Moving's A Real Bitch

By Esteban Lopez | Wednesday, Jun 4, 2008

Moving to a new apartment is always a complicated affair. Aside from trying to find a place that's gaijin friendly, there's also the real estate paperwork that one has to fill out, astonishingly “within three days or no deal!”

Then comes preparing the countless tax forms, and the transferring over of the internet connection, the utilities and picking up the keys at the real estate office in Shibuya, not when it's convenient for you but at the appointed time, no matter if it proves cumbersome. But, the ordeal doesn't end there, there also comes the frustration of the finding the correct moving company which at times proves similarly daunting.

Just today, my wife and I had to meet up with salesmen from different moving companies. The first salesman arrived promptly in the pouring rain and sat out in his van affront of our apartment and patiently waited until it was time.

I spied him downstairs and figured there was no reason to keep him waiting. So my wife called him on his cellphone and mentioned that he not need wait any longer and to please come up. He promptly rang our chime and bounded up the stairs with a large briefcase in tow. Upon reaching the landing he quickly surveyed our apartment taking into account what little furniture we had and quickly asked about the belongings in our loft overhead.

Striding confidently around our apartment his eyes scanned over the pieces of furniture, mentally calculating costs, the bottom line per se. Once this was done, he sat down at our small table and produced a small laptop and an even smaller printer which he effortlessly manipulated, speedily printing out a work order detailing all the charges. Suffice it to say, I was so impressed by his professionalism, I felt compelled to serve him coffee.

The second salesman seemed to burst into our apartment, hurriedly coming before the appointed time, and upon crossing the threshold of our apartment commented on the terrible downpour outside.

A large burly, man with missing front teeth, and a silver chain attached to his wallet under his navy blue blazer. He reeked of stale cigarettes and made no qualms about standing the entire time. Looking disinterested in the apartment, he got right to business.

Calling someone on his phone, whom I imagined was himself because I never heard another voice, he hung up and stated, “Now, don't be shocked, but this is going to cost, 105,000 yen.” I almost let out a laugh when he said this. The previous salesman had already quoted us a much lower price at 42,000 yen.

But, I held my tongue and watched my wife handle this on her own. He felt the awkward tension in the room and got back on the phone, and called himself again, speaking into the speaker something or another. He then faced us again and slashed his prices in half, and went as low as 50,000 yen.

Unimpressed, I told my wife to show him the previous salesman's' quote. He then resorted to dirty tactics and started badmouthing the other company as one of the worst movers, and if we didn't believe him, to look it up on the internet. When that failed, he tried to strong arm my wife, saying that the lowest he could go was 41,000 yen.

Exasperated, my wife looked to me to eject this large bear of a man from the apartment. I put down the book that I was reading and cautiously moved towards him, “Thanking him for coming.” Angered that we didn't cave, he mumbled, “thank you,' and absconded down the stairs. Slamming the door loudly behind him, the smell of cheap cigarettes still lingering in the air.

Back home, moving was a simple as borrowing my dad's pick up truck for the day and hauling the furniture in as few trips as possible. But here it's more complex than paying for the gas and buying a six pack of beer to anyone who helps out. Oh, how I long for those simpler days.

Esteban Lopez's Profile

Hey there, I am of course, an English teacher who has been living in Tokyo for more than four years. I also work as a freelance writer for an American movie magazine and likewise write for the smaller publications here in Tokyo. I can`t but help writing about all the idiosycrancies that I witness here in Tokyo because no matter how long you live here there`s always something new to see and feel.

Interests: Movies~Goodfellas/Literature~Marquez, Coehlo/Music~My Chemical Romance

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