Me and my partner are planning a trip to Japan sometime in the next year and I was just thinking of what the best way of getting a place to stay would be. We want to stay in Tokyo for maybe up to a month or longer so I was thinking getting an apartment would be cheaper or better than getting a hotel. I’m not sure if that’s possible and I know that a lot of places don’t accept foreigners so what’s our best option?
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**Options for living**
Me and my partner are planning a trip to Japan sometime in the next year and I was just thinking of what the best way of getting a place to stay would be. We want to stay in Tokyo for maybe up to a month or longer so I was thinking getting an apartment would be cheaper or better than getting a hotel. I’m not sure if that’s possible and I know that a lot of places don’t accept foreigners so what’s our best option?
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Air bnb
Renting an apartment requires you to pay the equivalent of 2+ months of rent up-front in fees (this is not the rent intself, just fees) + insurance + a damage deposit, and the only thing you’re getting back when you move out is the deposit (maybe).
i.e. expect to pay about $2k USD up front in (non-rental) fees every time you rent an apartment anywhere in Japan, that’s how renting works in this country.
A hotel is almost definitely the option cheaper if you’re not staying longer than a few months.
Planning a trip to Japan ≠Moving to Japan
Sakura house
We use Booking.com for short-stay apartments all the time with charges ranging from USD$80-200/night for our stays. Often for very large studios or single bedroom apartments. We’ve never booked for longer than 2 weeks though, so you might find further discounts.
Tokyo (and Kyoto) are very busy right now (just got back home from Japan on Monday). Would definitely make sense to try and lock something in far in advance.
Cheap options would include guest houses, sharehouses, or monthly apartments. There are actually companies that specifically cater to foreigners coming to Japan for a short stay (i.e. under three months).
Maybe check out [https://www.oakhouse.jp/eng/](https://www.oakhouse.jp/eng/) or [https://tokyo-furnished.com/](https://tokyo-furnished.com/)