looking for an apartment in tokyo?

Question

Do you know any good sites where i can look for an apartment in tokyo? Real estate search? Any good apartment companies I can call or google?

ok let me specify. I already live in japan i have all my registration and i need the apartment for about 6 months on a students budget.

Answer 1

There are a few on criagslist.

Answer 2

In my experience, and the experience of all the expats that I know in Tokyo, it is difficult to establish rental of an apartment before you actually arrive in Japan. Basically, there are apartment agents that can be found at all residential areas, stations, and neighborhoods. There are a few things you need to rent an apartment, foriegn registration card, bank account and startup money. The gaijin card and bank account are obtainable if you have a work visa. In my case, each place I was shown had different rental prices and initial payments that go to the landlord and sometimes the agent. Most corporate and company supported people have these things absorbed by their company relocation packages. Sometimes companies maintain a set of apartments that they rent for emplyees who come for short-med terms such as one year or less.

In my case, I was given assitance by the Ken Corp. They specialize in supporting expats and corporate transferees.
We stayed in a hotel for 2 weeks. After arrving, on the first day, I established residency and a bank account. I chose my apartment on my 3rd day in Tokyo. I heard from a recent expat, that they had to get their gaijin card first, then open a bank account and then finally get an apartment. That takes about 4 weeks.

Answer 3

I was doing some research on this in the past, depending on how long you are staying, one of these options should be useful I hope:

http://www.sakura-house.com/ I stayed in the machiya 2f apartment in arakawa ku for a month, it was small but for being on vacation it fufilled my needs.

http://tokyo.apartment-office.com/terms.shtml looks to be good for longer term rental, but you get to skip some of the annoyances of getting an apartment in Japan, i.e. key money, gift money, ect.

http://www.japanhomesearch.com/ looks to have a good selection, but I haven't done a whole lot of research. but they are mostly luxury apartments so price is very high.

http://www.tokyoapartments.jp/ has a good search engine, prices are all over the place, lets you narrow searches by the subway line which is very good.

http://www.jafnet.co.jp/plaza/contentse/e_top.htm looks to be decent as well, no key money and such, minimum stay is 1 month. rent starts at 120,000 yen a month as well.

Answer 4

The Ken employer focuses on assisting expats locate properties and condos (mansions) in Japan. My employer placed me in contact with someone from Ken Corp and he or she took me to places that matched my needs, budget, and artwork area.