As of year 2012, the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) has 775 dormitory rooms available for international researchers and students. UTokyo is currently planning to build large scale international guesthouses, and is contemplating ways to minimize the concerns of housing for UTokyoUTokyo’s international community.

However, since there are not enough rooms available as of now, many researchers and students from abroad must find and live in off-campus housing. Those who live in rooms provided by UTokyoUTokyo will be asked to spare the facility to others by moving to off- campus housing after a certain amount of time. It is also unfortunate that “home stay” is not very common in Japan.

When looking for off-campus housing in Japan, you usually cannot contact the landlords directly to ask them for a vacant room. Landlords typically designate a real estate agency or property management company to take care of matters such as finding tenants, negotiating and signing lease contracts, and managing the building. To find housing in Japan, people seek information and assistance from real estate agencies. Students can also utilize the University of Tokyo CO-OP (CO-OP) located on campus.

The first thing to do is to find out the range of general rent for areas you want to live in. People in Japan obtain this information from real estate magazines (free papers available at various public places such as train stations, and magazines also purchasable at book stores) or through the internet. However, since information available through these sources is limited, people tend to seek assistance from the CO-OP or from the local real estate agencies in the area you want to live in.

In general, housing information available through magazines and the internet is not offered in languages other than Japanese. This is unfortunately also true for services offered by most real estate agencies and the CO-OP. It is undeniable that language becomes a barrier when trying to find housing in Japan.

In order to assist your housing search, we will explain through this guidebook the various culture-specific customs of the Japanese real estate industry that you should know. It is our sincere hope that this guidebook will help you find your ideal rooms allowing a smooth start to your new life in Japan.