I stayed in the comfortable and spacious upstairs (loft) room for nearly a month during Feb/March 2017 with shared use of all the other facilities. Yuriko and Jin were excellent hosts and made me feel very welcome. Yuriko is a great cook and I enjoyed both the breakfasts which were a mix of western and Japanese style and the Japanese style evening meals (when I chose to eat in). I was trying to learn some Japanese as well as working, and I found Yuriko and Jin very patient and helpful, and we often spent time together chatting after breakfast or dinner. I was able to walk to the metro/train station in 12-15 mins, and connections to central Tokyo and to the Ueno area are very good. The Machiya area itself also feels homely with narrow streets and many people travelling by bicycle. Yuriko and Jin have many family members in the area, (including a niece who speaks good English and is willing to translate if needed), and they introduced me to several of them. Jin very kindly gave me several lifts during my stay. All in all a very homely place to stay and a great experience!

I spent a very enjoyable month with Edi, Satomi and family. My ground floor room was small but cozy, and came with exclusive use of the small downstairs toilet/washbasin across the corridor, and shared use of the family bathroom. I was also made to feel very welcome to use the family kitchen/lounge/TV room or the outside balcony at any time. The house is about 3 mins walk from a bus stop from where it is about a 10 minute ride to the station, or I found I could walk it in about 15 minutes or a little longer via the park. I was also given use of a bicycle which cut the time to about 10 minutes. The real joy of staying here was in spending time with the family. It was a great delight to discuss all manner of topics with Edi, and I learnt much about the Japanese way of life from Satomi (who is also an excellent cook), and indeed from the whole family. I ended up feeling very much included in family life. Although I'm not especially fond of dogs, I found the family golden retriever friendly and easy to live with.