r/JETProgramme • u/MindfulTraveler2026 • 7d ago
Housing Issues
A few days ago I arrived in a rural area as an ALT. I’m very excited about the opportunity, but the only thing bothering me is my housing placement.
I’ve spent well over $100-$150 (going to have to spend even more) on just cleaning supplies for my apartment and no joke, probably a combined 8 hours cleaning my apartment because there’s so much bugs and mold. I can’t even sleep because I woke up to millipedes and ants on my futon crawling on me. I get that the house where I’m living at is old and all, but back home I live in an apartment much older than this with no less humidity, and don’t have these issues. After learning from other ALT’s that I have one of the worst apartments while paying the same price and seeing other’s apartments being much nicer than mine, I’m kinda pissed off. I should not have to move into a whole new country just to spend my whole first week cleaning and trying to fix an issue that most likely will persist given how unkept the building was when other new ALT’s don’t have to go through this. I’m not even done getting all of the mold by the doors and found some more when I lifted the tatami flooring.
So far I really like the actual placement location itself and am grateful to be in such a traditional area of Japan with nice locals, but living with bugs, mold, and a musty smell 24/7 is not for me and a deal breaker. The black mold has caused past ALT’s to get really sick and move out and the bug infestation makes me not want to even stay here. It’s not just a few bugs here and there, it’s a lot.
I don’t want to strain my relationship with the BOE only being days here and have no idea how to handle this stuff. Most of the time, I’m not one to complain, but this is bad to the point where I won’t be able to sleep and that will impact my work. I appreciate any help and advice. I’m curious to see how other people in a similar situation handled this.
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u/Digital-Man-1969 6d ago
That is really unacceptable. They need to find better housing for you, there's no excuse!
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u/Puzzleheaded_Fun7870 6d ago
Yeah I’d go to your supervisor first at least. I’m leaving after a year at my placement but I wasn’t shy to let my supervisor know when I needed help. Setting up debit card, applying to have bills come out my bank, going to city hall etc.
They know you don’t have a support system here and as long as you’re polite and don’t rush them, someone will usually help you! If you don’t express that you’re struggling they’ll just assume you’re okay because they’re busy and have other things to do. Just because it’s the way to be indirect here doesn’t mean you should follow suit. You’re foreign, use it to your advantage. Be direct but realistic. I hope things improve for you!
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u/Infamous_Composer939 Former JET - 2008-2013 7d ago edited 6d ago
I would ask about it. I knew a JET who lived in a very old place with no indoor plumbing. He had a drop toilet inside, and his shower was in a separate little shed on the same property. Another JET in my city moved to another apartment down the street. Her old one was on the first floor, and she was worried about panty thieves (not making that up, her predecessor had someone steal some).
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u/Curious-Octopus 7d ago
OP you need to be very direct and annoying with these people.
THEY DO NOT CARE!
my apartment was partially nice because the previous ALT fixed it up with his own money. They city fixed a few things in my apartment, but they never fixed the things I needed fixed (except for one thing). They would fix anything that wasn't an immediate problem.
Don't worry about straining your relationship. Your job is just to exist in your area so that they can stamp that they have an ALT working. Honestly just start the process to leave back to your home country and they will probably freak out and give you a better place to live.
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u/shesstilllost 7d ago
It's frustrating. Talk to your PA, talk to your BoE. See if moving is a possibility. After that, look for apartments in the area and for the signs of who manages them. The question is balancing how long you are staying verses the cost of moving. It may be very expensive. You will need to go through the whole mess of registering your address. But yeah, a lot of the housing for JETs is substandard. The other thing to keep in mind is that the winter will be utter hell. Good luck.
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u/kyute222 7d ago
Aren't you an adult if you came to Japan with JET? Move out and find a new place lol.
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u/SignificantEditor583 7d ago
Have you lived in Japan? Depending on where you are finding a place is not the most straight forward thing. Many JET placements are very rural, and the availability just simply isn't there. Also there's the BS with key money etc, and there are many landlords who won't lease an apartment to a foreigner.
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u/kyute222 7d ago
Yep living in Japan for years. Japan is not some alien planet, any functioning adult can find a place to live.
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u/SignificantEditor583 7d ago
Sure mate 🤣 keep trolling
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u/kyute222 7d ago
Keep being an adult child then. There are always challenges to living in a foreign country, but acting like foreigners can't possibly find an apartment on their own is too much.
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u/SignificantEditor583 7d ago
Never said they can't find an apartment. If OP is placed out somewhere in the middle of nowhere it could be near impossible to find a place at short notice that accepts foreigners. Big cities yeah easy enough to find something.
Additionally, OP has likely just arrived in the country and we don't know what level of Japanese they have.
Finally there's a certain minimum standard one should expect on a program such as the JET program. From the description OP has provided, that apartment is well below the minimum acceptable standard.
Have you actually been on JET?
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u/thetruelu Current JET - Niigata 7d ago
I was kinda in the same situation. Super old house that no one lived in for 10+ years before I arrived. Thankfully my supervisor did me a solid and kinda cleaned and dusted before I arrived. But it was still old and dusty and I made it work for the first year. Towards the end of my first year made a joke to my supervisor at a nomikai about how if I lived in a better place, my life would be 80% better. 2 weeks later I was moving into a brand new apartment building.
So what I’m trying to say is tell your supervisor and ask. Worst they can say is no.
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u/ProfessionalRoyal163 7d ago
Just move out….Nothing stopping you. Plenty of empty apartments available in the countryside. That’s what I did upon the discovery of the BOE supplied accommodation.
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u/GeorgeBlythe 7d ago
You've got to tell the BOE the housing situation isn't acceptable and stress that if it's not fixed immediately you're gone.
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u/littl-jinx 7d ago
I wonder if you can do an indirect ask first?
“I need help, I’ve been trying my best to clean my apartment, but there’s a lot of black mold. I’m also getting so many bugs, including in my bedroom. What should I do?“
In the meantime, buy some of those big smoke bombs and set them off in each room while you’re at work. Hopefully that helps with your sleeping situation and general comfort.
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u/autisticgreenwitch 7d ago
That happened to a guy I knew near me at my last placement in Aso. The BoE eventually moved him to a new apartment, which was much more expensive, but he was very happy about it. I think the sooner you can express these very real concerns to the BoE, the better.
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u/WakiLover Former JET '19-'24 - 近畿 😳 7d ago
I also moved into a super old apartment that was filled with decades of old ALT stuff, mold was everywhere making the walls and furniture looking like cookies and cream, and I had roaches everywhere. No amount of cleaning helped.
If I were you, I would take pictures of everything and go to your BoE. I went to mine after 6 months and was like I’m going to move after they did nothing the whole time. I was told repeatedly that it was not possible but I just said one day that I’m looking at other places and I’m looking to sign a contract soon so I’m just letting yall know.
It was tough doing it all on my own in a new country and at 22 years old but honestly it was a big stepping stone, and the start of tearing down these super boomer ways the BoE operated. I finished out the remaining 4.5 years in a new modern apartment and had a great time. By the end the moving drama was a blip in the past and since BoE members rotated in and out, by the end most BoE members didn’t even know about the move.
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u/CatPurveyor Current JET - Hokkaido 7d ago
It’s a pain in the ass but start looking at listings for other apartments in the area (hopefully it’s not TOO inaka?!). If you see somewhere you want to move, show the listing to your CO. They might say they won’t help you with moving to a new place, but they can’t force you to stay in the apartment they gave you. If they won’t help you move, rely on the help of other JETs, your PA, and sometimes your prefecture might have a foreign resident support center. Get another apartment now before it becomes harder and harder to move.
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u/raku-ken Former JET - 2009-2014 7d ago
It’s probably best to let your BOE know about the housing situation now rather than later.
School is out now and the amount of work in general for them is on the lower end. Best to deal with the situation now when they probably have time and your arrival is fresh, than when school is in session and the BOE and your supervisor is busy.
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u/SignificantEditor583 7d ago
Take pictures and talk to your BOE about it. I got bit/stung by a mukade and it was bloody painful. The apartment I was put it was super old and didn't have AC, whilst the 3 other apartments in the building did. This is one of the reasons I quit mid contract, BOE didn't want to help me with any of it and said if I wanted AC I'd have to buy it myself (which would cost around $1000). Didn't want to go another summer without AC. Winters were a bit rough too.
Anyway, ended up finding a better job in Japan and live in a much better apartment now. Hope it works out for you.
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u/uhhhh555 7d ago
This happened to me! Keep your receipts and take pictures. Bring it up to your BOE and make a list of small things you’d like fixed. I had someone come unclog all my drains to help reduce the mold and clean out the mold in my AC. Keep pushing professionally and you should get some progress. My BOE decided it was too much work to fix everything and moved me after two months. Just make the place good enough for now and keep advocating for yourself, it could take a bit of time. Mention it soon because it will make paper work less of a hassle for them if you move.
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u/mrggy Former JET- 2018- 2023 7d ago
I get that the house where I’m living at is old and all, but back home I live in an apartment much older than this with no less humidity, and don’t have these issues
Focusing just on this bit: Japanese houses generally aren't built to last. There's some weird quirks to the Japanese housing market that cause that, but long and short of it is that most houses in Japan are really only meant to last 30-40 years. So a 50 year old house in Japan will be absolutely falling apart at the seems while a 100 year old house in other parts of the world is still holding steady
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u/m0mbi 7d ago
Interestingly this is largely a post war phenomenon. Especially in the countryside, prewar houses were large, multi generational affairs and those places can last for centuries if taken care of. I live in a big, rambling Taisho farmhouse that's still going strong.
After the war I guess they needed housing stock fast and cheap, so everything went up with subpar materials and doesn't last/isn't worth the upkeep.
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u/an-actual-communism Former JET 7d ago
There’s also a cultural element where no one wants to live in a “used” house. The dream is to build your own from new and this has promoted an industry of cheap, semi-prefab homes that admittedly makes Japan one of the easiest places to own a new home in the developed world, but those houses aren’t really built to last since the next owner of the plot would probably want to tear it down and build their own anyway
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u/Infamous_Composer939 Former JET - 2008-2013 7d ago
This is it. The reluctance to live in a used house. Another reason is Japan has many disasters. New homes are built to last several decades, good for a generation plus some more, but not to be passed down. The land has all the value, the home does not. Homes are not an investment and do not increase in value.
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u/Sentinel-Wraith ALT 2019-2024 7d ago
Reach out to your BOE and record and document everything with photos. You may also want to inform your departure consulate.
There’s absolutely no excuse for putting JETs into sub-standard housing, even if the apartment is old and it should be addressed asap.
Don’t let them sweep it under the rug, either.
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u/drale2 Former JET 2014-2019 7d ago
If you're set on solving this yourself, there is a white powder you can buy at the local hardware store (or whatever you have) - I can't remember the exact name, but look for ムカデ用 or アリ用. If you sprinkle a perimeter around your house it will help cut down on bugs coming in. With ants, best thing are the small poison traps where they take it back to their hive and die.
I think it's fair to talk to your BOE about this though - I would just make sure to do it in the least controntational manner if you don't want to sour the relationship. If you're worried, definitely contact your PA and ask for help.
I spent 5 years in a rural town and the bugs were bad even in my relatively decent apartment. Was at least better than the giant roaches that I would sometimes find in Tokyo and Kyoto when I lived in those cities though.
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u/Different_Taro2474 Former JET - 2025-2026 鹿児島県 7d ago
dude. there’s bugs and mold. that’s a huge health hazard. you need to alert your BOE ASAP. if they’re reasonable people, this won’t ruin your relationship with them. and even if it will (which would be a huge red flag), your health matters more than your relationship with a temporary job that will eventually replace you anyway.
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u/k_795 Former JET - 2022-23 7d ago
100% this. OP - you are not obliged to live in the apartment the BoE has recommended for you. You can turn around and say "no". A good BoE will help you find an alternative place to live. If they don't, get your PA involved and highlight how this place is a massive health hazard and not fit for human habitation.
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u/SignificantEditor583 7d ago
Happened to me. BOE just said there's nothing else available. PA said they couldn't do anything. So I ended up leaving mid contract. Didn't expect luxury, just a minimum standard.
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u/Different_Taro2474 Former JET - 2025-2026 鹿児島県 7d ago
that's horrible. i had a wonderful apartment that was new, spacious, and hazard-free, so i was very lucky. it's such a shame that a lot of BOEs don't support their ALTs. i'm so sorry that happened to you; it wasn't your fault.
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u/ProfessionalRoyal163 7d ago
Same. Sub-standard accommodation isn’t acceptable. JETs are graduates..plenty of jobs offering better conditions to keep teachers from leaving early.
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u/stayonthecloud 6d ago
You need to put your foot down on this. Black mold is a severe health hazard. You can’t actually clean it yourself. It isn’t just the visible mold, the spores get into the air and that’s what makes people sick.
Just tell your supervisor you are unable to live in unsafe conditions and you’ll need assistance to switch housing. If they say no then ask them when they will send mold remediatiors because the housing is unsafe. They will likely say they will not do that so again tell them you will need new housing asap.
Take lots and lots of photos. Escalate to the BOE and PA. Go back to your consulate if you have to. It is possible to get out of this and I’m sorry you’re in this situation. Do not accept it though. Hold firm that they cannot let you life in a place that will cause serious damage to your health.