For gas cooking we mean gas burners and grills. The Yamasa Villa 3 and 4 apartments have a gas range with
two gas burners and a small grill for cooking fish, making toast etc. The gas isn't LPG but town gas. In the Student Village
the gas cooking facilities are located on the ground floor. There are 8 stoves in total (5 in the kitchen adjoining the
large lounge, 3 in the kitchen adjoining the smaller lounge.) These have 3 gas burners
per stove and a grill. Yamasa Villa 1,
Residence K and
Residence U do not have gas cooking facilities - for cooking these apartments are all electric.
Electric Cooking
Yamasa Villa 1, Residence K and Residence U have electric hotplates provided for cooking. The hotplates heat very quickly
and heat adjustment is almost instant. The convenience is similar to gas in this respect. The hotplates however do require
stainless steel cooking equipment which are usually more expensive than aluminium products. As a result Yamasa provides a
stainless steel frypan, saucepan and kettle. A disadvantage is that there is no electric grill provided. A grill or toaster
can be purchased from 2000 yen upwards. Students who wish to have a second hotplate can buy them at stores such as "Nakai Home Center" (near Yamasa Villa) from
3000 yen upwards. (At second hand stores these kinds of items would be cheaper). It is primarily because of the cost of
these additional items that Yamasa's housing office usually does not allocate
Yamasa Villa 1,
Residence K and
Residence U apartments
to short term students as these costs would be relatively higher as a percentage of total housing costs than with long term
students.
Microwave/Toasters
Microwave ovens in Japan are usually combined with convection ovens. The reason they are combined is space - few Japanese
houses have large kitchens, so combining an oven and a microwave made good design sense. This means that in addition to
microwaving foods, you can also bake conventionally. This is convenient for making things such as pizzas, lasagne, cakes
etc. The toasters provided are not pop-up toasters but have horizontal trays. This enables them to be used not only for
toasting bread, but also for a wide range of snacks. Many of the supermarkets sell prepared food that only needs toasting -
fairly convenient if you are tired after studying or do not have much time (for example prior to tests and exams.)
Microwave/Convection ovens and toasters are
only provided at Yamasa Student Village.
Unit Bathroom
In Japan a unit bathroom usually combines a toilet, washbasin, mirror and bathtub (with shower fitting) in one small room.
These are common in business hotels, small apartments and in larger houses - the 'upstairs bathroom'. Click here to view an example.
The bathtub is usually quite deep, and the shower hose can be either handheld or attached to the wall for hands free use.
Unit bathrooms are installed in Yamasa Villa 3 and 4, and in Residence U. The
Yamasa Villa 1 and Residence K apartments
are slightly different and have the toilet in a separate room. This is an advantage when the apartment is shared by 2
students.
Corridor Toilets
The toilets at the Student Village are not located in each room but instead are shared.
Click here to view an example. There are 15 toilets in 6
areas, 3 of the toilets are modified for wheelchair users. For privacy the doors are solid wood with no gaps at
the top or bottom of the door, and are lockable from the inside. The toilets are cleaned daily by the resident manager.
Showers accessed from Corridor
Where corridor showers are provided, there are 2 doors between the corridor and the shower.
The outer doors are lockable from the inside and have no gaps at the top or the bottom of the doors.
The inner door is separates the shower from the personal changing room.
The reason we provide two doors is for maximum privacy and security. Showers accessed from a corridor are in use only at the
Yamasa Student Village and the Rec world Hotel.
Telephone in Room
Due to the highly regulated market for telephone services in Japan, the cost of connections is quite high and the telephone
service is very poor. To obtain your own telephone line you may need to pay up to 70,000 Japanese yen (Currency Conversion), not
including installation costs. A cheaper (but very bureaucratic) way is to lease a telephone from a re-seller.
Its cheaper (around 5000 yen/month) but only in the short term. Also you need a Japanese guarantor.
By comparison the unregulated market for wireless telephones has led to very cheap and
reliable telephone services. To install landline telephones into rooms, the only affordable way is via an automatic
switchboard and internal lines. The Yamasa Student Village has telephones
in each room and the lounge and students are
issued with smart cards they can use on any telephone in the complex.
Shared Cable TV in Lounge
Cable TV's are installed in both lounges of the Yamasa Student Village.
A large number of channels are available
and some of these include foreign language programs and news service such as CNN etc. The large screen TV's also have ports
making them suitable for game software such as Dreamcast or Playstation.
Free Internet access (LAN)
Free internet access is available on campus, and we are making every effort to extend access to accommodation.
The only affordable way of doing this is through Local Area Networks using LAN cards. At this stage the only
option with a LAN is the Yamasa Student Village.
Private TV in Room
Private televisions provided do not have access to Japanese cable or satellite services such as BS or WOWOW.
Usually you will only be able to see 5 free-to-air channels (2 NHK 3 commercial).
Some locations (Residence K) can receive 6. All TV's have a remote control. Yamasa provides TV's each apartment in
Yamasa Villa 1, Yamasa Villa 3 and 4,
Residence K and Residence U.
They are also available in each apartment at the Rec World Hotel. Televisions are not provided
in each individual room at the Yamasa Student Village, however all of the rooms there have antenna plugs leading to the
roof antenna, so you will be able to use a TV and obtain good reception if you are prepared to buy one. Many of the students
residing long term in the Yamasa Student Village buy TV's, Video players, DVD's etc.
Futons Included
Due to the expense of mattresses in Japan (most people do not use them - hence they are expensive),
Yamasa students usually sleep on futons. (Click here if you don't know what a futon is...). Futons
are usually purchased or leased from Yamasa, however buying your own or borrowing from Japanese friends is also common.
The only options where futons are included are the homestay option and the Rec World Hotel.
Breakfast/Dinner Included
Breakfast and dinner are only included in the homestay option. It is possible to have breakfast/dinner prepared for
the hotel option, but at additional cost. All other accommodation options are self-catering only.
Coin Laundry Provided
The coin operated washing machines are 200 yen per wash. Dryers are 100 yen per 30 minutes.
Commercial coin laundries usually charge from 300 yen and up, so these machinese are fairly cheap by comparison.
Most of the machines require you to add your own washing powder/fabric softeners etc.
The two high power Electrolux washing machines at the Student Village are the exception - these 2 machines have their
own supplying mechanism. The laundries may be used at any time of day or night.
Coin operated laundries are provided at Yamasa Villa and Yamasa Student Village
Washing Machine Provided
If there is no coin laundry located on site, Yamasa places a washing machine inside the apartment. The Hotel Annexe
option also has washing machines provided either inside the apartment or in laundry rooms down the corridor. Students using
these machines will need to add their own washing powder/fabric softeners etc.
Washing machines are provided by Yamasa at Residence K and Residence U.
They are also provided at the Rec World Hotel.
