Cheap small apartments?

The area around Shinjuku Gyeonmae is mostly residential office mix, so your best bet is to look slightly west toward Nishi-Shinjuku or south toward Yotsuya. Those older walkups near Yotsuya 4-chome have 1R units around 55-65k, and you can grab a bike to cut the walk down to under 10 minutes.

Also check the local real estate shops in the small arcade under the station, they often have listings that never hit Suumo. Bring your student ID, some landlords give a 10-15% break if you show enrollment. And skip the furnished places, you'll pay double for a bed and desk you can grab secondhand at the recycle shops near Okubo for next to nothing.

One tip: ask about the building's management company before signing. If it's a tiny one-man operation, repairs take weeks. A slightly pricier place with a big management firm will save you headaches when the water heater dies in January.

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honestly, Shinjuku Gyeonmae is a sweet spot for cheap living if you know where to look. skip the station-front stuff and walk 10-15 mins toward Yotsuya or Okubo, rents drop fast. you'll find 1R places around 60-70k yen/month if you're cool with older buildings, but check if they're 6 tatami or smaller, that's the real squeeze.

for the cheapest stuff, look at UR apartments, they have no key money or renewal fees, which saves you a ton upfront. also, try searching "ワンルーム 新宿区" on suumo and filter by "敷金礼金なし", that'll cut your initial costs to basically just the first month's rent. and yeah, Okubo is a bit chaotic but supermarkets there are stupid cheap, like 100 yen for a bag of veggies sometimes.

one thing nobody tells you: check the train noise. if the building faces the Chuo line tracks, you'll hear it every 3 minutes. pay a bit more for a south-facing unit or you'll go nuts. also, avoid anything listed as "under 25m2" if you can, the washing machine will end up in your kitchen and that's just sad.

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if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping

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kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.

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tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.

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