I wanna move by downtown shibuya – I work nights there and it’ll just be easier if I can walk home (max 30 min). Ideally I wanna spend ¥70,000-90,000 and I’ll live alone, small is fine but I don’t like places super old. Some people told me Yoyogi or Yoyogi Uehara, what do you recommend? Thanks folks.
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Yoyogi Uehara is an upscale, expensive area. Move just a little north to Hatagaya or Sasazuka and you may find something at your price and that place won’t be falling apart. It’s still Shibuya-ku and it’s walkable, although not quite close to both Shinjuku and Shibuya stations. On a bike it’s a piece of cake.
Ikejiri could be an option as well.
[Price map](https://www.haseko.co.jp/hc/information/upload_files/20200803_2.jpg).
Basically, to get to ¥90,000 and not old/terrible you’d have more luck in Setagaya ku.
Perhaps filter Suumo within eastern Setagaya and look for an area that isn’t close to a station?
Use an apartment search website, put in your budget/ location/ building age and press search. For that budget and your wants you won’t have millions of pages to look through (Literally just did your search on SUUMO and there was 13 pages).
Go talk to an agency and ask for recommendations, though at 70k I doubt you find anything (at 90k your odds are much better for a tiny place).
neighboring Shibuya st. and walkable distance: shinsen, daikanyama, ikejiri oohashi, harajuku, ebisu, omotesando… which all are hyped area. The more subtle one would be Shinsen and Ikejiri so try your luck there
I actually did manage to find an apartment just a few minutes walking distance away from Shibuya Station for 80,000 yen but this was 9 years ago so I don’t know what the prices are like now. I think it’s more doable than you’d think though since the vast majority of people don’t believe you can get a price that low in the area and thus don’t even try.
There’s probably not many of them available, and even less allowing foreigners, but it doesn’t hurt to just walk into a random rental agency, give them your details, and see what they have.
Some tips are to look for older buildings, probably a 1K, and then follow the agent to check them out in person. I managed to find a newly renovated place like this in a perfect quiet location. Small of course, but the convenience trumped everything, especially as a single guy who is never at home anyway.
Good luck OP!
If you can afford it Tomigaya area
Best place around Shibuya and a good balance between quiet and fun , lots of nice restaurants or bars and a easy walk into Shibuya shopping area
I lived there the first 2 years after moving to Japan and regret moving out
There are actually a lot [more places on Suumo](https://suumo.jp/chintai/tokyo/sc_shibuya/?chinryomax=9&cjoken%5B%5D=1&et=20&cn=25) than I expected (though this is all of Shibuya-ku, not limited to a 30 minute walk from Shibs).
You will definitely be making a bunch of compromises in terms of space, quality, etc., to make it work, though.
Be aware that a lot of units on Suumo (like 80% in my experience) are not really available. They’re old/fake, used as lead gen traps by agents.
I used to live right in a small but decent apartment smack in the middle of Dogenzaka for ¥92,000. That was back in 2015, so might be a bit more now.
Koenji and Nakano are cool, Takadanobaba and Toshima area might be more affordable. Nerima is kinda far.
Setagaya or like Shimokitazawa 👌
Used to live in Ikejiri Oohashi for 83,000¥ a month but it was a 40+ year old apartment, and it was well communicated at only 30~35 min walking from Shibuya station
you’ll have to compromise on space, yoyogi-hachiman or yoyogi-uehara is a little pricier
[https://suumo.jp/jj/chintai/ichiran/FR301FC001/?ar=030&bs=040&pc=30&smk=&po1=25&po2=99&shkr1=03&shkr2=03&shkr3=03&shkr4=03&rn=0240&ek=024041310&ek=024041290&ra=013&cb=7.0&ct=9.0&et=7&mb=0&mt=9999999&cn=9999999&fw2=](https://suumo.jp/jj/chintai/ichiran/FR301FC001/?ar=030&bs=040&pc=30&smk=&po1=25&po2=99&shkr1=03&shkr2=03&shkr3=03&shkr4=03&rn=0240&ek=024041310&ek=024041290&ra=013&cb=7.0&ct=9.0&et=7&mb=0&mt=9999999&cn=9999999&fw2=)
First of all, good luck with that!
Overall, you’re looking for a rather old building, literally 30 minutes on foot from any train station. Basically a place where people seriously down on their luck live.
Or you could maybe find a share house.
“Downtown Shibuya” means somewhere near the station and the scramble I’m guessing?
30 minutes by foot won’t be cheap but if you get a bike, you can be home in like 20 minutes depending on which side of Shibuya you’re coming back from. Moved to Sasazuka 2 years ago and really liking how many places are just a short bike ride away. There’s also a bus that goes right to Shibuya station as well.
Hatagaya and Hatsudai might also be worth a look, especially if you also want to be close to Shinjuku. Not the greatest with the highways overhead but lots of little local shops and restaurants and parks scattered about.
Somewhere near Shimo-Kitazawa could be worth considering but I’m guessing prices have gone up with the recent development (gentrification) going on there.
Had a classmate who had a 2LDK near Yutenji for ¥80k but that was a 10 years ago and it was an old place.
Uehara? LOL. Not for 7-9.
A 30 minutes walk form Shibuya should equate to 10-15 minutes train ride.
Ikejiri Ohashi, matsubara etc
Kitasando might fit your budget on the high end. Sendagaya as well.
I live in Shibuya now and just finished a long apartment search basically limited to ~2 stations away from Shibuya. with your budget, if you’re dead set on living 30 min walk from Shibuya, your only chances will be to go west (past Shinsen on the Inokashira Line) or southwest (Denentoshi Line starting with Ikejiri Ohashi). either way, if you can find anything, it will be an old tiny building far from the station.
being open to a 30 min bike ride from Shibuya though makes it way easier. you can definitely find apartments in your price range a few more stations out, like past Sangenjaya on Denentoshi Line (those tiny stations on the Setagaya Line are quite charming and my friend bikes regularly from there to Shibuya) or Yutenji and further down Toyoko Line.
Check out goodrooms.jp!
They’re pretty good for modern, renovated or in general unique architecture!
For eg this listing is for Honmachi, Shibuya-
https://www.goodrooms.jp/tokyo/detail/001/1001298560/
If you don’t mind it not being Shibuya either, do check out their listings in other areas too!
I’ve had a lot of fun finding beautiful homes all across Tokyo on this site ☺️
netcafe not an option? that’s about what 90k in shibuya will get you.