Even though Japan didn’t go through the kind of lockdown that other countries experienced during the pandemic, many of us have spent more time at home than we would’ve liked. だから、この家にちょっと飽きてきた (Dakara, kono ie ni chotto akite-kita, So, I’ve grown kind of sick of my place).

So, is it a good time to 引越し (hikkoshi, move house)? People in Japan tend to move apartments in February and March as students and workers prepare to start new schools and jobs. If you want to get ahead of them, plan your 引越し early, and start reviewing your vocabulary today. Common words such as 不動産屋 (fudōsan’ya, real estate agents), 契約書 (keiyakusho, contract) and 敷金 (shikikin, deposit) have popped up previously in The Japan Times, so let’s see if we can learn some other terms.

Apartment hunting is often done online these days thanks to real estate websites such as Suumo, Homes and Chintai. To navigate these sites, you may need to know a different set of vocabulary.