New recruits accomodation survey, Japan Living

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In a year of economic downturn, this years group of university graduates looking for a job must be finding things very tough.

Companies seem to be busy cutting jobs rather than hiring new new staff so the graduate pool have to find ways to save money in difficult times.

A survey by the Real Estate Information portal site called “HOME’S” looks at the type of accommodation new recruits are looking for.

On average the survey show that those new recruits who are planing to move away from home and start living by themselves for the first time, from April, will generally be looking for a 1K apartment. 1K means one room with a separate kitchen included. The kitchen will probably be in the corridor near the front door. Typically a 1K apartment may be about 8 mats (８畳) about 13 sq. meters.

The survey shows that 50% of new recruits will look for this type of room at a cost of about YEN 50,000 – 70,000. The survey doesn’t cover this point, but I imagine they will have to travel between 30 minutes to 1 hour to get to work.

A further 18.8% will look for a 1DK apartment, 1 room with separate Dining and Kitchen area. This will be slightly bigger than the 1K but not much. 16% will look for a 1Room apartment which will be about 6 mats (６畳) or approx. 10 sq. meters.

The size for sq. meters are not exact due to the differing way Japanese measure their tatami mats, which has been the traditional way of determining size of room. The mats are not uniform in size throughout the country or with manufacturers. The proportion used to be in an even 1:2 ratio, but more recently with architectural design changes the following types of mats have gained popularity:

The Danchima has been used widely as a mat size.

Here is a typical diagram of a Japanese apartment layout.

2DK apartment in Japan (2 rooms + DK) — 2DK apartment in Japan 2 rooms + DK

Thanks to World Fudosan for this explanation http://www.world-ss.com/blog/

The survey reveals a ranking of the average monthly rental expected to be paid based on the job type as follows:

Not surprising to see the finance industry outside of the top 3.

A final note from the survey is that of the main things people want to do when they rent their first apartment, the number 1 item was to get my own furniture while the number 2 and 3 spots went to invite friends over and invite girlfriend/boyfriend over.