Having landed Monday evening, this weekend was allocated as the beginning of Operation Semi-permanent Housing.

I’d already spoken with colleagues and read to try to narrow down some suitable areas. It’s necessary for me to not search too wide when new to a city of this size otherwise I’d be looking for a very long time. My preference is to find something fairly quickly since having my own place, my things around me and a fairly normal routine again helps to fast-track settling in.

I’m then free to meet people and go skiing.

I contacted a recommended real estate agency through completing their online questionnaire. My requests were fairly simple – pet-friendly, near a park and has a balcony. The rest is fairly standard as long as it can fit my bed.

Demonstrating the customer service which Japan is renowned, I had a phone call roughly 10 minutes after hitting ‘enter’. The call ended with a promise to send me some properties and a meeting arranged for Saturday.

Saturday arrived and I was collected in a black car with a driver and my agent. We introduced ourselves, she bowed  and gave me a folder. It contained, in order, write-ups on the eight properties we would be viewing complete with a coloured map with the  location of each property and my office clearly marked. Each write-up consisted of floor plans, some photos, proximity to the nearby train lines plus the usual things like size, age and number of bedrooms.

As we drove through Tokyo, she chatted to me about each of the areas we were passing through and why they were popular.

Arriving at the first property, we walked into the entrance area, removed our shoes and she gave me a pair of slippers from her handbag to wear.

The place was immaculate.

All the places were immaculate. One even had signs on the floor and over the toilet advising they were newly cleaned.

All the places were empty.

At some of the places, there were slippers left in a row for us.

Shoes aren’t typically worn in the home in Japan (and also not in some restaurants) and are removed at the entrance, placed in the shoe cupboard (generally located in the entranceway) and slippers are used through the rest of the property. Keeps the place clean.

Most properties tend to not come with fridges and washing machines or curtains. No curtains isn’t such a big deal in winter, except the cold gets in,  but come summer, when the sun rises at around 4am, that would be a concern. I’d be able to catch more than one worm if I was up at that hour.

After four hours, we had seen all the properties and discussed what I liked and didn’t.

The driver then returned me to my serviced apartment, opened the car door for me and checked to ensure I hadn’t left anything behind. I thanked him, he thanked me, bowed and sat back in the car while I went through a similar ritual with my agent.

She said she would check for some other properties based on my feedback and be back in touch.

A few hours later, I had links to two other places plus an arrangement to meet next weekend if not sooner.

While I don’t have anything yet, I’m very impressed. Not only have I seen some of Tokyo in the heated comfort of a nice car, I’ve been given a run down on some of the areas, had my expectations managed as to what is standard for accommodation, it’s already been followed up with some other suggestions and they are all meet the criteria I’ve given. Except often, the bedroom is a little small.

So impressed.

*Thanks to Air for the title to this post. Moon Safari was Number 93 on Rolling Stones 100 Best Albums of the 90s