In this video I'm gonna show you what it's like to use a Japanese moving company
So if you've been watching my second channel Tokyo zebra
You already know that Maiko and I are moving apartments here in Tokyo
If you haven't seen any of those videos and you want to see what we're doing in our regular lives
Then definitely check out that channel
But in this video I wanted to break down the moving process
Here in Japan and show you all the ins and outs of the entire move
But before we start our video if you want to help support the channel
definitely check out the Tokyo merch and I did ask the moving company Art Hikkoshi Center if I could film this video and not only
Did they say that I could film the video, but they would do it for free
So without further ado, let me take you behind the scenes of my move here in Tokyo
So before the actual moving and packing day the moving company came over to inspect our place
Using a tablet the coordinator confirmed what items and furniture would be moved to the new apartment. And what would be thrown away?
After that he thoroughly explains the move process and optional services in the standard service
We pack on our own and the company moves our boxes and furniture to the new location
But since Maiko's 8 months pregnant we opted for the full service which includes packing and unpacking services meaning
We really only need to prepare the fridge and valuable items. We may have as I show you the entire process
Let me know in the comments how it differs from your country
So the professional packers should be coming shortly
basically, what they're gonna do is they're gonna help us I pack all of our stuff today and then tomorrow the actual movers are gonna
Come and then the following day that professional packers will come back and they'll unpack everything for us
So from day one, I was blown away. I've never opted for the service before in my previous
Tokyo moves always opting for the standard service
first of all the packers put on brand new pair of socks when they come into our
Apartment to ensure that they're not bringing in any dust from outside
The service itself is called apron service and rightfully so the ladies are wearing aprons and they specialize in
packing and
Organizing before the apron service commences the ladies lay down
Protective mats to ensure that the floors are not scuffed during the process
And since our studio apartment is so small and we're still sleeping here tonight they also covered our bed
On the boxes the packers carefully note the details of what's being packed where it came from and its
destination in the new place, by the way
They use a red tape to indicate
treat with extra care, yellow meaning that you need it right away at the new place and white means it's a standard box
What's pretty cool about this service is that they pack everything including your plates
They actually just pack it in normal boxes
Just like the white boxes that you see behind me
But we wanted to show you the actual boxes you use if you don't get the full service
They'll send you this like really sturdy plastic box
where it like
collapses and then turns into a full box and then it has like these little
dividers where you can put your plates, your cups, your bowls and it's pretty
Convenient and you can see that Maiko is behind me doing it right now. How is it Maiko?
Really easy, like you have to wrap it in the papers and stuff you don't do it. It's so easy
It is pretty easy if they were just to do everything for us?
So they actually have like different types, like this is for kozara like small plates
Like this. Cups.
Like you can stuck it up and like it's really hard
So safe.
The packers uses pre-constructed
Collapsible hanger boxes to move all the hanging clothes from the closet
This saves quite a bit of time and it's much cleaner than just dumping clothes in a box or even the trash bag
Which I've seen other people do before. Oh and they also have a special box to carry shoes
Okay, so here we are half of the studio space is filled with boxes with some boxes in the kitchen
but we still need to access the fridge and the bathroom so they left a little space for us
Now I just need to do the inside of the fridge
Turn it off tonight, and I'm done!
So, this is the second day of our move, we just woke up took a shower
It was kind of weird sleeping with all of these boxes kind of our last night here
But super excited for the movers to come and move all of our stuff to our new place. Anyway, the movers should be here shortly
So this is day two and this is what would be included in the standard of moving service
After a nice greeting the movers carefully cover the apartment building floors entrance doors elevators and even inside of the room
Basically blanketing the entire moving route to ensure that they don't scratch dents or damage any parts of the building
And then before the movers start moving boxes and furniture
They greet the neighbors to let them know that they'll be moving today and apologize in advance for any noise and inconvenience that they caused
One thing that I
Really appreciated is that the movers also clean the furniture as they go so they don't bring dust into the new apartment
It's super nice because some of my furniture has been in hard-to-reach spots, which has collected dust over many years
So it's only been about an hour and they've moved more than a half of our stuff already they're moving at lightning speed
It's pretty cool to watch all of this happen in person
This cabinet behind me has a glass kind of door at the top of it
And I've been using it as a whiteboard this entire time
So that's kind of like a dry erase marker on it and I've asked them to see if they cannot actually
Erase that dry erase marker. We'll see if it actually comes back like intact at the next place
So when they move larger furniture the movers use these quilted fabric tubes of different sizes to accommodate the type of furniture
I'm not sure though, but I don't think many countries use these quilted tubes. Anyway, let me know
They even prepare a special plastic cover for the mattress
For furniture that doesn't fit through the doors like this bed, they'll break it down and they'll actually rebuild it at the new place
And there you go the trucks are all filled
And here's the bathroom all cleaned out
All right, so we just oh we just got here the movers are here right now
The movers just got here
They're gonna go downstairs is the hallway and do all like the wall protection in the ground protection
So it's actually pretty amazing is that at the previous apartment
They were able to move and like pick up everything within like three hours or so. It's really really fast
Now the have they took an hour lunch break and yeah, let's see how the rest of the move goes. Oh
And he also changes into brand new socks at the new place as well
So even before they start they put a protective cover on the floor even inside of the apartment, especially in the high-traffic area
So they don't make any scratches also, they put covers along the walls, which is really nice
Movers also set furniture and specified places so we don't have to move it later on but in the case
We do the moving service does include one free layout change within one year after the move
When they bring in the boxes, they don't put them directly on the floor
But instead they use a cover sheet to protect the floor. Oh
And that's a cabinet that I'm using as a whiteboard, let's see if they were able to preserve the writing I had on it oh
Nice all the writing is still there
Please put that one in the middle and the other one here
Can you move it a little bit more to the left. Perfect. Oh and here are the clothes
How are you doing, Maiko?
I'm good. Yeah, I'm shopping for the stuff to store stuff
Stuff to store stuff? Nice.
So good morning everyone
This is day three and our final day of moving with a Japanese moving company
The apron service ladies should be coming in the next few minutes to help us unpack all of our stuff
We have a ton of boxes to unpack. So it will be really nice to get their help especially since Maiko's pregnant
First of all, I
Underestimated their unpacking service the apron service ladies didn't just unpack our stuff, but they also organized things for us
in fact
They tell us that if we don't know how to organize go teach us how to organize closets and kitchen cabinets
They even refolded our clothes and resorted them for our new closet configurations. And there you go. The closet looks much cleaner than before
They also provide a free kitchen sheets to put on the bottom of the cabinets to cushion the pots and pans nice
They're really good like I'm doing makeup right now
that's very much I care about but like she's like reorganizing my stuff and like she's asking me like Oh,
What do I wear often? Like what I don't use usually use this is I could be folding stuff
Yeah
Good
And when they finish they call headquarters on speakerphone and confirmed that the unpacking has been completed to our satisfaction
So that concludes the video a whole three days and were completely
Done with moving having a Japanese moving company, like art made it just so easy
I've actually done several moves in Tokyo before but never with a packing and unpacking
Service and it made it so much easier and faster Maiko and I are not completely done outfitting this stuff
But we'll be doing that on the other channel Tokyo zebra
So if you want to see how this house turns out then definitely check out that channel
No one helps it where the channel check out the Tokyo and Osaka merch
also
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I'll catch you guys in the next one