At the end of this year, I'll be staying in Japan for three months (in Tokyo, most likely).
I have to cover all living expenses myself (doing an unpaid internship) and I'm already fretting about where to live, because I guess Tokyo is insanely expensive compared to where I live now.

Does anyone have any ideas where to look for something affordable? I'm not a student anymore so I guess student dormitories are out of the question - or is this possible for non-students as well? I wouldn't mind doing a homestay either, in fact I personally think that this is quite nice because of the added benefit of japanese people to talk to. Are there any organizations for something like this?

Another question will be my visa - I think I'll be there for JUST over three months (three months and a couple of days for arriving/departure). So, the three months tourist visa doesn't work for me. I'm wondering if I should already apply for an extended visa or if I should do this alien registration thing when I'm already there? I asked the embassy here about this but they've been less than helpful. *rolleyes*

Ack, so much to think about already!

Gaijinpot.com/ (guest house) <-- The magic of the internetz +D

http://apartments.gaijinpot.com/guesthou...ex/lang/en

- 50k-75k / per month or something. (I only skimmed over it)

http://apartments.gaijinpot.com/serviced/index/lang/en

Apartments seem to be about 75k+ p/m.

I'll have exactly the same problem as you but around summer and I aim for something like Sakura House (guesthouse). Prices are decent, rooms look decent, but opinions vary. My plan is to have a reservation for a month to check things out and later extend or switch. If it isn't something terribly awful I couldn't care less about a quality place to stay, the whole point in going there is NOT to sit in the hotel/room etc. so if your place is a bit off-putting I'd say thats a good thing.

From what I've gathered you SHOULDN'T try any tricks with your visa. If it says 3 months its 3 months and if you try to stay longer you could have problems if you ever want to return to Japan.
There is a trick for this with countries that have no-visa temporary entry to Japan thanks to which you can leave before your time is up (ferry to Korea) and return a day later for another period but I could be seriously wrong about it so please double check this info.

If your nationality is German (which it probably is), you can stay for six month in Japan with your tourist visa (http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/...ovisa.html)

You just need to go to an Immigration bureau before the end of 90 days and request an extension (it costs 3000 yen or so).

For guesthouses you might want to take a look at http://www.interwhao.com/english/guest_index.html

Egads, I didn't plan do overstay, I know how the Japanese are with immigrants. The 6 months thing is what I meant; I know that you can either a) apply for it beforehand or b) apply for it when already in Japan. I heard that option a) is supposed to be a real hassle, but then, I don't quite know how easy it actually is to do bureaucracy stuff without actually speaking the language - it's already difficult in Germany *rolleyes* Hence my question - which is easier to do? I somehow doubt that it is simply a matter of "just going to an immigration bureau".

I couldn't care less if the place is off-putting - I have no money and I guess you get what you pay for. I'm also going to work so I'll only be there for sleeping anyway. However, some japanese people to talk to would be nice - I guess, people in those guest houses are all foreigners, right?

Thank you for the links, I'll browse through them. It doesn't seem to be as pricey as I feared it would be (even with the exchange rate being as it is right now), even for something not too far off (for Tokyo standards) from where I'd be working (Roppongi).

thurd Wrote:I'll have exactly the same problem as you but around summer and I aim for something like Sakura House (guesthouse). Prices are decent, rooms look decent, but opinions vary.

I actually stayed in one of their gaijin apartments for a couple months in the togoshi ginza area, which is near a cute shopping street complete with bakery and grocery store and not too far from the ikegami-sen. Everything was very simple and there was no common area and the kitchen was tiny. What was nice, however, was that they supplied you with some basic cooking utensils, flatware, etc, and that there was a washing machine in the apartment. Pretty much what you see in the photos is what you get, but your departing flatmates may leave you things as well. Supposedly there is internet in the apartment, but it didn't work with my laptop. There is free internet at their office in Shinjuku, though. Rent is expensive for what you get, but then again everything in Tokyo's expensive. Plus, it was nice to have my living arrangements all squared away prior to arriving in Japan. So, I guess the price was worth the convenience.

bluemarigolds Wrote:

thurd Wrote:I'll have exactly the same problem as you but around summer and I aim for something like Sakura House (guesthouse). Prices are decent, rooms look decent, but opinions vary.

I actually stayed in one of their gaijin apartments for a couple months in the togoshi ginza area, which is near a cute shopping street complete with bakery and grocery store and not too far from the ikegami-sen. Everything was very simple and there was no common area and the kitchen was tiny. What was nice, however, was that they supplied you with some basic cooking utensils, flatware, etc, and that there was a washing machine in the apartment. Pretty much what you see in the photos is what you get, but your departing flatmates may leave you things as well. Supposedly there is internet in the apartment, but it didn't work with my laptop. There is free internet at their office in Shinjuku, though. Rent is expensive for what you get, but then again everything in Tokyo's expensive. Plus, it was nice to have my living arrangements all squared away prior to arriving in Japan. So, I guess the price was worth the convenience.

Thanks for your opinion, this is exactly what I want during a trip like that.

What I will say, is that room availability in the summer sucks. If you can reserve a room far ahead of time (I don't know if you can, since I was literally looking the month before), I would recommend that. Closer to June everything fills up and your options become limited.

bluemarigolds Wrote:What I will say, is that room availability in the summer sucks. If you can reserve a room far ahead of time (I don't know if you can, since I was literally looking the month before), I would recommend that. Closer to June everything fills up and your options become limited.

Its not possible to make a reservation for June now, furthest date with lots of options is April so it seems it works in 3 month cycles. So around March or April I can start looking for a place to stay.

I know this is the Tokyo thread, but someone posted the guy in Osaka who rents out apartments somewhere and I cannot find it.

ANyone know what I am talking about?

He is a Japanese guy who is an architect and has apartments for rent in Shin Osaka or something.

If you're still looking for a place to stay, I met my wife on http://www.hospitalityclub.org/ when I went to Fukuoka for vacation. http://www.couchsurfing.org/ is another great site. I've traveled all over the world on a bare minimum budget using these two sites, and I've never had nor heard of anyone else having a bad couch-surfing experience.

kapalama Wrote:I know this is the Tokyo thread, but someone posted the guy in Osaka who rents out apartments somewhere and I cannot find it.

ANyone know what I am talking about?

He is a Japanese guy who is an architect and has apartments for rent in Shin Osaka or something.

maybe this: http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=7037

mpacheco Wrote:I've never had nor heard of anyone else having a bad couch-surfing experience.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...years.html

Quite a famous case here in the UK! Not that I'm saying it's normal - i know many friends who have done the couch-surfing thing, and hosted people also (we had fun taking them out in London!). But just added that link for balance..

aphasiac Wrote:

mpacheco Wrote:I've never had nor heard of anyone else having a bad couch-surfing experience.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...years.html

Quite a famous case here in the UK! Not that I'm saying it's normal - i know many friends who have done the couch-surfing thing, and hosted people also (we had fun taking them out in London!). But just added that link for balance..

You can get hit by a bus when you're crossing the road.

I've been couch-surfing on and off for about eight years problem free, and everyone I've bunked with and everyone who has stayed at my place all have nothing but great experiences to share.

#edit - Additionally, these sites all have feedback sections where you can leave feedback about your host, hostess, or guest. So there's no reason to stay with a single man with no feedback if you're a single woman traveling alone.