When I first moved to Japan, I chose to stay in a company-organised apartment. I didn’t really know much about the different areas of Tokyo, and assumed I’d be somewhere fairly central… I was out in Myoden, in Chiba. It was quite handy for a couple of days each week because my schools were out that way, but my main school is actually in the south-west of Tokyo. So, I stayed there for a few months while I got used to everything, but, the area wasn’t for me. It was so quiet! And it seemed so far away from everything that I’d moved here to experience.
In November last year, I moved to Oakhouse Kiba. I chose a guesthouse for several reasons:
The location! This place couldn’t be better. Easy to get to everywhere, and Kiba itself has lots of great restaurants etc.
The room – I’m a shopaholic, and as such I need a lot of storage space for everything! My room has 2 really big cupboards which is perfect.
The experience – I’d lived in a share house when I was at University, and it was a similar size and number of people. I’d had such a great time, and made so many friends there, that I wanted the same experience in Tokyo. I love that there is such a mix of people, from all different places, and with such different interests and jobs etc.

I’m glad I moved, and I would definitely recommend living in a guesthouse to anyone moving to Tokyo 🙂

I’m on a quest for miniature watermelons. I don’t know if they really exist, or if they’re a mythical beast that the woman at my hair salon made up. But she swears her grandmother gave her a tiny, palm-sized watermelon, and it was delicious.

Have you seen these unicorns of the fruit family? Are they really out there? They do sound cute, so if anyone was determined to engineer an itty bitty watermelon, it’d be Japan.

Hi everyone!
For my first Oakhouse blog, I thought I would submit a little introduction to me, and why I’m here in Tokyo.
My name’s Natasha, and I’m an English Language teacher. My hometown is a small town in Scotland called Elgin (near Loch Ness) and my other home is in Glasgow. My hobbies are reading, collecting books, vintage jewellery, and burlesque dancing!
I first visited Tokyo in November 2010 for 2 weeks, with my fiancé who was on tour here with his band (you can check them out on www.gormanband.com)
Although I was only here for a short while, I really fell in love with Tokyo! Such interesting and diverse culture, great food, and the people are respectful, friendly, and so helpful. On the plane home from that first adventure, I knew I had to come back!
I’d already booked to study my language teaching course in Scotland, and when I completed that I started to think about coming back… I arrived for my second time in June 2012, and it’s been an amazing year!
I’ll tell you more about some of my experiences next time!