Last time I was looking for an apartment the real estate guy had to call five different apartments before he found one that rented to foreigners and it was pretty inconvenient. Now I’m planning to move with my gf who’s a Japanese citizen so does that change anything? She doesn’t know how it works either.
35 comments
It changes everything! I just put my GFS name every time we moved and until asked didn’t have any rejection.
It depends. There are a lot of landlords that won’t rent to unmarried couples, so it’s hard to say if it will be helpful.
It increased mine a few years ago. But some landlords still didn’t give a shit about it and just said no.
Almost certainly, yes. It’s a phenomenon known as “social proof”.
Of course. Welcome to the joys of being an immigrant 😂
It helps, but it won’t completely protect you from being rejected. Unless your gf can sign under her name alone and her income is high enough to be able to afford rent by herself on paper, the moment you need to also put your name down as co-signer, you’d be subject to rejection by some places.
In Japan you will always be the Gaijin
It helps but not that much… depends on city I guess as well.
My school I worked for let me found my own apartment and they would be the co signer and be the one paying the rent. I got help with the Japanese when meeting the agent and everything.
Still, got rejected from two because I’m not Japanese.
Yes, having a Japanese husband makes any kind of official or legal thing like 10x easier lol
I’ve never experienced that in person. The apartment that I found and liked in suumo was exactly the one I got with no bullshit whatsoever. I speak fluent Japanese though
Ultimately, the lease will be in one name, with that one person really responsible for the rent, deciding whether to keep/break the lease, etc.
If the Japanese person is the real tenant, great. If the foreigner is the name, but you can point to a non-spouse Japanese person, then it’s all circumstantial. Remember that there is no official rule against foreigners, there is no one standard, not every landlord or company is anti-foreigner… It really depends on the logic of the individual/company.
* If the concern is “he doesn’t speak Japanese so he can’t handle phone calls and won’t understand billing” then a Japanese partner is helpful, but not as good as a wife (more chance you’ll break up).
* If the concern is “he’ll flee the country after an earthquake,” then probably marginally helpful but not decisive.
* If the concern is that foreigners are loud and dirty, a girlfriend probably doesn’t help much because you’ve probably corrupted her.
* If the reason is “I seethe with bottomless unquenchable rage at the very notion that foreign barbarians are polluting Amatarasu’s sacred isles with their vile footsteps,” then a girlfriend maybe makes it worse?
You’re just rolling the dice. Pro tip, though: you and your girlfriend are engaged (congratulations). Seems more credible and stable, and less offensive to old folks than kids these days with their baggy pants and hippity hoppity meeting on the TikToks for sexting and moving in together to live in sin, or whatever it is they think we do.
It’s all great until you & your girlfriend decide to break up and everything is in her name though
Whenever I see those posts I realize I must have been extremely lucky.
Both times I looked for apartments there were about 4-5 apartments I was interested in and the realtors went above and beyond to accommodate me. Maybe it has to to do with the sites I looked on, and both realtors are part of larger chains, but I was only refused an apartment viewing because someone was still living there. Despite that, they took me to the same model in another part of town just so I could see it.
I’m taking notes for the chance I have trouble in the future though!
Put your GF name on everything. You don’t talk. Let your GF do all the talking until you’re physically looking at a place.
Having lived in Japan for 15+ years I have learned that about 50% of the time I will be denied bank accounts and loans. 100% of the time I will get a loan if my wife’s family name is on the document.
Ultimately, the only reason my current place accepted us is because I was engaged to a Japanese person. I did all of the meetings with the real estate company, wearing business-casual clothes, and in Japanese. Had that not been the case, I don’t think GF would have mattered (particularly due to tattoos showing).
Just my experience here of course, but I moved here with my Japanese husband (so never been looking for a place on my own) and we’ve been approved for every apartment we’ve applied for, after finding the listing online and contacting the realtors (in a small city with plenty of open housing).
If it is in Tokyo, depends on the wealth and situation of your GF. If she is seishain and her parents are also seishain and makes good money and willing to be her guarantor, then it will increase a lot. If not only by a little but not much. The good quality ones in prime locations pretty much will remain very difficult in that case. It is one main of the reasons for me to buy my own place because of the lack of ability to rent a nice place in a good area regardless of money.
I helped my buddy get an apartment a couple years ago because he couldn’t speak Japanese. We just kinda pretended he could and said that he could handle anything that comes up. Was super easy. He had moneys and was a business owner though so I don’t know
another way to avoid the racism is to look at apartments managed by companies. private owner landlords are a crapshoot and can come with tons of other unexpected problems as well…
OK so… if you can find a place where the rent is under 1/3rd of your girlfriend’s salary, and she’s comfortable with you not being listed as a person on the lease, then she can do the entire process and be the signatory no problem, and you won’t have a problem. The point is that the real estate agent will not mention your existence to landlords. Many real estate agents are, honestly, just young people who need to be told what to do on this front, but will do it because get money get paid. In this situation you basically can get kicked out of “your” appartment whenever, but… well I hope you’re moving in with someone you trust.
If you want to rent a place where her salary is not sufficient, then you’ll have to be listed/mentioned during the process, so you can list your salary. During this process it will be good for you to list yourself as a “fiancé”, as that fits into the category of acceptable room sharing for most places (this is not universally required, but simplifies things in many places). In that case you are, honestly, a bit in the same place as when trying to rent alone. You’ll likely have to pay a guarantor company, etc.
Ways this is easier:
– look to rent buildings from bigger real estate. Places like Haseko, Daito Kentaku… they all basically don’t care about foreigner-ness and rent to everyone (you pay a guarantor company even if you’re Japanese in lots of these places).
– Can you get PR? That helps, but it’s maybe late
– The amount of rejections due to foreigner-ness depends on the area you’re looking at. I’m assuming Tokyo but like Jiyuugaoka I had loads of “foreigner” rejections, but Taito/Ueno area basically none. Kind of linked to whether landlords are companies or not
– UR buildings don’t care, and has very little in upfront fees. This is basically public housing, so some older buildings (with some nice ones) but honestly I know a lot of people for which UR works.
So yeah… depends on the place, but you can definitely search for places where this isn’t a problem, especially if money is not that much of an issue
I had gf handle everything and it was incredibly smooth.. they didn’t even ask for a copy of my zairyu card until we went to sign and collect the keys
I’m always surprised this is an issues. Money talks, and if you have the financials for the place you would think they would be happy to rent to anyone.
Now if the locations are in high demand or if your financials are questionable, I can see them being picky.
Apartment hunting while being white, from a first world country, and being smartly dressed and well groomed, increases your chances.
Several times I have encountered this scenario (in Japanese, of course), while sitting across from the realtor making the call:
Realtor (calls to landlord) : We have a fuckin’ foreigner ‘ere who wants to rent ya apartment. Your call.
Landlord : Where’s the filthy cunt from?
Realtor : The UK.
Landlord : Not black, is he?
Realtor : Nah, he’s a cracker.
Landlord : Hmm, well at least he’s not from India/Egypt/Nepal/Mexico.
Realtor : Uh huh, yep, yep.
Landlord : Alright, I’ll rent the place to ‘im. Tell the fucker the garbage rules though!
It’s a foreigner thing not necessarily Japan thing. Always helps to have a local help you when finding a place.
When my husband and I first moved in together, we did everything in his name possible. Eventually we had to reveal my name and my gaijin status. But when we met the landlord, he was pretty cool about it.
We did stress that we were engaged and what our jobs were. I also only spoke Japanese during viewings and meeting the landlord.
Use your GF to get your foot in the door then casually mention who you are as late as possible into the process.
My friend had his Japanese wife put her name in the applications and let her handle all the paperwork and phone calls. When it was time to meet the real state agent , they told him they can’t continue the renting process because he was a foreigner and the landlord didn’t want him at the appartment because “there is a lot of elderly people and they would not feel comfortable if there is a foreigner there”
Me on the other hand, I’ve rented twice and they didn’t care that I was a gaijin, they only cared about me paying them on time.
So I think it’s something that will depend case by case
Sometimes it can help to work with an agency that specializes in helping foreign residents find a home! Message me if you need help! I can refer you!
Yes. I’m married to a Japanese woman and have never had any issues moving anywhere. The landlord always make it out as if I wouldn’t be able to move in if a Japanese person wasn’t with me, but I just don’t listen to them and go ‘alright thanks’
Don’t post a lot, but I feel my experiences fit here. Wife is Japanese. She’s also an attorney, so she handles paperwork. After our son was born, we needed a bigger apartment. She arranges everything with a realtor and we go to look at properties. When she showed up with a white husband and a blonde baby, the agent shit his pants and said no foreigners. She lit him up and filed a complaint. Never even got an apology.
We were married both times we looked and still got rejected from several places, but who knows maybe that rate was higher than if we weren’t married? As long as the person signing is Japanese I think that’s enough. A lot of people are suggesting you never have to mention you’re a foreigner and only mention your partner and I would advise against that.
One real estate agent explained to us that landlords often live near their properties and if you aren’t upfront about it and they see you coming and going later on then they can get really vindictive and claim they were tricked or the landlord might go after your real estate agent.
A lot of these landlords are not vehemently racist either, they are just following the status quo in typical Japanese fashion. It is common practice to not rent to foreigners for several quoted reasons such as language barrier, cultural differences, and foreigners disappearing and dropping all of their responsibilities in Japan to go back home is not unheard so they just rigidly keep “No foreigners” as a general policy. It’s straight up bullshit when it happens but my point is this: In my experience landlords with that sort of policy won’t be swayed from it, spouse or not. In general, you don’t want to rent from someone so inflexible anyway so think of it as a win for yourself too.
yes. like hardcore fucking yes. the degree to which this is a yes is so high it’s hard to measure.
The fact that she can speak, read and write Japanese at a native level will make the process go much smoother. If her parents are willing to be guarantors, that will make it even easier. The main gripe with foreigners (other than racism) is that they can be difficult to communicate with, and can just leave the country without going through the proper procedures.
Sometimes the landlord will have other reasons to have doubts. I was the name on the lease for my family of 3, since I’m the main breadwinner. The landlord hesitated, not because I was a foreigner, but because my Japanese husband was unemployed at the time. He thought this was very strange and wanted proof that my husband had been employed recently, which he had. We got the apartment but our agent had to do some convincing and have a special meeting with the landlord. We are excellent tenants so I feel the landlord should be grateful he “took a chance” on us.
You could just ask ‘em out
Just prescreen it via the estate agent. Be up front for them to only show properties which they checked if foreigner is ok or not. They can show a bunch, pick the ones you like and have him call the owners right in front, the non rejects can go take a look in person. With my wife it made no difference, still rejected by a lot of places.