All right, you're probably scratching your head in amazement and wondering: "Is there really such a thing as a frugal housecleaning and helper service," especially in Tokyo, recently voted the most expensive city in the world?
In a word, yes! There are several options available to those either too pressed for time to do their own housecleaning, or in need of general help around the house. "But wait," you reply, "truly frugal folks don't spend money on things they could do themselves!" Well, you may be right. But at a certain point in our modern lives, the time gained by outsourcing certain tasks becomes more valuable than the money spent on the task.
Silver Jinzai Center
The primary solution to this issue is one of Japan's best kept frugal secrets - the Silver Jinzai Center, or Senior Citizen's Work Center. The concept is ingenious: retired Japanese folks (men and women, usually in their 60s or 70s) who are still healthy and desiring of a way to earn money, feel useful, and contribute to society register with the Center. The Center, in turn, dispatches them to households in the area with various needs. The list of jobs that these folks can do is amazing: basic household chores such as cleaning, laundry, shopping, meal preparation, housesitting/petsitting, help after the birth of a new baby, accompanying aged relatives needing nursing care on walks or to the hospital, gardening, weed-pulling, babysitting, light carpentry work, light office work, kimono repair, and even mail/pamphlet delivery.
Each locality(city/ward/town/village) runs its own Silver Jinzai Center, so prices and services vary by location. I've used the service in the past for gardening (1,000 yen/hour) and housecleaning before a move (16,000 yen for 4 hours/2 people). A friend in Kyoto swears by their babysitting service, which she has used for her two children three days a week for three years (800 yen/hour).
Who uses the service? Many people! Families where both spouses work (especially those with children), singles who work long hours, and even stay-at-home moms looking for a break once a week to accomplish some shopping, get a haircut, or just relax away from their children.
A few things to be careful about: the staff registered with the center may be not be able to do more heavy cleaning (such as A/C cleaning or heavy lifting)/construction work due to physical limitations or their age. Also, the relationship between the staff member and the client is more that of a "volunteer/helper" and friend than that of a service provider/client. Thus, sometimes it can be difficult to get precisely what you want out of the service due to personal issues and other concerns. Altogether, however, I hear mostly good things about the service.
To find your local Silver Jinzai Center, check your locality's newsletter (Koho), or call or drop by the City/Town/Ward Hall to inquire about it. Usually the Silver Center is housed in a different location, but the city hall staff can usually point you in the right direction. (Be sure and ask for Shiruba Jinzai Sentaa in Japanese!)
Housekeeper Introduction Services
A slightly more expensive option (but still cheaper than using a commercial cleaning service like Duskin or Mini Maids) is utilizing a 'kaseifu' or housekeeper introduction service. These services act as "matching" agencies for housekeepers, 'homehelpers' (those that help the elderly or disabled in daily living tasks), or even home nurses and their clients, and often charge an introductory fee on top of basic rates. Rates for these firms vary, but Sugamo Kaseifu Shokaisho (Sugamo Kaseifu Introductory Service) offers part-time maid service from 9:00-5:00 AM from 1,500 yen/hour (three to five hours), plus a 10.5% surcharge from the service and a 670-yen registration fee. The client also pays transport costs directly to the housekeeper. Again, not especially frugal, but they offer a wider range of services than the Silver Jinzai Centers, and also enable a more professional customer/service provider relationship. Check out Sugamo's website here (Japanese only): www1.ocn.ne.jp/~kaseifu/outline.htm#jigyouzu
Whatever type of service you choose, remember it's sometimes necessary to outsource major household tasks (or even minor ones), due to a particular event or situation in life, or even just to get a "mental health break!"
By Wendy J. Imura. Copyright 2005.