You are about to move to Japan? Congrats! Or maybe just looking for a change?
Housing in Japan has its own terminology that can be a bit confusing at first – let me walk you through it today.
Housing Types
Let’s start with the types:
- Houses (一戸建て, ikkodate)
Detached houses are quite common in Japan, even in the Tokyo area. They can get quite pricey depending on how recently they were built and their locations. Renting a house can give you a bit more freedom if you have pets (even though it is not a given) but keep in mind that it also comes with its shares of headaches (including figuring out trash).
- Apartments
There are two options when it comes to apartments: マンション (mansion) and アパート (apāto, from “apartment”).
A mansion is usually part of a reinforced-concrete or steel-framed apartment building, often with three or more floors. The name alone does not tell you how recent or well equipped it is. Size wise they will range from one-room studios to much bigger places.
Apāto on the other hand are usually part of a smaller, low-rise building made of wood or lightweight steel. They can be cheaper, but are not necessarily old or small. Check the actual bathroom and kitchen equipment rather than relying on the label; some units have the toilet in the bathroom. Warning: Some places (on the very old, very cheap end) may not have a bathroom at all! For those, people will use public baths (銭湯, sentō).
In both cases, the rules are pretty strict in terms of limiting nuisance to the neighborhood – noises, smell, fumes… (so no BBQ even if you have a nice balcony).
Terminology – Useful Words
Housing terminology highly depends on the country, so it will come as no surprise that Japan has its own ways. Here are the keys to understanding them and finding the place of your dreams!
Japanese units are described with a combination of a number and letters. The number indicates the number of rooms apart from the kitchen or living-dining-kitchen, not necessarily bedrooms, while the letters describe the other rooms as follow:
| L (リビング, living) | Living room |
| D (ダイニング, dining) | Dining room |
| K (キッチン, kicchin) | Kitchen – also sometimes 台所 (daidokoro) |
| S (サービスルーム) | “Service room” – a space not classified as a habitable room, often because it does not meet daylight requirements. Often used for storage, but not necessarily smaller. |
| 1R / ワンルーム (one room) | Studio apartment |
The letters can be added up to explain the full layout of the unit. For example, a 2LDK will have 2 rooms, which you might use as bedrooms or an office, plus a separate living-dining-kitchen.
The style of room can be indicated: either 和室(和) (washitsu) for Japanese style – understand, with tatami flooring or 洋室(洋) (yoshitsu) for Western style – that is, wooden or carpeted floors. Even on modern buildings, bigger units may have most rooms Western style and a Japanese style room.
Let me add a bonus list of vocabulary that may be useful:
| WIC / ウォークインクローゼット | Walk-in closet |
| SIC / シューズインクローゼット | “Shoes in closet” (Yes, not really English) – a closet accessible “with your shoes on”, usually from the entrance, to store shoes, coats, umbrellas… |
| トイレ (toile) | WC |
| ベランダ (beranda) | Veranda – Most places will have either a veranda or a balcony, not so much to hang outside than to hang… the laundry. |
| バルコニー (barukonii) | Balcony |
| ルーフバルコニー (ruufubarukonii) | Roof balcony |
| クローゼット / 押入 (oshiire) | Closet – if written oshiire usually the wider type where futons can be stored |
| バスルーム (basuruumu) / 洗面所 (senmensho) | バスルーム means bathroom; 洗面所 means the washbasin or washroom area. A “unit bath” (ユニットバス) is a prefabricated bathroom, not necessarily one shared with the toilet. Some have a clothes-drying function, but check the equipment! |
With this information, you should be able to decipher most unit information! And if you can read Japanese, I found this real estate glossary (in Japanese) on Athome, and it’s super detailed.
I hope this helps! Feel free to comment if there is still something you cannot figure out. Finding a good place to live in Japan is definitely unique and can come with its own struggles – it will most likely deserve its own article!
Information last checked: 10 October 2026. Layout terminology was reviewed against Athome’s layout guide (in Japanese) and its explanations of service rooms (in Japanese) and unit baths (in Japanese). These are practical pointers for reading listings; the actual floor plan and equipment are what matter.
Leave a Reply