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Sharing an apartment or house might not be very unusual in your country. In Japan, having roommates was uncommon until a few years ago, but lately more and more people are considering shared housing as an option. Japanese landlords usually prefer not to rent their residential properties to non-family groups, and various kinds of unique shared-arrangements (rented only for sharing) exist. Here is one of the most interesting shared-housing styles; ending exclusively to households of single mothers raising their children by themselves. There seem to be a lot of advantages. Firstly, the single-mother-only shared houses offer their own characteristic services. By taking advantage of these services, mothers can use their time more efficiently.

[House-sitting service]
Mother Leaf Asaka offers house-sitting services twice a week. The fees for the sitter serve, utilities, internet are all included in the “fixed” management fee, so the residents don’t have to worry about their monthly bills.

[Child-care service]
Parenting Home offers child-care services twice a week. The residents have not only a baby-sitting service, but also get nutrition education and child-care consulting with specialists. This costs are also included in the management fee.

The building residents are all single-female-parent households, and they understand other residents’ lifestyles very well and can provide mutual support. And there are always other children under the same roof, so community bonds grow stronger as children have fun with each other and become better socialized. Also it might be a good opportunity for children (and their mothers) to meet peers dealing with the same life circumstances.

There seem to be even more various styles of shared arrangements such as “single fathers only”, “lone seniors and single mothers only”, and so on. I am personally curious about the one for lone seniors and single mothers. So I will investigate and report about it soon!

Source: Recolle

Author: Junko

This is JAPAN Style!