For such a titanic metropolis (it’s home to some 14.18 million people), Tokyo can be a surprisingly affordable place to live. One company looked at how cheap you can go while still being close to a train station so you can get around easily. Here are the stations where you can live nearby for as low as 65,000 yen (US $350) a month.
The best deals around Tokyo
It doesn’t cost much to grab a space for yourself in Tokyo – especially when compared with other global cities like New York or London. According to Yahoo! Japan Real Estate, the average price citywide for a one-room dwelling with a kitchen and dining area is around 91,000 yen, or $609.
Of course, there’s a lot of variability here, depending on where you live. Minato City, Tokyo’s wealthiest city, will run you a good 153,000 yen ($1,024) on average for those specs. Go west outside of Tokyo’s 23 wards to Tama, however, and the average rent plummets to 45,000 yen ($301). (Plus, you’ll be close to Puroland!)
However, while you can go super-cheap, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to get around. Some super affordable places are affordable because they’re inconvenient. In these cases, the train station may be a good 20-minute walk away, with bus service sparse. You can live there, but you really need a car to make it work.
Japanese real estate website SUUMO used its collection of rental data to unearth where you can live for the least possible money. It looked at how much it costs to rent either a single room, one room with kitchen (1K), or one room with kitchen and dining space (1DK) with between 10 square meters and 40 square meters of space (between 107 and 430 square feet). Here’s what they found.
No. 1: Kami-Igusa Station (Suginami City) – 65,000 yen ($435)
Located on the western edge of Tokyo’s 23 Wards, you’ll find Kami-Igusa Station. At an estimated 18,132 users a day, it does good business for a little station. According to SUUMO, that may be because it’s hella-convenient. There’s a nearby shopping center with a mini-supermarket, plus many larger supermarkets a mere 10-minute walk away.
Additionally, it’s easy to get out of the area. The station is served by the Seibu Shinjuku Line. If you transfer three stops away at Saginomiya Station onto the semi-express, you can get to Seibu Shinjuku Station, a mere five-minute walk to Kabukicho, in about 22 minutes.
No. 2 (Tie): Edogawa Station (Edogawa City) – 66,000 yen ($441)
If this station in eastern Edogawa City doesn’t look like much…well, it isn’t. In fact, it looks a little like something out of Silent Hill. At 5,964 estimated daily users, it doesn’t quite qualify as one of Tokyo’s Ghost Stations – but it comes close. On the plus side, on the east side of the station is the Edo River and Koiwa Shobu Park, which is a beautiful little city oasis adorned with over 50,000 flowers in the springtime.
There’s a supermarket and a drug store by the station, making it easy to get what you need before going home. Getting out of Edogawa requires taking the Keisen Honsen Line from the station up to Aoto Station, where you can transfer to Nishi-Nippori Station. From there, you can catch the Yamanote Line.
No. 2 (Tie): Kajiwara Station (Kita City) – 66,000 yen ($441)
Technically, this isn’t even an eki! Officially named Kajiwara Teiryujo (梶原停留場), or the Kajiwara Stop, this spot in Kita City in Tokyo’s north end is a stop on the Tokyo Sakura Tram. Kita is notable, SUUMO says, for having the most JR East train stations of any city in Japan (a total of 11).
While the station might not look like much, there’s a large supermarket and a home center just a five-minute walk away, with combini and restaurants on the way. Also, it’s just two stops to Oji Ekimae Station, where you can get out and walk across the street to Oji Station, whose Tokyo Metro Nanboku and Keihin Tohoku lines can take you to many major stops throughout Tokyo.
No. 4: Horikiri Station (Adachi City) – 68,300 yen ($456)
This station did make it onto our list of ghost stations. With only 3,939 daily users, the cute Horikiri Station is also a good deal rent-wise. Plus, it puts you close to a neat neighborhood; it’s about a 15-minute ride to Asakusa Station, from which you can get to Skytree with one more stop. You can also hop over to the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon line by transferring at the third stop, Hikifune Station.
Sadly, there’s nothing much directly around the station itself. If you don’t mind a walk, though, a 15-minute trot will get you to an area full of supermarkets, drug stores, and other essentials for daily living.
The cheapest station close to city center: Aoi (Adachi City) – 70,000 yen ($467)
SUUMO’s list covers another 50 possible locations, all coming in at or under 75,300 yen ($500). The site also answered the question: What’s the cheapest place you can live and still be close to the center of Tokyo?
The answer is Aoi Station in Adachi Prefecture. It’s served by only one line, the Tsukuba Express. But that line is just a few stops from Kitasenju Station, Asakua Station, and Akihabara Station, the latter of which gives you access to the Yamanote. You can also get out at Minami-Senju and get on the JR Joban Line to go straight to Tokyo Station. The 58km Tsukuba Express also gives you access to multiple stops in three different prefectures – Saitama, Chiba, and its final destination, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The area itself, says SUUMO, is mainly apartments and homes, with plenty of large supermarkets and drug stores to support your daily lifestyle. Restaurants are sparse outside the station but available about a 15-minute walk out.
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