Renting an Apartment in Japan or How much did you say?
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Apartment hunting in Japan: Or remember your wallet
Looking for the apartment was relatively
easy in Japan. I highlight the word: looking. We made an appointment for a
visit to a realtor and showed up that day. Outside there was a board listing
the guests for the day, and ジョンストン、my name in katakana was there. The moment we sat down a lady was
there pointing at the DRINK MENU. A reminder, we are in a realtor office not a
coffee shop and I got some hot coffee and grabbed some of the candies in the
jar next to me. Extra energy in the apartment hunt. After showing us on the
internet about four places, we turned around and a van was waiting for us with
a worker standing by the door. In we went as the employee did his obligatory 90-degree
bow, which he held as we drove away.
Actually, looking at the apartments was similar
to the US. Our agent highlighted the good points and agreed with everything we
said. Something like this:
Scott: It is a little dark, isn’t it?
Realtor: Yes, but it is very convenient to
the station.
Scott: The traffic noise gets in easily.
Realtor: Yes, but it decreases at night
when you sleep.
Scott: The veranda is nice a wide. Great
place to put a small chair and table.
Realtor: Yes, you can have a beer after
work and relax.
And going to an apartment that looked like
a cyclone just hit it.
Yoko: You mean people leave apartments like
this? Don’t they have to clean it?
Realtor: It is a bit dirty, but it will
look nice when renovated.
Scott thinking, “a bit dirty”, you have
holes in the wall where the air conditioners were dragged out of the wall, you
have mold on the wall, and you have piles of junk.
And after we decided on an apartment.
Realtor: I thought you would take that one.
Was the deciding factor the park along the river?
Scott: And very close to the station. Only
three minutes. The other was really big and nice but about 20 minutes’ walk.
Realtor: Yes, the park is really nice and
in spring, it is beautiful when the cherry blossoms bloom.
Scott: Huh? I was talking about
convenience.
I felt a gap or shall we say a wall in the
flow of that conversation. Did he? Or was he just following the Guidebook of
the realtor company, named something like “How to rent any apartment to anyone.”
So now we just pay next month’s rent and a
month’s deposit and move in soon, right? Wrong. We are in Japan and in the
Kansai area around Osaka. There are more shocks ahead, for me the supposedly Japanese
wizened foreigner and my hopelessly lost Japanese wife from Kanto, the area
around Tokyo.
Ok, the rent is 130,000 yen a month and kyouekihi
or monthly service fee is 8000 yen, for a total monthly cost of 138,000 or
$1254. So how much is due: 805,000 or about $7318. I think I notice a substantial
difference, like WHAT is this? Do they need some of my blood too?
Here is the breakdown.
Key money, security deposit, thank you
money. I group together because some realtors do this, too. 552,000 yen which
is four times the rent. I guess that will keep the landlord secure. My wife
asks this logical question, “Since part is a security deposit we get it back,
right?”
The response is, “Well the shikibiki, or non-refundable
deposit is actually 138,000. The rest is, well, thank you money for the
landlord.”
Scott: Well, we are renting the apartment
for 130,000 a month, isn’t that thank you enough?
Realtor: Ha-ha. That is funny. You are a
funny guy. You give 390,000 yen to the landlord. It is part of the process here
in Japan.
Scott: That is a lot of thank you money, as
I only get a teacher’s salary and no thank you money for actually teaching
students. The landlord is not actually doing anything.
Relator: But they have to renovate the
apartment by changing the tatami, cleaning up after the last renters, maybe
changing the bathtub and sink, fixing the walls in the three bedrooms, kitchen
and living room, etc., etc., etc. It is a lot.
Scott: uhm… That sounds like the deposit
part of the fortune I would give you.
Scott: What about these other costs?
Realtor:
First month rent is 130000 yen
Second month rent is 130,000 yen
Fire insurance is 20,000 yen
Happy Life Support is 15,750 yen
Realtor’s fee is 130,000. This is one month’s
rent
And taxes.
Scott: what is Happy Life Support? I could
use some right now.
Realtor: Ha-ha. Very funny. It is payment for
two years and if you have any troubles, you can call them 24 hours.
Scott: For example?
Realtor: You might have a water or gas leak,
broken windows, etc.. They will help take care of these things for you.
So that is all you need?
Realtor: Well, a few more documents, of
course.
Jyuminhyo, which is from the city to prove
you are a resident here.
Of course, someone has to guarantee with
his signed registered hanko on the contract.
Income withholding slip for last year
Proof of identity
Picture of the family
Scott: Why do we need someone to guarantee?
Realtor: If you burn down the place or
leave without paying, the landowner needs a way of getting his money back.
Scott: Well, what about the 390,000 I pay
for the security deposit and the thank you money. Isn’t that enough of a
guarantee? Plus, I see I am paying fire insurance.
Realtor: Ha-ha. You sure like jokes. It is
a custom here in Japan and we can’t break customs, can we?
On an aside, I asked a Japanese friend about
the guaranteer, too. He said that anyone you ask to be a guaranteer takes on a
great responsibility as if you did destroy the apartment and leave, he would be
responsible to pay for the damages above the insurance payment. In other words,
not just anyone will guarantee you. This surprised me as this friend really
viewed the guaranteer as a position taking on a great responsibility.
Lucky I am not Japanese. If I were, I would
probably feel a great debt to this person. Being American this is one aspect of
Japanese culture I have not or cannot adopt: deep feelings of obligation. (Read
about this in another story of mine).
In my case, we asked Yoko’s brother, who is
a public school teacher. As it turns out, Akira had to send a certified
official paper saying that his hanko is certified. And of course, he had to put
his stamp on my contract. He called and said the realtor had called and asked
such questions as how much do I make, how long have I worked there, and where
does Akira work.
Oh, by the way, I am his guaranteer!
You can get around the guarantee two ways.
First, often your company will serve as the guarantee. Now, there are new
companies who act as guaranteers. You just pay them to guarantee you. A nice
niche in the Apartment renting area.
This process made me think that the concept
of privacy which Japan seems to promote superficially, does not exist in
reality. I had to give a copy of my yearly income statement, US equivalent of
W-2, photograph of my family, copy of my foreign resident card, etc. They know
everything about me. Just for a rental apartment.
Apartment rented. Done. Not so fast.
This happened on the 29th of
June and the day of getting the key is on the 10th of July
On the 6th of July, we returned
to the realtor’s office too have a yuyojikosetsu, or Important Facts Explanation
session about contract and the signing. We arrived and of course got the menu
to choose or tea or coffee. Then a new face appeared and he was the person to
explain the Important Facts. As it turns out, you have to have a license to
explain the Important Facts, not unusual as you need a license to do
practically anything in Japan but tie your shoes. Yoko looked at his card and
job title which was in Japanese. His name and title covered the whole length of
his meishi, name card. Yoko sked, “What does it mean in English?” She beat me
to asking.
Of course, the answer was, “Haha! I don’t
know?”
I asked if this license was required all
over Japan, as I had never seen it while apartment hunting in Kanto. He assured
me it was nation-wide.
The important explanation began. He had his
copy of documents and we had ours. And it was full of complicated kanji to make
sure we did not understand. Two key points stood out for me.
1.
The building we were going to
stay in was bought with a bank loan. If the owner does not pay on the loan or
sells the building, we have six months to get out. Also, a new owner could ask
for the 390,000-yen guarantee money. When I heard this, I raised my hand to
make sure my hearing was correct, and it was. I thought, “I need to buy a
building and rent it out. What a deal for a landowner, although not so good for
the renters.”
2.
There was a section about the
yakuza. I guess if I am a yakuza, they most likely will not let me rent it. I
thought, if I am a yakuza then, I will not tell them, though my tattoos may
give me away. Yoko then reminded me that one of the yakuza groups had their
main office in this area. Great neighbors. I hope they like Americans.
Then we signed the contract, probably in
katakana and English. Yoko even took out the ジョンストン(Johnston) hanko and put it to
work.
Once again as we finished this, we turned
around and the van was waiting for us to take us to the apartment where we
planned to measure areas for household goods we had to purchase. Of course,
next to the door was our obligatory doorman pointing to the door, in case we
could not see it, and he gave us a 90 degree bow as we took off.
Our apartment, well almost ours, as the
contract begins on the 11th of July, needs lots of expensive items.
We need to measure areas for such items as a TV, refrigerator, microwave, gas
stove, air conditioners for three rooms, and washing machine. That is another
story.
Summary of Costs for a 3LDK
3 LDK stands for living room, kitchen and three
rooms with one bath.
While there are changes afloat about key
money, trying to make it clearer and reduce it, there remains differences between
Tokyo and Osaka areas.
Key money and deposit are sometimes
combined. Sometimes not. Obviously, all to confuse the renter. It is a very
successful strategy, as my wife and I were always confused.
Below is what we paid for our apartment in the Kansai area.
At rental time
|
English |
Japanese |
Cost |
|
Rent for 1st month |
賃貸 chintai |
130000 |
|
Property maintenance fee per
month |
共益費 kyuoehi |
5000 |
|
Realtor Fee for 1
month/one time
|
不動産手数料 |
130000 |
|
Key money or thank you money,
which equals 3 months rent
|
謝金 shakin 礼金 reikin |
390000 |
|
Deposit for 1 month |
頭金 atamakin 預り金 azukarikin 敷引 shikibiki (nonrefundable) |
130000 |
|
Insurance for two years |
|
20,000 |
|
Total |
|
805,000 at 115 yen per dollar it equals about $7000 |
Monthly
|
English |
Japanese |
Cost |
|
Rent per month |
賃貸 chintai |
130000 |
|
Property maintenance fee per
month |
共益費 kyuoehi |
8000 |
|
Total |
|
￥138000 equals about $1200 |
A resource
https://www.gaijinapartmenthelper.com/cost-apartments-japan/
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