You have probably come to this page because you are looking for a medium-term rental accommodation in Kyoto while you study at a Japanese Language school anywhere from 3 months to a year. You also may have noticed there aren't many choices in this market to fill that gap. That is where we come in!
After years of travel, both as customers and as hosts of accommodation facilities around the world, Mayumi and I have created GroLiving Kyoto, not only with the aim of giving you what you are looking for, but to do it in the best possible way! And while the quality of your accommodations may not be your first area of concern when moving and studying in a different country as you are probably busy with the much more important choice of which school suits your needs. Even perhaps believing that much of your success depends more on the school than on the entire experience. However, in our personal experience as Mayumi and I met while we both attended an English language school in Australia, as well as personally having also attended a Japanese language school in Kyoto and Mayumi who studied Italian in Verona, know perfectly well that this is not the case! The success of your experience in Kyoto will be determined by a variety of things, including choosing the ideal apartment for you. That is why we have created GroLiving Kyoto, with the firm intention of being the best possible option for a Japanese language student studying in Kyoto!
Yes, but why do you think you are the best?
I didn't say we are the best, I simply said that Mayumi and I created GroLiving Kyoto with the firm intention of wanting to become the best! Which means not operating as simply a business to maximize capital and skimping on the important details that, in our opinion, make all the difference in the success of a project like this. Among the various businesses we have run in Italy, we have previously managed buildings used for off-site university students. In that time we have learned that unlike our competitors, who believe that young people have no respect for others property and deserve nothing more than a cot and a mattress in an old, dilapidated apartment because they will surely destroy everything they touch. We found the more we gave them in terms of comfort and trust, the quality of their experience increased and in turn the more we received in terms of respect, loyalty and even economic growth. This experience, like many others, was decisive for the construction of GroLiving Kyoto.
You may think you just need to find a place to sleep and that the rest of the details don’t matter. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Your home will become the center of your experience in Kyoto. Your private place for when the world is buzzing around you. There will be good times and there will be difficult times, there may even be times of loneliness, or potentially even love, but at the heart of it all will be your home, your safe space and the foundation of your stay. Your goal is to find a suitable accommodation from where you can begin your journey in Kyoto. Our goal is to help you improve and instill the seed of a conscious life made of frugality, minimalism, sustainability and the appreciation of different cultures. All the things we have learned throughout our years of traveling and living abroad that have made us grow and become better people. Of course, all while we put you in the best possible position to succeed in Kyoto!
How can we make such a claim?
If the thousands of positive reviews we have on Airbnb about our Kyoto rental apartments, the "Sakura River Inn", are not enough to demonstrate that we know our business, below are some key points in why GroLiving Kyoto is not only special, but unrivaled in the area of medium-term student apartments in Kyoto. Built from scratch on the ashes of an old Tofu shop that was owned by Mayumi’s family. GroLiving Kyoto is a brand new building, completed in 2021 with all the necessities. It is earthquake, humidity and even cockroach resistant! Something you will have a hard time finding as a new building being used for student living is already a rarity in Kyoto in itself!
Area - If we had had to look at mere profit, such a project would probably never have been born. In the center of the city, overlooking a main street of Kawaramachi, a 2 minutes walk from one of the best accesses of the Kamogawa River and 5 minutes from the Imperial Park, it is an ideal location. So ideal that in fact, that if we had merely built generic rental offices for example, it would have been less demanding and more profitable for us, however this is not our mission. Like I mentioned before, after Mayumi’s and my globetrotting experiences and life, it has become our passion to help out the next generation in discovering and growing theirs. Now you understand where the name “Gro(w)Living” comes from!
Structure - GroLiving Kyoto is different and is based on a model tailored by us for you. If we had found something similar during our years of traveling around the world we would have immediately fallen in love with it! GroLiving Kyoto is not a hostel, however it reproduces the best parts of it, namely the social aspect, while eliminating the negative aspects we have always hated, the lack of privacy. How? With a common area on the ground floor and a terrace on the rooftop, you can hangout, have a drink, study together or just generally engage with other students like yourself whenever you want the company. However, privacy is just as important, which is why we specifically built and structured GroLiving Kyoto with this in mind. Firstly, none of the 5 mini apartments are bordering with one another, meaning you’ll never be sharing a wall with another tenet. Secondly, if you’ve ever lived in Japan before, you’ll know that it’s notorious for having paper thin walls in apartment buildings and share houses. This can be problematic, especially for people who can only have phone/video calls with their friends and family during odd hours due to living in different time zones, or even just as simple as trying to relax and watch a movie late at night, not to mention just general foot-traffic can be enough to drive you or your neighbours crazy. For that reason exactly, we ensured our building was built with walls twice as thick as what is the standard in Japan, to ensure your privacy will always be respected, day or night!
Small but super equipped apartments. If you come from a European or American country, you may be surprised at how small Asian living spaces can be in big cities compared to what you’re use too. GroLiving Kyoto is no exception. In fact, it makes a virtue of it! Strengthened by our two years spent on 4-wheels in Australia, first living in a Ford Falcon station Wagon, then in an 1982 Nissan Uravan and finally in a Suzuki Vitara, we very much know the importance of an optimally functional space tailored to your needs when living in small spaces. Therefore we included all of the valuable lessons we learned into the layout of our GroLiving building. Such as, we understand that having a private, albeit, smaller living space is 1000 times more important than having a larger living space with a lack of independence or privacy. That is why despite the few square meters available, we have managed not to miss anything, even a personal washing machine just for you. We are well aware of the frustration of needing to do laundry only to find someone else’s clothes left in it or even the embarrassing chance others could see your personal clothing items you didn’t want on display! Thanks to the loft bed and open floor plan, the meters available from what would be considered a normal sized bedroom in most western countries become more than enough for a mini apartment all to yourself. Equipped with every comfort, from the bed, sofa bed, refrigerator, microwave and rice cooker, all the way to the sheets and towels, you will be surprised to find you will not need much more than what is already provided by us. On top of all that, even despite the ultra convenient location of GroLiving Kyoto, each apartment is also equipped with a folding bicycle, perfect for reaching every corner of the city independently! That is feature you won’t find anywhere else without having to pay extra, but we’ve included it, free of charge, as we know that independent transportation is a necessity for you to be able to reach your fullest potential here in Kyoto!
All of this and much more is GroLiving Kyoto! But now we pass the ball to you. If you think you are suitable, not only to live here, but also to help us develop this project by living in this common space in respect and harmony with the other GroLivers, do not hesitate to contact us for more information. We will be at your complete disposal!
