Hello all -- let me congratulate those who have received good news!
I'm currently a student at Tokyo Tech (Chemical Engineering), I've been Research Student since October but starting PhD in April. If anyone is coming my way, send a message and maybe we can meet for drinks or something
I've seen a few people mention finding accommodation for couples (married or otherwise), so I figured I'd share my experience.
@hojoojoh @Mjk
Tokyo Tech can place students in four dormitories: only single students in Nagatsuta (near Yokohama), Shofu (near Yokohama), and Komaba (near Shibuya), and for singles or couples/families in TEIC (Odaiba). You don't get a choice, they told us where to go. Since I arrived as a Research Student (i.e., non-regular course) I was not eligible for a room in TEIC; my wife had to stay in the USA to get her visa and for me to get accommodations. I was sent to Shofu (Aobadai).
The rent in these dorms is ridiculously cheap (Shofu is 17k JPY/mo, Nagatsuta/Komaba are about 40k JPY/mo). But I needed to move out for my wife to join me, and Aobadai is too far from campus.
I started looking for an apartment just before Christmas, and started by contacting several realtors that offer English services: Tokyo Apartment (part of Dainichi Co. Ltd), Ritsuyo Co. Ltd, and Aonissin Co. Ltd. The staff at all these companies were very helpful and extremely prompt in responding.
In the end, I signed for an apartment through Aonissin. They were able to find an apartment that suited my needs/budget within 18 hrs of first making contact; I found a 20+m2 apartment, full furnished, closer to campus with no deposit/key money and they gave me Jan/Feb rent free. It's about 62k JPY/mo (including maintenance fees and utilities). It's certainly small, but it works for us. There are of course bigger places, just consider the trade-off in amenities and price. The staff at their company speak fluent Chinese, English, and Japanese, and I believe some Korean. Both agents I dealt with were American. Super easy. I highly recommend them, or any of the other companies as well.
So, that's my experience. I suggest contacting these companies that exist to help foreigners find apartments, and in the end it's not too hard.
Good luck! ;-)