2017-11-01

Types of Japanese Property: What Does LDK Mean?

Advice

When it comes to your first time looking for property in Japan, you might get a little unfamiliar with the terminology. It is necessary to discover some of the most common terms that are used in Japanese real estate before starting browsing properties.

LDK

“LDK” is probably the most common term that you may find during the property searching process. What does LDK mean? LDK is the abbreviation of Living Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen. For example, these are the types of house or apartment layout with LDK.

1LDK

1LDK means a single apartment with a living room, dining room, and kitchen. This layout is the most common type of apartment in the city center.Here is the example of the layout plan:

2LDK

The number comes before the “LDK” shows the number of bedrooms in the house. 2LDK means the house has two bedrooms plus the living room, dining room, and kitchen.Here is the example of the layout plan:

3LDK

3LDK designates three bedrooms with living room, dining room, and kitchen. The kitchen is usually partly separated from the living and dining area by a wall.Here is the example of the layout plan:

1K or 1DK

In big cities like Tokyo and any other city centers, there will be units that are advertised as a just number of the room plus “K” or “DK”. This shows that the house only has a kitchen, or dining and kitchen, but no living room.Here is the example of the layout plan:The only difference is that in 1K the kitchen area is considered smaller since there is no dining area. Meanwhile, 1DK has a bigger kitchen area and the bedroom is separated by walls from the kitchen area.

1R

“1R” is probably the simplest type of room in Japan. The “R” refers to a room. It means that there is literally only one room and there’s no wall to separate the bedroom from the kitchen.Here is the example of the layout plan:

SLDK

This type is a better version of the LDK, it has the extra “S” which refers to a storage room. This “storage room” is basically just an extra room which can be used as anything as needed. It can be a storage room, service room, walk-in closet, free-use room, etc. The size of this extra room is not defined, but usually smaller than the other bedroom or sometimes it is just a narrow storage space. The big extra room on 3SLDK can also be a 4LDK.Here is the example of the layout plan: