Kanagawa University

Two staff from Rent Life Co., Ltd. real estate agency visited the campus of Kanagawa University in the town of Rokkakubashi in Kanagawa Ward of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. The campus is located near the top of a hill that you need to ascend from Hakuraku Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line.  It is approximately a 15-minute to 20-minute walk from the station. Fortunately, today was a dry, cool afternoon. I can imagine that students and staff going to school on a hot, humid, rainy day during summer must feel somewhat uncomfortable during the commute to and from classes.

A quick check at the university's website and Wikipedia reveals that Kanagawa University is actually a private school even though they use the name of Kanagawa from, I assume, Kanagawa Prefecture. I was also surprised to learn that the university has a history that dates back as far as 1928.

An interesting side note is that Kanagawa University (神奈川大学), can be shortened in Japanese to 神大, which is read as "Jidai." This is a common trend among many Japanese universities. For example, Tokyo University (東京大学) can be shortened to 東大 (Todai), Nihon University (日本大学) can be shortened to 日大 (Nichidai), etc.

During our visit to the campus, we went to the International Center in Celest Hall to meet with some staff and international students to inform them of the services offered by Rent Life. Unfortunately, the primary staff of the English lounge were busy teaching classes and I guess the students were also busy in classes.

However, we did have the opportunity to meet with several Japanese language intensive course students who had recently arrived in Japan from Australia. It was nice to enjoy a nice chat with them and to discuss their reasons for visiting Japan and to talk about their plans during their stay in Japan.

I was impressed with how clean and well maintained the campus was. The students seemed to be busy with their studies while maintaining a cordial atmosphere. We spoke to some staff at the administration building and were pleased with their attentive effort to assist us in finding the International Center near the entrance of the campus.

I was somewhat intrigued that the four foreigners we met on the campus were all Australian. Based on our conversations, and a quick search on Google, it seems that the Japanese language seems to be one of the most popular foreign languages to study by students at schools and universities in Australia. I wish I had known this information prior to my visit to Kanagawa University so that I could have asked the four Australians as to why they think Japanese is such a popular language to study despite the difficulties associated with learning Japanese!

Unfortunately, we were not able to find any senior staff to leave our pamphlets with. Nor were we able to meet with any long-term students studying at Kanagawa University. We had hoped to share with them the services we offer at Rent Life. Specifically, we have bilingual staff and have a long history of assisting international clients find homes in Japan regardless of the language barrier and the occasional cultural barrier that might exist with landlords.

Still, it was nice to converse with the Australian students and to enjoy the fall colors on the campus. On the way back to the station, we took the narrow covered streets called shotengai in Japanese.

I love these old shops that are often the front entranceways of the shopkeeper's home. It was also a bit sad to see so many shuttered shops as well on a Monday afternoon. I can only imagine that maybe the owners had become too elderly to continue their business, or maybe the economic downturn has hurt their earnings. It would be nice to see some creative, young entrepreneurs move into these old shopping arcades and enliven them and create a new communal atmosphere.

Probably the most recollection I have of today's visit to this shopping arcade was the aroma of the fresh fish and the pickled vegetables that were on display. I hope the international students at all universities in Japan take the opportunity to do some shopping at their local shopping arcade to enjoy the more authentic Japanese tastes and lifestyle that is slowly being crowded out by the more modern large shopping malls that all tend to offer the same products at nearly identical prices with very little variation or local flavor.

During my first several years in Japan, I often bought these affordable Japanese rice bowls, tea cups, chopsticks, etc. as Christmas gifts for my family back overseas. It might seem strange to Japanese to consider such daily items as gifts, but the fact that they are authentic Japanese products and not products marketed for the the international tourist adds a unique sense of authenticity to such items when considered for use as gifts.

I wonder if young boys and girls still like to enjoy these coin machines that sell mysterious gifts like big gumball machines. I have read online that such machines are still very popular in some parts of Akihabara.

In addition to the machines selling small gifts encased in a plastic case, I also enjoyed the futon and cushion shop. I am a big fan of tatami-mat rooms, so the use of cushions and futons are of particular interest to me. If you are a student visiting Japan for an extended period of time, I think it would be especially nice if you could have the chance to live in an apartment with newly prepared tatami mats. There is nothing more relaxing, especially during these cold weather months, than putting on a Japanese style house coat, sitting on a cushion in the tatami mat room with a heated kotatsu table while drinking green tea and eating winter mikan oranges!

Most shotengai shopping arcades can meet all of your daily needs, products at reasonable prices, but more importantly, you are interacting with the very residents of your own neighborhood. These shopkeepers are the same folks you might interact with during the local festivals, or come across at the local post office or bank. My experience has been that if you make a sincere effort to speak Japanese and interact with the folks at the shopping arcade, you can enjoy a more authentic Japanese experience, which is what you will definitely miss out on by going to the big-box shopping malls and huge department stores.

But before you enjoy your stay in Japan at the local shopping arcade while studying at the local university, you are going to need a place to live. Contact us at Rent Life via our website, email, or give us a call. If you are in a rush, you can visit our online customer information form and send us the details that we will ask for to help you find a home that meets your needs and fits your budget.

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Rent Life Co., Ltd.
Shin-Yokohama Branch
Kaede Bldg. No. 2, 6th Floor
2-5-10 Kohoku-ku, Yokohama
Kanagawa Prefecture 222-0033
JAPAN
Tel. 045-470-3214
Email: e-yokohama@r-life.co.jp
URL: http://www.rent-yokohama.com/english/
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