Job Discussion Forums

[Nismo]

This thread exists to provide information on house options (in English) for foreigners in Japan.

I've not lived outside of Tokyo so I am currently only limited to that area, but if anyone would like to add to this please do.

World Student Village:
http://www.toshima.ne.jp/~wsvc/index.htm
Description: I lived in the Azalea House, offered through World Student Village, for one year as a student. The rooms are 16m^2, recently remodelled, and come with a kitchenette and private bathroom/shower. There were a lot of friendly faces when I was there, but the crowd changes annually.

Sakura House:
http://www.sakura-house.com/index.htm
Description: This looks to be a legit site. They offer a variety of options from dorm-style, guest house, and private apartment. A friend of mine is currently looking for housing outside of Azalea House (where we both resided before), and this looks to be the next best option for your money's worth.

Tokyo Apartment:
http://www.tokyoapt.com/
Description: A rental agency in Tokyo that boasts about the same attributes that most other rental agencies boast for foreigners. I have not browsed the site nearly enough.

Leopalace 21:
http://www.eg.leopalace21.com/
Description: Often misread as Leos Palace, this company offers housing throughout Japan. The price is a bit steep but is made up if you pay for the housing annually as opposed to monthly. This housing is popular if you intend to live in an area only briefly.

I'll update this later if the thread proves to be popular. Feel free to link any future inquiries about housing in Japan to this thread.

[Glenski]

Here is a link to an old thread I started about housing that doesn't require guarantors or key money.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=4264&highlight=guarantor+key+money

[lajzar]

Shinjuku Apartment
http://www.japandanceart.com/F9.htm
Description: Mostly shared houses, all in the Shinjuku and surrounding areas. Quite cheap for the area, but only considers non-smokers for tenants. Great if that is you. The landlady speaks excellent English.

[MarcusPereira]

I am not sure if this person who recommended Shinjuku Apartment posted this by mistake because when I checked his personal website listed on his profile, he did mention about not having confidence in getting back his deposit when he was planning to leave Shinjuku Apartment.

I know this landlady preys on foreigners and discriminates against them, saying nasty things about foreigners in her website and her diary posted on her site. Also I have read countless testimonies on craigslist of tenants who stayed there and complained about descrepancy of utility calculation, rats, old junk house of hers. So stay away. It is not a good place as she will some how find ways to gain from you and even worse, give you a hard time.

[JimDunlop2]

Like Glenski, I've also previously posted an article on Dave's regarding getting a place to live in Japan.

The title was: Finding & Renting your own place in Japan. It can be found here: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=25137

It should be relevant to all of Japan -- not just a particular area, though it does not deal with "gaijin houses" or similar accomodation options.

[Genkikiwi]

hi Jim
just had a read through your ins and outs of apartment finding. Enjoyed the read . Thanks for the effort

cheers

[JimDunlop2]

Thanks -- I'm glad. As for us, we are REALLY enjoying our new house, in which we have now been for 1 year and 1 month. The post was written last year in reflection of what we went through to get it...

In the end, it was word of mouth and direct contact through the oya-san that got us the place... Never underestimate the power of word of mouth in Japan!

[JimDunlop2]

Okay, recently there have been a few questions about apartment renewal fees...

Here's the scoop. A while back, there was some information circulating about regarding the unfair assessment of such fees. The article appeared in The Japan Times Oct 31. 2004. It was called, "Daylight robbery -- and we accept it" by Philip Brasor.

Then, recently, Ken Joseph Jr., also in The Japan times, (on Aug. 15, 2006) published THIS article: "Must I pay to renew my lease?"

There have been other articles on other websites, but I've had a hard time finding them, as the links seem to have expired and died. But this should at least get you started with some information on this difficult issue.

Now, because The Japan Times requires registration and logon to search their archives and read this stuff, I'm re-posting both articles below for the Dave's family. That way we can refer back to it if/when we need to.

JD

--------------------------------------

Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004

MEDIA MIX
Daylight robbery -- and we accept it

By PHILIP BRASOR

Last February, the Tokyo municipal government adopted a policy to discourage key money reikin and lease renewal fees koshinryo in rental agreements. The policy is long overdue since key money and renewal fees are tenant-gouging practices sanctioned by nothing more than habit.

The gratuitousness of these landlordly traditions was exposed in Asahi Shimbun's "Gimon Kaiketsu Monjiro ( Monjiro the Problem Solver)" column recently. A reader asked what was the purpose of the renewal fee, usually equivalent to one month's rent, that he has to pay every two years when he signs a new contract for his apartment. Asahi called a real estate agent for an answer, which turned out to be disarmingly simple: There is no reason, it's just "a custom." A different realtor explained that the custom was established after World War II, when the supply of housing couldn't keep up with the huge demand.

Rental housing is no longer scarce, but the practice remains in place in the Kanto region and Kyoto. Utilizing what can only be called a perverse sense of journalistic fair play, the Asahi column goes out of its way to conjure up a plausible explanation for the custom (something about protecting the landlord's investment), but in the end it's clear that tenants cannot be forced to pay the renewal fee. In May, the Kyoto district court sided with a tenant who refused to pay it, even though it was stipulated in his original rental agreement.

In a similar vein, NHK's Tokyo newsmagazine, "Tokuho Shutoken," recently looked at rental security deposits shikikin. It's assumed that part or all of such deposits will be retained by the landlord for the purpose of cleaning and repairs when the tenant moves out, but Tokyo law states clearly that a tenant cannot be held liable for normal wear-and-tear, though they usually are.

Obviously, key money, renewal fees, and, to a certain extent, security deposits are mainly charged to extract more money from tenants by exploiting their feelings of inferiority in the rental transaction. Japanese law favors the tenant, as proved by the Kyoto district court decision, but most renters don't understand this because they've been conditioned to think that whatever the landlord wants the landlord gets.

This practice of charging meaningless supplementary fees is insidious. Private schools charge exorbitant admission fees nyugakkin and everything from health clubs to video stores demand new member fees nyukaikin. If this money was really needed for running the operation concerned, why isn't it just incorporated into the monthly or yearly charges? The reason is simple: Because it isn't needed and people will pay it anyway.

The big daddy of meaningless supplementary fees is the telephone subscription right denwa kanyuken that NTT charges when you acquire a fixed telephone line. Right now, the telecommunications giant is having a hard time justifying the kanyuken since other companies who are entering the fixed-line telephone business aren't charging for any such right. Nevertheless, NTT says it will not completely phase out the kanyuken until 2011.

The absurdity of NTT's stubbornness is compounded by a lack of understanding as to what the kanyuken really is. For years, NTT encouraged the belief that it was a transferable asset. Taro Aso, the minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, described the kanyuken as "a kind of credit, like stock." But stocks can go up in price. Kanyuken can't.

The original reason for the kanyuken, like the original reason for rental renewal fees, no longer applies. After World War II, NTT's government-owned predecessor needed large amounts of money to build a telephone network. In the 60s, kanyuken cost hundreds of thousands of yen, and while a subscriber could never sell the line back to the phone company, he could transfer it to another party. The kanyuken thus acquired a collateral value, but in any case no one ever sold their kanyuken for more money than what they paid for when they bought it from the phone company.

Since 1985, when the public phone corporation was privatized as NTT, the price of kanyuken bought from the phone company has been fixed at 72,000 yen, even though the network it was created to fund was completed long ago. The kanyuken is merely gravy, a windfall that NTT could always count on; that is, until mobile phones and the Internet made fixed lines optional. Now that other companies are offering fixed lines, the transfer value is heading toward zero.

An recent article in the Mainichi Shimbun pointed out that in 2002 NTT launched a "light" plan. New subscribers didn't have to pay for kanyuken to acquire new telephone lines if they instead paid a slightly higher monthly service fee. The reporter analyzed the plan (short-term users could save money while long-term users could potentially pay more) without questioning the ridiculousness of the concept itself. Whether it's in the form of kanyuken or higher service fees, why should a subscriber pay any extra money at all?

NTT refuses to refund all or part of the kanyuken, saying that it is a "one-time fee," a cop-out that is understandable given that the value of all the kanyuken held in Japan is estimated to be more than 4 trillion yen. But the company's refusal to abolish the kanyuken system right now is not only illogical (Who in their right mind will buy them?) but insulting. After years of making easy money, NTT, like landlords and others in positions of authority, just can't seem to believe that they are no longer entitled to money they haven't earned.

The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved

=======================

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006

LIFELINES
Must I pay to renew my lease?

By KEN JOSEPH JR.

Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy Japan. The mountains, the ocean, the beautiful "inaka" or countryside where time seems to have stopped. It's a good time also to thank God for the simple things that make life in Japan so special -- telephones that work, trains that run on time and people that bring your lost bag back before you even realized you had lost it . . .

We have a question this week from reader Mark, who asks: "Do you have any information on apartment rental renewals fees ("koshinryo")?

"The real estate agent that I rent my apartment through wants me to pay a renewal fee every two years (70,000 yen as an agent fee, 21,000 yen for insurance, 20,000 yen guarantor fee; making a total of 111,000 yen).

"I have spoken to the Japanese Tenants' Association and Matsudo City Hall Ward Office, who both say that if the renewal fee is stipulated in my original contract then I should pay it.

"I thought my ward office would be able to direct me to the correct department of government to get the truth but they could only tell me they didn't know.

"I have been in my apartment for four years. I paid the fee two years ago but since then I have read in The Japan Times an article titled "Daylight Robbery -- and we take it" by Philip Brasor, which states that even if the original contract stipulates a renewal fee I don't have to pay it.

"The Kyoto court sided with a tenant who refused to pay it and the Tokyo municipal government has also adopted a policy to discourage it. I want to know if, by law, I have to pay the renewal fee. If I don't pay it, I want to be sure I have all the facts if I have to go to court. I've spent three months on this."

Attorney Watanabe tells us the important thing remains whatever your contract says. If your contract says you must pay a fee every two years to renew your contract, then you are legally bound to do so.

If you go to court, you will likely be held to the agreement you have signed.

Another view comes from a real estate agent, Mr. Yamaguchi, who said the renewal system is a very market-based situation. When the economy is tough, people can often negotiate contracts without a renewal fee. When things get better the fee grows.

If you are in a contract and you do not want to pay the renewal fee, you can talk with the owner and, in many cases, can negotiate to have it reduced, paid over time or, in some cases, removed, he says.

When you are beginning a rental contract you can include the fact that you do not want to pay a renewal fee. Once you have agreed to pay the fee, though, you are bound by it.

There is no law that requires that you pay a renewal fee, but if you have previously agreed to pay the fee, you are bound to do so. If you have not agreed to do so and reference to the fee is not included in your contract or lease, you are not legally bound to pay.

Send your queries, questions, problems and posers to [email protected] Ken Joseph directs The Japan Helpline at: www.jhelp.com or on (0570) 000-911

The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved

[madeira]

I've just rented out a house in Yokosuka... so this is just some info from the other side of the issue.

I didn't want to charge any key money, but now I'm glad the agent told me to. I had to pay 220,000 yen for 'tenant introduction', which is precisely the amount of key money... This fee wasn't mentioned when I signed the agency contract, but apparently it's 'traditional'. (I called a few people to check it out).

So, we received the key money, then paid it back immediately.

[Tom Bombadil]

Does anyone know of any good web sites that provide information for buying a place?

This would be in the Tokyo and Yokohama areas...

[madeira]

I know a few people who could give you some info. I went with an old, valueless house in order to buy a bigger piece of land, a friend went with a tiny plot in order to build a brand-new house. A few friends bought apartments... some now regret it.

It all depends on what you want, and how long you think you'll want it... if you have specific questions, I/other folk can direct you a bit more.

I don't think anyone is going to make their fortune off real estate in Japan, but owning sure beats renting!

Fuckedgaijin has a thread, Young Dudes has two or three. Gaijinpot has some. I think Debito's site has info, too.

[sallycat]

thanks for posting that, jim. i wish i'd known that when i was in kyoto.