Tokyo apartment basics for foreign residents

Before your first shower or load of laundry, find the apartment's instructions and check which controls belong to which appliance. A bathroom drying panel, water-heater controller and air-conditioning remote can all offer temperature settings, but they do different jobs.

Ask for photographs or a short explanation if the labels are unfamiliar. It's easier to sort out a missing manual while you're unpacking than with wet clothes in the machine or a bath filling unexpectedly.

Start at the entrance

Use the lower entrance area, the genkan, for taking off outdoor shoes. Keep shoes and luggage clear of the door so everyone can enter and leave easily. If slippers are supplied, follow the apartment's instructions about where to use them; leave any separate toilet slippers in the toilet room.

Treat tatami, the woven floor mats, and other easily marked floors carefully. Ask before moving heavy furniture, placing a rolling desk chair on a mat, or using a cleaning product on an unfamiliar surface.

Check that the keys or access codes work for both the building and your apartment. Save the emergency contact now and ask about the procedure if you lose a key or the keypad stops responding. The lockout guide explains what to establish before calling a locksmith.

Toilet controls: find stop and flush separately

On a toilet with washing controls, often called a washlet, 止 means stop, おしり is the rear wash, and ビデ is the bidet wash. Start with a low pressure setting if you're trying it for the first time. The flush may be on the tank, wall or a separate part of the control panel; don't assume the wash controls flush the toilet too.

Look for 大 and 小, the larger and smaller flush settings, and follow the model's instructions. If the controls don't respond, ask about power, batteries or the supplied manual instead of repeatedly pressing everything.

The Tokyo sewerage bureau warns that nappies, wipes and tissues can block household pipes. Put those in the appropriate waste container, not the toilet. If water rises instead of draining, stop flushing and report it; another flush adds more water to the same problem.

Check the bathroom layout before turning on the shower

Some apartments have a separate wet bathing area; others combine the bath, basin and toilet in one room. Where a shower curtain is supplied, use it as instructed rather than assuming every surface outside the tub is intended to get wet.

On a water-heater controller, 給湯 refers to hot-water supply. A bath-fill or reheat function is a separate feature, and not every apartment has both. 追い焚き means reheating existing bathwater. Ask how your system works before trying an unfamiliar automatic function.

Check the temperature before using hot water and keep children away from controls they could change. Follow the appliance's directions about water level and bath additives.

After bathing, use the installed ventilation as instructed. A continuous ventilation setting and a timed bathroom drying mode may be separate controls. Don't turn every fan off because one sounds unfamiliar; ask what should stay running.

Keep food and oil out of the drains

Use the sink strainer to catch scraps and put the scraps in the bin specified by your building's waste instructions. Wipe greasy pans before washing them. The Tokyo sewerage bureau explains that oil can accumulate in pipes and cause blockages; it advises absorbing or solidifying leftover oil for disposal as burnable waste. Check your ward's collection instructions too.

Don't pour a bottle of used cooking oil into a waste bag or down the sink. Let it cool safely and use the local disposal method. The trash guide helps you find the rules for your address.

Clean accessible hair traps following the apartment's instructions. If a cover won't lift easily, or a drain remains slow after ordinary cleaning, send a photograph to the company you're renting from. Ask the rental company before taking pipes apart or using strong drain cleaners.

Match the pan to the hob

A pan that works on a gas cooker may not work on an induction, or IH, hob. The material, base shape and base diameter matter, so check the manual if the hob displays a warning when you put a pan on it.

For example, Panasonic's tabletop IH guidance specifies suitable flat-bottomed pans with base diameters of 12–26 cm, alongside material restrictions. Measure the base, rather than the wider rim. Those figures apply to that guidance, not every hob; check the instructions for your hob's model before buying a replacement pan.

Ask for compatible cookware if the supplied pan doesn't work. Avoid testing an empty pan at high power. The kitchen arrival guide lists the kitchen equipment and storage space to check before your first large grocery shop.

Choose the AC mode for the problem

Common labels are 冷房 for cooling, 暖房 for heating, 除湿 or ドライ for dehumidifying, and 送風 for fan operation. The exact controls and behaviour vary by model.

Daikin explains that cooling primarily lowers temperature, while dry modes address humidity. Some dry modes also cool the room, while reheating versions warm the air again. Check your model’s instructions; dry mode may not use less electricity than cooling.

If the room is hot, start with cooling. If it is already cool but feels damp, check the dry-mode instructions. If it isn't working well, tell the rental company which mode and temperature you selected and whether the room feels hot, cold or damp. “The remote says 24°C” alone doesn't show the actual room temperature.

For seasonal troubleshooting, see summer AC checks and winter heating and condensation.

Washing is only part of getting clothes dry

On the washer, 洗濯 is washing, すすぎ rinsing, 脱水 spinning and スタート starting. Spinning removes water but doesn't by itself mean the clothes are ready to wear. Check whether the appliance has a heated drying function, an air-dry function, or neither.

Use the detergent amount indicated for the product and load. Check which compartment takes detergent; cap sizes and concentrations vary between products. Check clothing care labels before using heat.

Find the intended drying space before starting a large load. Ask about balcony racks, bathroom drying equipment and restrictions on hanging items over railings. Keep escape routes clear. During wet weather, a smaller load that fits the drying space is easier to manage than a full machine with nowhere to hang it.

Shared laundry may be free or coin-operated. Sakura House's FAQ, for example, describes both and asks residents to keep noise down between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Check your own machine's payment instructions and follow the building's quiet-hour and appliance rules. Choose daytime washing when possible, within your building's permitted hours. The laundry guide helps you plan the wash and drying stages together.

Keep the delivery slip until you have the parcel

An absence notice, 不在票, tells you the carrier attempted delivery. Follow the instructions on the slip to request another delivery or find out where you can collect the parcel. Keep the carrier's name and the tracking or notice number handy when making the request.

Time slots, collection locations and storage periods differ by carrier and parcel. Don't assume that a refrigerated parcel can go into a locker or that every convenience store accepts it. Check the redelivery guide before choosing an option.

Save the appliance manuals, waste calendar, delivery instructions and emergency number together. Add short notes about controls you found confusing so anyone sharing the apartment can use them too.