Moving into a temporary home in Tokyo: what should we put in storage?
Bring only what you will use during your stay. Store the rest by category, in an indoor storage unit with air conditioning. Tokyo is very humid in summer, and clothes, leather, photos, and papers can get moldy in a unit without it. And before you store anything, let go of what you no longer want. Otherwise, you pay every month to keep it.
In Tokyo, people move into a temporary home for many reasons. You arrive for a new job and live in a serviced apartment while you look for a place. You hand back your home a few weeks before you leave Japan. Or your building is being repaired. In each case, the question is the same: where do all our things go?
What should we bring to the temporary home?
First, ask for the inventory list. Most serviced apartments in Tokyo come furnished. They usually include beds, a washing machine, a fridge, pots and pans, dishes, and bedding. Ask the building or your company's relocation team for the list, and cross those things off.
Then bring what you will actually use: clothes for the seasons you'll be there, work things, children's school things, and a few favorite things that make the place feel like home.
Try this: For the next two weeks, write down what you actually use. That note is your packing list.
Where should we store the rest in Tokyo?
You have three common options:
A storage room in your apartment building, if it has one
A rental storage room (called a "trunk room" in Japan)
A storage plan from your moving company
Watch the humidity. Japan's rainy season starts in June, and Tokyo summers are hot and humid. Outdoor container-type units are cheaper, but many have no air conditioning, so moisture builds up inside. For clothes, leather, photos, and papers, choose an indoor unit with air conditioning, even if it costs more.
Some things need a specialist:
Wine. A storage room is often too warm for wine in summer. Specialist wine storage keeps bottles at a steady temperature. I mention one option in moving to a smaller home in Tokyo.
Plants. Ask the shop where you bought them, or a plant care company, if they can look after them. Ask early.
How do we find things again later?
Store by category, not item by item. No one remembers where hundreds of boxes are. But anyone can remember five or six areas.
Give each category its own corner. Seasonal things here. Outdoor gear there. Suitcases in the back.
Make a one-page list by category. "Corner A: seasonal and holiday. Corner B: outdoor and travel."
Share it. With your family, or with the assistant who helps you. Then anyone can find things without asking you.
Try this: Write the date on your list when you store things. When you come back, that date tells you how long you lived without them. It makes it easier to decide what to keep.
Should we let go of things before we store them?
Yes, if you can. Everything you keep, you pay to store, and you move twice.
Go one category at a time: clothes, dishes, books, toys. Keep what you use now and what you truly want in your next home. Let the rest go.
Large furniture in Tokyo needs a booking for collection, and it can take a few weeks. I explain how it works in what to get rid of before moving apartments in Tokyo.
If you're moving into a temporary home in Tokyo and want help deciding what to bring, what to store, and what to let go, I can work with you in person, in English. Here's how I work.
