INTERVIEW

What do I want to do?" I resigned from my dream job after 3 months. I was lost in what I wanted to do, but I found my "calling" at SA.

2025-04-24

Social apartments are rental apartments that include a lounge and other public spaces in addition to conventional rental housing. It is a new style of living where you can enjoy community with other residents while maintaining your privacy, and "expanding your world.

This time, we will introduce you to Riho Asahina, who has been living at Neighbors Higashi Jujo, a social apartment just a 4-minute walk from Higashi Jujo Station, for a whopping 5 years now (!). We interviewed Ms. Riho Asahina, who has been living at Neighbors Higashi Jujo, a social apartment located within a 4-minute walk from Higashi Jujo Station.

Riho says that five years ago, she started working at a job she had long dreamed of, but she had fallen behind without a second thought. She lost sight of the road map she had been looking for, but the people living in the social apartment became her light.

I had longed for this job for a long time. I never thought it would be so easy to fail.

Riho, what made you decide to live in a social apartment?

I was always interested in living with other people. There was a good friend of mine who lived in the student dormitory at the university I attended, and she really had a lot of friends! I envied her frank conversations with people of all ages.

I had belonged to a broadcasting club, a brass band club, a dance club, etc., but all of them were athletic clubs with strict hierarchical relationships, so I didn't have any seniors whom I could talk to comfortably.

When I was a senior in college, I learned about the opening of Neighbors Higashi Jujo through SNS and was attracted by the atmosphere and concept. I was in Fukuoka at the time, so I had given up on the idea of living there, but when I started working I decided to move to Tokyo and decided, "I have to live here! and decided to move in.

So you moved in after you graduated. What kind of work were you doing at the time?

Actually, I had been offered a job at a hotel after graduation, but I couldn't give up my dream of becoming a wedding planner (......). I was able to start my job search while living in a social apartment and joined the company mid-career in the fall.

Weddings are a special day to express our gratitude to our loved ones, aren't they? I believed that creating happiness and excitement for others was what I wanted to do with my life.

...But I quit after three months. When I actually started working there, I had to think about sales, and I was tied down. What I wanted to do and what the company wanted me to do often did not match.

When I thought about an environment where I could truly "create happiness with customers," I realized that this might not be the right place for me.

So there was a big gap between your ideal and reality.

That's right. That was the first time I felt lost.

I wondered , "What did I really want to do? I felt I needed time to face myself and think about it. I felt that I needed time to face myself and think about it.

I studied until 3 am. A "new dream" I found through the residents

How did you find what you wanted to do?

There were many people working in Social Apartment, so I talked to many people. One of the things that caught my interest was video work. When they showed me what they had actually created, I was amazed that a creator, not a company, could create something so amazing. I was amazed.

My father works in the camera industry, and he always made VLOGs when he traveled, and I remember looking back at them often. I remember looking back at them often. I remember thinking, "That was fun," or "That was a happy moment. I thought, "Maybe with video, I can create the happiness I wanted to realize..." I thought so, and bought a camera.

I thought so, and bought a camera anyway. The residents advised me that I could study on my own on YouTube, so I studied in the co-working space until 3:00 a.m. every day.

So, the residents were a big catalyst for you to find your new dream.

Yes, it did. I had the opportunity to photograph many of the residents of Social Apartment. Because of our deep relationship, it was easy for me to make requests, and I think I was able to grow with speed.

Some residents saw me filming and editing and gave me work. I really appreciated that...

As an individual, I decided that I wanted to make wedding videos, so I contacted a company that shoots weddings around town, which led to my debut in the field within 3 months of buying the camera.

I worked as a contractor for one year and as an employee for two years, going to many places from the north to the south. I visited places that held memories for the couple and continued to shoot footage that would convey their feelings to their family and friends.

Recently, I became a freelance videographer to be able to deliver what I really want to deliver.

I have been living here for 4 years now. I've been getting more and more calls from friends who met and became couples in the Social Apartment asking me to do their pre-shoots. I am very happy to be asked to take pictures by name, and I feel that way every day as I take pictures.

From Riho's Instagram

Neighbors Higashi Jujo is the best house in Tokyo.

What do you like about Social Apartment?

The fact that there are people from all walks of life. Before I lived in Social Apartment, I thought that "getting into a good university, getting a job at a good company, meeting a good person, and getting married" was happiness, and I think that is why I unconsciously longed for a flowery job.

But meeting people with various values here made me realize that I had a stereotypical view of myself. It was definitely thanks to Social Apartment that I was able to choose a profession not out of a yearning for a job, but as a means to achieve a goal.

Here I had time to talk with someone, "What is happiness?" I had time to talk with them, face myself, and install other people's ideas, and it made me think a lot about my purpose in life and what I truly want to do. I don't know if there is any other place where I can do this kind of self-analysis!

There were times when I was traveling around the country for filming and didn't have much time to interact with everyone, but I always felt safe because I had a place where I could say "I'm home" and they would say "Welcome back. There were many times when I was editing videos alone in the middle of the night, but I was able to do my best because I had someone next to me who was doing the same thing.

The other thing is that when I expressed my "likes," my friends would come together. The other day, we organized what was probably the biggest musical in the history of Neighbors Higashi Jujo. We came up with the choreography, built the stage, got together after work to practice...it was a lot of fun.

Actually, I was also working as a Disney cast member while studying visual arts, so for my birthday I also did a project that mimicked the attractions. I strongly feel that with everyone here, I can give shape to what I love.

Lastly, please give a message to those who are currently considering moving in!

Unlike share houses, I think social apartments are places where you don't have to share too much. So even if you are worried about living with others, it's okay! I would highly recommend it as a place to take on new challenges for those who are lost in life like I was in the past, or for those who are just going about their days somehow.

I have been here for 4 years and I have made more than 200 friends, not to mention 100. Of course, one day I will have to say goodbye and I miss them every time. ...... (laughs) Moving out and moving in is a repetitive process, and the connections will always remain and new people will be met, so I never get bored.

There may be times in the future when I have to change my environment, but I think Neighbors Higashi Jujo is the best house in Tokyo.

Thank you very much for your wonderful words. Thank you very much for your time today!