Great! FREA was very helpful and I’m very happy with the final outcome. Seeing multiple areas was especially helpful for deciding, as I was not familiar with Tokyo.

My company put me in touch with FREA just before I came to Japan to attend an early orientation for a few days, and we exchanged some messages on preferences before meeting for a day to tour several parts of Tokyo and view a selection of properties. One of the properties really stood out to me, and company HR handled the application for me afterwards.

FREA staff listened to what I had in mind and gave suggestions that weren’t in my original target areas but very closely matched what I was looking for! I feel very fortunate that I found something so fast. I do think that in my case I had relatively few major overall requirements for the apartment search—mainly just something fairly large, clean and located in a relaxed area.

I was thinking of Shimokitazawa initially, which I kind of remembered from a vacation trip to Tokyo before. HR also suggested the nearby areas Shibuya and Sangenjaya. Ultimately the area recommended by FREA was the closest match to what I was looking for, and I ended up moving there.

I consider commute times to be moderately important. Personally, the ease and convenience of travel is more important to me than finding the absolute shortest time—I would actually choose a route that might take slightly longer if it means less crowded travel and/or less transfers.

Key factors for me are the size of apartment, the local neighborhood, and definitely ease of airport access! I travel frequently for work and also am expecting lots of visiting family members throughout the year.

After spending most of my life in major, high-traffic cities, I was really seeking somewhere more quiet and calm. Also coming from a tiny apartment in Hong Kong, a larger space was definitely a major plus. FREA staff took me around to see the area and I was already really liking the neighborhood before seeing the apartment.

The biggest downside of my apartment so far is that it’s a bit further from the station. It’s about a 9-10 minute walk, which isn’t really that bad but in the hot and humid weather currently it feels like forever! It’s an understandable compromise though, since areas right by the station will be more crowded.

My company already had an ongoing furniture/appliances lease, but FREA checked with me ahead of time if I wanted to make any changes so I asked for a larger bed and firmer mattresses.

I was surprised at how everything was brought in and assembled so fast! In my case, I actually ended up purchasing my own bedsheets, but it was great having the beds and sofa set up in the apartment right from day one.

I’ve moved overseas before so I really had few concerns overall, but probably the language barrier? I’m now actively studying Japanese and receiving lessons at a language school. 

Japan can also be oddly non-foreigner friendly at times—I ran into a lot of difficulties opening a bank account in Japan.

YES! The whole process was very smooth, very easy, and very quick, and they found a great apartment that I love—I am very happy with my experience.