One year in Japan - Finding where to stay

One year in Japan – Finding where to stay

16 août 2019

This mid-September I will go to Japan for one year with a Working Holliday Visa as I'm taking a sabbatical leave.

I have booked the first 18 days in a standard hostel in Tokyo. My plan is to live in Tokyo the first three to four-month finding a part job and taking Japanese class.

After that, I will go to Sapporo, because of the amazing Snow Festival in February. Then, I will explore the country from north to south by hitchhiking. I'm not sure how many months I will hitchhike. I will maybe make some stops on big cities (Osaka, Fukuoka, ...).

Back to the subject of this post.

Where to stay in Tokyo for ~70,000¥/month (mid term staying)?

Apartment? A hassle for strangers and way too expensive
AirBNB? Too expensive
Hotel? Too expensive
Hostel? Well 3 month in a hostel is kinda uncomfortable, budget matches though
Share-house (also called Guesthouse)? Yes, that's the way to go.

Except I really struggle to find a good share-house with a private room.

Here is a list of housing sites I found while exploring the web.

There are many websites/agencies, it seems infinite...

Sakura House

https://www.sakura-house.com/en One of the most know agencies for strangers. They are very slow to respond by mail. Many houses have only one shower... For 10+ rooms. That's a hassle. One thing I like is the rent you see is the true rent you will pay, no hidden fees.

Oakhouse

https://www.oakhouse.jp/eng/ Maybe the second one popular after Sakura House. They have a contract fee from 30,000¥ to 50,000¥ and you need to add maintenance fee to the total rent. They seem to have better-designed houses than Sakura.

DK House

http://www.e-guesthouse.com/eng/ They are big buildings with many rooms (100+), many showers, many facilities and so on. All rooms are the same. They have 30,000¥ contract fee and you need to add the common fee to the total rent.

Fontana: Tokyo City Apartments

http://www.tokyocityapartments.net/ This website is shady... Their houses too. Looks like there are no hidden fees though.

ComeOnUp Sharehouses

http://www.comeonup-house.com/en They have hidden fees for hot water shared between tenants.

Bamboo House

https://www.bamboo-house.com/roomgallery.php They have fees of 9,000¥ for common utilities.

Borderless House

https://www.borderless-house.com/jp/ They have fees of 7,000¥ to 12,000¥ for common utilities.

BeGoodJapan

https://bgj.co.jp/ They don't display the price on the website...

Fujimi House

https://fujimihouse.jp/?lang=en No hidden fees. The rent displayed is what you'll pay.

My choice

Edit: I have found a room with Sakura House for 66,000¥.