Apartment prices in Japan (or at least in Tokyo) are not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of getting used to, and I am not quite there yet. Especially the initial cost of moving in is staggering. You will have to put up with a deposit worth two or three months (refundable only in theory), one month agency fee, one month key money and one month gift money (to show your gratitude to the owner for letting you live in his house).

An alternative are government-owned apartments. Erected with tax money, these apartments are assigned to people who apply for them in a kind of lottery (with some social considerations modifying the odds). This eliminates the expensive agency system. In addition to that, the government calculates a more moderate profit margin.

Yesterday, we visited a couple of model rooms at the brand new Shinagawa Seaside View Tower. The building is very modern, very close to the station (almost on top of it actually), and offers a great view not only from the gorgeous 30th floor apartments. Although a bit more pricey than the current Nippori place, the rates are not quite out of reach and seem reasonable (the previous statement proves a lot of getting used to on my part, I would not have thought such a thing a year ago).

So are we planning to move in the near future? Not really. But we will most likely not renew our current contract (which expires next year and would require an additional one month rent to extend). The current strategy is to apply and lose ten times, which results in a special bonus chance for the eleventh draw. Accordingly, we applied for one apartment at the Seaside View Tower and one more at the nearby J-Tower Nishi-Ohi.

One more thing: You have to take off your shoes when visiting private residences (and some restaurants) in Japan. It is therefore a good idea to go laceless when hopping from model room to model room. Saves a lot of time. Or rather, it would have ...