anyone know anything about Hibarigaoka?

i have secured a job and accomodation in the Hibarigaoka area of Tokyo.

has any one any input on this area. local amenities, nice or nasty, anything really

much apreciated.
J

This is the website of the city that Hibarigaoka is located in.
http://www.city.nishitokyo.tokyo.jp/english/index.html

Hope you enjoy your stay!

hello.
i actually lived in hibarigaoka for a year--in '00. it's a nice enough area--not too exciting. i lived within walking distance of the train station--there is a decent-sized mall at the station with cool shopping and a few good restaurants. And everything is pretty conveniently located in the vicinity--bank, grocery stores, convience stores...not much too exciting. The nearest major section of Tokyo is Ikebukuro--this is a pretty happening area,..though it can be kind of seedy. Once you get to the Ikebukuro station though you can go anywhere easily--including Shibuya and Shinjuku (which are really cool areas) Hope this is somewhat helpful. Feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions i might be able to help out with. I just finished watching Lost in Translation--and now I miss Tokyo--nazakashi desu ne!

Hi, I lived in Hibariagaoka for 4 years, know it very well and love the place, wish I was going back there. E-mail me and we can talk.

Hey, I posted above. E-mail me at busterhymen@comcast.net. We can talk

Hello,
Dunno why but my question about Hibari House (at Hibarigaoka) never appears!
So, I'd like to ask anyone who's stayed there. Is it good? Thanks!

I found your question here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+24681

But there are no reactions yet.

I have stayed at Hibari house twice and I absolutely love it! In fact I plan to live there this year. I strongly recommend that you stay there, it's a real bargain and so cosy!!!

To the person who asked about Hibari House: I stayed there for a little while a year ago and it was great...very reasonable price, nice people, quiet, and I liked the new manager. Had a hell of a time finding it the first time around, though. If you go, remember to take a *hard* left immediately after the 7-Eleven, or you'll probably do what I did and wander around lost for several hours. xD

hello,
well, I hadn't received any reaction to my previous question until my departure to Japan, so I decided to give it a try myself.

Yes, the place itself was very nice. The room was nice and clean and provides ample space for everyone. The wall is rather thin, though, so you may feel a little disturbed when your neighbours chat loudly.

The common room was also cozy with one communal PC, some travel guide books on Japan and a big TV with international channels. You can also rent an in-room TV, but it won't have non-Japanese channels.

The room rate is also very cheap (Y 3500 for double occupancy inclusive of bedding), but the air-con/heater and showers are coin-operated. Still, it was a great bargain. The manager, Toshi, is also a very nice guy, who'll assist you on anything.

One more thing, the place is not recommended for those bringing a lot of luggages. First, because it's about 10-15 minutes walk from the nearest station (no escalator) with the risk of being lost, and second, to reach the nearest station (Hibarigaoka), you may need to transfer up to several times, even from major stations. For example, from Narita to Ikebukuro, you'll have to go Narita Airport - Nippori/Ueno, Nippori/Ueno - Ikebukuro, Ikebukuro - Hibarigaoka (unless you take Narita Express to Ikebukuro, which costs a lot!) Please note that taking trains going to and from major stations in Tokyo can be very, very exhausting, even late at night.

But again, if you don't really mind about that, don't hesitate to try the Hibari House!

I'm staying at Hibari house right now, and I'm very happy about this place. It's cheap, the standards are good, and it's close to central Tokyo. I'm definitively coming back:)

Hibarigaoka is a fairly nice area. The station can get crowded in the morning though. If you're working there though, that won't be a problem. To see a video of the station, do a Google search for "Actually Full Train in 1991"

Lyle

I wasn't sure if links could be put in - it seems that it's okay, so here's the link of the rush hour in the morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf8Ig2M3Zq0

Lyle

For the most part it's an awesome place to stay in as its quite cheap and there are many amenities within a 20 min walk. It's an awesome place to stay in but my advice is to treat the current manager Toshi (if he's still there) at arms length. Even though he's a decent person there were many occasions (us the residents of hibari) had to stop him from physically wanting to fight the residents. There was also many time's he lost control by screaming at various people in the guesthouse. Please dont get me wrong my experience there was great but be careful who you put your trust into.

Hibari house is a great option for budget living in Tokyo. The area of hibarigaoka is linked well to ikebukero and so its very easy to get into the main areas of tokyo. its also nice to experience life in the suburbs and there are loads of cool little bars / ramen + udon houses to check out. I would however echo the sentiments of the last post. Hibari houses current manager Toshi is generally a nice guy but he will often accuse residents of not doing dishes / not keeping the house in good conditon with no evidence what so ever. he also often takes money of residents deposits when they leave for reasons that you could see as unreasonable. However hibari house is a great place to meet other travellers and is a superb option for cheap living in tokyo. I would advise staying there but just be waery of Toshi for the reasons mentioned in this thread.

I'm also currently staying at the ''Tatami guesthouse'' or ''Hibari house'' - 2 names, 1 house - and I'd highly recommend it. The walls are thin though. So if you happen to have ''loud'' foreign neighbors who like to party a lot and scream around at 4am/5am (like I have) it could get annoying.
The manager Toshi is really nice and helpful and is one of the few japanese who speak really good english! That's also to be considered if you do not speak japanese.
The neighborhood itself is suburban and rather calm - except around the station. Just a few hundred meters there's a supermarket called ''LIFE'' and several Konbinis. On the way to the station there's a post office. You also get free internet, so if you bring your mac or pc make sure you also bring an ethernet/LAN cable.

I myself am not in japan to meet other travelers. In fact I find it to be rather disturbing how little respect most travelers are showing towards the japanese culture etc. I'm in Japan to learn about japanese culture, lifestyle, etc. and to improve my japanese.
As I mentioned in my previous post - there are also a lot of people who do NOT know how to behave. Who do not care about the other guests (noise, dirty dishes,..). That's a shame. No wonder if the manager loses his temper with such people. I had no problem with him AT ALL. On the contrary - I lost my phone on the train and he called there for me and had been really nice and helpful ALL THE TIME.

I just left Hibari house a month ago and toshi is a nice helpful guy. I didnt have any problems with him.

When I went to Japan in January of 09 I stayed in Hibari House. It was a nice place, a bit different then the pictures that are on the house website by that's to be seen because they were taken a while ago. Any who's for any one wishing to make a friend while staying there I suggest talking to Kikuchi Makoto- san. He was a really big help to me while I was staying there all by myself. You can almost always catch him in the common room on the computer, just say Hi! He's a really good guy to talk to. :D

I stayed in Hibari House for little more than a month this summer. Toshisan was a real sweetheart he helpful with my friends and I. We really never had any trouble with him and also he gave us our deposits without any stories. You just have to keep in mind that HIbari House is NOT a hotel so you have to respect the place anda the people who live inside.