|
About
Sakura House - the company
|
Q.What
is "Sakura
House"?
A.Sakura
House is a real estate agency in Tokyo Japan,
providing rooms at guesthouse, apartment and
dormitory beds
exclusively for foreign people.
Serving since 1992, we proudly present more
than 1500 furnished rooms in over 150 convenient
locations
in central part
of Tokyo, Japan.
back
Q.What
things are different from regular apartment agencies
in Japan?
A.Usually,
you need a large deposit (or key money,
"shikikin" in
Japanese) that is equivalent
to 2 month's rent, and a gift money to the landlord
(or
"reikin" in
Japanese) that is equivalent to a month's rent
(not refundable), and an agent fee equivalent
to a month's rent (not refundable off course)
to
rent a room in Japan.
Along with the first month's rent, you need to
prepare a large amount of money that is equivalent
to 5 month's
rent, that will sum up to thousands of dollars.
And
these
kind
of
apartments
are
not furnished, and you will have to pay for utilities
on your own. (usually 10,000-15,000 yen/month)
But with Sakura House, you only have to prepare
30,000 yen deposit (up to 20,000 yen refundable) and
the first month's rent. Rooms are furnished,
and utilities are
included in the rent , so you don't have to experience
the hassles of doing the paper works in Japanese.
Additionally, you don't have to look for a guarantor,
or a co-signer, that is usually required in Japanese
apartment agencies.
back
Q.Where
is your office?
A.Our
office is in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Please see
our
office page for
the location map and the office hours.
back
Q.Can
I contact you in English?
A.Yes.
Members of Sakura House staff have experiences
of living
abroad,
and are bilingual. You are always welcome
in English. We also have French, Korean,
and Chinese speaking staff.
back
|
About
our rooms (guesthouse, apartment,
dormitory)
|
Q.What is the difference
between a guesthouse / an apartment / a
dormitory?
A.Guesthouse is
a partially shared accommodation. You will
have your
private bedroom (the door can be locked), but
you will share common areas like kitchen, toilet,
bathroom
and
living
room.
Consider sharing a house or a large apartment
with several
people. Some people call it -"Gaijin
House".
Needless to say, you will
have all facilities on your own in an
apartment.
We have
1-room-studio
type to 2DK
rooms ideal for one to
two people.
In a
dormitory,
you are going to share your bedroom as well as
other facilities. There's several bunk beds in
a large room and you will stay with other people.
Of course, monthly rent for an apartment is higher
than that of a guesthouse, and dormitory, the
cheapest. We
have three types of accommodation to meet your
budget.
back
Q.Are
rooms furnished?
A.Yes,
they are. There's either a bed or a set of futon
(Japanese style bedding) with clean
linens, and simple
furnitures (ex. bookshelf, desk, chair, trash
can, mirror...details differ from room to room)
and even dishes. You can pop in with a suitcase
and start
your Tokyo life.
back
|
Basic
rules and the merit of our accommodation
system
|
Q.What
is included in the rent?
A.Utility
expenses like electricity, water & gas
supply, are included. With guesthouse or apartment that is equipped
with Internet connection, that expense is
included as
well. You
don't have
to go through troublesome procedures to get
these services.
back
Q.How
about telephone?
A.Sorry,
phone line expense is not included. Some guesthouses
have pay phones in common area, or in rooms,
but you will have to pay for a call. Some
rooms have a phone line (modular jack) , so
it is
possible to make your own contract with a
telephone company.
But, we find that most of our tenants choose
a mobile phone to communicate.
back
Q.What else
do I have to pay?
A.We
only require 30,000 yen deposit for each person,
and it is partially refundable (up to 20,000yen).
There is no
need for
you to pay
reikin (gift
money to the landlord usually equivalent
to a month's rent, not refundable) or
shikikin (large
deposit, usually equivalent to two month's
rent, refundable but not much), or agent
fee (usually
equivalent to a month's rent ).
back
Q.Do I need a guarantor?
A.No.We
may ask your parent's or family's address
if you don't have a permanent address in
your country,
and a name of a person or a group that we
can make a contact in case of emergency,
but we
don't
require a guarantor who can guarantee you
totally.
back
Q.What
kind of document do I need to rent a room?
A.We
need your passport with a valid visa (allow
us to make a photocopy of it), along with
the deposit
of 30,000 yen, and the first month's rent.
You
need to come over to our office to sign
up a lease agreement and to receive the
key for
your
room. We ask your occupation, name of the
company or the school you belong to (of
course, tourists
are welcome too) and other personal data
like your nationality. But please understand...do
you want
to share a building or a house with people
who can't identify themselves? Sakura house
holds the right to refuse any reservation
of the person who we judge is not suitable
for the house.
back
Q.Is it possible
to reserve a room? how about from
abroad?
A.You
can check the availability of a room by this
web site or simply by asking us by phone,
and reserve
a
room by
paying a deposit. You don't have to pay the
first month's rent at this moment. You can
do this also
from abroad , with
a credit card or by bank transfer. Please
contact
us for
further
payment
information. (Rooms or beds cannot be reserved
without a deposit)
back
Q.What if I
cancel my reservation?
A.We
are sorry to say, but your deposit will
not be refunded in that case. Please understand,
after you make your reservation, we have
to say "no" to other people that
are interested in the room.
back
Q.I would
like to take a look at the room. Can I arrange
that?
A.Of
course, we would like you to take a look,
as long as
it is vacant. Please
contact
us to make an arrangement.
You do not have to come over to our office,
we can meet each other at the nearest station.
If
it is not vacant, you can come over to
our
office and check some
photographs of the room.
back
Q.Are
travelers or tourists welcome too? Tell me about
your minimum rental term.
A.Our minimum
rental term is a month. Travelers and tourists are
welcome too, if they can clear this. For
stays shorter, we recommend our sister
company
SAKURA
HOTEL that
has rooms starting from 3600 yen per night,
located right in middle of Tokyo.
back
Q.I am
going to vacate the room in the middle of a month,
but do I still have to pay for the whole month?
A.No.We
calculate your daily rent and multiple
the days you will be staying for the last
month.
Please give us the exact date of moving out to calculate your
final rent. (Except for tenants who would
stay for less than a month.
Our
minimum rental term is one month, so if
you vacate the room in the middle of the
first
month, we
have to ask you for the whole month)
back
Q.I
want to share a guest house room with somebody,
can you arrange that?
A.Only
in guest house
Sendagaya,
Asakusa
Kuramae,
Oomori,
Yukigaya Otsuka,
Shimura 3 chome and in
Hakozakicho,we
have prepared several rooms that are
called "shared room", where
you can find a roommate. Each room will
be shared
by 2 to 3 people. In other rooms, you
will have to find your roommate on your
own. If your budget is lower, you can
move in to a dormitory room, where you
will share a room with 4 to 6 people.
back
Q.I
am a Japanese. Can I rent a room ?
A.We
are an agent exclusively for foreign people,
but Japanese people who have foreign nationality
(ex. "double nationality" or "
nisei""nikkei"
people) are welcome too.
back
Q.My friend is coming to Tokyo. Can I let her/him stay at my room?
A.Yes,
you can. Guest fee is required to be paid in
advance (2,000 yen per night/person)
back
Q.Where should I go to pick up the key on the day to move-in?
A.On
your move-in date, resident must visit our head
office to pick up the key. Please bring your
original passport.
back
Q.I am under 20 years old. Can I rent a room?
A.Yes, but if you are 18 or 19 years old, we require your garantor's conscent.
back
Q.I am a smoker. Can I smoke in the room?
A. For safety reasons, we ask you not to smoke inside your room. However, please feel free to use the designated smoking areas at your leisure.
back