Staying in Japan
for a month or more?
Start with a person,
not a list.
Committing to a home you've never seen is a big leap. Our hosts live here, and they'll help you choose one, meet you at the airport, and stay reachable in your language.
A free 30-minute video call with your host. Nothing to sign.
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Tokyo / Saitama / Chiba / Kanagawa
What we promise
How it works
A face, not a form.
We don’t hand you a list. We ask what you need, then help you choose.
STEP 01
Book a call
You don't have to know what you want yet. That's what the call is for.
STEP 02
Choose a home together
We show you each one. If the cheaper one is better, we'll say so.
STEP 03
Sign and pay
03A temporary-use lease for your exact dates — signed before you fly.
STEP 04
See your host at the airport
No door code, no lockbox. Your host meets you and shows you around.
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STEP 05
Ask us anything, big or small
Restaurants, deliveries, trains, trips. By chat, in your language.
Your NOKA host
Would you feel comfortable choosing a home in a country you don’t know, in a language you can’t read, from what you can find online? Most people wouldn’t. That’s why every stay comes with a NOKA host.
Your NOKA host lives in Japan and runs these homes. They know which street has no supermarket, which side of the station is quieter, and which “ten minutes to the station” is ten minutes uphill. So when you wonder whether the place is smaller than it looked, or what happens if the heating stops in week three — there’s someone to ask, in your own language. This is where long stays go wrong. Not the booking. The two months after it.
We meet face to face, on video, before you book anything. And we’re still here on the day you go home.
One of our NOKA hosts
Chihiro — Tokyo
Hi — I'm Chihiro, and I live in Tokyo. I run NOKA stay MIZUE and NOKA stay HIRAI, the two homes we own and manage ourselves.
I love to travel. I've been all over Japan, and to China, Malaysia, Morocco, the United States, the Maldives, the UK, Germany, and Spain — mostly to see how people actually live in each place.
My family and I have rented homes like these ourselves for years, both before and after we had children. So I know how much difference it makes to have a place of your own to come back to, and to go at your own pace.
Your four options
There are four ways to do this, and most people have already looked at two or three of them before they find us.
Here's an honest comparison — including the rows where we're no different from anyone else.
How you find a place
Works for one to twelve months
No Japanese guarantor needed
No key money
Utilities and Wi-Fi already on
Kitchen and washing machine
A whole home for a group
Help in your language,
from booking to move-out
You choose it with someone
who lives here
✔︎ Yes
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎ Always
✔︎
✔︎
You book a room
❌ Costs add up fast
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎
❌ Rarely
❌ Separate rooms
❌ Front desk, while
you're there
Pick from a list, judge
from photos
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎ Usually
✔︎ Usually
❌ Mostly studios,
for one person
❌ Little to none
Through an agent,
in Japanese
❌ Usually a two-year lease
❌ One is required
❌ 1-2 months' rent
❌ You set them up
✔︎
✔︎
❌ Rare, and only until you sign
Your four options
There are four ways to do this, and most people have already looked at two or three of them before they find us.
Here's an honest comparison — including the rows where we're no different from anyone else.
How you find a place
Works for one to twelve months
No Japanese guarantor needed
No key money
Utilties and Wi-Fi already on
Kitchen and washing machine
A whole home for a group
Help in your language,
from booking to move-out
You choose it with someonewho lives here
✔︎ Yes
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎ Always
✔︎
✔︎
How you find a place
Works for one to twelve months
No Japanese guarantor needed
No key money
Utilties and Wi-Fi already on
Kitchen and washing machine
A whole home for a group
Help in your language,
from booking to move-out
You book a room
❌ Costs add up fast
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎
❌ Rarely
❌ Separate rooms
❌ Front desk, while
you're there
How you find a place
Works for one to twelve months
No Japanese guarantor needed
No key money
Utilties and Wi-Fi already on
Kitchen and washing machine
A whole home for a group
Help in your language,
from booking to move-out
Pick from a list, judge
from photos
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎
✔︎ Usually
✔︎ Usually
❌ Mostly studies,
for one person
❌ Little to none
How you find a place
Works for one to twelve months
No Japanese guarantor needed
No key money
Utilties and Wi-Fi already on
Kitchen and washing machine
A whole home for a group
Help in your language,
from booking to move-out
Through an agent,
in Japanese
❌ Usually a two-year
❌ One is required
❌ 1-2 month's rent
❌ you set them up
✔︎
✔︎
❌ Rarely, and rarely
in your language
Homes we run ourselves
Every stay is different, so every home we offer is different. Most of them belong to owners we work with. These two are ours —
we own them and run them ourselves, and they show the standard we hold the rest to.
The home we find for you may be a completely different one, and that’s the point.
NOKA stay MIZUE — Edogawa, Tokyo
NOKA stay HIRAI — Edogawa, Tokyo
![NOKA stay HIRAI — [TBC], Tokyo](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e427f3_999c7aa5b00f41d29dcb87f5f377b7a7~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_653,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/%E6%98%8E%E3%82%8B%E3%81%8F%E9%96%8B%E6%94%BE%E7%9A%84%E3%81%AA%E4%BD%8F%E3%81%BE%E3%81%84%E3%81%AE%E5%AE%A4%E5%86%85%E7%B4%B9%E4%BB%8B.png)
What it costs
Furnished apartments in Japan are priced for one person living alone — around JPY 130,000 a month for a studio.
That math stops working the moment there’s a group of you. One home means one price, divided by everyone in it.
![NOKA stay HIRAI — [TBC], Tokyo](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e427f3_0e50a2b3b70e496a99b6164dfcdb541e~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_653,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/ChatGPT%20%E7%94%BB%E5%83%8F%202026%E5%B9%B49%E6%9C%8830%E6%97%A5%2015_04_08.png)
Why we price on the smaller number
Both homes sleep more than we recommend, and for a few nights the maximum genuinely works. For a month or more,
a little more space per person changes the stay. We’d rather show you the honest number now than the flattering one.
Prices move with the season, and these are only two homes. The ones we find for you are priced individually. That’s what the call is for.
What’s included
Rent · furniture, bedding, kitchenware, and bed linen · utilities and Wi-Fi at a flat rate inside the rent · airport pickup
· the walkthrough · the cleaning at the end · your NOKA host on chat
Held, and returned
A refundable deposit of JPY 50,000, held against damage. Returned in full shortly after you move out if nothing is broken.
Charged separately
Nothing. Utilities are a flat rate inside the rent, so there’s no bill to settle at the end.
Never charged
Key money · agency fee · renewal fee · guarantor company fee · accommodation tax
FAQ
Who we are
NOKA stay months is operated by Arinova Inc. Founded April 2025 · Representative Director: Chihiro Arimori · N&E BLD. 6F, 1-12-4 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
We answer in English · 日本語 · 中文 · 한국어