Hina Matsuri ? – Celebration for girls!

March 3rd is one of the many special days in Japanese culture.
Unlike the other national holidays, this is a special day to celebrate girlhood <3

 

How is it celebrated then?

 

「ひな祭り」の画像検索結果

 

Well, every girl has her own set of dolls called “Hina Ningyou (雛人形)”.
Her family will arrange the doll set around March 3rd, and wish for the happy marriage in their daughter’s future.

 

Every doll set will have at least 2 dolls – “Odairi-sama” and “Ohina-sama” – the prince and the princess!
The doll set can get larger and larger depending on how much money you can spare at the birth of your daughter, but especially in a city like Tokyo it is more of a spacing issue lol

「ひな祭り」の画像検索結果

 

So if you grew up in an urban apartment flat or the “Japanese mansion” flat, there’s absolutely no shame in having just the prince and princess, or perhaps just a couple more groups of servants or musicians.

「雛人形」の画像検索結果

 

In our Global Division office in Shinagawa, we are celebrating with a very simple set of just the prince and princess – BUT IN DISNEY STYLE!!!
(it’s really important as we have few girls who are not married yet…lol)

 

Pop in to our shop, even just to say hi to us or to Prince Micky and Princess Minnie 🙂

 

Written by Otoha

Japanese business manner ②Nomikai rule

When we have company Nomikai, a business drinking party, there is a rule on which seat to take.
 
The basic rule is,
 
・A person in a highest position of the group, ① takes the seat further away from the entrance.

・A person in a lowest position of the group, ⑧takes the seats closest to the entrance.
 


The reason is,
 
When in the position closest to the entrance, it is easy to make order and serve out all the drinks and foods for the group.
This means he/she will be the busiest person in the group.
In Japan, commonly speaking, the person in a lowest position works harder on this kinds of trival duties or tasks for higher person, so she/he should take the busiest position!
 
Enjoy your Nomikai in a proper way :))
 

Japanese business manner ① Elevator

We have rules everywhere in Japan.
 
How to bow, how to exchange the business card, how to dress,,,etc.
 
Today, it is about how to ride an elevator…

To be more specific, it is not the way, but where to stand, in the elevator when you are not alone.
 
See this picture below.
 

 
This shows where to stand, depending on which position you are among the members in the elevator.
 
①→ highest  
②→2nd highest　 
③→2nd lowest　 
④→lowest  
 

The lowest person should stand in front of a console to use it for other members(push the floor button and keep the door open when other members are getting off).

 

Don’t let the highest person to do it, it is considered very rude,, !!

 

It sounds like a tiny rule, but behaving with these tiny rules will bring you so much advantage to live in Japan.

 

Top 3 good service agents for this year.

We won a prize as good customer service agent for foreigners in Japan!
realestate.co.jp, made a survay on foreign customers, and we were chosen as Top 3 good service agent for this year.
 
Thank you very much 🙂
 
We’ll keep on trying to make our customers happy
as much as possible through the provision of good service and apartment!
 

 

 

How to read Japanese room layout?

When you look at a Japanese room layout, it must be a bit difficult to understand what means what.
 
This time I am going to explain how to read it when you actually search an apartment!
 
This is one of the apartment information sheets, as an example.
 

 
On the right side you see the images, and this is the room lay out I am going use this time.
 

 
This is a one studio type room lay out image, and what it is showing are,,,
 

 
To give you more specific images,, these are the pictures for each

Kitchen
 

Bath tube and shower
 

WC
 

Wash stand
 

Washing machine place
 
These are what it is showing and it will make your room hunt easier to have this knowledge before you start! 🙂
 
We are always willing to explain thse details, ask us freely if you have any question!

The Golden rule in Tokyo

When you are new to Japan, there might be lots of things you will be surprised about Japanese behavior.
But the golden rule is, not to disturb others. THAT’S IT!
 
I am Japanese raised up by Japanese parents and grew up in Tokyo,
and this golden rule “don’t disturb others” had been taught everywhere.
From my parents, kindergarten teachers, elementary school teachers, and else,
I’ve heard a lot of times that they say “you can do whatever you want to, as long as you do not disturb others”.

 
The rules based on that golden rule are, for example,
 

To Walk the right side while walking
No smoking while walking
To Wait till ppl get off the train before you get in
No talking on the phone while you are in a train….. etc.
 

You can see that all these kind of (hidden) rules are basically from the idea “don’t disturb others”.
 
When you can’t judge if you are doing right or not, remember this golden rule and enjoy Tokyo! 🙂

Hanko vending machine? The easiest step to get your own Hanko!

Hanko, a stamp is a wooden stick with your name on it and it is  a Japanese traditional way of showing your agreement.

It is used as a signature mainly for the official documents.

The most major way to make it is to go to hanko shop and ask the craft man to make it,
but rescently there is  “stamp vending machine”, which looks easier and cheaper way.

It has different colors and sizes you can choose, and you can customize the style.

And, in 10 to 15 minuits, you have your own stamp with your name!

Many of the Donki branches have this vending machine!

One of them near us is this Nakameguro branch.

http://www.donki.com/store/shop_detail.php?shop_id=208

If you are intersted in, or need to make hanko, this mght be the good first experience to have it ! 🙂

 

 

 

(Source: http://www.hankojihanki.jp/)

Why Japanese sleep on the floor?

Although most of Japanese people use bed to sleep,
it is still common to sleep on the floor for Japanese.
Why is it??

There is no exact answer, but these are what I think are true!

1. Tatami mat
2. Shoes matter
3. Space problem

1. Tatami mat

Tatami mat is the traditional Japanese floor made of rice grass,
Which is soft and cozy to sleep on.
It use to be a major type of floor in Japan and the size of the room is measured by the number of tatami mats.
For example 6 tatami mats are the most common single bed room size in Japan.

2. Shoes matter

It might be also because of tatami mat, Japanese traditionally take off their shoes when they get into the house.
Tatami mat is soft and easy to be damaged, they do not wear shoes on tatami.
Therefore, the floor is treated as clean enough to put Futon and sleep on.

3. Space problem

Because it can be folded into two or three and put away to the storage, Futon was a space-saving way of using small space.
The room can be used as a study or dining room during a daytime, and a bed room during a night time.

These are what I(Japanese) think are the understandable reason for why Japanese use floor to sleep on.

If you are in Japan, try this traditional way and see how it fits you 🙂

Considering to buy, hold or sell property?

When you plan to buy, sell, or hold property in Tokyo,
you should give a thought about renovating it.
 
When you buy, you can buy an old and cheap apartment and renovate it by yourself.
 
When you hold and have a hard time to find a tenant, you can renovate it to make it easier to find one.
 
When you sell, of course, you can renovate it to maximize the value of it.
 
Renovation is only one of the many solutions we have, and it is not always the best solution,
but it is true that you can make a good use of it 🙂
 
Ask us if you are wondering what to do with your property.
 
We, the real estate consulting team will judge what benefit you the most.