Housing Office | Housing Information | Contracting and Living in Your New Home

When leasing housing in Japan, there are many documents to be viewed and signed, which could take nearly an hour for a real estate agent to explain the contents.

Lease contracts used in Japan generally contain the following items:

The term of the lease contract is two years（There are cases where this is one year)
To terminate the contract, you must notify the landlord 1 month prior to your requested termination date. (There are cases where 2 months prior notice is required.)
The due date for payment of rent and other monthly fees is the last business day of the previous month.
If you intend to keep your room consecutively vacant for over 1 month, you must inform the landlord or the real estate agent beforehand (for security reasons).
You cannot alter the interior decoration of your room. (For example, you cannot redo wall paper, repaint the walls, or punch holes in the walls.)
You cannot live with two people or more, or sub-lease the room. There is usually no exception for this, regardless of how temporary the arrangement may be.
You cannot use common space for personal use (such as parking your bicycle in the common hallway of the building).
When moving out, the owner will charge you for repair fees to fix damages caused intentionally or by negligence. This fee will be deducted from the deposit that the landlord would return to you.

Deposit ＜敷金＞ (shikikin)
A deposit is paid by the renter to the landlord generally of an amount equivalent to two months’ rent, and is refunded to you when you move out, provided that you satisfy the terms of your lease. If you damage the apartment or fail to make rent payments, the associated costs will be deducted from your deposit before it is returned to you. Also, some landlords always deduct a fee from the deposit to cover the cost of cleaning the property for the next tenant. Please be aware that if you seriously mess up or damage the rented property, the deposit may not cover the cost of the renovation and you will be required to pay the additional costs. Key Money

＜礼金＞ (reikin)
This is sort of a monetary gift paid to the landlord and is generally equivalent to one to two months’ rent. It is not refunded, even if you terminate your lease early. There are some properties that do not require key money (reikin), but take note that they may charge other nonrefundable fees instead.

Regarding Restoration ＜原状回復＞ (genjou kaifuku)
Generally speaking, repairing the daily wear and tear and light damage to the property, such as deterioration due to age, wear from normal use, is the responsibility of the renter. In order to prevent disputes regarding the cost of restoration of the rented property (return of the deposit) between the renter and the landlord, the property check at the time of moving in and moving out of the property is vital. To prevent problems of being required to pay extortionate amount of restoration cost, we recommend that you (1) make a checklist and (2) take photographs at the time of your moving in and moving out of the property.

The settlement of the deposit is based on the contract undertaken between the renter and the landlord. In order to prevent as well as settle problems surrounding the renovation costs, the Housing Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has prepared the “原状回復をめぐるトラブルとガイドライン” (Japanese only) and also the Bureau of Urban Development of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has made the “東京における住宅の賃貸借に係る紛争の防止に関する条例” (Japanese only).

Please also be careful about the following points

Provision for early termination of the contract
There is usually a provision in the lease contract that specifically addresses this issue, so please make sure that this provision exists. Please also check on how much prior notice you must give to the landlord for early termination of the contract.
Provision on contract renewal
In Japan, there are two general types of contract systems to lease housing. One is the “fixed-term tenancy contract” and the other is “renewable tenancy contract.” For example, if the landlord is transferred for work to a new location for a certain period of time and wishes to lease the room, the landlord would choose the “fixed-term tenancy contract.” This contract does not provide an option for the borrower to renew his / her contract upon expiration date. Therefore, those who are thinking about potentially renewing their contacts, please check for the existence of this provision and its content.

※For students using University of Tokyo’s ”Joint Guarantor Assistance System” and wish to renew their lease contracts, please visit the Office of the International Students and Researchers Support Group of Hongo Campus (2nd floor of Student Support Center) prior to renewing the contract. UTokyo staff members will confirm the content of your contract and will also assist you to re-enter the property insurance policy that UTokyo designates

Once you finish moving, we recommend that you follow the Japanese tradition and visit your neighbors to inform them that you moved. This should be done within a couple days after you move. In the past, people also took small gifts such as sweets to accompany their visits.
When visiting your neighbors, you would customarily visit people who live on both sides of your room, and also rooms above and below. (For those who move into a house, you would also say hello to people who live right across the street from you.) If the landlord lives nearby, it is favorable to visit the landlord as well.
Nowadays, however, the lifestyle of Japan has changed and people do not even know who their neighbors are. Besides people who buy housing for long term residing purposes, many Japanese people are starting to neglect this custom. Despite the current trend, we encourage you to build good relationships with your neighbors and utilize the communication opportunities to learn as much Japanese as possible during your stay.