New to the forum

I have also lived in many countries particularly in Asia as it is where my heart is, with no plans to return back to Europe in the foreseeable future.

My next destination is also Japan, and I spend as much spare time as I can there. Which part of Japan do you plan to stay?

One important thing to remember is that the initial fees for renting a place can be considerable, especially if you are required to pay "key" money, so you need to ask the agent whether the landlord requires this or not.

Secondly, the location of nearby train stations is important since taxis are really expensive in Japan.

Household items can be really cheap as there are lots of 100 Yen stores around such as Seria, Daiso and others.

and for getting around it is worth getting a prepaid IC card such as Suica, Pasmo and Icoca which means you can simply swipe the card at the electronic turnstile machines in train stations instead of trying to work out the cost of a train ticket at the ticket machines. You can also use these cards at minimarkets like Family Mart and 7-eleven etc.