Hi everyone,
We are a group of 7 international students who will be moving to Japan this year in September for our Master’s and PhD studies at a university in Setagaya, Tokyo. We’ve been struggling a lot to find accommodation and honestly feel very lost at this point.
Our university has not been very helpful regarding housing. They only shared links to two share houses and basically told us to figure everything out ourselves. Since all of us are coming from abroad, it has been really stressful trying to understand the Japanese rental system.
Most online rental websites are showing prices that are way too expensive for students, and many listings do not clearly mention the initial costs (deposit, key money, agency fee, guarantor fee, etc.). Sometimes the move-in cost becomes 3–5 times the monthly rent, which is impossible for us to manage. We also heard that many landlords hesitate to rent to international students. This seems to be a common issue for foreign students in Tokyo.
We are looking for affordable accommodation options for around 2 years, preferably near Setagaya or Yokohama with reasonable commute access to the university. We are open to:
– Share houses
– Student apartments
– Group rentals
– Foreigner-friendly agencies
– Any websites or local services you personally recommend
If anyone has experience finding housing as an international student in Tokyo, especially in Setagaya/Yokohama areas, we would really appreciate your advice, recommendations, or even warnings about what to avoid.
Thank you so much for reading and helping us out!
by Different-Sir1868