Showa Medical University's Hatanodai Campus is about a 5-minute walk from Hatanodai 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.
Showa Medical University has a relocation pattern found nowhere else. Every first-year student, across Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Health Sciences alike, spends their entire first year living in dormitories at the Fuji-Yoshida campus in Yamanashi Prefecture — a tradition of team-based training dating back to 1965. Only from year two do students move to the Hatanodai campus in Tokyo, so there's no need to search for an apartment as a first-year; the real housing search begins in year two.
Once at Hatanodai, the real favorite is Hatanodai Station itself, a five-minute walk from the campus's east exit, with plenty of student housing also found around Musashi-Koyama, Senzoku, and Toritsu-Daigaku stations.
Kitasenzoku, Nagahara, and Magome in the ranking below sit along the same Tokyu Ikegami Line and point in a reasonable direction, but Hatanodai Station itself, right at the campus gate, doesn't appear on it. Keep in mind that first-years don't need to house-hunt at all — from year two onward, use the Hatanodai rent level as your baseline when browsing the ranking.
Tokyo Teleport is Odaiba's Rinkai Line hub with direct trains to Shibuya and Shinjuku and malls at the doorstep.
Hiyoshi is a Tokyu express stop anchored by Keio University and fan-shaped shopping streets — under 20 minutes to both Shibuya and Yokohama on three lines.
Kawasaki is a major terminal with Lazona-anchored shopping and 8-minute rides to both Shinagawa and Yokohama — rents soften quickly away from the station.
Takatsu is one local stop — an easy walk — from Mizonokuchi's full shopping, at a friendlier rent.
Kajigaya is one local stop from Mizonokuchi on the Den-en-toshi Line — use the express hub next door while paying local-stop rent.
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) →
See the results-to-move-in timeline →
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