[Sangetsu]

Another source is Craigslist. There are many English-speaking agents who advertise there, and from time to time I have seen some good deals with deposits involved. I found my current apartment on Craigslist, and I am quite happy with it.

The location of your apartment and it's age are quite important. Some apartments are located next to train lines, repair shops, or schools. These places can be very noisy. Older apartments are often poorly insulated, which makes them expensive to heat and cool, and which allows more noise to enter.

Some neighborhoods in the city have poor ventilation in their sewer systems, so the neighborhood always smells bad.

If you are looking for a mansion (Japanese for a multi-floor apartment building), get as high a floor as possible. This will get you away from street-level noise, and living on a higher floor provides a little prestige.

Look carefully at the features in the apartments you look at, some have uselessly small "kitchens", toilets are sometimes located in the bath/shower unit, which are already small enough as it is. Parking is a premium feature, even for bicycles. If you live in Japan you are probably going to need a bicycle to get around, not all apartments have adequate indoor parking for bicycles.

Other things like nearby convenience stores and shops should also be considered.