[Nyororin]

In general, you are the one who will have to contact the utility company. We`ve lived in a few different places prior to buying our home, and have never heard of a landlord helping to set things up.
This *may* be different in your case, if the landlord is somehow affiliated with the school or the apartment is one of those foreign student only sorts.

When you arrive at the apartment, there will be little cards with contact information for the utility companies. Usually some on the inside of the door, hooked on the circuit box, etc. I doubt you`ll have much luck if your Japanese is very poor, as they will have you fill out a fair amount of contract and payment forms, so I`d say it`s best to either ask a friend for help or ask someone at your language school. Chances are, they`re the sponsors of your visa and will be used to doing this sort of thing.

There aren`t really any choices when it comes to utilities. They`re all pretty much monopolies over certain areas. And they`re all reliable.