In Japan, apartments are still expensive even though the bubble economy has ended. You must be careful to avoid unsuitable apartments.
I will explain how to rent a good apartment in Japan. I think it is important to take the following points into consideration:


  1. Setting requirements
  2. Gathering information
  3. Looking for apartments
  4. Signing a lease


1. Setting requirements
   Why do you want to rent an apartment? Is it because you want to live in a bigger apartment to be able to put a lot of furniture in it, a smaller one as it is more economical, or a nice place where transportation services are better? Decide exactly why you want to move. Then you will be able to what is your most and least important priorities are. Setting requirements is very helpful for gathering information.


2. Gathering information
   In Japan you can get a lot of information from magazines, notices in the windows of real estate agencies, and notices at apartment houses. The magazines carry a lot of information about apartment houses in many areas, but not much information about the apartments. The notices in the windows of real estate agencies have detailed information about, but they have little information about wide areas. The notices at apartment houses give the name of the real estate agent with whom the owner is contracted. I think the best way is to visit many real estate agents and get a lot of information directly from them.


3. Looking for apartments
   Looking for apartments is actually the most important part of choosing an apartment because some real estate agents are smooth talkers and do not tell you about the apartments truthfully. Examine the apartment with your own eyes. At the apartment house, check the route to the apartment house, and its surroundings and appearance. There are several things to check in the apartment, such as whether the doors open and close smoothly or not, whether the floors are level or not ( check everything by placing a ball on the floor ), direction of the windows, the noise conditions, and so on. Check everything and ask all your questions about the apartment.


4. Signing a lease
   You can rent an apartment after you sign a contract with the real estate agent and the owner of the apartment house. In Japan, it is necessary to stamp (jitsuin-o-osu) and sign the contract. Be careful not to sign before you read it completely, because many real estate agents and owners do not mention clearly what is written on the contract. It is too late to check the contents of the contract after you are kicked out of the apartment house because you violated the contract.


   To rent an apartment, you need money for the following:
  1. deposit (shikikin)
    It will be refunded after you move out if you do not break anything.
  2. thank-you money (reikin)
    It is a non-refundable amount given to the landlord upon renting an apartment.
  3. monthly-rent (yachin)
    It is the rent payment.


Koji Monden
Kanda University of International Studies
from (Let's Enjoy Living In Japan),1996