Share Houses and Serviced Apartments
A share house in Japan gives a newcomer a furnished private room with shared kitchen, bath, and lounge from a one-month minimum and almost no initial-cost stack.12 It is the lowest-friction way to land, settle paperwork, and decide where to live longer term.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Oakhouse and Sakura House official listing pages.
Overview
A share house (シェアハウス, shea hausu, "share house") is a managed residence where tenants hold private rooms or beds and share the kitchen, bath or shower, toilet, and lounge.13 A serviced apartment (サービスアパートメント, sābisu apātomento, "serviced apartment") is a private furnished unit with its own facilities, rented by the month with utilities and internet already arranged.4
Share houses fit single newcomers who want low cost and social contact. Serviced apartments fit transferees and short-stay residents who need privacy and zero setup time.43 This guide covers the operators, the dated Tokyo price band, the contract terms, and the choice between them.
What a Share House Is
A share house is a residence, not nightly accommodation. The tenant signs a rental contract with the operator, keeps a private room, and shares the rest of the house with fellow residents.1
Shared spaces are the point of the format. The lounge, the kitchen and dining area, the shower or bath, and the toilet are where residents meet, and some houses add a theater room, fitness studio, or soundproof music room.1 Operator terms and house rules vary by operator and by house, so read the specific house page before applying.
The main operators and what each is known for
Sakura House runs furnished dormitory, apartment, and share-house rooms in Tokyo, Izu, and Kyoto, states operation since 1992, and lists 91 buildings with rooms described as furnished with Wi-Fi and utilities included.5 A tenant can arrive with luggage and start living, with in-person help at its Shinjuku office.
Oakhouse runs directly managed share houses and furnished private apartments, states founding in 1992, and lists 905 houses and 8,467 rooms network-wide across share house, Social Residence, apartment, furnished apartment, and Gran Stay lines (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the Oakhouse official site).2 Its guides frame the format explicitly against ordinary rentals on initial cost and guarantor burden.1
Borderless House runs multicultural share houses in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, with 77 houses and 971 rooms network-wide and 57 houses with 745 rooms in Japan across Tokyo, Kansai, and Sendai (as of 2026-09-06).36 Its concept holds Japanese locals and foreigners at an equal ratio, with tenants from over 50 countries and a stated 50 percent local share.3
Hituji Real Estate (ひつじ不動産, hituji fudōsan, "Hituji Real Estate") is the aggregator for the rest of the market. It is a share-house search platform and media outlet rather than a brokerage, and it states that it applies listing standards and staff site visits before publishing a house.7 Use it to compare small operators that do not market in English.
Room types and shared spaces
The norm is a single private room. Oakhouse describes it as a private room with refrigerator, air conditioner, and bed, with kitchen, toilet, and shower shared.1
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Single room | Private room; kitchen, toilet, and shower shared1 |
| Share room | One room shared by two people; cheaper than a single1 |
| Dormitory | Room for 4 to 8 people with bunk beds and a security box1 |
| Compartment or semi-private | Small or partitioned private sleeping space1 |
| Apartment type | Room with private toilet, bath or shower, or kitchen1 |
Variants beyond the private room suit budgets and tolerances differently. A share room costs less than a single but splits sleep space. A dormitory is the cheapest bed and the least privacy.
Borderless House residents range in age from 18 to 35 and are typically students, working-holiday holders, workers, or short visitors seeking social contact.3 Oakhouse reports its own mix as about 40 percent foreign and 60 percent Japanese with a roughly even male-to-female split (as of 2026-09-06).1 These mixes describe each operator's tenants, not the market as a whole.
Costs and Contract Terms
Share-house monthly cost is basically rent plus a maintenance fee. Operator pages state key money, gift money, and agency fees at zero, with the internet fee at zero as well.1 That single line is what makes the format cheap to enter.
Tokyo private-room share-house rents commonly fall around 50,000 to 90,000 JPY per month all-inclusive with shared kitchen and bath, varying by ward, station distance, room size, and house grade (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the operator listing pages).2 Central-ward and premium houses sit above this band.
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private room, Tokyo, shared kitchen and bath, furnished, utilities and internet included | 50,000–90,000 JPY/month | 2026-09-06 | Ward and station dependent2 |
| Example: Social Residence Hanakoganei | 52,000–59,000 JPY/month | 2026-09-06 | Standard large-house band2 |
| Example: premium Venus Aobadai | 95,000–98,000 JPY/month | 2026-09-06 | Premium grade above the band2 |
The band above reflects operator listing filters spanning 44,000 to 133,000 JPY with live examples at fetch time (as of 2026-09-06).2 Treat any single listing as a point, not the market.
A 65,000 JPY all-inclusive private room beats a 55,000 JPY room with a separate 10,000 JPY maintenance fee. Add rent and maintenance together before comparing houses.1
Monthly price band in Tokyo
Monthly rent is generally all-inclusive of utilities and internet. Oakhouse frames the monthly question directly and answers it inside the rent-plus-maintenance structure.18 No separate electricity, gas, water, or internet contract is needed.
Furnishing is included in the same payment. Rooms arrive with bed, appliances, curtains, and wireless internet, which removes the 100,000 JPY or more furnishing outlay an ordinary rental demands.1
Initial fees and minimum stay
No personal guarantor is required for the operator-managed share houses in scope.12 This is operator policy, not a statutory exemption, and it is the main reason a pre-arrival newcomer can book before having Japanese income proof.
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract fee, one-time (Oakhouse) | 50,000 JPY | 2026-09-06 | Per comparison table2 |
| Key money, agency fee, guarantor fee | 0 JPY | 2026-09-06 | Operator policy12 |
| Minimum stay | 1 month | 2026-09-06 | Share houses and apartments14 |
The initial-cost figures above show the whole stack at signing: one contract fee plus the first month, against three to four months of rent in initial fees for an ordinary rental.12 Sakura House uses the same shape, describing furnished rooms with Wi-Fi and utilities included and move-in with just luggage.5
Oakhouse states tenants can transfer between its share houses, which suits a newcomer who wants to change wards without a fresh contract stack.1 Confirm the transfer fee on the specific house page.
Serviced Apartments for Short Stays
A serviced apartment is the private alternative inside the same operator ecosystem. It keeps the furnished, one-month, no-guarantor shape and drops the sharing.
How they differ from share houses
Oakhouse apartments are private rental apartments with kitchen and/or shower or toilet included in the room, rentable from one month, with no shared lounge or shared kitchen obligation.4 Sakura House lists apartment and luxury apartment room types alongside share house and dormitory, all bookable as monthly stays.5
The unit arrives ready. Furniture and appliances are installed, and electricity, gas, water, and internet are already set up, so the tenant walks in with one bag.4 No utility counter visits and no internet installation wait apply.
Price level and when the premium is worth it
Serviced and furnished private apartments cost more than share-house private rooms. A live high-end Oakhouse example in Asakusa at 63.97 sqm lists 342,000 to 366,000 JPY per month (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the operator listing page).4 Mid-range units vary widely by operator and are not asserted here.
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furnished private apartment example, Asakusa, 63.97 sqm | 342,000–366,000 JPY/month | 2026-09-06 | High-end example4 |
| Key money, agency fee, guarantor fee | 0 JPY | 2026-09-06 | Operator policy4 |
Oakhouse positions its apartments as cheaper and easier than monthly mansions (マンスリーマンション, mansurī manshon, "monthly mansion") for stays of a month or more, with no extra fees for corporate use and multilingual staff support.4 The premium buys privacy, no shared-space scheduling, and zero setup lead time. That trade pays off for a corporate transferee whose employer covers the bill or a short-stay resident who values convenience over monthly cost.
Choosing Between Them
The choice comes down to social contact and low cost against privacy and control. Use the trade-off below to place yourself before comparing listings.
When a share house makes sense
A share house fits a single newcomer's first 6 months: low initial cost, furnished arrival, one-month minimum, built-in social contact, and no guarantor or key-money barrier.12 It buys time to open a bank account, pass screening, and learn which ward suits a longer lease.
Social-format houses add a further reason. The Borderless House equal-ratio concept and the Oakhouse Social Residence and events program fit renters who want daily language and cultural exchange at home.32 That exchange is part of the rent, not an extra.
When it does not
A share house does not fit long-term family living. Room stock is single-oriented, shared kitchens and baths do not scale to household life, and house age bands and guest rules assume single occupancy.13
Renters needing guaranteed quiet, dedicated remote-work space, or full control over guests and cleaning should choose a private apartment or ordinary lease instead.18 Privacy has a price, and the serviced tier exists for exactly that case.
Good to know
Shared kitchens and baths run on schedules
Peak-hour contention for kitchen, shower, and laundry is the real cost of a large house. The shared-space lists name kitchen, shower, toilet, and lounge as exchange points, which also makes them morning and evening bottlenecks.1 Tour at 7 a.m. or 8 p.m. if the operator allows it.
House rules on guests, noise, and cleaning rotas bind daily life
Overnight guests, noise hours, and cleaning duties are set per house and enforced by the operator. Oakhouse reserves guest overnight stays, two-person occupancy, and pets to per-house rules.8 Read those three lines before signing anything.
Leaving for an ordinary lease restores the full cost stack
Key money, agency fee, guarantor-company fee, furniture, and utility setup return in full on exit to an ordinary lease. Share-house cost pages frame ordinary rentals as needing three to four months of rent in initial fees plus separate utility and furnishing spend, against share-house rent-plus-maintenance only.1 Budget the exit, not just the entry.
Serviced rates may exclude consumables and cleaning cadence
A furnished headline rate and the cleaning frequency, linen, and consumables schedule are separate line items to confirm before booking. Apartment pages state the furnished and utilities-arranged scope but leave consumables to per-property pages.4 Ask for the cleaning calendar in writing.
Book the minimum, extend after one night in the house
A one-month minimum lets a newcomer test the house before committing longer. Oakhouse offers a FIX plan variant for tenants who already know their move-out date, which implies the default is open-ended monthly continuation.2 Use that default until the house proves itself.
See also
- Property-Search Portals: SUUMO, HOME'S, athome and Their Quirks
- Reading a Japanese Rental Listing
- Foreigner-Rejection Patterns and How to Navigate Them
- Negotiation in the Japanese Rental Market
- UR Rentals: No Key Money, No Guarantor, No Agency Fee
- Foreigner-Specialist Agencies in Japan