Developments

So, I've been transferred out of the disaster area that is still Miyako down to Tokyo. I've been assigned to 2 Junior High Schools in TakadanoBaba and Mejiro, both of which are on the main Yamanote train line. They are also both directly north of the bangin'est district of Tokyo, Shinjuku, where a number of my friends live and a lot of really great clubs and venues are, and is also where I am currently looking for an apartment.
Tokyo's expensive, you all know, but lemme relate what I'm looking at, and what I was paying in Miyako. My apartment in Miyako cost me 30k yen every month, which is the equivalent of about $330. Every month, if I paid that, I not only could live in my 3 room + bath apartment, but got a bike, a storage closet, and a free awesome meal every thursday out of it.
The apartments that are within my budget range that I am considering are hovering around 77k yen. That's probably around $900. However, on top of that, there's this very annoying real estate phenomenon in Japan referred to as Shikin and Reikin. Shikin is basically a deposit, and it amounts, in many cases, to double the monthly rent. Reikin is totally Japanese as it basically translates to present money, as in a present to the landlords for letting you live there. This also typically amounts to double rent. So there's rent, theres 1 double rent, and another double rent. this 5X rent needs to be paid before you are allowed to move in. Of course, it varies, and thankfully due to the crisis, many apartments are only asking for 1 months extra rent for Reikin and Shikin, amounting to only a requisite 3X rent in order to move in. So, to sum up, for me to move in to any one of the places I'm looking at (haven't decided yet), I need to drop about 231K Yen, or somewhere in the vicinity of $2600. BAM.
I am also looking for apartments in another area, Musashikoyama, southeast of Meguro, which itself is a southeastern stop on the Yamanote line, where the prices are about the same. Its much farther from my schools, which means I'll be paying more to take trains there instead of feasibly walking or biking if I choose Shinjuku, but friends of my friends in Miyako live here and when youre in with people like I'm in with my friends in Miyako, that basically means you've got an older brother type figure watching your back. Or, in my case, 2. And while if I lived in Shinjuku I'd still totally see these guys a lot, but if I lived this close to them it'd come to approximate the family-like situation I had going on up in Miyako a lot quicker than if I was in Shinjuku.

MOOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEEYYYYY