airbnb accommodation question

Hello,

I'm looking to bring my family (3 people) to visit Tokyo. We'll be arriving 06/28/19 for 10 days.
I'm now looking for an airbnb place to stay. I'm looking for some suggestions here. I'd like to stay somewhere close to the Tokyo surroundings yet not extremely crowded. Want to experience the neighborhood with easy access to trains and the sightseeing places in Tokyo.

Can someone please give me some recommendations what areas I should look? Obviously I see lots airbnb surrounding Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinjuku and etc and the nearby but want to try to stay away from the congested areas. Appreciate some feedbacks from someone who has been there and some experience.

Sydney

Check out https://www.liveinasia.com

They are a company that owns their own apartments and rents them out as vacation rentals. I've stayed with them since my first trip in 2008, I'll be going back this year for the 5th time. I always stay in Nishi-Ogikubo which is a nice, quiet neighbourhood about 12 minutes west of Shinjuku on the Chuo line.

Apartments are all fully furnished and the ones at Nishi-Ogikubo are a two minute walk from a Seiyu grocery store and the train station. They also have apartments at Nakano which is also on the Chuo line and is a bit closer to Shinjuku.

You might like one of my favourite neighborhoods, Yanaka. It's centrally located but feels like a more traditional, slower-paced Tokyo.

You may want to find a place with air conditioning as summer is hard to tolerate.

Thanks for the feedbacks. I will definitely check out these places you mentioned. While continuing my research yesterday, i did see various accommodations in an area called Taito. Anyone had experience staying in this area or know anything about this area?

Taito is an "area" in the same way that Connecticut is an area, or New South Wales is an area. it covers a lot of ground, and it's not very useful to generalize.

Sorry I have no idea if Taito covers a lot of area or it's just a small section part of the Tokyo metropolis. But if you look at this link on google maps, the area shaded in white is Taito and does not appear to be that big. That's the impression I was getting when I posted this question.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tait%C5%8D,+Tokyo,+Japan/@35.7132056...

Again, I'm in my planning phase so I don't know all the details but it does appear to be in close promixity to Tokyo center - say 10-15 mins by trains. So this is the "area" in question.

Tokyo is actually made up of 23 wards which are essentially 23 cities within the overall city of Tokyo and Taito is one of those. When you're asking about Taito, it's kinda like asking if Melbourne is crowded. And the answer is of course yes and no depending on the suburb.

Maybe think of them like the New York Burroughs?

So would you recommend or no?

There�fs no way Tokyo�fs wards can be compared to regions/states like Connecticut or NSW, or even NY boroughs like Brooklyn and Manhattan. Taito, and I dare say all other wards are tiny in comparison. A quick Google tells me that Connecticut is around 1,500 times larger than Taito. New South Wales? 80,000 times larger. Even the smallest New York borough is nearly ten times the size of Taito. Needless to say, you are getting bad information here.

As for whether or not Taito is a good place for you to stay or not. It�fs a very urban area, but for the most part not nearly as crowded as somewhere like Shinjuku. Ueno is a major transport hub, Asakusa and Nippori also offer good connections. You shouldn�ft have trouble accessing any part of Tokyo in decent time BUT depending on where your accommodation is located there may be some walking distance to the nearest station since it is not so densely packed as some other wards. Check beforehand what your nearest station is and how long it takes to walk it. It will likely be hot when you arrive and temperatures are likely to only rise as you go into July. Personally I enjoy the summer weather in Japan but for many it�fs no fun getting hot and uncomfortable before you�fve even arrived at the station to go somewhere nice. The same can be said of the rain you may encounter. That said there isn�ft anywhere in Taito I would actively avoid and I think it�fs as good of a place as any to stay in central Tokyo.

Hi Liz,

I appreciate your valuable feedbacks. Your description of Taito is pretty much the impression I had after reading various articles. I was looking for suggestions from someone who had experience or know Taito better than I do just to confirm my research. You hit nail when you said "there may be some walking distance to the nearest station". That explains why a lot of the airbnb accommodations don't mention the distance between the property and nearest train station. Thanks for confirming this. But I do believe this may not be a bad area as long as I can find something within 5 mins of walking to metro. But I'm also open to other places and haven't really decided yet. I was just looking for feedbacks about Taito and the link I included earlier clearly shows this is just a small area.

Any other areas you would suggest?

Sydney

If you�fre thinking about areas to look out for in terms of convenience (which you probably should be in a city as big as Tokyo), you might want to look at train lines instead of neighbourhoods. A location 15 miles out of central Tokyo but on a good line will likely prove better than one that is 3 miles out but poorly served by public transport.

Tokyo is enormous but of all the places well-served by trains I honestly can�ft think of one I would call bad. The city is generally extremely safe, clean, and just pleasant to be in. That said, if I were visiting as a tourist I would be choosing between the two below, depending on whether or not I wanted to stay in a quiet or a busy area.

Yamanote line - all central, all urban. You can get to more or less any station in central Tokyo within 30 minutes, many within 10 or 15. May be busy and/or expensive.

Chou rapid, Keio, Seibu Shinjuku, and Odakyu lines - these are the lines I was talking about above, they serve the western suburbs of Tokyo where there is less for tourists to see (for many visitors, almost nothing), but all go straight to Shinjuku. Accommodation may be significantly cheaper than staying inside or around the Yamanote line area, but you�fll need to shop around. I lived near Musashinodai station in 2017 for one third of what I used to pay for an apartment in Nakano. If you look on a map it�fs miles from anything but the Keio line got me to Shinjuku in less than 30 minutes most of the time. Note that you don�ft have to stay that far out in the suburbs to save a good amount of money though.

Tokyo prefecture is made up of 23 special wards (special administrative area, hasn't been a "city" since the 1940's), and another 39 cities. Greater Tokyo also covers four prefectures. Yes, I'm being pedantic.
Some of the areas can be quite small, and it depends on definition - Shinjuku isn't that big, and some parts labelled Shinjuku are actually in Shibuya - without a map, it can be hard to tell. And there are lots of cool places that give a different vibe or feel depending where you stay - even quite close to the central city area - places in Sumida for example (JR and subway links - Shinjuku in about 20 minutes, Tokyo 10 minutes).
For a 10 day stay, some parts of the city are ruled out because they do not allow week-day AirBNB/rentals (Shinjuku for example), so you should check the local rules before booking something that is breaking the rules.

Wow! That's fascinating what you mentioned about no weekday airbnb in certain places of Tokyo! I had no idea and never heard of. Obviously I'm not a native there. But is this part of my responsibility to check the local rules? Isn't this legal agreement/rule/law really between airbnb and the hosts?

As per JapanCustomTours' post above, there is a lot of discussion on another board about problems with airbnb in Japan....
Last minute cancellations - you get your money back but then you have no place to stay....as far as I know airbnb is basically a listing site and there is no legal agreement between them and the hosts.
I am a single traveler so it is much easier for me but I would not take a chance with airbnb.....
Listings are supposed to have a registration number but evidently fake ones have been posted. I don't mean to alarm you but I have read about this so often on other sites.....

I appreciate the honest feedbacks and for alerting me about local regulations concerning airbnb. I have not booked any airbnb place yet but I did notice the registration number while poking the site. I wasn't aware of fake registration numbers either. So thank you for this information. One comment I received from one of the hosts when I asked questions is that they mention Japanese laws/rules only allow airbnb for 180 days/year. They can't host airbnb for 180+ days/year. I can understand the reason behind this but not sure if this applies only to the Tokyo Metropolis or across the board.

Hi!

To go along with PP, I was in Japan June 2018 when AirBnB canceled a ton of reservations in Japan giving people 2-3 day notice only when Japan changed some of their regulations. There were lots of people scrambling for last minute hotel reservations. I chatted with several of them in various different circumstances.

There are a lot of AirBnB rentals that go against local ordinances. The hosts don't care until they get in trouble and AirBnB doesn't vet properties at all. So things go well and the place you rent has no problems or it could get canceled at the last minute. I travel as a mother with my child, and it's not something I want to risk. I would maybe consider an AirBnB someplace like Matsumoto or Akita or someplace outside of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya, where it's likely to be a private home so less of a bother for neighbors. (I seem to remember Kyoto only allows AirBnBs during January through March.) I admit, I also like using takyuubin. I like to shop in Japan and like the convenience of being able to forward my luggage from destination to destination. I personally also found the AC in some Japanese apartments is just not as good as the AC in most hotel rooms. (The same holds true with heating, I can still remember feeling the wind blowing through my friends apartment in Kainan.) I tend to do fine with some sightseeing in the heat and humidity, but at night I want to escape to a nice cool room to sleep. I would also think about that in terms of walks to and from the train/subway station. 15-20 minutes isn't bad in the morning. It's a lot less fun after a full day of sightseeing and being out in the heat.

Tokyo doesn't have as many, but Kyoto has seen a huge increase in Apartment hotels and machiya rentals so that there are more legal accommodation options.

I've not used them, but @Curious' recommendation might be worth considering, since in that case the leasing agent owns the rental complex and so they are more likely to be allowed to rent. A lot of the unhappiness with AirBnB rentals in Japan involves Japanese apartment residents not liking lots of tourists in their buildings and the fact tourists don't understand all the rules concerning garbage. I'm pretty sure the 180 days is across the board, but certain areas like Kyoto or Shibuya or Shinjuku have additional restrictions.

Good luck with all your choices!

Thanks for all your responses.

After reading these issues concerning airbnb, cancellations, illegitimate license # used by some hosts, I think I'll be taking a risk if I do decide to go with airbnb. I have stayed in hotels too many times and just wanted to enjoy the experience of staying in a non-hotel environment and wanted to feel I'm at "home" and to experience what Japanese homes are like. Wow, not sure what to do now?

Liz, thanks for giving great tips on perhaps looking outward (west of Tokyo) where as you said, some of the trains (they all) go directly into Tokyo/Shinjuku anyway. Why not try to safe some $$$. Good tips!

Sydney

I think those inherit risks associated with airbnb have ran their course now. As the major shake up of and the serious crackdown on the system in the middle of 2018 has long been and gone.

But like anything in life, do your homeworkfirst. Most airbnb properties are also on booking.com agoda.com etc etc. Read their feedback and decide for yourself if you are happy.

For Tokyo area, I stay in the 2 bedder in the Ota area last visit. I had train access to Tamagawa and Kamata stations for transfers. Which then allows quick access to most of Tokyo.

I think those inherit risks associated with airbnb have ran their course now. As the major shake up of and the serious crackdown on the system in the middle of 2018 has long been and gone.
The material I see in the newspapers is that local governments are actually doing enforcement and responding to complaints, false listing, and people break the rules (especially in Kyoto).
There are several things that make the whole "AirBNB" system hard here locally:
- the national law - applies everywhere
- local ordinances - hard to find the specific rules
- lots of house/apartment share companies - AirBNB is just one of 52 registered companies
- some people doing the renting don't care they are breaking the law - encountered someone a week ago who really didn't care about the whole registration process and rents out an apartment in Tokyo.
- and almost impossible to check a "registration number" - I tried that last week to see if/how it would be possible. Found some interesting stuff, but gave up after an hour.

From what I see, the whole rental space is better than it was a year ago, and can provide good options for travelers, but there is still a risk element that goes with it.

Kamata Sta. is pretty far south. I'm guessing it'll take about 40 minutes into Tokyo. By the way, any good site(s) showing all subway systems in this massive Tokyo city? I have been using google maps and
https://www.tokyometro.jp/en/subwaymap/.