History of Aki's Roomies and my best friends!

Aki from Yokohama, Japan

Hi! I'm Aki, a caretaker of this apartment. (*^-^*)

I used to live with roommates at another apartment near to Yokohama sta until 2006. But it was little bit small and far from the station, so I sold it out and bought a nearer and bigger one in order to enrich our life with you! The new flat has been constructed in Mar 2007.

About the room sharing life, we have no house rules. It means not crazy going or don't care about other parties. All residents including me(maybe...) respect and help for friends what residents can do such as keeping the shared places tidy or cooking each country's foods sometimes etc... Love from home!

I learnt lots of things through living with them and had happy funny days! ;) So I'm looking for girls room mates again. Why don't you join us? =)

As my refferences, I would like to introduce Soma and Yuki. We haven't lived with together but they are my close friends. =)

And roomies at the previous apartment I lived with, best friends Minna, Glady, Bex, Jenny and Yanshan, gave comments how their life was.

As for comments at the new apartment, please see below!

Please read through their honest(?) words as below! I am ashamed myself about some parts of the messages anyway....

If you would be interested in my place, please feel free to contact Aki!

Have fun!
Aki

My Refferences

TOP↑

Yuki from Tokyo, Japan

Hi! My name is Yuki. Here is a little note from me...

Since I was an exchange student myself when I was 18 years old, I can imagine how you are feeling right now. Finding a comfortable home in a foreign country (especially, the country you are never visited) could be a very stressful task. But no worry, my friend, you have reached to the right place to find your new home in Japan.

In terms of the facility, Aki's flat is the place I myself would like to live in; it is very close to Yokohama station (one of the major stations within Kanto area), fully furnished with nice furniture, stylish and sophisticated, new, clean, roomy...etc. Indeed, I can easily write few more pages about "hoow nice the room is", or "how convenient the room is located", but my intention here is to let you know what kind of person Aki is.

I've know Aki for over four years now. We are become friends simply because my colleague from Singapore was living with Aki back then, and I was invited to several parties like "Fire-works party", "Christmas party", and so on. The best thing about Aki is that she is very fair and down-to-earth girl. She does not care about one's race, age, educational background, wealth, job, or anything that some people might use to judge other people. As long as you respect the common agreements (like do your own dishes, or do your own laundries, or smoke outside if you are a smoker... just simple rules) within her flat, she will accept just the way you are as if you are her long lost sister or best friend. Either you are an out-going person who enjoy to do new things and meet new people, or you are a rather quiet person who enjoy your own space and privacy, you will have no problem living with Aki. I've met many of her flat mates in last four years, and they are all different types of people. It seems that everybody was getting along with Aki regardless of their personalities and preferences. Needless to mention, she is very open-minded and curious to other cultures, so you are very welcome to introduce your home-country food or events/festivals. In return, she is more than happy to let you experience Japanese culture too. (I saw many of her flat mates wearing Kimono for some occasions.)

Furthermore, she is very sweet and keen to other people's feeling, so living with her means that you always have someone who care about you. If you experience "home-sick" or face some difficulties, you can talk with Aki.

The time you spend in Japan is limited, so I recommend you to maximize this opportunity. You can experience a real Japanese lifestyle at the flat where many of Japanese (including myself) hope to live in with the best roommate you can find in Japan.

I hope you decide to stay at Aki's place, and enjoy your life in Japan.

Yuki

TOP↑

Soma from Delhi, India

My name is Ms. Soma Chanda and I am a Indian. I first met Aki in Office party. We used to go to Ikebana ( Japanese style of flower arrangement) together.We are very good friends.

As a friend, Aki is a standout. She is a loyal, honest, considerate, and supportive individual who has the ability to see and understand things from another person's perspective. She is a great direct communicator and knows how to raise and discuss common living issues and problems . She is hyper-sensitive and is always tuned into how another person might "feel" in a given situation. She likes to have fun too. One thing which I don't like about her is , she smokes a lot. But she never smokes in front of me, as I don't like smoking. She respect other's feeling very much.

I think Aki is a great choice as flatmate. She is very neat and tidy at all times and she likes things in the apartment to be kept orderly. She socialized occasionally at home but was always respectful of every needs and very helpful too.

To tell the truth, I really can't think of anything of consequence on the negative side of the personality ledger when it comes to Aki. All in all, I would have to say that Aki is a fine, well-balanced person with an abundance of positive qualities.

Sincerely,
Soma Chanda

TOP↑

Roomies at the current apt from 2007

TOP↑

Nikki from US

Now staying...

Katy from Maryland, US

** Aki's Place **

I've been staying at Aki's place for almost ten months now, and it's been an incredibly good experience. First off, the apartment is gorgeous and the facilities (including a party room for rent, a fitness center, and a beautiful shared lounge on the first floor) are amazing. The proximity to Yokohama Station makes it very easy to get around as well, as almost all of the trains that you could possibly need make stops there. And on top of all of that, Aki is a great roommate! When I first arrived, she took an entire day to pick me up at the station, show me around the area, and even make me dinner at the end of the day. I had a problem with my computer from the start, and Aki did all that she could to help me get it solved, from making phonecalls to backing up all of my data on her own equipment when I sent my machine away for service.

I'm a student at the Inter-University Center in Yokohama, and so would be home most days by about five. Aki tends to work late, so (depending on the schedule of our third roommate) this usually meant that I had the apartment to myself for a few hours to cook dinner and study, which worked out great. However, it's also been very nice and comforting to share the place with two other people at night, and, of course, to occasionally hang out and chat.

Aki has a wonderfully equipped apartment that made it very easy to transition to life in Japan, without having to worry about stocking up on kitchen items, linens, etc. And besides all that, Aki really cares, and keeps an incredibly neat and comfortable place. I highly recommend it here!

Roomies at the previous apt until 2006

TOP↑

Glady from Philippines

Testimonial for Aki

-The Apartment-

It is the best apartment I have ever lived in. Cozy, spacious, beautiful, organized and well equipped. It is sound-proof too. I remember once we had a party in the place, played loud music and danced. I was worried the noise might disturb our neighbor so I went out to check and was thankful that not even a single voice from inside could be heard. In the living room, there was a bunkbed in which I stayed. From there, you can have a nice view of Yokohama bay. I miss the times in which I woke up early morning to witness the sunrise. It was always a pleasant view to start my day!

-The Location-

The place was safe and convenient. Everything you need can be found nearby (train station, mall, convenience store, post office etc). One might think it's noisy place as it is in the center of Yokohama City, always a crowded place, so many stores etc, but once you get to the apartment, you will feel a countryside atmosphere. Quiet and secured.

-Aki-

I stayed in Aki's place for 10 months. At first I was worrying how will things turn out as it was my first time to live with a non-Filipino person. However, on my very first day in the apartment I felt relieved for her warm welcome. In her, I found not only a roommate but a friend. She is a kind, considerate and thoughtful person. She takes good care of the tenants, making sure everybody feels comfortable and giving them enough privacy. Although we were both busy with our work most of the time, we shared good times together watching tv, talking, going to disco and partying at the apartment.

I feel so lucky to have been a part of the roomsharing with Minna, Bex and Aki. Although Aki is now living in a new apartment, I believe it is as good or even better than the one we all lived in, not only because of the apartment but also because of the warm person Aki is. So if ever anybody is interested to live in her new apartment, I guarantee you'll never regret your stay with her.

Thank you so much Aki!

Glady

TOP↑

Minna from Helsinki, Finland

My four months in Tokyo really seemed to pass so quickly but it was very interesting and memorable time. Every day gave some new sights and things to discover. Getting to know Japanese people was the most rewarding and I got many good friends. Japanese are very much interested in Nordic countries and we had many good conversations and cultural exchange. Moving from different kind of cultural environment to another is never simple but people's friendliness can help a lot. Japanese people are very helpful and sensitive and they always made me feel welcome.

Living in Yokohama suited me fine as my university was located in the western Tokyo and within the easy reach via Yokohama Line. Yokohama has many places to visit, my favourite was the Rinko Park which is within the walking distance from the apartment. You can always get to Tokyo very quickly too, it's only 30 minutes to Shibuya, for example. The apartment itself is convenient, even those earthquakes didn't scare me so much because I knew that the building is new and safe.

Having Aki and Glady as my room mates made living comfortable. They worked late but we still had time to sit down and have talks together. Helping each other in a way or another makes the living easy and having nice room mates gives you many memorable moments. I'm glad I had a chance to share the apartment with them!

Minna

TOP↑

Rebecca from Manchester, UK

Living at Aki's was great, the location is amazing...I managed to power walk to Yokohama station (where you can get trains to pretty much anywhere in Japan) in 4 1/2minutes once. The area seems to be very safe and I had no trouble at all coming home from work at midnight, there are always a lot of people around. This was my major concern, but I think Japan is generally a much safer country than England.

Aki's apartment is fabulous, very spacious and suprisingly silent and the view is spectacular. Sleeping in the living room was a little unusual but as I was on a tight budget this suited me fine, and Aki was out most of the time so I had the place to myself quite a lot.

For anyone else working at RIKEN and wanting to stay with Aki, this is a good option and the commute (~45minutes) becomes bearable almost straight away (bring a good book and some music!).

And finally, to Aki herself...Japanese and English cultures are very different and I was apprehensive about how we would get on living together, but I learnt by living with Aki that Japanese people are extremely kind and sensitive and spend a lot of time thinking about other people's needs. I learnt a lot from Aki about Japanese culture, and am especially grateful to her for introducing me to her family and for being my guide/travel agent/translator/finding vegetarian food for me, throughout my stay :-)

Japan is an amazing country and I hope you enjoy your stay with Aki as much as I did.

Bex :-)

TOP↑

Jenny from Sandiego, US

Living with Akico and YanShan was great and exceeded all my expectations. Both of them are really nice and we never had a problem. All of us lived busy lives but yet we were able to hang out on occasions. Sleeping in the living room wasn't so bad either. Actually, to be honest, I miss it. There is a bunkbed with desk at the bottom, so I was able to sleep comfortably and have an organized space for my clothes and miscellaneous stuff. For a short term stay, you really don't need all that much.

As far as privacy issues are concerned. I'm a private person and did not have any issues. I think they really respected my space.

Location wise, it's a good area and only a 15 min walk to Yokohama Station. Which is also a good major station to be nearby since there are plenty of train lines that stop at this station making it really easy to get around.

All in all, I would recommend short term stays here. I've stayed with these people for about 2 months. Please be nice and courteous to them as they were VERY nice to me and I would hate to have bad tenents passing through on behalf of my recommendation.

If you have more questions, please ask Akico for my email address.

TOP↑