Apartment, search now or after I arrive?

[bakaKanadajin]

I will be travelling to Japan in July and staying there to work. I was wondering whether it's better to just claw my way into a gaijin house and set up temporary shop there so I'm at least safe and housed, and THEN look for a real apartment, or if I should try to secure an apartment from here. I'm in Canada but I have access to a native Japanese speaker (I speak some Japanese but I don't anticipate the agent being sympathetic to those less than fluent, especially over the phone).

Is the amount of paperwork and hassle really not worth attempting to tackle without actually physically being there first?

Also, are there any brokerage services for foreigners that help them secure housing prior to arriving?

I did a topic search under 'apartment' but it didn't yield a whole lot. Even if you just throw some links up that'd be great. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Info:
-Kanto region (specific area not known yet)
-Employer willing to sponsor but doesn't broker housing themselves
-Will have visa/alien card
-Small 1K is fine

 

[Numark]

If you can secure a sakura house apartment I think that would be Ideal- they seem to be very easy to work with, and you can reserve ahead of time in english. They come furnished, and often have wireless internet.

www.sakura-house.com

 

[Glenski]

There aren't many places that allow you to set up an apartment in advance of landing here. Besides, would you choose an apartment just as blindly in your own country?

 

[bakaKanadajin]

Well you have a good point there Glenski I guess the only circumstances under which I'd get an apartment is if there were really detailed photos and the risk was low in terms of up-front money. Probably why I'd prefer a foreigner-aimed company, as my Japanese isn't so great. I noticed in the Metro when I lived there a number of ads for insurance companies for foreigners.