Apartment hunting as a student, lease help!

こんにちは みんな!

(Hi mods real quick this is my first post and I have a student visa and everything pls don’t remove this I really need advice)

I’m a student that’s studying here for my bachelors degree and my friend and I are both hunting for apartments around Tokyo on the denentoshi line. I know the typical standard lease is 2 years (my agent is very clear on this, but not much else), but does anyone have any advice for me on this predicament? Google is really not much help.

We’re set to graduate in 3 years, so our options are afaik:

1. Renew the lease after the 2 years, then eat the cost of cancelling after our third year
2. Move out after the 2 years, then hopefully find somewhere that would be okay with only a year’s long lease

I know the housing situation in the US isn’t usually much better, but 2 year fixed lease contracts are such a pain. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!