The town of Machida Kurihira

This time we took a look at Social Residence Machida Kurihira.
I personally had never been there before.

It's just 5 minutes from Kurihira station on the Odakyu line, which means you can get to Shinjuku in 30 minutes without transferring, or Shimo-Kitazawa in 22 minutes. It's the perfect location and distance for work, study, or play.

The roads from the station to the house are large, and it's a residential area so it's very safe. And quiet! Maybe you can hear some cars, or children playing, but it's mostly quiet.

In front of the station is a convenience store, supermarket, and 100-yen shop, so you can get everything you need every day. The Odakyu OX supermarket is open until 10 PM and is quite large. You can get everything you need here.

8 minutes from the station is a onsen public bath, and lots of Machida Kurihira residents go there to unwind, especially on their way home from work. There's a great sauna and stone spa too. You get 100 yen off each time if you're a member.

So now let's take a look inside. This used to be corporate housing. The kitchen and lounge are wide open and spacious. Several people can easily cook at the same time. When we visited, one of the residents, who is a very good cook, was whipping up some Korean jjigae-nabe that smelled delicious. I almost asked for a taste before I caught myself!

"We have a pro pattisierie here, and they make sweets at home sometimes. When you come down to the lounge to eat or have tea, it's easy to chat with other people doing the same thing, so then all of a sudden you're gathered around the table as friends," the manager told us.

There are about 40 seats here, either at the table, the counter, the sofa, or other seats.

Slightly different than the usual share house

The mood of the house is different than most houses I've visited. It's a bit more feminine, in a playful way.
The usual image people have of share houses is like a stock concrete walled house, but this is carefully decorated.

The manager, again: "The pictures on the wall were painted by our staff. There are also lots of touches inspired by or done by our residents because they wanted to make it fun."

Women-only areas

As we looked around more, we saw lots of areas marked women only, from toilets to showers to a powder room.

"We really want women to feel at home and safe here. That's why we have some women-only areas, and in this way men and women live in consideration of each other."

There is also a women-only laundry room.

Renewal planned for more convenience

Right across from the first floor entrance is the office space. They're actually going to be reneweing this soon to be even more convenient. Right now there are a lot of residents who work freelance, so it's great for them to have access to a copier and PC in an office room. There is also a fitness space when you need to work up a sweat. They're planning on bringing in more tools for that too.

So, to recap until now:
◆Good access to the city
◆A quiet environment where you can work or study
◆Women-only spaces and consideration
◆Easy and convenient office room

And that's just what we've seen of SR Machida Kurihira so far!

Everything you need for comfortable living

We took a look at 2 types of rooms.
There's the modern style with black touches, or the wooden at-home style. Typically men prefer the black rooms while the women enjoy the natural style. Each room has a desk, refrigerator, air conditioner, storage, and bed, so you can start living the moment you move in. There is plenty of storage space in the entrance for shoes too.
There's a full-length mirror inside the storage door, which you don't realize you need until you don't have one, so that's nice!

The manager lives in the house too, providing support during business hours to help maintain the house.

It was really hot the day we visited, but luckily a cool breeze surrounded the house. The house is on top of a small hill so the breeze is nice.

It's hard to imagine another nice area just 5 minutes from a station that takes you directly to Shinjuku or Shimo-Kitazawa.

The spacious entrance is a social space for the residents.
Finally, from the manager: "everyone who lives here is really considerate and friendly. It's nice to live in a place where people can welcome you back home. We have lots of fun seasonal events too!"

(Writer: Hike) (Photos: YOSHINORI OHGA)