Hello, so I will be coming to Japan in spring 2026 for one semester student exchange at Ritsumeikan university. I still have half a year before the exchange but I'm already trying to plan things because from experience back at home, getting housing can be hard.
The university I am applying to offers students the chance to live in their international houses but that is likely going to be full of international students which is fine but I really want to use this opportunity to improve my Japanese which is why I was looking at homestays or perhaps shared house. The issue is that my scholarship is roughly 139000 yen a month (the exact amount is yet to be calculated but this is the expected amount) and I don't want to spend it all on housing which seems to be the case with most homestays offered via agencies. I would like to be able to save some money from the stipend for things like traveling, shoping or just going out to socialize with people I'll meet there y'know?
So, I am wondering if anyone here knows about some alternatives? Like homestays that aren't offered though these big, potentially overpriced agencies, shared houses that might have more japanese students (since the ones I came across usually had students of all nationalities but japanese),. Just how could I plan this in a way that's affordable but also allows me to improve my japanese? (the subjects in school are taught in english as I am not proficient enough for academic language so I won't improve much there)
Any tips are welcomed thank you.
by fangirl004