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A warm, rustic log cabin-style share house. |
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You live in Tokyo, in a designer apartment, living the life you had always yearned for, yet somehow cannot find satisfaction in coming home after work and turning the lights on only to find a quiet, empty room every single day. I want people repeating such a monotonous lifestyle day in and day out to know that with shared living one can live together with others as friends and family. The friends you make in share houses are always there to cheer you up. Living together as adults you are able to build deep relationships with others different to those you have with normal friends, and that, I think, is a wonderful thing. What you want is not fancy facilities or a ridiculous amount of space, but just really awesome people to live with. If this sounds like something you would say, then enjoy the rest of the article as we introduce to you Hidamari Nishieifuku. The house is located 9-minutes walk from Nishieifuku station on the Keio Inokashira line. Once a family home, it has been renovated into a share house. It seems like a place where tenants can take deep breaths and relax their mind and body. Let’s have a look at Hidamari Nishieifuku, a share house newly opened by the company Come On Up. |
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The exterior. With the area around the house surrounded by lush greenery and also shinto shrines, this is a location very close to nature. |
The front hallway. Stepping in the hallway you feel at ease as if you are visiting your parents or a relative. |
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The lounge is straight ahead with an impressive, asian-style purple-colored carpet. |
The table in the middle is low to the ground and must be host to many gatherings with tenants sitting around on the floor and chatting together. |
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Looking outside from the lounge there is a fantastic Japanese garden. You will feel relaxed as you look out the window at this scene. |
A shelf in the living room. The inside has been lined with artificial grass and can be used as a place to store cushions. Come On Up work to create little touches like this in all of their share houses, which fosters a good environment to relax in. |
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The table and bench forms a barrier between the lounge and kitchen. The blue light shades are quite sophisticated. |
The kitchen. Spacious with plenty of room to do your own cooking. There is a washing machine at the back of the room. |
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Free-standing basin |
おThe bathroom. Complete with tiled interior and a bathwater-reheating function. |
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The toilet. Complete with a Japanese-style washlet, great for those who feel uncomfortable using a toilet without one. |
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Let’s move on to the rooms. This is Room 101 on the 1F. The two windows give great lighting. With a high ceiling also, this room guarantees the space you need. (10.71m2 / 72,000 yen) |
Room 102 next door. (6.89m2 / 59,000 yen) |
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Let’s head upstairs. This is the 2F hallway. |
Room 201. This room has lighting fixed to the walls as well as the main light, so you can adjust the brightness to suit whatever you may be doing. (6.89m2 / 58,000 yen) |
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Room 202 has a retro-style storage shelving that breathes a kind of elegance. (6.89m2 / 58,000 yen) |
Room 203 is quite luxurious with a balcony as well as two windows. (9.18m2 / 68,000 yen) |
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Room 204. You can get out onto the balcony from this room. (9.18m2 / 68,000 yen) |
The private balcony shared by room 203 and 204. It’s perfect for hanging out washing on a sunny day or for just relaxing and gazing around at the view. |
Every time I visit one of Come On Up’s houses I see everyone living there having such a great time and think again to myself how great shared living is.
I asked the company if there was any kind of specific knowledge needed in order to bring about good communication between tenants, and was told that all you need is people to exchange greetings with each other, such as ‘good morning’ and ‘good night.’
If these everyday greetings, which we take for granted, are the trick to maintaining good communication between housemates then just about any share house can achieve it, but that’s not to say that there haven’t been any occasions where people have just kept to themselves after meeting the others for the first time.
I think real, honest communication happens when people get together in an environment that helps them to express who they are.
The word for ‘everyday greetings’ in Japanese is ‘aisatsu’ (挨拶), made up of two characters. ‘ai’ (挨) means ‘to open one’s heart’ and ‘satsu’ (拶) means to ‘to get to know’, together giving the meaning of ‘opening your heart to get to know another’.
In today’s busy society we tend to shy away from greeting others, however doing so may unwittingly lead to closing off your heart to those around you.
Opening your heart and getting to know others will result in others doing the same for you. Doing this everyday will give you more confidence in your actions and you may just become more assertive in all things.
At Come On Up’s new share house, Hidamari Nishieifuku, variety of life is waiting for you with exciting events as well as a relaxing environment. If that sounds like something for you, you should definitely check it out. The staff are great and even invited me along next time they hold an event, so I’m looking forward to writing a report about that.
I’m sure there are people out there who will find their second home in Tokyo living at Hidamari Nishieifuku.
/Author: Kagawa
