A three-story former dormitory built 16 years ago for unmarried employees of a brokerage has been reborn as a "social apartment" for 44 singles.

Yuki Ito, a 28-year-old worker at a Tokyo publishing company, is one of the tenants of Social Apartment Yomiuriland in Kawasaki. They range in age from 18 to 43 and about half are women.

"I would not have gotten to know people from so many different walks of life and with such diverse viewpoints if I had lived alone in an ordinary apartment," said Ito, whom other tenants have nicknamed "big sister" and sometimes consult on matters of the heart.