Need Help In Tokyo

My boyfriend and I are heading to Tokyo to visit his parents and hang out. Unfortunately, for private reasons, I cannot stay in his home during that time.

Is there anyone trustworthy living in Tamashi, Tokyo who would be willing to allow me to stay in their home for a short 3 weeks? If not, is anyone aware of some kind of homestay site where I can find people willing to allow me to stay in their homes (and again...near Tamashi)?

3 weeks is a long time to have someone you don't know stay in your home, niko-chan! There are quite a lot of gaijin houses in that area, maybe have a search for one of them, or I have heard of a website called couchsurfing.com (or similar, that may not be exactly it), where you might be lucky enough to find someone who will let you stay.

I guess 3 weeks is a long time...
Ack, my boyfriend and I have been searching for hours. I really hope someone can help. :(

Niko,

Have you not looked into cheap business hotels like Toyoko Inn, or weekly mansion places? If these are beyond your budget, maybe you should suggest to your boyfriend that 3 weeks is too long to spend in Tokyo.

I've tried using a lot of hostel search engines to try and find a place, but they are always too far. There are two hotels which not only are in his city, but are VERY cheap...but, they only are for men...

We have to stay for such a long time because he has many things to do while in Japan, and we want some free time to spend with each other.

I still can't stay at his house... his sister has a medical condition, so to keep her comfortable it's best that I don't stay in their home. :(

I've basically been searching for any places that are under $30 a day. I wouldn't mind paying $40, but only if it was in his city, Tamashi.

niko-chan,

average Tokyoites spend 1 hour(one way) to commute to work/school. Some of them come to their office in Tokyo from their home in Yokohama, Omiya or China, which are the capital cities of the neighboring prefectures.

So, when money matters to you, you can stay in this kind of a FAR(& cheap) place and visit Tokyo everyday, as an average Tokyoite does. You are about to come to this kind of extraordinary metropolis...

not China. It's Chiba city.

It is possible to do a homestay for three weeks but not on real short notice. You could also look into WOOF. You get free lodging but work for your digs/meals. You could also look on Craig's list Tokyo to find a western person willing to put you up in exchange for a smaller than hotel price.
I did a three month homestay in Tochigi prefecture with a rural family. It was free but turned out they wanted to marry me off to their eldest son.
Be careful. Not much in life is free or cheap. If I was a teacher in Japan with limited income I might take an occasional traveler in for some extra spending money. Check around.Good Luck.
So, when will you be going?

Just I Googled with "‘½–€Žs" "ƒEƒC�[ƒNƒŠ�[ƒ}ƒ“ƒVƒ‡ƒ“" "ƒQƒXƒgƒnƒEƒX" etc. (tamashi, weekly apartment, guest house)

http://etown.good-server1.com/mw/shousai.html?bukken_no=2977...
http://etown.good-server1.com/mw/shousai.html?bukken_no=2625...
http://etown.good-server1.com/mw/shousai.html?bukken_no=2370...
(all japanese)

Good luck!

There are some inexpensive hostels in and around Tokyo.I stayed at K's Hostel and it was around 26.00 U.S. dollars a night. Try their website. they have links to other hostels in and around Tokyo. I have not been dissapointed in the quality of the hostels in Japan.

Thanks you guys, you really saved me.
If I absolutely can't stay in someone's home, I will try to get a place in a guest home.

I guess... with so-called "home stay" programs, the host family would expect you to spend some time with them, meaning, cultural exchange, language exchange, or just hanging out together, etc. So it would not be too nice to look for one just for the accommodation - of course there may be someone who has a room available and is willing to rent it out for the money though - I suggest staying in one of the hostels/budget business hotels would be better considering that you intend to spend most of the time together with your boyfriend. Enjoy planning, and enjoy your visit to Japan!

Oh yes, that's completely right. I know many families would be expecting a cultural exchange and for me to spend plenty of time with them. For that reason I've been openly explaining my situation and searching for possibly older couples who are very kind and I have also decided to give the host a gift or two if I find one. C:

What exactly is a mansion?

niko-chan,

"manshion" (or "mansion" in the original English word where it comes from) is just a term to refer to "apartment."

In Japan we have been using two different terms in Japanese to refer to apartments - one is "apaato," and normally refers to units in wooden, older buildings, often the room equipped with only a toilet, possibly with shared kitchen, and "manshion," to refer to newer units in concrete buildings, modern looking, with built-in bathroom unit (you know the plastic molded bathtub, toilet, etc, the contractors just fit into the houses), a small kitchen, air-conditioner, etc., etc.

I suppose you are wondering about the "weekly mansion" thing, right? It just means "apartments for weekly rental," and most "weekly mansions" are furnished, you just move in with a suitcase - so they come with a kitchinette, bathroom (meaning toilet, bathtub, shower, washbasin), and basic sets of kitchenware and bed linen, etc.

I've always wondered what a manshion was. My boyfriend and I have decided that a manshion would be the best way to go. I've really gotten tired of begging others for a place to stay, and this manshion would cost around $700, not too bad. The only thing with this one is that the bathroom is shared.

I kinda want to ask, do you know of any rules manshions have? Such as allowing people over, the showers being closed at a certain time, etc.?

http://www.weekly-mansion.com/tokyo/search/shousai.html?bukk...
This place. :)

What you want is "weekly mansion" :) If you say "mansion" in general, that would mean just apartments in general - and most are unfurnished, you need to sign up a contract normally for two years, with deposit and everything.

What you are looking at is, yes, "weekly mansion." It says it's only for one resident. Um, the bed looks quite small in the photo - and this is a "guesthouse" type, with kitchen/dining room, shower, and toilets, everything shared (you do have a fridge in the room, though).

- If you have your boyfriend over regularly, then it's best to ask in advance, to see if the realtor has something bigger for two. Even if they allowed a visitor, if it's a regular visit, they might charge you different rates for utilities, cleaning service, or bed linen and stuff like that.
- I only know of a few "weekly mansion" type of places - in the one I knew of where they had shared bathing facilities, they didn't have any time restriction. But you need to ask for individual places anyway..

This one allows up to two residents, and comes with a full bathroom:

http://www.tama-town.com/estate/weekly.html

http://www.tama-town.com/estate/weekly.html

Oh I see, I thought all of them could be rented weekly. Hmm.. the utility and cleaning fees can be quite costly when they add up.

I remember on one site I found before, it said if I wanted someone to stay over they'd charge me $5 a night. I think he may come every now and then, but since I found mansions near his place I don't think he'll stay over too often.

I asked my boyfriend to call the place we found to ask about the rules and possible openings but they're closed today. He'll call tomorrow. =)

And thanks for that site! It has many places close to his area.