Renting an Apartment in Japan: Phrases and Questions

The listing shorthand that decides everything

Japanese listings are compressed, and almost every number on them is a cost or a constraint. Before you learn a single question, learn to read the terms in the table below, because an agent will read them aloud to you at speed and expect you to follow. The layout code and the four money words together tell you more about a property than the photographs do.

Two habits pay off immediately. Add the management fee to the rent whenever you compare properties, because a low headline rent with a high kyōeki-hi is not cheap. And treat the word sōdan as an invitation: where a listing says sōdan next to pets, instruments or move-in dates, the agent expects you to raise it.

Opening the conversation at the agency

Walk in, say what you want in one sentence, and let the agent lead. The no desu ga ending on your opening line is doing real work: it softens the statement into an approach rather than a demand, and it invites the other person to take over. Expect the agent to ask your desired area and move-in month before anything else, so have both ready in Japanese.

The agent's first questions are almost always どのエリアをご希望ですか (Dono eria o go-kibō desu ka), meaning which area would you like, and ご予算はいくらぐらいですか (Go-yosan wa ikura gurai desu ka), meaning roughly what is your budget. Answer the budget question with a total figure and the words made de, up to, so the number is understood as a ceiling.

Stating your conditions clearly

Agents work from a list of jōken, conditions, and they will type them straight into a search. The most useful thing you can do is separate the requirements you insist on from the ones you would merely like, because that lets the agent widen the search sensibly instead of showing you nothing. The phrase yuzurenai jōken, the condition I cannot give up, is the exact word for this and agents respond well to it.

Asking what you actually pay up front

Initial costs in Japan are assembled from several separate items, and the total surprises people who compared only the monthly rent. Ask for the whole figure in one question and then ask for the breakdown, rather than trying to add the pieces yourself while the agent talks. A written estimate is normal to request and gives you something to reread slowly at home.

A common reply is 敷金一か月、礼金なしです (Shikikin ik-kagetsu, reikin nashi desu), one month's deposit and no key money. Nashi means there is none, and it is the word you most want to hear. If you are told a fee is 相談 (sōdan), it is being presented as discussable, which is your opening for the next section.

Guarantors, screening and paperwork

Almost every application goes through a screening step called shinsa, run either by the owner or by a guarantor company. Foreign residents are usually asked for a residence card, proof of income or employment, and an emergency contact who can be reached in Japan. None of this is unusual, and asking about it early prevents you from falling in love with a flat that will not accept your situation.

Questions to ask inside the room

A viewing, naiken, is short, and the things that will annoy you daily are invisible in photographs. Work through a fixed list: which way the windows face, what you can hear, whether your phone works, where the rubbish goes, and what stays in the flat. Ask permission before photographing or measuring, then do both, because you will forget which room had the wider kitchen.

Two answers are worth listening for. 前の方は長く住んでいました (Mae no kata wa nagaku sunde imashita), the previous tenant lived here a long time, is a quiet endorsement of the building. 上の階に小さいお子さんがいます (Ue no kai ni chiisai okosan ga imasu), there are small children upstairs, is honest information you should treat as a real data point rather than a warning to ignore.

Asking whether a condition is flexible

Direct bargaining is uncomfortable in this context and rarely works on rent. What does work is asking whether something can be discussed and letting the agent take it to the owner. Phrase it as a request for a check, not as an offer, and always leave the other person a graceful way to refuse. Accepting a no immediately keeps you in good standing for the flat you actually want.

The reply you are hoping for is 大家さんに聞いてみます (Ōya-san ni kiite mimasu), I will ask the owner. A polite refusal usually arrives as ちょっと難しいですね (Chotto muzukashii desu ne), which means no. Answer that with わかりました、ありがとうございます (Wakarimashita, arigatō gozaimasu) and continue with the rest of your questions as if nothing happened.

The contract signing session

Before you sign, a licensed agent reads out the jūyō jikō setsumei, the explanation of important matters. It is long, fast and legally required, and nobody minds if you slow it down. Ask for the reading to be repeated, ask what a particular box is for, and ask for a copy to take home. This is also when you learn the payment date and the notice period, both of which matter for years.

Moving in and moving out

The cleaning charge at the end of a tenancy is the most common source of disputes, and the way to avoid one is to document the flat on the day you receive the keys. Photograph every mark, scuff and stain before you unpack anything. Then ask, in plain words, which costs will be taken from your deposit and what counts as normal wear rather than damage you must restore.

Genjō kaifuku, restoration to the original state, does not mean making an old flat new. Ordinary fading and normal use are generally the owner's cost, while burns, large stains and holes are yours. Asking about the han'i, the scope, at the start signals that you know the distinction exists, which tends to keep the final invoice reasonable.

Rehearse these before you go

The agency conversation moves fast because the agent has had it a thousand times. Everything below is a line you will use in the first ten minutes, so practise them until they come out as one breath rather than as assembled grammar. Small talk is not required here, though the introductions and polite openings covered in the greetings guide will make the first thirty seconds easier.

• Your opening line: heya o sagashite iru no desu ga, delivered while still standing.
• Your budget as a total, with kanri-hi komi de and made de attached.
• Two areas and two stations, so the agent has somewhere to search.
• Your one non-negotiable condition, named with yuzurenai jōken wa.
• Shoki hiyō wa zenbu de ikura ni narimasu ka, asked before you get attached to a flat.
• Three viewing questions you will ask in every room, in the same order every time.
• Muzukashikereba daijōbu desu, so a refusal never becomes awkward.