Japanese Landlords Don’t Have to Rent to Foreign Tenants

There are many good reasons to visit Japan and even stay a while there, but exercise caution. If you're not Japanese, renting a place can be difficult. Why? Landlords in Japan are not required to rent to foreigners. Because they are not Japanese, almost 40% of foreign residents who are looking for homes are turned down. A Japanese guarantor can make it easier for a foreign tenant to enter an apartment or home, but those are also difficult to come by.

On the surface, it appears to be a mechanism to protect landlords against damages in the event that a foreign tenant skips a payment to return home, but it also applies to true Japanese citizens who are foreign-born or whose parents are. A large part of this is due to landlords' inability to communicate in other languages, such English, and their assumption that tenants won't speak Japanese. Others worry that visitors just won't adhere to local norms.