Musashino Art University's Takanodai Campus is about a 18-minute walk from Takanodai Station. Here are the 15 cheapest stations within roughly 30 minutes* of it, sorted by studio rent. Balancing rent and commute time is the key to a comfortable first apartment in Tokyo — start your search from this list.
Musashino Art University is essentially a one-campus school — students are based at the Takanodai campus in Kodaira City for all four years, with no relocation along the way. The real favorites are Takanodai Station on the Seibu Kokubunji Line (about an 18-minute walk), Kokubunji Station — a 25-minute bus ride but popular for its convenience as a major Chuo Line hub — and Kodaira Station.
Art students face a need that regular students don't: space to work on projects. The university's studios and workshop rooms can be booked outside class hours and during breaks, so some students do all their production on campus, while a growing number set up a work area at home instead. The university's own dormitory even includes dedicated atelier rooms, giving students a built-in option for that need.
Ogawa Station (ranked 6th) in the list below is a realistic, bike-distance neighbor of Takanodai, but the real favorites — Takanodai, Kokubunji, and Kodaira — don't appear on it at all. Use Ogawa as a starting point, factoring in rent levels around Takanodai as your baseline.
Tamako terminates at the Lake Tama embankment — lakeside cycling and Sayama greenery daily, with a one-seat ride to Kokubunji.
Higashi-Yamatoshi is marked by the BIG BOX leisure complex and the leafy Tamagawa-josui greenway, with one-seat Seibu rides toward Takadanobaba.
Seibuen terminates beside its namesake amusement park and Lake Tama — leisure-belt living with Shinjuku Line access via Higashi-Murayama.
Haijima is a four-line hub (Ome, Itsukaichi, Hachiko, Seibu Haijima) with solid station-front shopping — a high-value base for western Tama.
In Japan there are often only a few weeks between acceptance and the start of term. A furnished apartment cuts both the setup work and the upfront costs, so you can start student life right away. See the Housing Guide (furnished / share house / standard rental) →
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Compare rents line by line on the line index, or explore the area map.
*Travel times are estimates based on local trains (plus ~6 min per transfer). Express services are often faster.
*Rents are market estimates based on SUUMO listings and vary by season and property. Station data: ©ekidata.jp