Furnished Apartments in Tokyo: The Complete Guide for Foreigners (2026)

Finding a furnished apartment in Tokyo as a foreigner should be simple, but it rarely is. Most standard rentals are unfurnished, demand a Japanese guarantor, and ask for four to six months of rent upfront. Furnished apartments cut through all of that, which is exactly why they are the easiest way for a foreigner to move into Tokyo. Here is the complete, honest guide.

Quick answer: A furnished apartment in Tokyo typically rents for 80,000 to 200,000 JPY a month (about US$500 to US$1,300), bills often included, with no guarantor and no Japanese bank account required. They come in three flavours: monthly mansions (private, fully furnished), serviced apartments (hotel-like), and share houses (cheapest, from around 35,000 JPY). You can usually move in within one to two weeks.

What "furnished" actually means in Tokyo

There is no single furnished market in Tokyo, there are three:

• Monthly mansion (manslee mansion): a private, fully furnished apartment with a bed, kitchen, appliances and Wi-Fi, rented by the month. The best balance of privacy and flexibility, usually 80,000 to 200,000 JPY.
• Serviced apartment: hotel-like, with cleaning and reception, aimed at business travellers. The most expensive and the most turnkey.
• Share house: a private room in a shared building, all bills included, community kitchen. The cheapest entry into Tokyo, often 35,000 to 90,000 JPY.

How much a furnished apartment costs

Furnished units carry a premium over a bare unfurnished apartment because you skip buying furniture and the huge upfront lease bill. Expect roughly:

• Share house room: 35,000 to 90,000 JPY a month, bills included.
• Monthly mansion (studio): 90,000 to 180,000 JPY.
• Monthly mansion (1LDK for a couple): 150,000 to 260,000 JPY.

Compare that to unfurnished rents by ward and layout in our Tokyo Rent Index. The furnished premium is real, but it disappears once you count the furniture and move-in costs you avoid.

Furnished vs unfurnished: the real trade-off

An unfurnished apartment has a lower monthly rent, but the upfront bill (deposit, key money, agency fee, guarantor company, plus buying everything) can top 500,000 JPY before you sleep there one night. A furnished apartment front-loads almost nothing: you pay rent, maybe a small cleaning fee, and move in. For a stay under two years, or any time you value speed and certainty, furnished usually wins on total cost.

Long-term furnished apartments in Tokyo

Furnished does not mean short-term only. Plenty of monthly mansions and share houses offer long-term rates that drop the longer you commit, and many foreigners live in them for years. If you want to stay one, two or three years without the guarantor and bank-account hurdles of a standard lease, a long-term furnished contract is the smoothest path in.

How to rent one as a foreigner

This is where furnished shines. Most furnished and share-house operators are built for foreign tenants:

• No Japanese guarantor required.
• No Japanese bank account needed to start.
• Documents are simple: passport, visa or residence card, proof of funds.
• Fast: move-in in one to two weeks, not the four to eight of a standard lease.

The catch is that the best furnished units are held by a small set of operators and move quickly, often before they are widely advertised. That is where an insider helps. See our ranking of the cheapest Tokyo neighbourhoods to choose an area, learn to read Japanese apartment layouts, and when you are ready, tell us what you need and we will find the furnished place that fits.

Costs are typical 2026 market ranges for furnished housing in Tokyo. Unfurnished figures come from our Tokyo Rent Index.