Tokyo apartments for rent in Japan, follows a more rigid procedure before the would-be tenant could avail the use of a housing unit. The tenant is required to visit real estate agents. Real Estate listings are available everywhere in Tokyo through advertisements, publications or show windows. The agent contacts the landlord to see if the apartment is still available and arrange a home visitation to the apartment. Tokyo apartments for rent in Japan requires the intervention of real estate agents, a renter cannot rent an apartment on his own, he is required to have a guarantor who will promise to pay the rent if problems arises. In regions outside of Tokyo, people are hesitant to rent their place to foreigners more particularly that most landlords in the suburbs could not speak English.
Payment of Rental fees
Right from the beginning of the contract, the Japanese landlord collects both a damage deposit (shikikin) and “key money” (reikin) before the renter takes occupancy of the apartment. In addition, The renter is required to pay a service fee (chukai tesuryo) payable to the real estate agent in the amount equal to one month’s rent. The key money is non-refundable which may be an additional investment for the landlord. In recent years many landlords have begun demanding smaller amounts of key money, or sometimes none at all. There are also apartments which require no deposits like the monthly mansion and weekly mansion. This is true to apartments located in major cities which generally charge higher rents than traditional leases for hotel-style amenities and services. In Tokyo, the usual rental agreement is for one or two years and renegotiated every year thereafter.
Gaijin houses
Following this procedure, many foreigners find it difficult to find apartments for rents. They often face discriminations, when landlords refused to rent their apartments without the help of real estate agents. For this reason, the remedy is to live in a guest house or commonly called “Gaijin Houses” or foreign persons’ house. Guest house are designed to provide short-term accommodation at reasonable rent. A guest house consists of one room for sleeping, a shared kitchen and shared bathroom. Facilities are operated electronically and sometimes they provide free utilities like the internet and phone service. There is also another housing unit which gained popularity in key cities, called Aparto or small apartments about 175 square feet or 16 square meters, while modern buildings with larger apartments are called manshon (“mansion”). Of these housing facilities, manshons offers more facilities and more modern, hence, more comfortable but expensive.
