Me and my girlfriend are looking to move in together next year. We’ll be in the Tokyo or Saitama area probably. We’re both foreigners (I’m American and she’s Filipino). I would rather us move into a nice 1LDK, since we can probably get a really nice place on two salaries. However, I know LGBT laws here are not what they are in the US so I’m not sure what kind of discrimination we might face trying to move in together. Should we just look for a 2LDK? Or will it be possible to find a 1LDK with the right realtor?
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I wouldn’t worry too much about the number of rooms for now, I think finding a landlord who will accept two women living together might turn out to be a challenge. When I (a dude) was apartment hunting with my then-girlfriend the realtors always made a big deal about telling all the landlords that she was actually my fiancee and we were going to get married, even though we didn’t have concrete plans at the time.
Obviously there may be less bigotted landlords/realtors out there who don’t care about your circumstances, but still probably a good idea to prepare yourself for rejection unfortunately.
There’s a tickbox on Suumo for LGBT Friendly apartments. Usually they’re the same as the Foreigner Friendly apartments.
They will probably have think you’re roommates.. I wouldn’t volunteer any more information than necessary… and it shouldn’t be that difficult
I hate telling someone to get in the closet, but since it’s none of your landlord’s business you might have an easier time just saying you’re roommates living together to split the rent.
That’s not so uncommon in Japan and is unlikely to raise red flags beyond the two of you being foreign.
Its always possible to run into bigots, and you dont have the legal protections from them that might be afforded in some other countries. However, you’re probably more likely to run into difficulties due to both being foreigners rather than due to being a lesbian couple; a lot of landlords here are pretty negative about apartment-sharing in general and foreign renters specifically. My guess is that once you get around those issues and find a landlord who is willing to rent to foreign room-sharers (which is entirely possible, it’s just a little frustrating and takes a little time), the question of your sexuality will be entirely irrelevant – I just can’t imagine a landlord here being like “I’m fine with foreigners, I’m fine with the apartment being shared, but I draw the line at lesbians”.
In fact, there could be circumstances where it’s better for them to know you’re a couple rather than assuming you’re just two women sharing. I know of a couple of cases where a landlord didn’t want to rent to friends of mine because they didn’t like the idea of two guys sharing the apartment, but actually changed their minds on being told that they’re a long-term gay couple and not just friends renting together. At a guess they preferred the idea of renting to a couple regardless of sexuality – less likely to have one move out and cause issues with paying rent, and less attached to the stereotype of single apartment sharers (noisy, messy, nuisance to neighbours etc., though those are primarily stereotypes for male sharers and shouldn’t be as much of an issue for you guys). In both of those cases one partner was Japanese though, so there was probably also an expectation that they’d handle communications and make sure stuff like trash separation was done properly, since landlords firmly believe that the foreign brain cannot process the notion of putting cans in a different bag.
Gay man living with Japanese boyfriend in a 1LDK here. Being two women is a point in the positive column since I’ve heard landlords express worry about men being rowdy or loud. On the other hand, being both non-Japanese can be a challenge. As a general tendency, more expensive properties give less of a shit than cheaper ones, so if you’re prepared to spend more money it might make things easier.
If you go through a real estate agent, I (from experience) recommend you choose one that specializes in non-Japanese clients versus LGBT clients as I think that’ll be your bigger issue by a long shot. When we were looking, we were very open about the fact that we were a couple and virtually everywhere was fine with that, but some balked at the fact I wasn’t Japanese. Our agent who specialized in LGBT couples didn’t do a great job of selling me a good client even though (and I hate that this is advantageous) I have a more desirable passport and strong education/career background in Japan.
2LDK won’t be much more a month, and you’ll have a spare room for company and office, so why not do 2LDK? that’s my minimum, even if all my kids moved out and it was just me. I’d still get a 2LDK. everything is small here anyway, it’s nice to have the extra space, even if it’s for storage.
Yes, totally possible, however the lease is officially always on one person, doesn’t matter if you’re a gay couple or straight or a bunch of friends. Other tenants are just added on the form somewhere. So, two salaries don’t actually factor in, rather, the higher of the two salaries.
My gut tells me that “foreigners allowed” tickbox will be a bigger hassle than LGBTQ+.
Edit: You’ll certainly get a place if you stick to well-known, large property management companies, like Tokyu. There are many smaller companies, and foreign-speaking real estate agents know them by heart, a good agent is key, IMO.
Use UR. They really don’t care.
In this situation you should just look for rooms that allows room share. Thats what we did. You dont have to say your lovers just say friends trying to save money or something like that. Or maybe even say your cousins or something like that. 1ldk is a bit hard to find that allows room share. Maybe atleast 2ldk
It maybe more of a challenge due to credit screening. Two single adults that are not married or related in any way, tend to be seen as a BIG liability.
tell the realtor to find you a company managed apartment. it sometimes costs a bit more, but there’s less racism and bigotry barriers to entry, and less drama than a nosy ojisan/obasan owner.
Possible, but just one more hurdle to add to the stack.
You will be classified as roommates. But even most unmarried straight couples are classified as this.
The nature of your relationship is irrelevant so no need to even mention it.
If you are looking for a “really nice place”, might be better to get a 2LDK anyway.
For an 1LDK, depending on where you of course, the bedroom could be quite small. Think double bed plus 30-40cm walking space around left and right (6-8J room). Anything “bigger” they would probably split to make smaller rooms.
My partner and I were both foreign women and were able to rent a place together, saying we were roommates. They did vet us on other things like how long we’ve been here, Japanese ability, money, etc but didn’t question the roommates thing. Of course YMMV.
If they don’t ask you, don’t tell them honestly. Moreover, probably bigger problem will be finding a place as a foreigner.
You’ll be fine.
Write down each other as 友人 instead of 恋人, and you will have an easier time.
2LDK is nice but my wife and I are getting by just fine in a 1LDK.
I recommend looking into Village House. My India-born husband and me (F caucasian) have been treated very well by this company and we love our apartment. No sign of discrimination at all.
They have English speaking staff and no key money.
Depends. On a scale from 1-10, how much of a lesbian are you?
So anecdotal but in my case the housing company put me and my same sex partner as 婚約者 on our rental contract allowing them to use both our incomes to calculate what houses we qualified for, among other things.
It’s the wild west out there though so another company might refuse to rent to you guys or anything in between.
Setagaya City Hall has ads LGBT-targeted assistance services on their envelope and so that’s one of the friendlier ku in Tokyo. Shibuya is LGBT friendly as well.
Not either of the places you mentioned but a few years ago I attended the Rainbow Festa which was a partnership event with the city of Yokohama and they have government-run LGBT centers as well so it may also be a place to consider.
Also, ten years ago I moved to Japan with my (now ex) girlfriend (we were an American/Filipino pair too lol) and we just rented an apartment together and they didn’t even ask what our relationship was at all.
As people have already mentioned before, just say you’re roommates. It’s not uncommon for girls to share an apartment, you should be fine.
You’ll have more problems with just being foreigners than being lesbians. I rented 4 different places and never had problems due to the latter.