Realize the dual life, the trend life style of 2019

Recruit Holdings Inc., a mega firm in business of lifestyles, has announced that “dual life” is expected to be one of the trends in 2019. “Dual life”, by definition, is a lifestyle with people working in big cities on weekdays and spending in suburbs on weekends surrounded by nature. This kind of life is thought to be for rich people, but with share houses and services like Airbnb emerging, it’s becoming more and more familiar. Today, we will introduce you a share house great for starting dual life and enriching your weekends!

Heart Terrace Kanazawa-Hakkei newly started its’ business in October 2018. Despite of wide range and affordable rent, it is located near the beach. This enables you to surf on weekends. In addition, there are various leisure facilities such as Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Ksanazawa Nature Park and Zoo, and Mitsui Outlet Park nearby.

Only 8 minutes walk from Kanazawa-Hakkei station, and you can easily access to famous towns such as Minatomirai and Motomachi Chinatown. Also, it only takes 40 minutes to get to Haneda airport. It is highly convenient for those commuting to Kanagawa prefecture. Wood deck set at the roof top balcony will be useful when enjoying barbeques or watching fireworks with your share mates. Around the house are supermarket, shrine, and elementary schools. You can expect good public security.

Not sophisticated but clean and calm atmosphere sure will make you feel relaxed. Of course, it is ideal not only for dual life purpose but as your one and only home. We will now introduce you the fine facilities of Heart Terrace Kanazawa-Hakkei.

Adorable Kawara (Japanese traditional material used for roofs) designed entrance

From Kanazawa-Hakkei station of Keikyu line to the house is about 10 minutes walk. The color combination of orange and black brings out the Asian spirit. Unique choice of colors makes the house look stylish.

Start a new day with pleasant sunlight pouring into the living room.

Big window at the back of the living room provides ample of sunlight to the breakfast table. Let yourself into the pouring sunlight and start a new day nice and fresh. You can always expand the room by opening the sliding door. At dinner time, relax and enjoy chit-chatting with share mates.

Cook any dishes you like with fully equipped kitchen）

Yakitori, Ramen, Bals… Although there are enough variety of restaurants near Kanazawa-Hakkei station, it’s pretty nice to try cooking on weekends. Spacious and fully equipped kitchen is great for cooking with your share mates and being taught of recommended recipes.

Simple but stylish. Private room with enough space

Only JPY 30000 for 16.15㎡ room! Even more, a desk, chair, and closet is equipped in advance. The share house is both women and men friendly but no need to worry about laundries. There is washing pole in every room so that you can dry out your clothes without being seen by the opposite sex.

Say hello to the new you at new flat.

“How about going to cooking classes?”, “Wait, should I first work out at a gym?”, “Or maybe, try piano lessons”, “Hmm…Always wanted to go take English classes”. These ideas may come to your mind, but it is not easy to actually take an action. Even when you do so, it’ pretty hard to keep up the new habit. Then, what can we do? Not realistic proposal to just take a leap and go abroad to study English, is it? When you’re out of option, please consider moving into a share house.

Share houses today are quiet fascinating, with fulfilling facilities you would never imagine with singular living. It attracts various types of residents which makes your life even more stimulating. You can even expect meeting someone with expertise you’re willing to learn, or someone to share interests with. If so, wouldn’t it be fun to continue new challenges? The share house I’m introducing to you today is called “Share Residence MUSACO”, with accommodation of 65 people. It is the latest work of Share Design Inc., the company running over 20 share houses in the cities around Tokyo.

Share Residence MUSACO is 10 minutes’ walk from the nearest station called Musashi-Nakahara of JR Nambu line. Next to it is Musashi-Kosugi station, a door way to the crowded redeveloping city. Changing lines there, it only takes 20 minutes to Shibuya and 32 minutes to Shinjuku. Very convenient to access to the cities in Tokyo. Before explaining the house, let’s take a look at the surrounding environment!

Pleasant sunlight and ventilation. Main living room connecting inside and outside.

Big window from the floor to the ceiling is giving spaciousness to the room. Outside the window, you will find wooden floor terrace. Feel free to enjoy relaxing at the terrace on sunny days. At night, sit inside and share excitement with your house mates watching World cup or Olympic games! The living room creates lots of connections and memories among residents.

Kitchen with professional equipments.

Kitchen room next to the lounge is quiet professional. Great environment for cooking lovers. Share houses ran by Share Designs Inc. throws parties and events regularly. It is highly convenient to cook together with your share mates on those occasions with wide table and enough space to move around.

No excuses to make! Keep fit with latest exercising machines.

You haven’t seen everything yet. Don’t be surprise to find more great facilities the Share Residence MUSACO have. At one side of the lounge, treadmill, cross trainer, and a machine which seems like a fitness bike is equipped. Once you start, you can never go back since the eyes of the other residents. Seeing other share mates working out will definitely motivates you to keep up the good work.

Window to connect Japan and the world, Kizunaya

In relation to Japan’s impressive progress to globalization, people’s demand to acquire international skills or connections is becoming higher. I myself have been aware of the desire to speak English, to at least communicate with foreigners easily. Some of them might even consider going abroad to gain opportunity to make connections with people outside the country.

However, going overseas to study or taking classes at English school takes time and energy that makes it uneasy for people to achieve or continue. Wouldn’t it be great if you could take parts in international community without going abroad?

Share house that makes your wish come true was opened in September 2017. It is the house we are going to introduce to you today, “Kizunaya –Global HUB-” which stands in Makuhari Hongou, city in Chiba prefecture. The house with the concept of “Connecting Japan and the world” has unique rules. Some resident areas are designated to speak only English and some with multiple languages. You can choose the environment according to your English level. The house embraces 50 people and has various types of rooms with theme of different countries. Let’s take a look.

Brand new Concept

Turukawa, located in Kawasaki-city, Kanagawa prefecture is a peaceful and quiet residential district surrounded by nature near the Odakyu line. You can’t expect stylishness here, but because of the location, you can enjoy the extraordinary life of yours away from the city.

The share house we introduce today is a designer’s house standing by the river located at 9 minutes walk from Tsurukawa station of Odakyu Odawara line. White and black walls made with Galvalume has totally different atmosphere from other properties. Entering inside is a patio that brings openness to the scene. There, you can enjoy growing vegetables in the planter space. You can also find professional stone oven for the pizza. As you can see in the picture, the house is designed to harmonize with nature.

Chez toi Tsurukawa was newly built exclusively as a share house and re-opened in July with a new concept. The new concept is “International relations”. It’s quiet different from the common features like “We gather people from various nations”or “The official language here is English” seen in these kind of share house advertisement that emphasizes on international communication. Details will be explained afterwards!
First, let me show you the designs of the building.

Newly built unique designer’s house

After 9 minutes walk from the Tsurukawa station, there stands Chez toi Tsurukawa in the calm and peaceful residential area. Galvalume steel sheet, which is a metallic material, surrounds the house that gives stylish impression of the house.

Harmonizing with nature. Living floor with open ceiling.

First opening the door, you will see the LDK sharing space. As you can see, the wall is covered with windows that enable serving enough lights naturally. Pay attention to the floor and you may notice that it is covered with stones same as the ones in the patio. Share space is basically spent with shoes on. This has effect on integrating outside and inside. It is quiet different way of thinking from Japan’s separating outside and inside by taking shoes off at the doorway.

Both I-shaped and island type kitchen are available!

The main island type kitchen with counter is found near the entrance. You can freely move around the kitchen that enables multiple of people to use at the same time. In addition, you may not see in the picture, but there is I-shaped kitchen set along the wall on the further space behind the dining table. Use wisely and you can avoid congestion during cooking time.

Daily life should be simple and functional.

The room of yours should be customized as you like for comfortable daily life. Each room has a slight difference in their sizes (including closets) and shapes. Choose one of your favorites before it’s too late!

What is a life like here at the “International Share house” Chez toi Tsurukawa?

This concept itself is a popular one that many other share houses adopt. The question is what is the difference of this house compared to others? We asked the operator about the details of adopting the concept and policies to be applied here. (Comments of the operator is below)

~Details of adopting the concept~

I have been planning on running a share house business with a theme of International relations for a long time. Since there’s a lot of similar share house at the market, I was searching for an answer for the suitable and brimful characteristic style for my very own share house. That’s when I met managers who are exercising business in South East Asia and had opportunity to ask about them of needs when they visit Japan.

Most foreigners who just arrived to Japan cannot afford 50,000-60,000 JPY for rent so they only can choose to stay at the crowded sharing apartments (hostels). Moreover, although they can find jobs that doesn’t require Japanese ability, it also means that they are loosing the chance to learn.

I came to think that it would be great if there were share houses where people like them can learn both Japanese and our culture by interacting with Japanese residents. It is reversal thinking from the most of the share houses that adopt “International relation” for their concept. Therefore, we basically request all the foreigners to speak Japanese in the house.

~Actions to be exercised in the house~

We plan to adjust the ratio of the foreign residence to 40-50%.  For those from other countries, we consider providing Japanese class 1 hour a week.

We have tie-up with retailer providing Japanese lessons towards foreigners, so residents here have opportunity to take classes from the professionals. Lesson is conducted by using web-camera set to living room’s television. The contents are planed to be fun and not too serious like script or work style. We would like to introduce cultural aspects of our daily life that is not taught in ordinary Japanese education system. Then you can expect Japanese people to be surprised how well you know about our culture!

 A chance to develop new habits

Spring is close by, and as it begins to warm up you can be sure that there are those saying ‘this is the year!’ as they dive into their new goals. Maybe they’ve joined a new sport, or maybe started a new diet? Well, there’s a sharehouse out there with an environment made just for getting you off the couch and moving.

The property is located in Kanagawa prefecture, Aoba ward’s Aobadai. While also a commuter town right next to the big city, it has a relaxing, impressionable atmosphere. The tree-lined streets are beautiful as well. We’d like to introduce a sharehouse that sits about ten minutes away from Aobadai station: ‘Share-residence Aobadai’. 

This is a sharehouse based on the concept of training for triathlons. The main lounge houses two types of training machine bikes, and you can even take lessons from a running coach to support your road to a triathlon. Well, not everybody is going to be that serious about their training for triathlons (haha). If, “I want to diet and get up and move!” is your goal, then this sharehouse is just right for you! 

And with that, let’s introduce the house!

Challenge the World’s Cyclists with the newest item popular overseas!

You have the opportunity to train with the ‘ZWIFT’, a road bike that’s currently really popular overseas. When you actually try out the bike, you’ll see that an avatar on the display screen that, from the training room, makes it feel like your cycling outside in the real world. Distance and speed are, of course, monitored on the screen as well, and internet connection allows you to race other ZWIST players online in real time. Technology like this could be really useful in snowy regions where outdoor racing is difficult.

Cycling exercises to music!

It’s common knowledge that the New York based cycling exercises have found their way to inner-cities and even studios in recent years, but in this day in age who could have imagined it being accessible at home… “I don’t feel like going all the way to the gym!” Is now no longer an excuse! (haha)

A calming and warm wooden living room

From the floors to the wall and even the furniture, the living room mainly utilizes wooden material, giving off a warm atmosphere. While some may feel that the living room is too small to fit 92 people, the reality is everybody has their own lifestyles and schedules, so it’s very uncommon for the living room to be filled to the brim.

Share the happiness in this luxurious house!

In recent years Tama Plaza has been in the spotlight as being a hot date location. The large scale shopping mall was constructed as part of the train station redevelopment, and is home to many stylish cafes and restaurants. Walk away from the station and you will find the quiet, tree-lined streets of the residential area. This particular area was modeled after the garden suburbs in London, its large residences and open spaces working in harmony to create a townscape that wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood movie.

The location has great public transport access and Shibuya can be reached in 20 minutes without changing trains on the Denentoshi line. The building itself was formerly a newspaper company on the 1F with a company dormitory above. It has now been renovated into 65-room large scale sharehouse, and the look of the intentionally rough interior is very different from its exterior. At first glance it seems like the kind of house that would appeal to men, but upon closer inspection one finds its European touches and floral arrangements to create a unique elegance.

What’s more, the house is filled with all kinds of ‘toys’ and facilities for the mature adult to play with. Residents of this house discover a belonging here and thrive in the excitement it offers.

If you want to know what I’m talking about, read on!

The center of culture of New Kamakura

Now “Kamakura “  is the sightseeing city both Japanese and foreign people love and 23 million people visit each year.
This town which built one generation and is filled with hisitorical atomosphere has many shirines and temples which remains the mood of that days and Shonan sea where many people enjoy gathering  in summer.
Also, the sharehouse we introduce this time is situated in the middle of the tourist resort in Kamakura.
The house is 5 minute walk from “Hase “station on Enoden line famous for Hasedera which is filled with bigleaf hydrangea in rainy season.

You can go to the beach in 5 to 6 minutes on foot. There is Amanawashinmeimiya, the oldest shrine in Kamakura, next to it.
The God enshrined in the shrine is Amaterasuomikami. At the bottom of the stone stairs, there is a “well where Tokimune Hojo was bathed when he was born”. At high place where building of the shrine is located, you can have a bird’s eye view of Yuigahama and Hase.
Across the shrine is a house where Yasunari Kawabata who received Nobel Prize had lived.
This Amanawashinmeimiya is a shrine that appears in part of his novel “Yamanooto”.
You can feel history and culture of Kamakura deeply here.

The building used as a sharehouse this time is an old and large house that had been build for more than 80 years ago. It was revived as a new house by taking over the history after the large renovation. The residential part only has been completed so far. However, it will open as the cafe space. It provides a place where the tenants feel relaxed. It is the sharehouse that is focused on in this autumn we expect greatly as a place where the new Kamakura culture is issued. Let’s see in the house now!