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Relaxing in a Japanese-style living room: Style House Yanaka Ⅱ |
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Blue Star Partners is a company with top notch service so great that they are even considering offering presents such as hotel beauty salon vouchers both in Japan and overseas to express their thanks to long-staying tenants, something rare in the real estate world. They renovated and opened a new share house, Style House YanakaⅡ in November, 2011, and as with their previous properties, offers rooms for a relatively low cost furnished with all that you could possibly need in your shared living lifestyle. The aim of the house is for tenants to be able to relax as well as maintain good communication with the other housemates. The living room conforms to a classic Japanese design in which everyone can huddle around the ‘kotatsu’ (table emitting heating from beneath) in winter and with the island kitchen and fresh, white color-scheme, it’s a pretty good environment. A 4-minute walk from Sendagi station on the Chiyoda line and 3 minutes to the famous Yanaka Ginza shopping street, it’s a great share house for exchange students and students moving from the country for school. Oh, and I should mention that it is a female exclusive share house! Alright then, on to Style House YanakaⅡ! |
「Style House YanakaⅡ」House Details Page
House The completely renovated, 6-room female exclusive house is a 4-minute walk from Sendagi station and sits in a quiet residential area. There is also a shopping district nearby so there won’t be any inconveniences to your daily life./p> 
Living A Japanese-style communal space. Those who love tatami mats and a kotatsu to help them relax should definitely come on over. Just by being in this room your mood will lighten and you can enjoy your days with the the other housemates. |
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Let’s start with the exterior. This fully renovated home is now a share house.  There are mailboxes for everyone at the entrance.  Next up, the entrance. |
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 The front hallway. The storage boxes are for shoes.  The hallway. The house interior is unified by a white color-scheme. Let’s have a look at the 1F.  Turning from the hallway, we find a sink, washing machine and dryer. |
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 The washing machine and dryer take coins to operate.  I liked the lighting in the hallway so I snapped this shot.  Storage drawers. |
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 The shower.  The toilet, perfect and clean as a new house should be.  While we’re at it, here’s a shot of the toilet paper. |
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 Let’s head on upstairs.  You will be greeted by an island kitchen.  The kitchen from a different angle. |
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 The all-electric island kitchen is in the center, with plenty of space to cook.  Even the rubbish bins match with the house’s interior.  Everything you could need is provided, including glasses and tableware. |
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 Plenty of storage space for 6 people to use.  With each box able to store quite a large amount you won’t have any problems finding a place for your sauces, condiments and foodstuffs.  A different angle. A house with such a large kitchen can really increase the opportunities for tenants to come in contact with each other. |
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 Next let’s pop by the living room, which is beside the kitchen. With it’s Japanese-style design it is in dramatic contrast to that of the kitchen.  On the right there are two chairs that can be divided off by sliding doors.  By the window it’s a great to have long conversations. |
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 The main points are the tatami mats and kotatsu and the difference in materials feels nice to the touch.  The shape of the table is slightly curved and gives it a refined touch.  There is a Japanese-style closet across from the window. I was told that the original building was used as much as possible in order to keep costs low. |
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 The ceiling.  I thought to myself that a Japanese-style design really soothes the soul and got up closer to take this shot. |
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 Let’s move on to the rooms, starting from Room 101. Each room of course has its own lock and key.  Furnished with a bed as well as a chair and air conditioner, the room also comes with lace curtains and a blanket so you really only need to bring one bag when moving in. This is the biggest room, coming in at 11.2㎡.  The flooring. |
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 There is also a small table.  Moving onto Room 102...  The hanging rack. |
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 Here we have Room 103.  The layout is a tad different with a wall separating the bed and the chair.  There is also a small table in the back. |
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 Room 104.  Room 201 on the 2F. This is the smallest room with 7.9㎡ of space.  The view from the opposite site. |
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 And last but not least, Room 202. This room is right next to the kitchen on the 2F but the walls are soundproof.  A red table in a white-color schemed room really stands out. |
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Blue Star Partners provides nice and clean places to live on par with normal rental properties, as expected from a company who looks at things from the tenant’s point of view and understands that it is even more important to protect one’s private life when living in a share house. The cost is kept low and the house comes with everything you could possibly need (to the degree that I personally wonder why everyone isn’t living in share houses, but anyway!) which means that you can start your new life without any initial fees. So, for those of you looking to live in Taito-ku, or those looking to change up their life a bit, how about Style House YanakaⅡ?
Style House YanakaⅡ is a 3-minute walk from Yanaka Ginza shopping street. It may be close by, but it is also a place where you can get a feel for traditional Japan and remains a recommended sightseeing area even to this day. Walk up towards the north end to Yuyake Dandan (Sunset Steps) to see a most beautiful sunset. Quiet and calm days are waiting for you at Style House YanakaⅡ with its Japanese-style living room, and you are sure to enjoy your life here indulging in the character of the local area.
The staff told me that as current real estate structure and and customs make it difficult for those living away from Tokyo to move here, their objective is to support those people by providing them with a place to live. When you think about it, when looking for a job in Tokyo living in a share house is much more beneficial to your search efforts that staying in a hotel, with the ability to exchange information with tenants and talk to others who are working full time about the realities of having a job.
Nevertheless, by reading this article and hearing what the staff have had to say, I’m sure there are many people out there hoping that they can become useful members of society, and we are feeling charged up about this, too.
“We hope that people will be able to create even just one great memory or connection through shared living.”
/Author:moriyama
