I’ve stayed at a friend’s house about 30-40 minutes from inner Tokyo on a single train ride (which is about the second last stop on one of the subway lines). It

I’ve stayed at a friend’s house about 30-40 minutes from inner Tokyo on a single train ride (which is about the second last stop on one of the subway lines). It was a relatively normal sized 1-bedroom apartment for about $800 USD a month. You definitely have options in Tokyo, and the infrastructure makes housing choices like this possible (live closer in the city or live further out).