Wouldn’t we all want to live in a mansion. The chance to live in a “mansion” might be far greater in Japan than in your home country. Of course my comparison is between the United States and Japan since the US is my home country. Your financial situation obviously will factor into your chance to live in a mansion.

Japan is loaded with “mansions.” Maybe some of you are wondering, “why is this guy using quotations every time he mentions mansions?” Well I have the answer to your question! In Japan, apartment complexes are broken down into different categories, マンション and アパート, mansion and apartment respectively. There are other categories such as文化 住宅(bunka) or ハイツ (heights), but for today’s blog I will focus on two.

In Japan, there are different forms of writing; hiragana, katakana, and of course Kanji. Hiragana and kanji are used when writing a word from the Japanese language. Katakana is the form of writing when a word is borrowed from a different language, but it is still used as part of the Japanese language.

マンション -vs- アパート

Granted both “mansions” and “apartments” are used in the same sense, apartment complexes. Even when you’re speaking (in Japanese) of the unit you live in, you will either use “mansion” or apartment. In general, you can use 部屋 (heya), which means room. This word is also used when speaking of a home as well.

The main differences between “mansion” and “apartments”:
Building structure
Mansions’ structure is constructed of steel frame (S) or steel framed reinforced concrete (SRC), where as apartments’ structure is constructed of mainly wood or lightweight steel frames.
Typically, “mansions” have more floors compared to the “apartment,” “mansions” are high rises where “apartments” typically are not.
“Mansions” are better insulated, better managed, and secutiry is tigheter compared to “apartment” complexes.
“Mansions” have better sound proofing than “apartments.”
Rent
Rent is more expensive when living in a “mansion” complex considering the cost of construction is higher when taking into consideration what was mentioned above.