So you are looking for an apartment in Japan and notice that every property listing has a number and a letter in the title, for instance, a 2LDK apartment. If you are unclear on what this means, don’t worry! We are here to break this down.
L, D, and K
Let’s start with the letters. 
- L = Living room
- D = Dining Room
- K = Kitch
In most Japanese apartments it is rare for these rooms to be walled-off into individual rooms. They often flow together and have an open feel to it.
The Numbers
The number that comes before the letters represents the number of rooms that are not a kitchen, living room or dining room.
For instance, a 2LDK is an apartment with two rooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.
The 1R apartment
The R in the 1R apartment stands for Room. A 1R apartment is essentially a studio apartment or studio flat. Apartments on the cozier end of the spectrum tend to have the toilet, bath and sink all in the same room. It will definitely be a tight fit but it is a great way to save money and live that tiny home lifestyle that seems to be trendy these days.
Bonus tip!
When trying to determine the size of a room, the size will 
often be measured by the number of tatami mats (traditional woven straw mats) the room includes. One mat should occupy around 180 x 90cm of space.
We hope this helped! Good luck with the apartment hunt!
-Property sheet decoder.