Texas to Japan

My wife and I are making a trip to Tokyo to see if it is somewhere we would like to live. We have both lived in Texas our whole life and I am thinking of moving out there for my company. I know hosing there is a lot smaller than what I am used to but not sure how much smaller. We have an 1800 sq. ft. house here, how much of a change would we be looking at?

Houses and apartments are usually measured in -jo which is the size of a tatami mat. If you want to do a conversion from that to sq feet first multiply by 1.62 to get sq meters then multiply by 10.76 to get sq feet.

I'd say many working couples in Tokyo live in apartment units - not in detached houses - the size ranges widely. Just for your information, the one we (husband and wife, no kids) used to live in was 53 square meters (approx. 570 square feet) and one we are in now is 75 square meters (approx. 807 square feet). Both with a balcony, no yard/garden, of course. Many apartments are in this size range I believe (well, at least in my area).

If you prefer a large-size apartment or house, you can rent or buy one in richer areas of Tokyo such as Hiroo, or Den-en Chofu. But it will cost you a fortune to rent or buy a house there. In Hiroo, you will have to pay around 800,000 yen per month for renting a large-size apartment.
If you don't mind living in the suburbs of Tokyo, then you will have more chances of obtaining a less expensive house or apartment in larger size.

Wow I knew they were small but I may have closets that size :-P Thanks for the input everyone.

I have seen apartments in Tokyo with a floor area of 400 sq. metres, over twice the size of your Texas place.
average apartments would be from 60 to 90 sq. metres but in Japan, as in Europe, outside decks, balconies, the floor area taken by inside walls and even closets etc. aren't included in the useable surface, the one shown in real estate ads. in addition, although the places may be small they are well laid out. most have a bathroom with a vanity and washing machine in one room, the tub and shower in another (one showers right outside the tub) and an automatic toilet i.e one that washes you after use(it is often operated by a remote control)in a third cubicle. the kitchens are small too but they have fridges with 4 to 6 compartments at different temperatures, microwave ovens that also bake, broil steam cook etc. the water temperature in the kitchen and bath are operated by wall mounted electronic panels.
friends of mine have a 3 bedroom row house with a separate sitting room,a big kitchen and a family room. it feels quite spacious.
check www.toyotahome.co.jp
google will show you a line in Japanese, with the address (the one above)underneath the Japanese. click on translate ..a page open in strange English(blame Google)on the second column at the bottom click on "residents collecting example" to see an index of actual houses. click on a house photo to open a page with photos of the inside plus floor plans. at the very bottom of that page click on the sentences between vertical bars for more photos. SKIP #36 AS IT IS a clinic with the doctor apartment above
try googling
www.kencorp.com/select/
chidorigafuchi/modelroom.html
(or just google chidorigafuchi home) for layouts and photos (all in English) of nice rental apartments.
Japanese newspapers on the internet have lots of very fancy real estate ads but it takes a lot of patience to get these pages when one doesn't read Japanese.

I think it depends where you are thinking of living. My daughter is staying with a host family in Tosu city on Kyushu. They have a large 2 storey home with a flat roof where they observe the stars and a large garden.

I think it all depends if you want to live in the city of Tokyo or or in a smaller city in less populated part of Japan.