Job Discussion Forums

[Black_Beer_Man]

Have a look at this job posting for a real estate agent position. It says that Japanese people have extreme difficulty living in apartment buildings occupied with foreigners. https://jobs.gaijinpot.com/job/view/job_id/99173#.VEMQY_mUdPE

"Despite this need to coexist with foreigners, it is difficult for Japanese people to live with them in harmony due to anxiety caused by cultural differences and the language barrier. These obstacles make it harder to organize a society of coexistence for both Japanese and foreigners. (Company name omitted) JAPAN was established in order to solve these problems in terms of renting and settling into a new environment."

It goes on to say "...we hope to raise the language barrier between customer and landlord, thus creating a harmonious living environment, free of anxiety and fear."

Fear? Really? Is dealing with foreigners THAT stressful? I've heard the cultural differences and language barrier arguments before. However, considering the fact that Japanese people hardly ever speak to their Japanese neighbors, they are already not likely to speak to their foreign ones. Therefore, I think this argument is invalid. If problems with the foreign tenants do arise, there should be at least one employee at the real estate company that manages the apartment that can speak enough English. If an English speaker does not exist at the real estate company, maybe the foreigner's employer can help with the communication.

In many other countries, the native people do not want people from specific cultural groups living in their apartment buildings (like the French and Muslim people). However, it seems like the Japanese are not comfortable with foreigners of ANY kind.

What do you think? Why is this so?

[The Fifth Column]

Does "FLAT JAPAN" also think that the world is flat?

[rtm]

[mitsui]

This is a deeply intolerant society, but it goes beyond just foreigners.
Japanese do not trust each other and there are prejudices toward
foreigners, such as wondering if they will always pay there rent on time, are too loud, etc.

Fear is a lot of it. More intolerance seems to be in cities, more so in Honshu, especially Nagoya, and in Kanto, and in Osaka, somewhat.
25% of people are over 65 and the elderly don't tend to be progressive, in any country.

My ex-boss refuses to rent his apartment to foreign people and even had a Japanese tenant who paid his rent late.
The assumption is that foreigners are worse.

Rental agents and guarantors are needed by distrustful people.
And make the process more expensive.

Americans who own property could fix things themselves but not here.
No, some Japanese even act like rich Arabs who think they are too good
for manual labor.


Discrimination is not illegal here. It is just seen as a conservative attitude.
Morality does not enter the picture here since the Japanese are more secular than almost any nationality.

Housing discrimination is illegal in Kawasaki, but I think only in this city.

Things used to be worse, but with a surplus of housing, Japanese seem to be more interested in making money.

[G Cthulhu]

[mateacher]

I would like to chirp in here.
A long time ago, I bought a summer house in Atami, Izu. When I lived in Japan I would use it during vacation time; however, when I moved to Korea and now that I live in the US, I rent it out, to pay off the loan rather than sell it. When it came to renting it out, I told the realtor, under no circumstance were they to rent to non-Japanese. You may find this strange coming from a non-Japanese, but when it comes to the no-foreigner renting rule I totally understand them.
A gaijin is more likely to walk around the house with their shoes on, less likely to maintain tatami and fusama. They are also more likely to not take out the trash and not pay utilities. Foreigners also come from more drug tolerant societies, so are more likely to partake in drug use and drink more than Japanese. It is much more likely that foreigners do a runner in the middle of the night or get screwed over by their eikaiwas or ALT dispatch companies. They are more likely to do house shares etc.. I would rather keep my place empty than rent to foreigners and with 99% of the population Japanese why bother taking the risk. I even thought of Air BnB to generate close to double the rental income, but being a gaijin myself and having wrecked a few sliding doors and tatami mats in my time, I know better.

[The Fifth Column]

The more I monitor this board the more I understand her feelings of not returning...