Renting a house in Japan for one to six months

Why a standard rental rarely works for a few months

An ordinary Japanese lease usually runs for two years, and moving in typically costs four to seven months' rent once everything is added up:

• A deposit, usually one to two months' rent.
• Key money, a non-refundable payment to the landlord that is common around Tokyo, usually one to two months' rent.
• The agent's fee, capped by law at one month's rent plus tax.
• Insurance against fire and water damage, which tenants generally take out.
• A guarantee company's fee, often half a month's rent for two years of cover.
• The first month's rent, because rent in Japan is paid in advance.

Then there is the screening. Almost every lease needs a guarantor or a guarantee company: an industry survey cited by Japan's land ministry found that about 97 percent of leases required some form of guarantee. Applicants are usually asked for a passport, a residence card and proof of income or employment, and visitors staying three months or less are not issued a residence card.

Most of these homes are let unfurnished, and some landlords turn foreign applicants away. In a Ministry of Justice survey published in 2017, 39 percent of foreign residents who had looked for housing in Japan in the previous five years said they had been refused because they were foreign.

What a fixed-term lease is

Article 38 of Japan's Act on Land and Building Leases allows a fixed-term building lease. It ends on the date written in it, with no automatic renewal. Three things make it work:

• It must be made in writing. Since May 2022 an electronic contract counts as writing, so it can be signed online from overseas.
• Before signing, the landlord must give you a separate document explaining that the lease ends without renewal. Without that explanation, the no-renewal term is void.
• It can be shorter than a year. An ordinary lease of under a year is treated as having no fixed term, but that rule does not apply to fixed-term leases, so a one-month fixed-term lease is valid.

For a visitor, that is exactly what you want: a fixed start, a fixed end, a fixed price, and no expectation that you will stay for two years.

How renting a Kichi works

1. Tell us your dates. Send an enquiry with your move-in date and how long you want the house. We ask for at least three weeks' notice.
2. We confirm the fit. A human replies within a day and talks honestly about whether the house suits your plans.
3. Sign once, pay once. You e-sign a fixed-term residential lease and make one prepayment by Wise from your own bank account, in your own currency. For partner-owned houses, a licensed Japanese real-estate agent prepares the lease and gives the explanation Japanese law requires, with plain-English support throughout.
4. Move in. Utilities connected, wi-fi running and an English house guide waiting, with a local contact one message away.

No guarantor and no Japanese bank account. Any one-off cost, such as a cleaning fee, is shown on the house page and in the lease before you sign. The full process is on how it works.

What to check before you sign any short-term lease

• The type of lease, and the exact start and end dates.
• Every cost in writing: rent, utilities, deposit, cleaning and any fees, and when each is paid.
• What is included: furniture, appliances, bedding and wi-fi.
• How many people the lease allows.
• The cancellation terms before move-in, and what happens if you leave early.
• Who to contact when something breaks, and in what language.