Roppongi Versus Yoyogi

So I briefly went to Tokyo this past summer, I spent 10 days and stayed in Yoyogi. I really liked that it was kind of small and quiet (at least where I was) but I could walk for about 2 minutes and it was pretty busy. However I feel like I would also like being in the center of the city and didn't get much of a chance to check out Roppongi. I am wanting to move to Tokyo permanently but it will be awhile before I can do that, so I am planning on visiting for about 9 Months from January 2017 to September 2017. I want to stay in an apartment, and am looking for places between 80,000-150,000 per month. If I understand correctly, Roppongi will be more busy/city life but will also be more expensive, while yoyogi, while still being in the city, isn't as busy and will be cheaper. I have also heard that Roppongi is mostly office buildings... I was just wondering if you guys can give me to pros and cons to each place and which you think would be better to live at. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear back from you shortly!!

first question is how will you stay in japan for 9 months? do you have a visa? if you do not, your tourist visa will allow you only 3 months of staying here (if you have some other visa information, please let us know). apartments will not rent to you if you have only a tourist visa, and therefore your options will be very limited. the only things i can think of would be guesthouses or month-by-month payment apartments (which may still be a problem, as even for those, you often need a valid visa). apartments in japan are difficult to rent without a guarantor as well, which is someone inside the country who is japanese (such as family, a family friend, or an employer/company) who will agree to pay your rent should you skip out without paying. without knowing your situation and how you plan to stay here that long, i'm not sure how much help we would be.

in terms of area, roppongi is seen (at least by everyone i know here) as a seedy, tourist trap type area. i rarely go there if i can avoid it. if you do have a visa, sponsored through a job, then perhaps you would want to decide where to live based on your job location, because the commute may be awful. roppongi is on the oedo line, which, depending on which way you are going in the morning and evening, is a jam-packed commuter train and not very fun to ride (i ride it every day for a few stops). this could factor in to what you wish to do.

but first is the visa concern, because without a valid working visa, i am unsure how you would be able to rent an apartment.

I am planning on getting a job and receiving a working visa, which they advertise that that will be a guarantor. If for some reason they will not be, I have a family friend that lives there and will be my guarantor. If I am unable to receive the job for some reason then I will end up cutting my trip short and just got for the 3 months. If I go for the 3 months, I already know of a place that I am going to stay, which is in Yoyogi (since I know people there). However, if I do get the job, receive the working visa, and get the guarantor, I am not sure where I want to stay. From what you are saying, it sounds like I would rather stay in Yoyogi. Most likely my work will be from home and therefor can work from any location, so that should not factor. I also heard that to move in somewhere normally costs about 4-5x monthly rent. Does that also come out of the following months or is that purely in addition to?

The main reason I was thinking Roppongi was because I was originally going to be getting a job at Apple and their office is in the Mori Tower, since I currently work there and would just need to transfer. However right before they allowed the transfer we found out that my current Japanese language level is not high enough to work there :/

the 4-5x month rent is in addition to what you pay each month. you'll basically drop that up front when you sign for your apartment. i've lived in two apartments here, and both cost around $3000 just to move in, without factoring in utilities or furniture.

you can live wherever you want, honestly, if you are working from home or remotely. but if you can save money but not living in a super expensive area, i would recommend doing that. tokyo can be expensive, and if you can save money and send it home, that seems like the optimal situation. however, it's completely up to you. if you would like to go out every night in roppongi, then you might want to live there. but if you can work from home, i would suggest getting out of the 23 major wards altogether and hitting up the "less desirable" parts of tokyo to live in, towards the western side, as they are much, much cheaper.