28 May Mid-Range Furnished Short-Term Rentals in Tokyo

Short-term rentals are a great option if you need a place to stay while apartment-hunting in Tokyo. Generally speaking, furnished apartments in Tokyo are quite expensive for what you get, so we don’t recommend them for longer stays. If you’ve come to Japan to live and work for a year or more, you’ll get the best value for money renting an unfurnished apartment and buying your own furniture and appliances.

However, if you’re planning on staying in Japan for less than 1 year, living in a furnished short-term rental may be a cheaper option for you. Most long-term rental contracts in Japan are for 2 years and charge a 1-month cancellation fee if you stay for less than 1 year. Also, unlike rentals in the USA, rental apartments in Japan rarely come with appliances and never come with furniture, so settling-in costs are quite high.

From the day you start looking, it takes between 4-6 weeks to find and move-in to an apartment in Tokyo. In most cases, due to the documentation required, you won’t be able to start your search until you arrive in Japan. For this reason, we recommend booking a short term furnished rental for at least the first month you’re in Japan, and two months if you don’t want to rush.

These are the options we recommend for clients on a mid-range budget, looking to spend no more than ¥200,000 per month (about USD $460 per week).

JAPT Furnished Apartments

This series of properties ranges from ¥110,000 to ¥250,000 per month (including utilities) plus a one-off cleaning fee of approximately ¥30,000.

JAPT’s furnished apartments are the best value we’ve been able to find in Tokyo and are located in a number of convenient locations. Each apartment comes with a kitchenette, and the basic yet comfortable furnishings offer a homier experience than the cut-copy style of a business hotel. English speaking staff are available, and you can view all their apartments here.

Live Max Weekly-Monthly

This short-term rental and business hotel chain provider originated in Hyogo in 1998 and has since expanded throughout the country. Their monthly apartments within central Tokyo range from ¥135,000 to ¥835,500 per month, averaging about ¥195,000 for a studio apartment (including utilities). There’s an additional one-off cleaning and amenities fee totaling approximately ¥35,000.

Live Max offer apartments furnished in a variety of styles – Luxury, Premium, Excellent, Standard, Smart, and Resort, to suit a wide range of tastes and budgets. The Live Max website only provides machine translation right now, however, please don’t let this deter you! They have friendly English speaking staff working in their office who are more than happy to help you. Just give them a call on 0120-713-860 and let them know your requirements.

Airbnb

If this were a short-term rental list for any other country, there’s a good chance Airbnb would take first place. Sadly, since the introduction of stricter private lodging laws in 2018, the number of Airbnbs in Japan has dramatically decreased and the pricing is not as competitive as it used to be.

The price to stay in a central Tokyo Airbnb with a kitchen (entire home, not shared) ranges from ¥165,000 to ¥3,000,000+ per month, with apartments for 2-3 people averaging ¥250,000 per month. Airbnbs are still very popular with tourists and unless you book very early, you may have trouble booking more than a week or two at a time.  

Although the new private lodging laws mean all Airbnbs are now registered, most of the time the owners are still regular people and not companies. This comes with both advantages and disadvantages, so is something to consider when making your booking. Of course, the great thing about an Airbnb is that it’s guaranteed to feel more like a home and if you have a friendly host, they can help you settle into your new life in Tokyo. You probably don’t need us to tell you the website but, just in case, it’s airbnb.com. 

We hope you found this article helpful. If you’re looking for an apartment in Tokyo, please check our main site for foreigner-friendly listings!