One of the grad students in my department recently wrote to me asking me where they could stay while in Tokyo over the summer for some short pre-dissertation fieldwork. They wanted to stay 8-10 weeks, which is too short for my personal favorite which is Leopalace 21. Here are the options I gave the student:
- Gaijin houses (google for "Gaijin House Tokyo" or "guest house Tokyo"). Rates seem to range from ¥35,000 / month for dorm style accomodations to ¥80,000/month for apartments.
- Weekly mansions (Japanese google: ウイークリー マンション 東京). Rates are about 30-40,000 a week.
- Long-stay business hotels (Google: ビジネスホテル 東京). Rates are about ¥7000/day but there's usually a 10-20% discount on monthly stays.
- International House of Japan. They don't serve pancakes (well they do, but only for breakfast), it's the pre-eminent location where many foreign faculty stay while in Tokyo for a short time. Centrally located in Roppongi. Single rooms are ¥6583/day.
- If you're Christian, then many of the churches have attached guest rooms. For example, the Lutherans and Catholics both have places where people can stay for short visits.
Steve Clark added a section at the end of his "Tokyo Archives" website about housing options in Tokyo. It's here:
http://www.people.carleton.edu/~sclark/tokyoarchives.htm
Three more links:
Japanese site with lots of info and links on shorter term accomodation:
http://www.good-weekly.com/
Site in English for weekly/monthlies and apartments for foreigners:
http://www.jafplaza.com/
TOHTO's weekly/monthly site (I had good luck with them last summer):
http://www.t-monthly.jp/
One more addition to the list is Tokyu Stay.
Tokyu Stay has lodgings in very convenient locations throughout Tokyo (Tsukiji and Yotsuya to name a few). Room rates are more reasonable than hotels and are equipped with efficiency kitchens, washing machine/dryers, and internet connections. What is more, there is almost always a konbini next door.
http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/