[brigandish]

I'm not sure how your comparison of personal experience against prices you pulled off the internet makes the standard of Japanese building any better?

You can find cheap rooms in either city, you can find bargains in either city, what you won't find en masse in Tokyo (nor any other city in Japan as far as I'm aware) is housing with walls that seem like walls and not paper, with insulation, and you certainly won't find central heating.