This is a lot of money at my feet...

I had to hand it over to my new landlady yesterday and it hurt, even though it is money very well spent. It's also nowhere near what many of my friends have paid over to move into a new place in Tokyo.

This post is a blatant plug for the wonderful Tokyo rental agency who has made my most recent housing adventure such a damn easy pleasure. The Tokyo Housing Bureau is a small Tokyo company run by a lovely guy named Shunji Watanabe and his partner. He is completely fluent in English (having studied in the US) and very experienced in the peculiar business of finding housing for foreigners in Tokyo. His clients all specifically want foreign tenants, there is absolutely NO key money involved, he happily negotiated for a smaller (refundable) deposit for me, all the contracts and paperwork are translated into English, he translates at all the meetings and helps you get your utilities accounts all set up. And, on top of all that, he's a lovely man.

When I told him I was gonna give him a big plug, he asked me to try to push the spacious Ichigaya 1LDK apartment he has had on the his books for too long now - he is feeling sorry for the owner and it's a really nice place. So if you are looking for a nice new rental apartment in central Tokyo, please check out Watanabe-san's website. Tell him Martine sent you.

Details:
Tokyo Housing Bureau
E-mail: info@tokyohousingbureau.co.jp
Ph: 03-3501-2496, Fx: 03-3501-2490
(International callers should dial 81 instead of the first 0)