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On the top of a hill with a full view of the city of Yokohama, there is a little town where 99 people live together.
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View of the city from the top of the hill. Looking from above not only on large buildings, but on woods and mountains as well, with a faint feeling of pleasure surely I am not the only one who gets a odd feeling of superiority.
When large things are right in front of you, you can't help but be overwhelmed by their scale and presence, as if they could swallow you whole, but when looking from up high they suddenly seem so small. Just this small change in the way you look at things can also manifest itself in your mindset, where you may realize the problems and troubles hanging over you are in fact rather trivial.
This time we would like to introduce our sharehouse 'Sharehouse Higashikanagawa 99', a short 12-min. walk from both Higashi-Hakuraku St. on the Tokyu Toyoko Line and Higashi-Kanagawa on the JR Yokohama Line, standing slightly elevated on top of a small hill. Without having to go out of your way to see it from an observatory tower, the panoramic view of Yokohama becomes part of your everyday life. To have it built on a high place gives a feeling of true privilege.
Now, Let's check out!
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「Share Place Higashi Kanagawa99」House Details Page
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The sharehouse itself is made up of two buildings facing each other with a large open plaza bringing the two together in the center.
As it is a large-scale sharehouse with 99 rooms, it feels more like a small town. For this reason, other than the large main lounge, a number of finely divided purpose-built spaces have been prepared so you can feel free to choose a place to spend your time depending on your needs or mood.
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The house nameplate. The green shrubbery on the wall changes appearance as the seasons pass.
Reaching the top of the hill this large area spreads out before you.
There are two buildings, so let's start with the main lounge in Building 1.
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Open the door to find individual mailboxes lined up in a row. There is one box for each room.
Behind the mailboxes are parcel delivery boxes, a great addition to make the busiest of working adults happy. Collect your parcels at any time of the day.
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Having so many people coming together to eat creates almost a party atmosphere.
This large space makes up the main lounge and is suitable for a wide range of uses. The main lounge located in Building 1 is a large space which can be enjoyed much like a cafe, ready to play its part in bringing people together people for an event. As you can go straight out into the central garden from the lounge, it would be interesting to come up with events for a fine day using both these outdoor and indoor spaces in a variety of ways.
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There is a theater room at the back of the main lounge in Building 1. Relax by taking off your shoes and sitting directly on the floor.
Here is the lounge in Building 2. It's not as spacious compared to the one in Building 1, although its the perfect size for a small number of people to hang out around the table.
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The main lounge can be used for a variety of objectives, from finishing off a little bit of work, chatting with friends or even holding a large dinner party.
There is an area arranged with a few sofas to really sit down and relax in, a mature area quite different from the atmosphere of sitting at a table.
In one corner of the lounge hangs a large map of the surrounding area for tenants to share favorite spots and detailed restaurant information with each other.
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Enjoy a long conversation and the surrounding atmosphere at the counter peeking in at what's happening in the kitchen.
The island kitchen is bigger than anything you would use living by yourself with plenty of preparation space.
There are both 3 sinks and 3 induction cook tops. There's enough room to hold a cooking workshop or something along those lines!
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The kitchen in Building 2 is on the other side of the hallway from the lounge.
In the lounge is a work space available for use for those who want to concentrate and immerse themselves in their work.
For those who want to take a break and go for a cigarette, there is a smoking zone opposite in Building 1.
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A large 360º panoramic view of Yokohama city. Overlooking the Minato Mirai fireworks in Summer, and snow-capped Mt. Fuji in Winter.
From the roof of this house on top of the small hill, you can get a far-reaching view of the Yokohama scenery. Being able to see the lit-up parts of the city at night, it will surely become your own personal viewing spot.
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The wooden deck on the rooftop means that you can stretch out and relax outside. It would be great to eat lunch with friends up here underneath a bright blue sky!
There is also another wooden deck as part of the open terrace on the other side of the courtyard which is lit up at nighttime.
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The open terrace and kitchen in the courtyard. I can't recommend rugging up and drinking a warm soup out here on chilly days enough.
This is the shared vegetable patch. You can just imagine everyone working together, planting, cultivating, and eventually harvesting the vegetables grown here to use in a big taste-testing event or something.
Beside the vegetable patch is a small playground with a swing set and horizontal bar. It's almost like a public park.
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Let's now move on to the common areas of Building 2. The main feature is the many small spaces branching off from one main hallway.
There is a small Japanese-style room with a traditional low table,
and even a mini theater room.
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There are also three kitchens along the hallway.
It's easy to enjoy cooking in a big, shiny and new kitchen.
There is also space for tenants to store their own personal items such as foodstuffs and condiments.
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There are 2 bathrooms but it is not free to fill the bathtub up with hot water.
There are 15 showers spread throughout both buildings.
Beneath Building 1 are 20 bicycles to share, which you must be registered to use. Registration is a one-off fee of 6,000 yen, so if you register when you first move in you can use a bicycle whenever you want for no extra cost.
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Garage, loft and unit types. You can choose a style that suits your preferences.
One of the charms of SPH99 is the rich variety of different individual rooms available. There are rooms with garages attached on the west side of Building 1 on the ground floor, where it is possible to do any maintenance to your vehicle from your own room.
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This is what the garage-type room is like (model room).
Outside the rooms are divided by concrete walls and this space can be used as a place to park your car.
You could arrange these rooms in a unique, manly fashion if you wanted to.
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Let's move on to the loft-type rooms. These rooms make full use of the high ceiling and feel extremely spacious.
This is what the unit-type rooms look like. They are made up of three rooms in one with a bathroom and toilet as well as a front entrance.
This is one of the standard rooms. The basic design is very simple and is easy to use.
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End November SPH99 opening event
The opening event was held on the roof, making full use of the view to both Mt. Fuji and the Bay Bridge, with a broad variety of activities arranged including outdoor yoga, a toy exchange for eco awareness 'Kaekko Bazaar', as well as cooking studio classes, while down in the plaza, local Yokohama farmers, bakers, and houseware sellers brought the plaza to life setting up their stalls.
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The event held in the center courtyard. It almost feels like a local festival.
Satiate your appetite with a variety of Japanese-style breads and pastries all displayed in a row,
and warm your body with a hot coffee that goes perfectly with the bread.
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Inside workshops were held by handmade miscellaneous goods brand SLOW LABEL,
as were lectures by professional cameramen.
Many local children also participated in the event and the toy bazaar was very popular.
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The company managing this sharehouse is ReBITA Inc. In recent weeks as part of our Shareplace series, we were granted interviews with a number of key people from companies involved in property. The interview can be seen here (http://blog.tokyosharehouse.com/?lang=ja&p=20512). Rather than just the buildings themselves, significant emphasis was placed on the communities these places foster as well as the interaction between fellow residents creating a more lively impression.
Even saying so, as many of the residents were full-time workers, the provision of space where one can guarantee their own private time was one attractive point. As we've provided a space where you can both easily shut off and then switch back on, we think you will be able to make a much clearer decision when weighing up between living alone and a sharehouse. Living by yourself is too lonely. But always having people around can be suffocating. For such people, we feel this is the perfect place.
A tale of 99 roads, woven by 99 people.
Somehow just thinking about it may get your heart racing, but it is truly a 'no drama, my pace, my pace' kind of place. When visiting this place, these words will come to you beckoning your shoulders to soften and relax, a truly strange sensation. What is it I wonder? Perhaps it's the laid-back living space away from the city, or perhaps the locally-flavored nature and backdrop of this place in touch with the sky, sea and sun. You may just find the answer to that question with a visit to this wonderful place.
/Author: Kagawa
