Share houses in Tokyo for foreigners compared

Share houses in Tokyo are the fastest way for a foreigner to get a furnished room without a Japanese guarantor: several rent from one month and take a passport or residence card. As of October 2026, Sakura House scores highest in our method (9.6 out of 10): all-inclusive prices, no guarantor, no visa needed. On our sample, the cheapest first month was ¥77,500 at Xross House, which needs a guarantee company (保証会社). Sakura House was ¥500 more, with nothing extra to pay.

What is a share house in Japan?

A share house (シェアハウス) is a building where you rent a private room, or a bed in a shared room, and share the kitchen, bathrooms and living room. Rooms come furnished, and utilities are billed as a monthly fee or included in the rent.

For a newcomer, that removes the usual hurdles of renting an apartment in Japan: no deposit (敷金) at Sakura House, Oakhouse or Xross House, usually no personal guarantor (保証人), and stays from one month at four of the five operators here. Sakura House says you can register its address on your residence card (在留カード).

The trade-offs: small rooms (5 m² or less for the cheapest rooms in our sample), shared facilities and house rules.

Which share houses in Tokyo rent to foreigners without a guarantor?

All five operators accept foreign residents, but their rules on guarantors differ a lot.

Three details that matter for foreigners:

• Oakhouse has a “Foreign Residents Allowed” filter, so not every house accepts foreign tenants. Its Naka Itabashi house, for example, lists “No guarantor, no guarantor company, foreign residents allowed”.
• Borderless House assigns each bed a nationality: “Japanese nationality”, “Foreign nationality” or “Any”. That keeps the mix international, but it also limits which beds you can book. Its FAQ doesn’t say whether you need a guarantor or a guarantee company, so ask before you book.
• Social Apartment asks for six months or more, but tells foreign nationals whose visa makes that hard to contact it.

If you have to use a guarantee company anyway, our guarantor company guide explains the fees and emergency-contact rules.

How much does a share house in Tokyo cost?

Our sample is the same for every operator: the lowest published monthly rent for a private room in Tokyo’s 23 wards, whether or not it is vacant, as listed on the operator’s own site on 21 October 2026. To that we add the mandatory monthly fees and the fixed move-in fees the operator publishes. Fees that aren’t published, such as a guarantee company’s fee, are left out and noted.

Prices change daily, and central areas cost more: Oakhouse’s own average share house rents run from ¥37,976 in Akishima to ¥96,371 in Shinjuku.

How each sample was taken: Oakhouse’s Tokyo search (single rooms, all houses, sorted by rent); Sakura House’s room search with “Show all rooms” ticked; Xross House’s price search for private rooms in low-rent order, including rooms with no vacancy; Borderless House’s Tokyo search sorted by rent with “Show full houses” ticked. Social Apartment’s Tokyo list shows only rooms that are available or about to be, so we couldn’t sample it on the same basis, and its cost is n/a.

Two things to know about the sample. Oakhouse’s homepage gives its contract fee as ¥30,000, but the house in our sample charges ¥50,000, so check the fee on the room’s own page. At Xross House, the next-cheapest private room in the 23 wards, Kita Ayase 2 in Adachi, is open to everyone at ¥32,000 plus the same fees.

Cheaper beds exist if you share a room. Borderless House had shared rooms for foreign nationals from ¥43,000 plus ¥10,000 utilities, and Xross House lists dormitory beds, for example from ¥27,000 at Xross Kinshicho 1.

What are the contract terms?

• Sakura House: one price covers rent, utilities, internet and furniture. No deposit, key money or agent fees. You can book online, including from overseas, by paying 30% of the first month. Check-in is at its Shinjuku office.
• Oakhouse: rent and a monthly maintenance fee for utilities are billed separately. Its FAQ says the fee is usually ¥7,000 to ¥15,000, but our sample house charges ¥16,000. Some houses cap utility use and charge for the excess. A bedding set costs ¥17,600 if you need one.
• Borderless House: initial contracts usually run about 11 months, but you can leave with 30 days’ notice. Bedding rental is ¥12,000.
• Xross House: a one-year fixed-term lease that you can end with a month’s notice. Contracts can be signed online from overseas. Its FAQ gives an age limit of 18 to 40 for share houses; the two property pages we checked say 18 to 39.
• Social Apartment: 1-year and 2-year plans give ¥3,000 to ¥10,000 off the short-term rent. Rent is debited from your bank account through the guarantee company; from overseas you can pay initial costs by card.

How we scored them

We use the japanhow housing method: accepts foreign residents without a Japanese guarantor (35%), cost (25%), English support (20%) and transparency of terms (20%). Nobody pays for a rating. The full method is on our methodology page.

What the scores mean:

• No guarantor: 10 = no guarantor and no guarantee company. 9 = the same, but only some houses accept foreign residents. 6 = a guarantee company is required, with a published way around it. 3 = a guarantee company with credit screening always, plus a personal guarantor in some cases. n/a if the operator doesn’t say.
• Cost: 10 = the cheapest first month on our sample; 1 point off for every ¥6,000 more, rounded. n/a if we couldn’t sample the operator on the same basis.
• English support: 10 = English site, English-speaking staff and English contract help. Points off when staff languages aren’t stated or key pages are Japanese only.
• Transparency: 10 = all fees, notice periods and penalties published in English before you apply. Points off for fees that aren’t published or that differ from the headline figure.

Borderless House and Social Apartment each have evidence for 3 of 4 criteria (75%), so their overall scores use those three, re-weighted.

• Sakura House: no guarantor, tourist status accepted, all-inclusive prices, English-speaking staff, a site in 10 languages and a Shinjuku office open 365 days; its sample room was only ¥500 above the cheapest first month.
• Xross House: the cheapest first month on published fees and a site in 17 languages, but the properties we checked require a guarantee company whose fee isn’t published, and its cheapest room was women only.
• Oakhouse: no guarantor or guarantee company, help desk in five languages; its ¥50,000 contract fee at the sample house is higher than the ¥30,000 on its homepage, and not every house takes foreigners.
• Borderless House: clear move-in fees and per-room utilities, but its FAQ says nothing about guarantors, beds are allocated by nationality, and its sample cost the most in the first month.
• Social Apartment: guarantee company and credit screening always, a six-month stay requested and key fee details in Japanese; foreign residents are about 15% of tenants on average.

Which share house in Tokyo is best for foreigners?

• Best for arriving without a visa or Japanese bank account: Sakura House. You can book from abroad by card, and one price covers everything.
• Lowest first month on published fees: Xross House, if you can pass a guarantee company’s screening. Ask for the guarantee fee before you sign.
• No guarantee company at all: Sakura House or Oakhouse. At Oakhouse, filter for “Foreign Residents Allowed” and check the contract and maintenance fees for the exact room.
• Best if you want an international house with Japanese housemates: Borderless House. Its beds are split by nationality on purpose.
• Fine for a longer stay with a job in Japan: Social Apartment, if you can pass its guarantee company’s credit screening.

What about monthly mansions and furnished apartments?

If you want your own kitchen and bathroom, monthly mansions (マンスリーマンション) and furnished apartments are the next step up. Several share house operators run them too: Oakhouse and Sakura House list apartments, and Xross House offers furnished apartments for ages 18 to 60, with a ¥55,000 cancellation fee. We haven’t compared monthly mansion operators yet. For a regular lease, see our guide to foreigner-friendly real estate agents.

More guides

• Once you have a TV in your room: the NHK fee for foreigners
• If you move to a regular apartment: renters’ fire insurance
• Paying rent by debit: bank accounts for foreigners
• Getting a phone line on arrival: SIM cards for foreigners