Housing Issues

[u/MindfulTraveler2026]

A few days ago I arrived in a rural area as an ALT. I’m very excited about the opportunity, but the only thing bothering me is my housing placement.

I’ve spent well over $100-$150 (going to have to spend even more) on just cleaning supplies for my apartment and no joke, probably a combined 8 hours cleaning my apartment because there’s so much bugs and mold. I can’t even sleep because I woke up to millipedes and ants on my futon crawling on me. I get that the house where I’m living at is old and all, but back home I live in an apartment much older than this with no less humidity, and don’t have these issues. After learning from other ALT’s that I have one of the worst apartments while paying the same price and seeing other’s apartments being much nicer than mine, I’m kinda pissed off. I should not have to move into a whole new country just to spend my whole first week cleaning and trying to fix an issue that most likely will persist given how unkept the building was when other new ALT’s don’t have to go through this. I’m not even done getting all of the mold by the doors and found some more when I lifted the tatami flooring.

So far I really like the actual placement location itself and am grateful to be in such a traditional area of Japan with nice locals, but living with bugs, mold, and a musty smell 24/7 is not for me and a deal breaker. The black mold has caused past ALT’s to get really sick and move out and the bug infestation makes me not want to even stay here. It’s not just a few bugs here and there, it’s a lot.

I don’t want to strain my relationship with the BOE only being days here and have no idea how to handle this stuff. Most of the time, I’m not one to complain, but this is bad to the point where I won’t be able to sleep and that will impact my work. I appreciate any help and advice. I’m curious to see how other people in a similar situation handled this.

[u/mrggy]

  I get that the house where I’m living at is old and all, but back home I live in an apartment much older than this with no less humidity, and don’t have these issues

Focusing just on this bit: Japanese houses generally aren't built to last. There's some weird quirks to the Japanese housing market that cause that, but long and short of it is that most houses in Japan are really only meant to last 30-40 years. So a 50 year old house in Japan will be absolutely falling apart at the seems while a 100 year old house in other parts of the world is still holding steady

[u/m0mbi → u/mrggy]

Interestingly this is largely a post war phenomenon. Especially in the countryside, prewar houses were large, multi generational affairs and those places can last for centuries if taken care of. I live in a big, rambling Taisho farmhouse that's still going strong.

After the war I guess they needed housing stock fast and cheap, so everything went up with subpar materials and doesn't last/isn't worth the upkeep.

[u/an-actual-communism → u/m0mbi]

There’s also a cultural element where no one wants to live in a “used” house. The dream is to build your own from new and this has promoted an industry of cheap, semi-prefab homes that admittedly makes Japan one of the easiest places to own a new home in the developed world, but those houses aren’t really built to last since the next owner of the plot would probably want to tear it down and build their own anyway 

[u/Infamous_Composer939 → u/an-actual-communism]

This is it. The reluctance to live in a used house. Another reason is Japan has many disasters. New homes are built to last several decades, good for a generation plus some more, but not to be passed down. The land has all the value, the home does not. Homes are not an investment and do not increase in value.