Hi, I’m an international student in Tokyo and i’m looking for a place to live. I have a temporary residence at my dorm but end of contract is approaching so i’m looking around for good places! I have a considerably good budget and i wanna find newer properties in tokyo.
Is Itabashi a good place to live? I realise there’s many new properties there at the same price with oldddd ones nearer to the city…i use toei mita line/namboku line to shirokane area everyday so i’m looking for areas along these lines
Update: thank you all for your comments! 🥺 i will check out the recommended places for sure!
6 comments
I found Ward 3-F of the Tokyo Psychiatric Hospital most acceptable, and met many fellow redditors there.
Sendagi maybe your option. Assuming that you use namboku line your campus is Hongo.
I haven’t lived there so massive grain of salt, but I was passing by the new apartments In Akabane and it had a nice vibe.
You’ll be fairly limited by being a student. Landlords prefer their tenants to be employed and making about 3x the monthly rent in income.
If you’re visually foreign-looking, that may hamper your efforts as well. If you have a high level of Japanese, that’ll definitely help but be aware a sizeable portion of landlords will turn you down before you can get a single word out.
Another thing to keep in mind when renting from the Japanese market (and not the foreigner-friendly one) is that virtually all rent agreements are 2 years. If you’re a full degree student, this shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re a short-term exchange student, this will be an issue as well.
Then of course there are the fees like real estate brokerage fee, key money, guarantor fee, fire insurance fee, lock exchange fee, etc.
This is all just anecdotal from my own experience apartment hunting. The best way to decide on a ward to live in is to actually head down there on a weekend. Wander around and check out “the vibe” as the kids say. Make note of amenities like grocery stores, drug stores, the local public transportation and does it easily connect to other places you need/want to go? Is there any else you might specifically want in your neighbourhood? Izakayas? A good bakery? Quiet? A nice sento within walking distance?
New properties in Tokyo are easy to come by. The way the housing market is set up, in many cases it’s actually more financially beneficial to tear old buildings down than maintain them, so my advice would to be to find a specific area you like rather than just look for new properties specifically as those are plentiful in virtually every area.
Depends where your Univ is….. If you study in Nerima, suggesting Katsushika would be idiotic, even if there are nice spots…
itabashi is great ward definitely recommend. Also if money is problem you don’t have to live in Tokyo. Go live in Hiyoshi, a student town