Rented a flat in Tokyo for a month too as a tourist. But it wasn't cheap. Around $1500/month, in 2011. But it was 3 rooms, and very nice. So maybe not so bad, actually? But then again, it was many years ago.
For whatever reason, people in our generation seem completely unaware of how often they cite things from 15-20 years ago.
I've taken to pointing out that it's like if someone in the 90s used advice from the 70s. For whatever reason, it tends to put things in perspective timeframe-wise.
Pretty much all non-luxury housing in Tokyo is built to a much lower standard than equivalent housing built in say Canada or the US in the same time period.
Much thinner wall insulation, single glazed windows (until recently), much smaller elevators in high rises, etc…
So on a quality and square footage adjusted basis it’s still quite expensive.
Not really: the difference is that "lower standard" housing of the same age simply doesn't exist in the US. You want a small, 20-30 year old apartment in a decent building with small elevators and everything is maintained well and isn't broken, and you don't want roommates, and at an affordable price for you on your non-tech job paycheck? You can't have that in a decent American city; it doesn't exist. It's either some very expensive "luxury" apartment (where stuff is still broken, but hey, it has granite countertops and new appliances that'll break down in a year!) where you'll need roommates, or some nasty shithole (where you'll probably still need a rooomate).
I just left an apartment in Shanghai that was two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen for $700 / month. I was advised that prices have come down over the last year, so that if I was planning to renew my lease I should negotiate a lower price.