The Green-eyed Geisha has a very interesting post on renting in Tokyo. After reading her spil I must say that I have felt her pain. Renting in Tokyo (and other parts of Japan) "is" a dirtly little secret. Please read her article below and let us know your thoughts and experience with renting in Tokyo.

"More so than cheating and extra-marital affairs, rent in Tokyo is one of this city's residents' dirtiest little secrets. Rent amounts are asked for in whispers at parties and given in barely audible tones or sign language, if at all possible. "How many mats?" you'll hear. "I don't do mats, but it's around 20m2" will come the reply. "Do you have a 1K?" "No, but I've got a 2LK." Drug talk and illegal arms negotiations? Nope, it's real estate talk. People in Tokyo are embarrassed about how much they pay in rent, especially knowing that moving east to Chiba or north to Saitama they could pay a fraction for more space. But then you wouldn't be able to make bad decisions after a night of drinking to drop 4000 yen on a cab home because it's close enough to justify in your inebriated state. Hell, I've justified it when I'm stone-cold sober on occasion. Some people prefer clean air, open space and easy living, while some prefer bars that aren't all snacks, the thrill of a salaryman's body pressed close during the morning rush (and on trains that run underground at that) and more Starfucks than you can poke a stick at. I respect people in the inaka, their experience is certainly different from my Tokyo existence and interesting to me because of that, but it's just not for me at this stage.Living in close proximity to everything in Tokyo is something worth paying for in my books, and I find it has warped my sense of perception when I hear myself proclaiming a 120,000 yen shoebox to be a fabulous steal to someone I've just met. Someone I've just met and yet we are already airing our dirty real estate laundry, taking pains to assure one another that we both have great deals on our small and expensive apartments. It's a sickness, really."Click here for more![ad#468x60-ad]