I lived 10 minutes from Shinjuku 2 minutes from a station and 5 mins from another, surrounded by a popular shopping and dining street with 4-5 supermarkets and lots of greengrocers to buy food from, for $550/mo, together with my wife in a super bright and pleasant, but very compact (23 m2) 1 bedroom apartment (not a studio). Loved that place, and can't imagine rent like that near any US city.