The season of shooting is winter. Unfortunately, I can’t show you the town with full of green but the leaves of ginkgo falling is also beautiful. You can feel four seasons here.

There is a big supermarket “LIFE” near the property. This is closer than a convenience store which is 2 min walk from the property.

Finally, this is the appearance of Firsthouse Yokohama Aoba. The landmark is the big signboard on the wall of appearance that people on the road unconsciously look at it.

 

Let’s get into here.

Since there are 50 rooms in this property, the entrance is wide enough.

There are rooms along this long vertical hallway in each floor. Let’s check the centerpiece of this property, the living room on the second floor!

 

3 common spaces in the lounge. The common spaces have been renovated last year. The outstanding change is the “floor”. The floor which influences the impression of the space was changed to distinctive floor tile of “ Herringbone”. “Herringbone” is the type of zigzag design of trees. It comes from the bone of fish “herring”. It has become the high space of the fashion sense that is different from the image of the house. In the lounge, there 3 common spaces, “dining”, “living room”, and “billiard space”

You can use authentic billiard table at anytime. See, they repapered the wall.

A table is surrounded by sofas. A big group can be watching movies and relaxing.

And the dining space is like terrace seats in a stylish café.

An island kitchen viewed from the dining space.

You can go to real outdoor terrace seats from the dining space and the billiard room.

A bending machine and food stockers in the living room.

Some residents are very good at Chalk Art.

You will feel at home very soon because events are held regularly here.

Your private time goes slowly The building used to be a company dormitory and the residential space is big enough. It is very common among the residents in a share house to spend most of their time in the own room, not in the common area. Another good point of share house is that you don’t need to prepare furniture by yourself. Every room in First house Yokohama-aoba has a bed, desk, chair, closet and refrigerator.

The lights are off now. All rooms face south. How sunny it is.

It is a very simple room in a good way. How would you bring your color?

Inside of the closet. If you are a fashion freak, you may feel it is cramped. Please bring another chest if you need. A balcony is shared by 2 rooms. You don’t need to worry about clothes’ smell after indoor drying. There also are dryers in common area for rainy day. A view from balcony and window. Streets in Yokohama has an aspect of a leafy and calm residential area.

Keep separated to share As a woman, you may be wondering how people use water surroundings? Firsthouse Yokohama-aoba has a women-only floor. Of course, there are women-only bathrooms and shower booths. Especially for women, you can use the beauty room on the 3rd floor. Differ from a common lounge on the 2nd floor, it has a taste of Bali, looks like a massage saloon where you will be healed.

Make-up in front of an extra large mirror in the morning.  Beauty room has 3 shower booths for women only. Don’t worry, gentlemen. There are 4oor. In comparison with beauty room for women, the rest room for men is very simple. Some residents brought a hammock and muscle training implements to use this space effectively. Bathroom on each floor.

What did you think? It was Firsthouse Yokohama-aoba, a share house managed by interwhao.

A big building of 50 residents is worthy to have various common spaces which help people to communicate. Interwhao features their events produced by the company. In the season of Halloween or Christmas, etc., they plan parties so that residents get together. There are some share houses in Yokohama area and so on, the residents from other share houses sometimes visit neighbor’s party. Interwhao produces a community for international exchange. Their share house is big enough to have great number of people and the chance of meeting people, cultural difference, sense of values in this big share house cannot be compared with small share house. What do you think about living renewed First house Yokohama-aoba and enjoy your new share house life?

 This is Jujo station north exit. Restaurants and cafes are around the rotary. From elders to students, various types of people seems to use the station. Several colleges stands near the area which brings lots of students to the town. It takes 9 minutes walk from station to the house.

This is why I started this introduction not from Higashijujo but from Jujo station. Please take a look at this shopping avenue called “Jujo Ginza shopping avenue”.

Shopping arcade with roof makes shopping easier on rainy days. Various shops lines on both sides; fish markets, apparel shops, and most of all, delicatessen shops are everywhere! Since it is surprisingly cheap, you definitely can enjoy eating around. Going through this arcade and another called “Fujimi Ginza Shopping Avenue”, there stands ARDEN Higashijujo along the main street.

The main road is pretty heavy in traffic. Look out on your both sides and cross the road.

A minute walk after turning right, you will find a building with blue line on the wall. It was completed in August and is anemic structured.

Here we are at ARDEN Higashijujo and this is share ambassodor Mai. She will be our guide.

The door is self-locking and opens with key cards. Now, let’s take a look inside.

This is the entrance. The building faces the main street, but sound insulating door prevents the noise outside from disturbing you.

The building is 5 stories high, with living room at 3rd floor and private rooms on others.

Running up to the living room on the 3rd floor, our priority interest!

Here we are, at the 3rd. We are cutting out of breath… Ready to see the inside?

What should we call this, perhaps a cafe living room? The room is filled with wood, from flooring to the furniture,  making warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Is it because they chose the unassertive aged taste furnitures, the room is both new but vintage. The comfortness are brought to the place with these styled furnitures and it harmonizes perfectly in spite of the newness.

This floor is made from three parts, kitchen, dining, and living room. Let’s take a careful look at the furniture of the living and dining rooms. 

Sofa placed surrounding the low table and TV. One is firm leather-like sofa and another is low repulsion sofa. It looks like the ones at the Tsutaya electric store, both comfortable enough to meet your expectations.

Want to enjoy TV with high definition images and good audio equipments? Lucky for movie lovers, the house equips theatre system. Great sounds will take you into the story on screen.

Small goods are keys to make the room look like a cafe. Artificial plants are placed everywhere, giving the natural scent to the room. Owner’s good taste of coordinating colors and small goods blushes up the design.  

Two tables are set in the dining room. One is a big square shaped and one is smaller round table. They seem to match well even though the difference.

8 people can sit around the big table. How about a toast, coffee, and scramble eggs in the morning? Pastas and meat dishes will be perfect for the table.

Antique styled chairs are slightly different from one another. Not many share houses pay attention to details. 

Let’s take a look at the kitchen.

Island kitchen and fine range food you see first entering the room, will give big impression to the ones visiting the property. 

There is enough space for people to gather and cook at the same time, very convenient during events and parties. There are private food storage boxes just aside from the kitchen. You can store your personal spices and dried foods.

Two mini kitchens are at the back. For simple procedure, you can use here to avoid the crowdness at the main kitchen.

What’s your opinion about sharing space of ARDEN Higashijujo? Now, let’s move on to the private rooms.

We’ll check out the room at the left side, room 206.

All rooms are either 10㎡ or 11㎡ big. I felt no big difference between two. 

For some rooms, there’s enough sunlight pouring in during the daytime. Of course, windows and doors are soundproofed.

One of the good thing about the share house is that basic furnitures are already been set. Rooms in ARDEN Higashijujo are completed with refrigerator. closet, bed, table, and chair. 

Bathrooms are on every floor.

At the very back of the bathroom, there is a balcony. Opening the door, you will see the main street. At this time of the season, sun comes straight up at the front of the room, providing shining sunlight.

Sky was crystal clear on the day of shooting. Look carefully and you will find a tiny Tokyo Sky Tree far ahead.

Getting back to the facility instruction. This is the very top of the building, with roof top balcony. Water facility is all gathered on this floor, including laundry machines.

Great location to dry your laundry on a sunny day like this.

How did you like it? The share house we introduced to you today is ARDEN Higashijujo run by Share Style Inc. The ARDEN series releases new property every year. Especially this year, three property was brought to the market; ARDEN Higashi Shinjuku, ARDEN Fujigaoka built in “Fujigaoka”, the town in Yokohama city Kanagawa prefecture, and ARDEN Higashijujo we introduced today.  

How less stressful can we make our lives depends on the house itself and the distance from your house to the place where you spend most of your daytime. Newly built ARDEN Higashijujo may be a perfect fit for some of you from those perspective, due to the accessibility to major cities such as Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and Shibuya.

You need to feel relaxed in the house where you spend time almost every day. ARDEN may be a good choice for you with comfortable cafe living room with the concept of New ✖︎ Vintage.

/Author: Inamine 

Share ambassodor / Mai

Moved to Tokyo when entering college. She has won Grand prix in MissCampusCollection 2017 tokyo and was a semi finalist of TGA17 and have been working as a model. Now, she joins us as a share ambassador to introduce the living at share houses. Twitter account : @0525_9

 Aoba-ku is known as one of the nicest residence district in Kanagawa prefecture. As you can see in the picture above, the trees rowed in front of the station and the streets are neatly trimmed. When the season changes, the leaves will turn into yellow. You will feel the season passing by. 

8 minutes walk from the Fujigaoka station, there stands a building with totally different atmosphere from other houses. It is build on the slope from the lower part of the road. The pictures are the house’s entrance. On the day of shooting, it was raining and the environment of bamboo bushes made the building look shady but it actually fits perfect for the design.

In the night time, when the whole town darkens, ARDEN Fujigaoka outstands from others dramatically. It may sound childish, but it looks “cooler” at night.

Along with the beauty, it’s so picturesque. This is Share ambassador Mai, the image girl of ARDEN series. Let’s join her entering the house!

By opening the first door of the entrance, you will find mailing boxes. Mailman can drop off your package in one of the vacant mail boxes when you’re absent.
Moving on to the second auto lock door.

Surprising entrance looking like the one in luxury apartments. At first glance of this view, you will fall in love with ARDEN Fujigaoka.

The unique ceiling extending diagonally has skylight which at the daytime will provide enough sunlight in the room. With full-length mirror, you can check your appearance before going out. 

Considering that it’s contiguity with entrance, there seems to be few residents using the space. But looking at the bright side, this may become your private space of your own.

I’m getting more and more excited! You have to take off your shoes when entering the house, so put on the slippers and let’s get into it! 

Shoes cases lined up for 40 households.

There are two boxes for each rooms, one small and one big. For example you can put one boots on the upper shelf and four low cut shoes on the lower.

Actually, the entrance we entered is located on the third floor. Since ARDEN Fujigaoka is built on a slope, third floor is the share space and entrance, second and first floor will be the basin and main living room. (There are few rooms up on the third floor, too.)

Let’s take a step into the main lounge, one of the three common spaces.

Calm and tranquil design with lots of wood used for the furnitures. Adding the fake greenery makes all the ARDEN series look like the fashionable cafe.

Speaking of ARDEN series, English lesson “English Activity” held on a monthly basis is famous. It is not anything serious, think it as a communicating occasion brought to you by owners of the house with entertainment of drinking and playing games.  

Further into the main lounge, there’s a relaxation room with small separated seating area and a hammock.

The stand alone hammock is durable with three people sitting on it at the same time. You can let your body sink in.

The low table at the small separated seating area will turn into kotatsu. It is a necessary item for winter seasons coming up. You may not be able to escape from the comfortableness at the lounge space. 

Moving on to the second common space, the dining kitchen!

Chic design for adult suits the ARDEN style. What kind of conversation will be heard at the dining table for maximum of 12 people? Conversation starts naturally by enjoying food together.

Every dining chair for ARDEN series are slightly different in its’ designs. Even so, the balance is well preserved, thanks to the sense of the owners. 

The designs of the furnitures are quite brilliant. Cabinet to put mug cups and glasses is made from wood in order to match the room’s scenery.

Looking from the different angle, you will find a kitchen besides the dining space. This partition will avoid the exposure of the kitchen from the dining room when cooking.

The question is, wouldn’t the kitchen be crowded with 40 residents sharing one space? Well, it may be surprising to find out that it can be managed since everyone has slightly different lifestyles. Plus, two mini kitchens are available behind the main one which ables three people to cook at the same time.

Safety is the priority especially with lots of people living together. For example, they adopt IH instead of gas to avoid fire.

Let’s take a look at the last of three common spaces, the library.

Compact space with comfort. Pendant lights and spot lights provide enough brightness for reading.

Enjoying communicating with your share mates in the lounge or dining kitchen is pleasant but you may also want privacy once in a while. It is the time when you may find your place at the library. Select the room you spend your time by purpose and you will sure manage to ease your nerves.

There was a counter at the corner. Using PC under WiFi environment with cup of coffee by your side, that’s a kind of scene you may encounter at the cafe in town.

What’s your opinion for the three common spaces?
Now, let us introduce you the basin, shower rooms, restrooms, and laundry rooms you use on daily basis.

This room on the third floor is completed with shower, restroom, laundry, and basin. There are basins at each floor.

Toilet with bidet and heated seat functions are fully equipped.  No need to endure the cold and small seat like you had in your 1 room apartment.

Shower boothes are 8 in total. Cloth dryer will cost you a coin, but laundry machine is free to use.

There are 3 bathrooms with tubs besides 8 shower rooms. It is good to have bathtub filled with hot water in this time of the year. 

You all women must be concerned about the usage of the bathrooms, but don’t worry, the bathrooms are separated by gender.

This is the living room located on the second floor right down from the third floor. Finally, let’s take a look at the private rooms.

The building is once a company housing. This means that it was a dormitory which explains this nostalgic atmosphere. 

One room is 12㎡ big, enough for a person to live. The room consists of desk, chair, bed, and refrigerator.

The big feature is that this room has plenty of storages. It is pretty common design in the older days, but this will be enough space to put all your stuffs. There are wall storages and 1.7㎡ wide closet.

How did you like it? The share house that we introduced to you today was a new residence ARDEN Fujigaoka run by Share Style Inc. 

Choose which common space to spend your day according to your condition. If you feel like talking to people, go to a living room or dining kitchen. When you decide to work, read, or focus on your private time, choose library. By selecting the room based on the purpose or usage, it will sure make it possible to cherish both your own and others’ time at the house.

Imagine how much it takes for you to live in a apartment with this scale of living room. Don’t give up just yet. It is possible for your “living in the big house” dream come true by selecting these kind of housing. The choice is yours.

/Author: Inamine 

Share ambassodor / Mai

Moved to Tokyo when entering college. She has won Grand prix in MissCampusCollection 2017 tokyo and was a semi finalist of TGA17 and have been working as a model. Now, she joins us as a share ambassador to introduce the living at share houses. Twitter account : @0525_9

Please click here for more information of the Kizunaya share house –Global HUB-.　   

New generation typed share house is a renovated apartment. In most cases, share houses are renovation of stand-alone house or company house, but this one is different. This share house is renovation of several rooms of apartment and utilizes the 1 floor space as its living room, which used to be a gathering space for all apartment residents. There are several rooms for people to share as it can provide living space for up to 52 residents in total. The nearest station Makuhari Hongou in Chiba prefecture is close to central part of Tokyo so you may commute without a big problem. If you take the Soubu line, it takes about 40 minutes to Akibahara station, and 35 minutes to Tokyo station. Good news for workers commuting near Chiba station, it only takes 13 minutes to get there.
The entrance looks just like an ordinary apartment. Share house residents will be going through here. You may realize how big the share house is by looking at the number of mailboxes set for each rooms. There are secured mailbox for bigger packages that makes it possible for you to receive products you shopped online whenever you like.
Furthermore, rental bicycle for each 52 residents are provided for free. No need to worry when going shopping for daily products or going near the station. Check out another unique service. At the parking lot, you will find vehicles of Times car share system. It only takes few procedures to use them. It will be very convenient for short trips with your share mates. After entering the entrance, you will find hallway often seen in apartments. There will be two rooms and 1 dormitory for two people to share in one household, so it can take up to 4 people.  Enough explanation for the appearance, let’s move on to the sharing space. Then we’ll take a look at the individual rooms.
Starting with dining kitchen where you can get to know each other. Pendant light hanging from the wall, picture in the frame, and herringbone flooring makes the room look classic and elegant. This is dining room. Gathering space for every one to enjoy eating. Eating together has power to naturally start conversation with each other. Especially when it comes to the Kizunaya share house group, there will be “cooking party” held occasionally which brings residents together and creating connections.
Kizunaya group’s familiar theme “Seeing the world by cooking” is of course adopted here at the “cooking party”. Residents will be making various dishes according to the theme at this very place of 80 square meters big dining room.  Enough space for the kitchen. I can imagine preparing the meal with share mates.
Recently, party was held to celebrate the opening. Events like “traveling around the world through beer” or “World-wide style takoyaki party” may be fresh in our minds. These were held at other share house of Kizunaya group. Without understanding others’ language, everyone has some sort of interest in foods. Start a conversation by introducing your home country’s traditional dishes or local specialties and you may get along just fine. Comfortable living rooms you can choose as you like.  Global HUB has separated living room a little away from the bigger one. Imagine people watching movie on the big screen, playing games, reading books, or netsurfing on their phones. The living room still can be connected with aisle to the kitchen so you can use the space for gathering events. By stepping back and seeing the bigger picture, you may realize how vast the room is.  The isle leading to the kitchen is utilized as mini living room. The layout is quite different from ordinary rental apartments with kitchen, living room, and dining room all squeezed together. It even looks like a fine office. Standing in front of the sofa are wall-to-wall bookshelves. The lineup was not substantial yet when shooting, but I assume that there will be worldwide storybooks and travel magazines on the shelves. 5 different theme and design for each 13 rooms of 3LDK. You can pick one from different county inspired designs. The layout is accordance to the original apartment. The room is divided into two dependent rooms and one dormitory typed room for 2 people to share. It is more of a gathering of small share houses than one big share house. Every room has living room, kitchen, and bathroom so you can complete your life without going to the main living room or main kitchen, if you’re not in a mood.  Resort-like room makes you feel like you’re staying at the villa in Bali. Impression turns one-eighty for this cool room imaging Italy. American vintage style room with red brick designed paper walls and chic black flooring. Here is a feminine room with the atmosphere of apartment in Paris.
Every dormitory is similar to each other. They consist of wide storage space and window with balcony; the size seems big for dormitory. As you can see, these are what two private rooms look like. This simple room has enough storage for loaded stuff.
Let’s go take a look at the kitchen. Though it seems quiet tight compared to the main living room, it’s not inconvenient like the type of kitchen usually set in the 1R apartment. Finally, this is the bathroom with washbasin, laundry machine, and bathtub.

How did you like it? We reported the “Kizunaya share house –Global HUB-” run by Kizunabito Inc. The feature is that you can retain your privacy according to the wide sharing space, thanks to the size of the house. You are able to spend your free time wherever and whenever you want.

There are two positive aspects of the Kizunaya share house; first is that there’s plenty of opportunity to communicate with foreigners without going abroad, and second is that you can widen your relationship with other Kizunaya group share house residents. I heard that foreigners from various countries have already joined as a member of the share house. Kizunaya share house has its’ share house in Tokyo, Chiba, Osaka, and Amami (in Kagoshima). Usually communication concludes in the share house you live in, but Kizunaya considers all area residents as one group. Therefore, gathering events of all areas are held once in a while and they say that this helps residents become like a relatives.

“Kizunaya share house –Global HUB-”, the attractive share house which enables people to interact with foreigners naturally in daily life and help you study as if you’re in abroad. Why don’t you take a chance to acquire international relation as part of your daily life?

/Author:inamine

I assume that a lot of people have wants to experience the foreign cultures and natures. Well, what would you do to learn English? There’s plenty of ways to learn without actually going abroad, such as altering language setting to English on your smartphone, take online classes, watch TV shows on Netflix, and so on. The problem is that you cannot feel the difference if you don’t continue. Of course, to acquire something, you need duration and continue the work, but wouldn’t it be great if you could learn efficiently? Imagine if you could use English every day as if you take a shower…. It is possible to create situation that you must use English in daily life in Japan by living with foreigners. From this aspect, I will introduce you today the English centered share house among all others.

Find out more about “First house Mizonokuchi 100+b”     

Inter wow Inc. is a corporation that runs various sized share house around Tokyo and Yokohama area. “First house Mizonokuchi 100+b” is a new comer. It opened this May and can have up to 40 residents. It is gradually getting occupied after 3 months from opening. The character of share house depends by the people who live there. The residents here are 60% foreigners and we can definitely say that this is a hyper international share house. For your information, sister house  “First house Mizonokuchi 100+a” which had opened last year is just around the corner. The source of the house names are combination of the number of accommodable residents of a and b, which makes it 100.

Unified theme of design is “American Vintage

The open living room area is divided into 5 different sections. You may choose depending on the situation like dining, chit chatting, or spending time alone. The living rooms have lots of furniture made of leathers and irons. They are from furniture shops in Jiyugaoka and Futakotamagawa, both known as fashionable town in Tokyo. They have chosen dark tone wood for the floor to make the rooms’ look wild and vintage.

Communication is all about “having fun”.

This  play area is like American dinner, the one you see in TV action shows . It has a whole new image. Record jackets on the wall and block check designed tiles make this place definitely photogenic. In fact, your friends will ask where you are right now by posting the photo on SNS. The billiard table at the center is popular among residents. Beginner can start by asking how to play, and there’s high chance of  naturally getting along with others. You will get better at it too. Sometimes they do country matches! Imagine, isn’t it exciting?

Big island type kitchen; usable for many people at the same time.

This may be a familiar picture to you. Yes, it is a western type kitchen. The table is stand-alone type so more than 1 person can use the kitchen at the same time. You can take a sneak peek of what everyone is cooking!

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Residents’ voice ~People living in the First house Mizonokuchi +b~

The two in the picture is Felix from Germany (on the left) and Amanda from America (on the right), both the residents here. Surprising facts came up through this interview.  Various nationalities exist in the house, and surprisingly some of them came to Japan to join internships. Interns tend to be young aged and no exception for Felix. Japanese look much younger at the same age, doesn’t it!

  Amanda from New York, USA has been living in Japan for three months now. She wished to live near big city like her hometown and chose this place, near Shibuya. She is temporarily absent from college and came to Japan to study about car business by joining internship at the firm. Students joining internship mostly have chose Japan as their first choice. By living with Japanese in the same share house makes foreigners easy to learn more about culture, history, and their language, and vice versa.

They both answered that one of their reason to be interested in Japan is that they like Japanese anime! Manga and animes of Japan are appreciated abroad, more than Japanese imagine. Titles like Dragon ball or Sailor Moon is  known by a lot of people from other countries. They have studied Japanese from the time they were children by watching animes. Talk about manga and anime you like for starter and you may get along well with them!

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How’s the daily life here?

When making decisions whether to join the share house or not, you should know about how the residents spend their daily life and how the relations are in advance. You wouldn’t want to feel the gap between the reality and the image you had. Some Japanese may be concerned that there’s lot of party going on every day or gets noisy every night, but in fact, those things are not to be worried about. Owner has full support and controls the situation.

 It is basically quiet around the house except when people gather. Isn’t it surprising? Most cases, it is tend to be busy around the sharing space in the house since people have their own life rhythms and it won’t match one another. It happens not only with lot of foreigners but even if the residents are mostly Japanese. The party held by the owner regularly is also open for their friend too so the whole house will be crowded, but it’s the only exception.

 For Amanda, the home is quiet but it is not too silent and people there at home will make her feel safe.

On weekdays, people gather at dinnertime and eat together or play billiard.

Some were cooking at the back kitchen while we were interviewing. Different from the Japanese-driven share house, the house members here tend to act as a group than individually. Don’t worry about not being able to join the existing community. The staff living together at the house will take good care of the new comer and help create new connection between them.

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Condensed cross-culture experience in Japan

 Although recommended that you to stay there at least half a year to build relationship with other residents and experience things only acquired from share housing, if you’re in certain conditions, it is possible to live here from 1 month term. This may be attractive to some people. Many foreigners have problem concluding contract with apartment owners due to insurance issues. It makes the share house popular for them to live since it doesn’t require guarantor or hire Guarantee Company. Residents stay over a year at share house run by Inter wow Inc. They assume that live-in staff brings good effect for the residents to have smooth communication and build a comfortable environment for all.

 There will be some changes but you can expect to meet different people. (Of course it is always sad to say good-bye…) It is rare to build relationships with people of different nationalities in one place. Sometimes former residents join house events and some of them even wish to come back, asking for vacancy.

These two who took their time on interview was also very friendly! Thank you so much for the opportunity!

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How did you like it? You may not believe it is located at Mizonokuchi when you visit the First house Mizonokuchi 100+b, with international living room and kitchen and foreign residents. Although official language in the house is English, you can communicate in Japanese with foreigners studying Japanese. Everyone including Europeans and Asians speak English fluently made me realize how we Japanese can’t speak English.

Both the residential staff and the residents themselves solve the anxiety for “comfortableness” that Japanese have. There seems to be no border between residents and the staff, and they all together create a one big community. Inter wow Inc. holds meet-and-greet events with other house residents. I recommend this share house to those who would like to communicate with people with various nationalities and experience the unique culture and sense of values.

Author / Sho

I take photos of share houses and write articles. On weekdays I live in a large-scale property of 60 people in Yokohama, commuting to Shibuya. I am flying about Tokyo and taking pictures. Surfing in Shonan on a holiday based on 10 sharehouses in Kamakura. I would like to spread the admiration lifestyle that can be realized with a share house!