In 1987, the most difficult thing for foreigners arriving in Japan was (and still is) to find a place to live. So we opened a furnished guest house which is now called the Teacher’s Lodge, close to Ishikawadai station, ten minutes from Gotanda. It is a Foreigner’s House (a sharehouse) that does not use the Japanese rental system; therefore, people from all over the world can start living here immediately.
Today this idea is common, but 20 years ago it was very unusual. Among the existing guesthouses Teacher’s Lodge is the most historical one and can be called the pioneer foreigner’s guesthouse.

　At the opening time, most of the guests were backpackers (travellers and migrant workers).
One year after the opening people from all over the world arrived, and most of the time people from more than 20 different countries stayed here at the same time. Sometimes even 60 people from 30 different countries lived here together.
They had heard about us from someone on a journey through Africa, or had received the address from a travel agent in Bangkok, or from a posting in a hotel in Patagonia, Chile. In those days before the internet, most of them came through word of mouth.
With the exception of Africa, parts of Central Asia and Central America, people from almost all over the world have been staying with us.

From 1990 on, more and more Americans and Australians arrived to work as English teachers with a Working Visa. So we opened a foreign language school and changed the name of the guesthouse into “Teacher’s Lodge” in 1993.
In 1990 the first Japanese woman moved in, but from then until about 1995 there were no Japanese guests; then, until the year 2000 gradually more and more Japanese people asked to stay.
Teacher’s Lodge is still in Japan but is not Japan, and not a foreign country: it is a unique space, so NHK and many others have asked to create a reportage about us (which we declined most of the time).

The last few years the number of Japanese tenants has increased. Since we specialize in guests from foreign countries we were surprised about this development.
But renting an apartment and getting all the furniture together costs at least \　400,000.

Young people sometimes change jobs and don’t have the money to move several times in a row, so staying at Teacher’s Lodge is an easy way to independence for them.
We would be happy if young people could get a more global vision by living in this kind of environment.

　Some people move in because they want to find work in the capital and try to realize their dream. If they can start living in Tokyo with a small amount of money, it is easier for them to become independent. This is why in the year 2000 little by little we started to accept Japanese tenants as well. At the same time we set up a weekly price and reduced the deposit: that way the risk for the newcomer is kept at a minimum.

Originally the guesthouse had been established for exchange students and foreigners, and this concept is still the same: Even though Japanese people are welcome too, we sometimes give priority to foreigners so that people from more than ten countries can live

here at the same time. We kindly ask you for your understanding.
No matter what nationality, simply live together with people from different cultures and different ways of thinking for a certain time, and your vision of life will become vaster and open up new possibilities for the future!