I am super excited to move to Tokyo around July and am looking for neighborhood recommendations. I stayed in Japan for a little over 5 months this year and spent about 2 months of it in Tokyo. I stayed at hostels all over the place so I kind of have an idea of the areas but I would love some advice!
A little bit about me: I'm a 23-year-old artist who loves books, cafes, fashion, music, etc. I like the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, but I don't want to necessarily live right smack in the middle of it since I like my peace and quiet from time to time. I'm also a runner so it would be nice to live in an area with a park nearby that I could jog in but it's not necessarily a requirement.
I'm probably going to a school in Akihabara so I was thinking of some of the Eastern wards but honestly, I'd be fine with a longer commute if I like the neighborhood. I probably wouldn't want to have to change trains a couple of times but a long direct line or one change would be just fine with me. I remember liking Kagurazaka and Jimobocho a lot. I'd like to be in an area with lots of local and small cafes, bars, restaurants, little shops, etc. but I don't really want to be in a super touristy area. Obviously, tourists are inevitable and I'm a foreigner myself but I want to be able to use my Japanese as much as possible. I also really love the feel of more traditional-style buildings.
I can only work 28 hours on a student visa so I won't be making tons of money or anything either so somewhere not Shinjuku or Shibuya. I'd be comfortable paying about 120k yen because of the exchange rate right now but I would probably want somewhere cheaper just in case 1. the exchange rate changes and 2. I'd like to still work on building up my savings.
Basically, I just want to find a cute area I can be in comfortably for two years, maybe longer since I plan on going to vocational school after language school.
Also a little bit of a side note: I do really large-scale paintings and probably won't be able to do them in my apartment cause I don't want to ruin it with paint on accident and they're like 8 feet tall so they probably won't fit in a tiny studio or one bedroom. I've seen a couple of posts about communal art studios in Tokyo so if anyone has any recommendations for that it would be great too!!
I'd really appreciate some recommendations and feel free to ask any questions. Thanks in advance!
by cosmosmile