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The story
A poster on a solo relocation assignment, hoping to live within a 30-minute commute of their company’s headquarters near Akihabara (Iwamotocho), turned to 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board for advice on which train line to settle near. With a budget of around ¥100,000 in rent and a company housing subsidy capped at ¥80,000, commenters floated specific stations like Tsurumi, Kita-Senju, Tsudanuma, and Mizue, comparing commute times and crowding on the Hibiya Line, Tsukuba Express, and Toei Shinjuku Line. The Tozai Line in particular was branded “hell” and “traumatic,” ruling it out for anyone hoping to avoid the morning crush. With some posters even saying they’d rather not live too close to the office, the thread offered a glimpse into the particular housing dilemmas faced by employees on solo relocation assignments.
What people said
You can get there in that little time?
Nice
For cheap, tasty bars you want the older towns along the Hibiya Line, Joban Line, or Keihin-Tohoku Line
If your commuter pass lets you get off partway, Keihin-Tohoku's good too
Kita-Senju even has Hibiya Line trains that start there
Also, the Sobu Line
The Tozai Line's relatively new when you get down to it
You really know your stuff
Now I'm curious about Kita-Senju
I'd rather be closer
About 10 minutes
You can get from Kita-Senju to Akihabara in 10 minutes?
On the Tsukuba Express
Though factoring in underground transfers and crowding, the Hibiya Line might be better even with a slightly longer ride
That said, if your subsidy is fare-based, you might end up stuck transferring on JR
There are 3 companies and 3 routes between Akihabara and Kita-Senju
Rent's pricey even in Kita-Senju
At ¥100k for a single, there are surprisingly good hidden gems even in central areas like Kita-Senju — though safety and the surroundings suffer accordingly
Go past Kita-Senju to somewhere like Soka on the Tobu through-service, still a 30-minute no-transfer ride, and you should get a bit more room and a nicer environment than within Adachi Ward
If it's ¥100k out of pocket + ¥80k subsidy = OK up to ¥180k, that's very different from ¥20k out of pocket + ¥80k subsidy = OK up to ¥100k
With the former you'd easily find something even inside the Yamanote Line
But going by Re: #33's comment, it sounds like the latter
Besides Akihabara, it's also got good access to Ueno and Tokyo Station
There's a department store and pretty much every shop you need, plus lots of cheap izakayas if you like to drink
Yoshiwara's close too (Tokyo's old red-light district)
Same, I thought that too
The head office is in Akihabara, that's why
Though going as far as Tsudanuma might be a bit far
Ichikawa's pricier than Koiwa
From Tsudanuma it's about 30 minutes on the local train from Akihabara
You can hop off along the way to bar-hop with your pass, and there are trains that start there too
Give me your recommendation
Honestly I'd like to keep my commute under 20 minutes
The subsidy covers up to ¥80k
Then why not just live in Akiba itself
Because I want to keep rent under ¥110k
Maybe they're one of those people who don't want to live near the office
It traumatized me
I was considering the Tozai Line, guess that's rough then
Both directions are hell
If it's gotta be Metro, the Hibiya Line is definitely the way to go
I see
Guess I'll give up on it
Like I said, the workplace is in Akihabara
That's got nothing to do with me
The Toei Shinjuku Line doesn't get too crowded either
The head office is technically in Iwamotocho, so this is
good info
Are places like Morishita or Kikukawa expensive?
If your office is in Iwamotocho, looking along the Toei Shinjuku Line might be better
Thank you
Is it still pricey all the way out to somewhere like Nishi-Ojima?
One bus straight to Akiba, nice and easy
I'd love to live there but it's pricey, right?
Background and key points
The Akihabara/Iwamotocho area is packed with IT company headquarters, and many of these companies offer housing subsidies for employees on solo relocation assignments (typically capped around ¥80,000), which is the assumption behind this whole thread. However, partway through the thread the poster’s own out-of-pocket budget changed (from ¥100,000 to ¥20,000), which dramatically shifted the range of viable options — from Kita-Senju all the way to inside the Yamanote Line — making this a good example of why you need to state your conditions upfront to get useful answers. The Tozai Line’s morning crush is also famous enough to be called “hell,” and dodging it by taking the Hibiya Line or Tsukuba Express instead is shared wisdom among commuters into central Tokyo. The fact that a fair number of posters would rather not live close to the office reflects a dynamic specific to employees on solo relocation: wanting a clean break between work and home life.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Want to live within 30 minutes’ commute of Akihabara (solo relocation).”
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