Finding an office in Tokyo is a process with a predictable shape. Teams that struggle usually skipped the first step and went straight to browsing buildings — which in a market of this size means looking at everything and deciding nothing.
1. Write the brief before you look
Fix four numbers first: headcount on your busiest day, monthly budget, the wards you will accept, and the date you must be in. The peak-day figure matters more than payroll — with hybrid schedules, most teams need fewer desks than people. Our Tokyo catalogue spans 188 buildings and 1,251 listings; without a brief, that is unmanageable, and with one it narrows quickly.
2. Understand how space is measured and quoted
Japanese listings are often quoted in tsubo (about 3.3 m²), so "15 tsubo" is roughly 50 m². Sizes in our catalogue run from 4 m² to 720 m², with a median of 27 m². Be aware that quoted area may be gross rather than usable, and that common area charges are frequently billed separately from rent on conventional leases — two buildings with the same headline rent can differ once those are added.
3. Choose the ward before the building
Ward sets both budget and commute. Minato (63 buildings) and Chiyoda (40) are the corporate centres; Shibuya (26) draws technology and creative firms; Chuo (23) covers Ginza and Nihonbashi; Shinjuku (14) is the western transport hub. Outside the central five, Toshima (9) and Shinagawa (6) offer Yamanote-line access at lower rents. Since commuting fares are typically reimbursed, where your staff actually live belongs in this decision.
4. Read the listing properly
Four things decide most shortlists: walking minutes to the nearest station and which lines it carries; the floor and which way the windows face; the building's age and whether it has been seismically retrofitted; and what is included in the monthly figure. Listings here show photos, monthly price in yen and station walking time together, which makes that comparison quick.
5. Visit at the hour you will use it
Go at the time of day you will actually work, not whenever is convenient. Check mobile signal, how crowded the lifts are at peak, whether the air conditioning runs outside standard building hours — many Tokyo buildings charge for after-hours HVAC — and how long the walk from the ticket gate really takes in the rain.
6. Know what the contract asks for
A conventional Tokyo lease generally runs two years and asks for a security deposit of several months' rent, part of which is not returned. You will normally be responsible for fit-out and for restoring the space at the end. Managed and serviced contracts replace most of that with a monthly fee and a much smaller deposit — our catalogue lists 459 private office options and 170 coworking options on that basis, from ¥40,000 a month. For a foreign company without a registered entity yet, a serviced office or registered address is usually the only practical starting point.
Start here
Open the Tokyo office listings, filter by ward, size and budget, and shortlist five. Five is enough to see the market and few enough to visit in a week.