Last weekend, Eiko and I have finally moved out for a new
apartment that we found just about 5 minutes walk from where we lived
before!
The search was not easy as we were already quite busy with preparing everything for the wedding and for the honeymoon, but we wanted to move out for a better place anyway.
Plus, if we had stayed one more month in the old apartment, we would have had to pay the renewal fee.
If you're not too familiar with this concept, you have to know that Japan's society is still very feudal in many ways, especially when it comes to renting apartments.
On top of the deposit, which I think is quite common in most countries, the
applicant for an apartment should pay what is called a "key money"
(礼金), which is merely money you will never see again.
Some sort of gift to the landlord (note how the term totally fits in this
medieval context) to thank him to let you stay.
Yeah right, apart from the fact that the amount of the "gift" is actually
set by the landlord and not by yourself...
Usually, it's about 2 to 4 months of rent...
Finally, every two years, you are compelled to pay a renewal fee (usually the equivalent of one month of rent), which is supposed to pay for the damage you may have caused for the last two years (regardless of how damaged the apartment actually is).
Obviously, this is just another way to say "thank you, o Landlord for letting the miserable vermin that I am stay a little more!"
Anyway, as we didn't want to pay this renewal fee, we visited a bunch of apartments and found the good one the day before we left for Bora Bora.
We quickly initiated the procedure and prayed for the landlord to consider
our application.
Fortunately, when we returned, everything was almost set and we were good to
go!
The place is actually about the same size as the previous one, in the same district (we wanted to stay in this very pleasant area), but it's just more quiet and brighter, as it's facing South.
Pitou likes it a lot too, as she found her spot right away: next to the window, watching people go by (we're on the second floor).
We're still in the process of unpacking and when I see the mountains of boxes, I actually wonder how everything can fit in the closets but somehow it does (so far!).
Oh yeah, one more thing: the apartment came with some LAN plug to provide
instant Internet access, so I didn't even have to bother asking a new ADSL
connection and wait for 3 weeks to get an answer.
On top of that, it seems even faster than the connection I had in the previous
apartment!
I guess the service is just not the same as in France, if you compare my experience to Bruno's!
