The Biggest Mistakes Foreigners Make When Furnishing an Apartment in Japan
Moving to Japan is exciting. Furnishing your apartment? Slightly less exciting, especially when you’re already overwhelmed by everything else that comes with moving to a new county. I’ve worked with enough foreign clients in Tokyo and see the same pattern over and over again: smart, well-traveled adults making completely avoidable mistakes — not because they have bad taste, but because homes in Japan are different. Here are the biggest ones.
1. Buying for Your Old Country, Not Your Actual Apartment
This is the #1 mistake. You’re not furnishing a Brooklyn loft. You’re not furnishing a London flat. You’re furnishing a Tokyo apartment.
Japanese apartments have:
Lower ceilings
Narrow hallways
Smaller entryways
Compact layouts
Sometimes sliding doors instead of hinged ones
That oversized sectional you loved back home? It will swallow your living room whole.
Before buying anything, measure:
Elevator dimensions
Hallway width
Door clearance
Ceiling height
In Japan, scale is everything.
2. Underestimating Storage (Or Overbuying It)
Foreigners tend to swing between two extremes:
Extreme A: “There’s no storage here.”
Extreme B: Buying 12 plastic drawers from Nitori.
Yes, Japanese apartments can lack built-in storage. But filling your home with visible storage makes a small space feel even tighter, and can make it feel claustrophobic. The goal isn’t more storage. The goal is edited belongings + intentional storage. Often, decluttering 20% solves what buying three cabinets never will. And the process of letting go of things you don’t need can feel cathartic.
3. Ignoring Lighting (And Relying on the Ceiling Light)
Most Japanese rentals come with:
One aggressive overhead light
Possibly fluorescent
Zero ambiance
And then… people just live with it. Layered lighting is what makes a space feel warm and expansive. That means:
Floor lamps
Table lamps
Warm bulbs (not hospital white)
Multiple light sources at different heights
This alone can make a 50sqm apartment feel warm and inviting, and twice as intentional.
4. Trying to Recreate “Japanese Minimalism”
There’s this myth that everyone in Japan lives in a serene Muji showroom. They don’t. Japanese minimalism works because:
Storage is integrated
Items are intentional
Visual noise is controlled
Foreigners often interpret this as: “Buy fewer things. Everything beige.” Minimalism isn’t about lack. It’s about proportion and balance. You can have personality in your space. You just need restraint and editing.
5. Buying Everything at Once
Landing in Tokyo is overwhelming. So people panic-buy: Bed. Sofa. Dining table. Rug. Shelves. Curtains. All in one weekend. The result? A fully furnished apartment that feels soulless and temporary.
In Japan especially, it pays to:
Start with the absolute basics
Live in the space first
Observe light patterns
Understand traffic flow
Notice what you actually need
Furnishing gradually = furnishing intelligently.
6. Not Designing for Rental Reality
Most Tokyo apartments are rentals. That means:
No drilling
No painting
No renovation
But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck. You can still:
Upgrade lighting
Replace curtains
Invest in statement furniture
Style with art, objects, and other details
Even if a living situation is temporary, it doesn’t have to feel like it. Your home should tell a story about who you are, where you’ve been, and make you feel like you can come home to rest and recharge.
7. Forgetting That Space Impacts Identity
This is the deeper one. Many foreigners in Japan already feel:
In-between cultures
Not fully “home”
Transitional
When your apartment also feels temporary and mismatched, it reinforces that feeling. Your home should stabilize you. Not remind you you’re in limbo. Furnishing well isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about anchoring yourself.
So What Should You Do Instead?
Before buying anything major, ask:
Does this fit the scale of a Tokyo apartment?
Am I buying this because I love it — or because I feel unsettled?
Have I measured everything?
Have I lived in the space long enough to understand it?
Design in Japan requires adaptation, not imitation.
If You’re Feeling Stuck
If your apartment feels off but you can’t explain why, it’s usually not about money or taste. It’s about translation — translating your identity into a Japanese spatial context. That’s where I come in.
I help foreigners in Tokyo create homes that feel intentional, calm, and grounded — without pretending they live in a Muji catalog. If that sounds like what you need, get in touch.