Just moved to your brand new apartment? Well, a home without water, electricity, and gas doest elicit that homely feeling one might be looking for.
The burden to set up the utilities lies on the customer. This being Japan, that means setting up the utilities in Japanese.
There are a couple of options for people with limited Japanese language ability.
- Talk to your realtor.
If your realtor has bilingual staff, they will likely be willing to call the gas, water, and electric companies directly and get your utilities set up directly.
This is the easiest way and a huge convenience for the customers. Ryowa house often doe this for their customers.
- Ask a bilingual friend.
If you have a bilingual person in your life, this is another option. Your housing contract will have the utility company’s name and phone number included in the contract.
- Roll up your sleeves and get busy!
I know, it is scary to pick up the phone and stumble through a conversation in Japanese, but don’t worry! These phone calls are easier than you think and you might surprise yourself!
Calling the utility companies involves providing information and confirming said information
The information that you will be required to provide is:
Name
Address
Move-in date
Your phone number
If you are able to say these things in Japanese, then you will be able to set up your utilities in Japanese! It is free to try and if you fail, it will be a funny story to tell your friends!
We hope this helps! And as always, we’d love for you to come say hi to us at our International Real Estate branch in Kusunoki. We help foreigners find apartments in Hiroshima and Okayama. Reach out to our staff who can speak English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish if looking for a place at ryowainternational@ryowahouse.co.jp