Dec 05
Love1

Tower apartment and health

By Life in Japan

Tower apartments are very popular because they have a good view, but various problems have been pointed out. In this article, I would like to consider only about the health of the residents of the tower apartment.

From my 20 years of experience, a 40-year-old Japanese-American wife who lived on the 38th floor had a miscarriage. On the other hand, the foreign wife who lived on the 34th floor gave birth to her second child safely.  I have no scientific basis for whether these things are related to tower apartments. That’s my actual experience.

Scholars have studied this issue and published treatises. Even if scholars criticize tower apartments, realtors deny scholars’ claims. Scientific proof does not seem to be clear yet.

It is known that the atmospheric pressure of 10hPa drops when it rises 100m. The height of one floor of the condominium is about 3 meters, so 100m ÷ 3 = 33 floors. In other words, the atmospheric pressure on the 33rd floor is 10hPa lower than on the ground.

When the weather is fine, it is high pressure. A heavy rainy day is a low pressure. The difference in atmospheric pressure between a clear day and a heavy rainy day is about 17hPa. Generally, the difference in atmospheric pressure between a sunny day and a bad day is considered to be about 10hPa.

“The number of patients undergoing cecal surgery is higher on rainy days than on sunny days,” said one medical doctor.  Certainly, on a clear day, humans become more energetic and motivated to work. On a rainy day, if we feel depressed and a low pressure system such as the rainy season continues, we may want to start crying even if there are no problems. The weather seems to have a huge impact on the human body. And the pressure difference in the weather is 10hPa.

I am a member of a fitness club and am doing underwater walking exercise in the pool. At first, I used to breaststroke, but at some point I began to think that walking in the water was more effective in improving my health than swimming. When I swim flat, my body floats on the surface of the water, but when I walk, I drop my feet to the bottom of the pool, which applies “water pressure”. Because of this “water pressure”, I go to the fitness club every day.

Thinking in this way, living on the upper floors of a tower apartment is thought to have at least some impact on the body.

If you are staying at a hotel for a few days, it is good to enjoy the view. It’s okay for a healthy adult to rent for a few years. However, if you have a pregnant wife or a weak person, it may be safer to avoid the pressure difference of 10hPa.

Dec 04
Love0

Umeda’s large-scale project “La Tour”

By 未分類

“La Tour”:  https://www.sumitomo-latour.jp/osakaumeda/

The brand “La Tour” is owned by Sumitomo Realty & Development, mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and is planned for expatriates from the architectural design stage. “La Tour” is a full-fledged foreigner’s house that knows the lifestyle of expatriates very well. There are other properties in Tokyo designed for foreigners, but “La Tour” is the number one in Japan.

There are many buildings of “La Tour” in Tokyo, but never in Osaka. 99% of the number of expatriates living in Japan is concentrated in Tokyo, and the market for expatriates in Osaka is so small that foreign housing designed well by major real estate developers wasn’t in Osaka.

In Osaka, expatriates are supposed to live in luxury homes for the wealthy Japanese. The floor plan that Japanese people like and the floor plan that foreigners like are fundamentally different, so no matter how high-class a house for Japanese people is, it was not enough for foreigners unless it was built for foreigners from the planning stage.

For example, Japanese people do not have a lifestyle of frequently inviting visitors to their homes. However, foreigners often have guests staying at home. Therefore, foreigners want more than one bathroom. Foreigners also want two or more toilets. In Japanese houses, the bathroom, the toilet and the wash basin are clearly separated, but Japanese don’t really want more than one.

Also, Japanese people, even wealthy people, do not want such a large housing space. There is not much habit of hiring maids or housekeepers to clean the room. However, foreigners feel that the Japanese housing space is small. “La Tour” prepares more than 300㎡ of residential space for foreign customers.

Also, Japanese people do not ask for services like a hotel concierge from a house, but for foreigners who are not very familiar with the situation in Japan, it is very helpful and happy to have a concierge service at the front of the house. It is very convenient for foreigners to have staff in their homes to support their lives in Japan.

Since the foreign rental market in Osaka is extremely small, it seems that most of the “La Tour” in Osaka are supposed to be Japanese renters. However, Sumitomo Realty & Development’s “La Tour” brand will no longer be “La Tour” unless there are at least some expatriates occupying it.

It is expected that talented and talented foreigners will move in this property and create a high-quality “full-scale foreign housing” in Osaka. For foreigners, this is Osaka’s first big news.

Related article: https://www.dios.co.jp/archives/3337

Dec 03
Love0

Hard and soft aspects of rental housing

By 未分類

When choosing real estate, you need to look at both the visible and the invisible. “Visible things” are hardware aspects such as buildings. “Invisible things” are human services that you can receive after you move into the property.

For rental apartments, this is a management service provided by the real estate company and the owner. Some properties provide quick response when equipment breaks down, but some properties are slow to respond to customer complaints and take weeks. Waiting for a long time is very painful. It is very comfortable to live in if the real estate company responds promptly.

Also, if the real estate company is a large company, it may be safe, but no personal relationships will be created. The systematic manual service is not so impressive. The person in charge will change in a few years. There are no long-term relationships. Rather, smaller real estate companies have more human warmth. Also, smaller companies may actually be more flexible and respond faster to customers than larger companies. I think a community-based real estate company that “sees the face” is good.

If you spend too much money on the hardware side such as the size of the building and less money on the software side of the service, it seems that the “visible thing” has succeeded, but you are dissatisfied with the “invisible thing”. Will occur. Rather, I think that the satisfaction level will be overwhelmingly higher if you spend money on software instead of spending money on hardware. There is nothing better than human service.

Nov 30
Love0

Key points for choosing a house in Osaka

By 未分類

Even if Japanese people choose a Japanese house, they often have trouble because it is their own important house. Of course, foreigners who are new to Japan often have more troubles.

(Public transport)

First of all, it should be noted that public transportation differs depending on the city planning of the country. Japan is a country of trains. The cities and lands of Japan are designed around trains. Compared to Western countries, the railway network is very well developed. Compared to Europe, the number of passengers on trains is four times that. Also, Japanese trains have the most accurate time in the world. Because the time is accurate, even if you change trains, you can change trains accurately in a short time. Japanese people don’t use cars for commuting because they can’t read the time accurately.

You can easily go anywhere in Japan by train. Therefore, if you are near the station, there is no problem even if you have a house far from your place of employment or commercial facility. However, during commuting hours, the number of passengers on the railroad is large and it is crowded. The Japanese are accustomed to the lifestyle of riding a crowded train.

(Age of the house)

Secondly, the newness of a house is based on the age of the building, but the “newness of the interior” is important. Even a new building will get dirty in a few years without interior work. On the other hand, even in an old building, if the interior work is done, it will be a beautiful and comfortable living space.

Also, during the 1980s and 1990s, there was a real estate bubble in Japan. There was a time when real estate prices were the highest in the world. Luxury condominiums built during this period have very high grade buildings. Even a small item such as a doorknob is completely different in price. Buildings built after 2000 no longer use such high-end building materials.

　

(Insulation, soundproofing)

Third, the most important point of a good house is “insulation”. Japan has hot summers and cold winters. Even with air conditioning, the comfort of a house is completely different between a building with high insulation and a building with low insulation.

Next to “insulation”, “soundproofing” is also an important point.

(Building management service)

Finally, I would like to emphasize that the most important point in rental properties is the state of property management. There are owners and real estate management companies that care about the details of buildings and rooms. Even if the property is new, it is not comfortable if it is poorly managed. On the other hand, even if the property is old, it is very comfortable if the property is properly repaired and cleaned by the owner or real estate management company.