{"id":2627,"date":"2020-03-23T21:34:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T12:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=2627"},"modified":"2020-03-23T21:34:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T12:34:46","slug":"setting-up-your-new-space-utilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/setting-up-your-new-space-utilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting up Your new Space: Cable, Internet, and Other Utilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finding\na nice new place to live has always been a big hassle, no matter where you may\ntry to go. It involves hours of searching, checking, and a good amount of\npatience. Once you finally put down a deposit, and you have gotten the key in\nyour hand, you still haven\u2019t finished doing the basic home set-up. Before you\ncan even think about how to get all of your stuff to the new spot, you have to\nlook at what utilities need to be turned on. You certainly can\u2019t live without\nthem and now must go through the process of getting them turned on in a\ncompletely different country. There will be a learning curve with these\ncompanies, as they have a slightly different way of getting your essentials\nturned on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Electricity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Electricity\nis one of the most basic and needed things when you start to move into the new\napartment. It is also one of the easier utilities to get turned on. When you\nget to your new place, you will need to find the circuit breaker. It is usually\nin the front near the door in smaller apartments. There will be a card that you\nwill need to fill out and send once you flip the main breaker on. Try and do\nthis as accurately as possible, as they will use this information for billing services.\nIf you don\u2019t have a card, you will need to contact the landlord, or the company\nthat owns and runs the building. If they own it themselves, you may need to set\nup a time for someone to come by and check the breaker and the circuits. Once\nthat is done you will have power running in your new place. If you got your new\napartment through a realtor, they could set up your utilities for you, and all\nyou would need to do is flip the breaker on when you move in. There are nine\ncompanies that take care of greater Japan, but the one you will most likely end\nup using is Tepco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Water\nand Sewage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Water\nand sewage are also relatively easy to get turned on. Water will already be set\nup and running when you get to the apartment, but you will need to contact the\ncity, or local water company, to put it all in your name. It is the least\nhassle to get set-up, and can be done with little Japanese. Sewage will be\nincluded in the water bill every time. Watch your water consumption, as some\nlandlords are trying to keep the use down for conservation purposes. This is\nespecially true for buildings in which the landlord pays for the water bill, or\nit\u2019s included with the rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 Gas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\nare a lot of apartments that still use gas for heating water, cooking, or\ncentral heating. You can usually see where they keep the large gas tanks\nsomewhere near the main building. In order to get this one working, you will\nhave to make an appointment with the local gas company. If you live in Tokyo it\nwill most likely be Tokyo Gas. They will send an employee out to your apartment\nto check the lines, and turn on the gas. You will need to be present to sign\noff on it most of the time, so make sure to clear your schedule. Once they\nactivate your lines you can connect your appliances as you see fit, but make\nsure that they are compatible with the type of gas that is being provided to\nyour house. No one wants to spend hundreds of dollars on a stove just to not\nhave it connect and work properly. You can check with the gas company to ensure\nyou by the proper appliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Garbage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Garbage\npick-up in Japan is totally free. All you need to do is separate your trash\naccordingly, and set it out on the right days. There are no extra services that\nyou will need to pay for, so make sure you follow the garbage schedule. The\nreceptacle, or garbage area, will either on the apartment grounds, or there may\nbe a collection spot along the street near your building. Just follow what the\nother residents do, and you\u2019ll be alright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Internet<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Almost\nevery thing that runs on the internet will use a fiber optic cable. Most places\ncome with all of the proper hook-ups installed and ready for use. You will need\nto contact the local internet provider to get it put in if you don\u2019t have any\nof it installed beforehand. In order to get the internet turned on you\u2019ll need\nto call the local provider and set up and appointment. In Japan, they don\u2019t do\nan on call basis for their internet providers, and it is more of a rotating\nschedule. Depending on where you live you may have to wait a while before they\ncan send someone out to your home to get it turned on. If everything is ready\nto go when you move in you can get it all done over the phone. There are some\nonline companies that can help you set-up your internet with a full English\nspeaking staff. They are generally fast and easy to use, but will incur a few\nextra fees as they are being middlemen for your services. Be as patient as you\ncan because you may have to wait a few weeks to get everything turned on. If\nyou live in a share house, or in a building that provides its own internet, you\ncan have it running as soon as you move in. It can end up being cheaper to use\nthe buildings internet too, so make sure to check all of the options you\u2019ll\nhave around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It can\nseem like a huge hurdle when trying to get everything turned on for your move\nin. The one utility that seems to cause the most trouble is the internet. Some\npeople have had to wait a whole month before getting it turned on. Even though\nit may be frustrating, you will need to bear with it. You can use other options\nin the meantime, like a pocket wifi. Everything else is generally ready for use\nand just need your name to be attached to the bill. Once it\u2019s done, you can\nrelax and enjoy your new surroundings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding a nice new place to live has always been a big hassle, no matter where you may try to go. It involves hours of searching, checking, and a good amount of patience. Once you finally put down a deposit, and you have gotten the key in your hand, you still haven\u2019t finished doing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}