More Navigating of Property Deposits

Several months ago, we outlined some of the major points of the monetary deposits you'll be likely to make when you rent an apartment in Japan. After some more first-hand experience on the matter, we have some more details to add, and in the next post, we'll share some money-saving strategies to use in your apartment hunt.

Furthering the discussion of shikikin (敷金) and reikin (礼金), which we covered in our last article, note that landlords tend to trend their shikikin and reikin habits in different regions and neighborhoods. For example, in one neighborhood, it may be thought standard for an apartment to carry 3 months' shikikin and 1 month's reikin. In another neighborhood just across the city, most properties might carry 1 months' shikikin and 1 month's reikin.

It certainly doesn't mean there aren't exceptions to this rule, and you may run across a no-shikikin, no-reikin property right beside a 3-months', 3-months' monster. It's just worth considering how certain regions or neighborhoods seem to run in trends.

Outside of shikikin and reikin, there are a bunch of other fees that factor in to the final property deposit. You will probably be asked to pay chuukai tesuuryou (仲介手数料). This is a cut of money given to the real estate agent for showing you around, processing paperwork, and contacting the building owner on your behalf. Even if you find the apartment online yourself and just contact the agent to make a purchase, you will be charged this amount.

Each agency has its own 仲介手数料 policy. For some, it is a flat rate for every contract. Minimini charges, I hear, 40,000 yen no matter what property you decide on. Apamanshop is said to be more expensive, around 70,000 yen. For other agencies, 仲介手数料 is based on your monthly rent. For example, if your apartment will be 55,000 yen per month, the 仲介手数料 will be 55,000 yen. (And often, the agent will ask you to pay tax on that amount to boot.)

However, you have more bargaining power here than an agent will let on--check out our next article for money-saving tips.

Anyway, after that, you'll be charged for fire insurance, or kasai hoken (火災保険). This is often mandated by the municipality in which you live and unavoidable. It is a yearly charge running around, in my experience, the 10,000 yen mark in big cities.

Next, recently landlords require renters to have guarantor company insurance, hoshou gaisha hoken (保証会社保険). I had heard of guarantor companies before, in the sense that they are available for people who cannot provide a guarantor (i.e., a financially established Japanese citizen) when they look at apartments.

However, this hoshou gaisha hoken is different. Even after you provide a legitimate guarantor, landlords are asking for you to buy insurance just in case you default on your rent payments. In essence, you are paying a company to follow up on you if you don't pay your rent on time. (Ridiculous.)

If your agent has personal connections with the landlord, it is possible he can ask for this insurance to be waived. But, I was told in my search that some 80 to 90% of rental properties have over the last couple years begun requiring this guarantor company insurance.

Anyway, the hoshou gaisha hoken cost depends on which insurance agency is used. Some of them charge a lump sum on signup and no additional payments later, and others charge annually. The price is based on your rent. In examples I saw, a 50,000 yen per month apartment cost 20,000 yen the first year and 10,000 yen each subsequent year to insure. It scaled to 30,000 yen the first year (and 10,000 yen each subsequent year) on an apartment that cost 60,000 yen per month.

Finally, on your upfront costs the landlord is going to ask you to pay through the first full month's rent in advance. This means that if you start renting an apartment for a portion of a month (with a move-in date of, say, January 15), the agent will ask you to send the rent for January 16-31 as well as all of February's rent at the time of contract.

All in all, when playing the new apartment game, you may want as much as six months' worth of the monthly rent available, on-hand in order to meet the down payment on your apartment. Yes, I understand what an astronomical figure this is. Older apartments and apartments in less pristine condition will require less set-up money because of lower monthly rent and smaller shikikin and reikin deposits. And, as our next article shows, it may be possible to sneak out of some of that obnoxious chuukai tesuuryou money.

After you have hammered out the initial payment, read the contract carefully for other fees. Sometimes a landlord will request a "renewal fee" in which you have to pay some 10,000 yen to "renew" your apartment contract each year. Sometimes the renter will get pegged with the cost of changing locks on the apartment building when they leave. There are lots of ways to hide additional fees, and you need to check the contract carefully to know what you're getting in to.

Some alternatives to this kind of set-up money are monthly apartment companies like Leopalace. However, be very careful about contracts for monthly apartments. Often they will draw renters in with promises of "no shikikin" only to charge you a "cleaning fee" when you move out of the apartment: You end up paying shikikin, you just pay it at the end of your rental period and under a different name.

If you have any comments or experiences to share, please leave them in the comments below. I hope this article was helpful, and keep an eye out for next week's post on saving money in the apartment search game.

Earthquake Blood Drive Guidelines

Most Japanese cities will be holding blood drives. Beware, though, that the rules governing who can and cannot are very strict. The guy over at Mutantfrog Travel translated the Japanese Red Cross guidelines (pasted below).

The most significant of the guidelines is that people from the UK probably cannot donate, due to our history of BSE.

Here's the full text:

The following categories of people are BANNED from donating blood in Japan.
Please do not clog blood donations centers if there is even a chance you fall into one of the following categories, and instead find some other way to help.
Please also note first of all that ANYBODY who has entered Japan in the last four weeks may NOT give blood.
First, the rules relating to BSE/Mad Cow Disease
To clarify the below rules, please calculate your TOTAL amount of time spent in ANY of the countries in categories 1~4 during the relevant risk period for that country. If your total period of time in a high-risk country during a high-risk period is equal to 6 months or more than you are banned from blood donations for life.
Similarly, if you have spent a total of 5 years total in any of the countries listed in all 6 categories during risk periods, then you are banned from blood donations for life in Japan unless a new medical test in the future causes the regulations to change.
Please note that no countries in North or South America are on this list; despite the worries over Canadian/US beef it was never transmitted to humans.

1. Anybody who has spent a TOTAL of 30+ days in the UK between the years 1980 and 1996.
2. Anybody who has spent a TOTAL of 6+months in the UK between 1997 and 2004. (Note: Also include period of stay under category 1,3,4 in this total.)
3. Anybody who has spent a TOTAL of 6+ months in Ireland, Italy, Holland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, between the years of 1980 and 2004. (Note: Also include period of stay under category 1,2,4 in this total.)
4. Anybody who has spent a TOTAL of 6+ months in Switzerland between the years of 1980 and 2004. (Note: Also include period of stay under category 1,2,4 in this total.)
5. Anybody who has spent a TOTAL of 5+ years in Australia, Austria, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, between the years 1980 and 2004. (Note: Also include period of stay under category 1,2,3,4,6 in this total.)
6. Anybody who has spent a TOTAL of 5+ years in Iceland, Albania, Andorra, Croatia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Vatican City, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Lichtenstein, Romania, between the years of 1980 through the present day.  (Note: Also include period of stay under category 1,2,3,4,5 in this total.)

Next the rules relating to blood parasite diseases.

• Anybody who has entered the country in the past four weeks.
• Anybody who has entered Japan after visitinga malaria high-risk area within the last year. This is true even if you were only at a resort area of the country. HOWEVER, if you have been specifically tested for malaria and been found negative you may donate blood.
• Anybody who has entered Japan after living in a malaria high-risk area within the last three years.
• Anybody who has ever lived in a region known for Chagas Disease, AKA American trypanosomiasis. (This is a blood parasite like malaria.)
• Anybody recently returned from Africa or who has lived in Africa and ever tested positive for African trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness.)
• Anybody who has ever tested positive for babesiosis, another blood parasite most commonly found in tropical regions such as Africa or Latin America.
• Also anybody who has engaged in medical work, research, field work, etc. in any regions known for similar diseases should not donate blood.

Last are other categories of persons who may not donate blood.

• Anyone who has or has had heart disease, or malignant tumor,
• Anyone who has rheumatic fever or is on antibiotics due to risk of rheumatic fever
• Sufferers from any convulsive disorder
• Sufferers from blood-loss related diseases such as hemophilia or purpora.
• Asthmatics
• Stroke victims
• Anyone with medicine allergies, nephritic syndrome, chronic inflammation disorders.
• Anyone currently experiencing extreme hunger or sleep deprivation.
• Anyone currently taking prescription drugs, except for those such at vitamins with no harmful side effects.
• Pregnant women or breast-feeding mothers.
• Anybody with a fever, specifically temperature of 37℃ or higher
• HIV, hepatitis infected persons (free AIDS testing centers link)
• Anyone who has ingested marijuana or other psychoactives within the last year
• Any man who has engaged in homosexual behavior
• Anyone with a history of sex with anonymous partners
• Anyone who has been treated for hepatitis A within the past 6 months. Also, since it is often transmitted by shellfish, anybody whose family member has been treated for hepatitis A within the past 1 month. Hepatitis B and C stay in your system, so you are permanently banned.
• Anybody who has ever RECEIVED a blood transfusion. (Due to the possibility of viruses as yet unknown to medical science.
• Anybody who has gotten a body piercing (ears included) within the past year.
• Anybody with a piercing on a mucous membrane such as the lip, tongue, nose, no matter when you got it.
• Anybody who has gotten a tattoo within the past year.
• Anyone who has been vaccinated using an inactive vaccine within the past 24 hours for diseases such as influenza, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, hepatitis A, pneumonia, whooping cough (pertussis), tetanus (may not be a complete list)
• Anyone who was given anti-HBs human immunoglobulin in combination with a hepatitis B vaccine, anyone who was given an emergency rabies vaccine (that is, after being bitten) within the past 1 year.
• Anyone given a vaccination for mumps, rubella/German measles, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (tuberculosis vaccine), or other mildly active vaccine (live attenuated) vaccine or any hepatitis B vaccine within the past 4 weeks.
• Anyone vaccinated against smallpox within the past 2 months.
• Anyone given an antisterum for tetanus, snake bite or other poison, gas gangrene, botulism etc. within the past 3 months.
• Anyone who has had dental surgery that caused bleeding within the past 3 days.

Now please go to Mutantfrog and thank the source.

Quake: Power Outage Area Map

Group3 - Yellow - 6:20～10:00
Group4 - Red - 9:20～13:00
Group5 - Blue - 12:20～16:00
Group1 - Green - 15:20～19:00
Group2 - Orange - 18:20～22:00

A Yahoo maps version (Japanese) has also been made.

View power outage area map in a larger map. Courtesy of Sawa Shima via Facebook.

Quake Assistance: Baby Supplies

Understandably, one of the things in high demand in quake affected areas is baby goods.

Our local hospitals are collecting and sending supplies of baby milk (脱脂粉乳), diapers etc. Check with yours if they're running something similar.

Quake Assistance: Volunteer Translator

The Japan Association of Translators is collating a list of those willing to lend translating assistance during the crisis. If you can speak more than one language (you may still be needed if one of them isn't Japanese), please email them your name, address, as many contact details as you can provide (skype, phone etc), tell them what you're able to do and how (via-phone, in person etc).

Here's their list.
E-mail your details to webmaster@jat.org

Earthquake Relief Update

Although national hands-on volunteer programs are yet to start, you can help at this stage in the limited capacity of making a donation. A lot of people have been advising giving to your nation's Red Cross, which is a good idea. Here's the American page, the English page, Australia, New Zealand, and Google is forwarding donations to the Japanese Red Cross here.

You can also donate through Yahoo Japan, and this site has a list of Japanese language charities taking donations for this cause. Time published an article called "Six Ways You Can Help Victims in Japan"

You can see the Japanese Red Cross' relief efforts on their website, and details of giving blood on their Japanese page.

For those living in Japan, as things start to settle down and the rehousing begins there will be a significant need for new or used appliances/home goods. When large-scale collections start we'll post more information.

Up-to-date reports on current quakes and aftershocks are best found on the Japanese MET Agency website.

Google's quake page offers a people finder, transportation news, etc.

A guide has been issued in numerous languages to help you cope with this or future quakes or aftershocks.

Buying a House in Japan: Foreclosed Properties 裁判競売

You may know that it's possible to buy foreclosed properties. That is, property seized from the owner due to non-payment of the mortgage etc.

You can do this in Japan, too (called saibankeibai 裁判競売). Two websites which lists such opportunities are foreclosedjapan.com (English) and bit.sikkou.jp (Japanese).

If you're looking to buy a house in Japan then this is a great alternative to the regular method.

You can see a vast catalogue of houses, condos, commercial properties etc. I even found several very close to my little place in the obscurity of the Nagano mountains.

The prices are incredibly low. A small shop with living quarters upstairs on the main street of my town went for 1.6m yen (currently about 12k GBP/19k USD). It's now a really nice, and popular, yakitori place. I've also seen huge, sometimes lovely houses go for only three or four times that.

Condos seem to come with the potential of excess debt which you will be responsible for paying. Apparently that is not so common for houses.

NB: Those in the big cities are often snapped up by agencies/companies set up specifically for this kind of thing, but outside of the heavily populated areas are some real bargain to be found. Check foreclosed Japan's completed listings for more examples.

You do not need to be a Japanese citizen, or even resident, to bid on and purchase foreclosed property.

The process and charges were explained to me by the PR man at Foreclosed Japan:

The process:

Once you have located a potentially suitable property we
can provide you with further details on that property once you have signed
and returned our non-circumvent/non-disclosure agreement.

Review the property details and ask any questions you may have.

If you wish to place a bid, we will then provide you with further info in
order for you to determine an appropriate bid amount.

The court requires a deposit to be made, generally 20% of the minimum bid
amount, in order to submit a bid for the property.

If your bid is unsuccessful, the court will then return the funds in full
(within about one week of tender opening) and our fees are zero.
Please note that you will be responsible for all bank transfer fees
and any fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

If your bid is successful, you will have about one month to pay the
balance due.


Total acquisition cost:

The AIE auction service fee is 6% of the actual bid amount plus debt, with a minimum charge of 630,000 yen (600,000 yen plus 5% consumption tax).
Additional closing costs are estimated at 6% to 8% of total, but can vary widely depending on the property and the discount achieved.

The above usually covers all closing costs - acquisition/registration taxes
and costs, our fees, and administrative charges.

Insurance, property management, and renovations will be extra, if required.

In regard to debt, you would be made aware of the full amount before
placing any bid. This usually only comes into play with condos, though
does come up from time to time with other property classes.

Also, note that we require a couple of days before bid deadline for the
bid paperwork and submission.

The catch

It seems too good to be true, doesn't it? Well sometimes you may run into problems. Real Estate Japan claims that the buying process can be long and drawn out. Occasionally you will be responsible for excess charges such as returning the deposits paid by current renters of the property (who you may also need to evict - this is what takes the time; sometimes up to six months). It is also not possible to inspect the inside of a foreclosed property if tenant are still in situ, so you have to rely on potentially outdated images of the interior (if available).

In summary, you must be thorough with your search, checking every detail of the property and what responsibilities will fall on you as the owner. If you do all that and the deal still looks good, then go for it! Many people do, and find great homes or make good money in development.


If you have any experience with this, please let us know in the comments.

WS: Year End Quiz for 1st and 2nd Grade JHS

These are based off the New Crown textbooks, but you can easily transfer the idea to your own book.

They are pretty self-explanatory, so take a look.

1st grade sheet.
2nd grade sheet.

If you aren't using New Crown, the answers to the page number quizes at the top are not in the correct order to make the secret sentence - students must rearrange them.

The crosswords can be made over at crosswordpuzzlegames.com - use the print screen button to take a screenshot of it and save it in MS Paint rather than trying to copy it from the site. But do check the results, as I've had a mistake from there before.

Let's all thank my astonishingly creative future wife for this idea (and many other Worksheet Sunday entries). Great job, Laura.

Earthquake Aftermath Cleanup

I'm sure by now the whole world is aware of the terrible earthquake we had yesterday.

As soon as it is possible, I will be travelling to the worst affected areas to help in the clean-up operation.

As soon I get information on when these operations will begin, where needs volunteers the most, and what you can do to get involved, I will post it here.

Importing/Exporting Your Pet/Livestock from or to Japan

I've seen a lot of questions along these lines over the last couple of years - someone wants to bring their Darling Chihuahua to Japan/take home their pig.

Often the advice is "don't do it - it's far too complicated."

In actual fact, although you do need to be organised (several months in advance), the process itself isn't especially difficult.


Nor is it as expensive as a lot of people make out (if done correctly). If you mess it up, or come ill-equipped, be prepared to spend thousands of your respective currency.

All the information you need for importing or exporting any animal - from a dog to a skunk, from honey bees to beef cattle - can be found at the Japanese Animal Quarantine Service website. The site's in English, and has all the necessary forms to download and requirements listed.

For the basic cat or dog case, you'll need appropriate vaccinations (and a certificate of the lack of rabies antibodies, issued several months after the test) and a micro-chip for starters. You'll also need to submit your intent to travel with your pet 40 days prior. Unless your animals needs to be detained, the cost will be fairly small (quarantine inspection is free, but you may have to pay for any veterinary health checks or immunizations required), and the process should be completed within 12 hours (on the way in, much less time outward-bound). See the AQS website for full details.

Be sure to check which airlines allow pets and what their terms are before buying your ticket. If you have a small dog you may well be able to take it in the cabin rather than let it freeze to death elsewhere.

NB: Pet monkeys aren't allowed into Japan. Only for the lab or zoo.

The rabbit procedure apparently goes like this:

Also be prepared, if you're coming here to live, that finding pet-OK accommodation can be pretty tough.

Successes/failures in the comments, please!

Accommodation: Budget Hotels

Budget accommodation options aren't limited merely to Youth Hostels, sleeping in Internet cafes, sleeping on a stranger's sofa, squeezing into a capsule hotel or finding a love hotel. You can also find yourself a decent bed for the night at some of Japan's budget hotels.

The price can be very reasonable, as can the quality if you pick carefully. Here's a guide to finding good deals.

The thing about a lot of cheap hotels, often referred to as "business hotels" is that they can often be dirty, stink of smoke and be in a poor location. If you're looking for the cheapest option then you may well come across this on a regular basis.

However, there are some low-budget hotel chains that pride themselves on not fitting that stereotype. One company which I've stayed with a couple of time is Toyoko-Inn (English website, though the staff at the hotel may not speak any).

Toyoko has very nice quality, although sometimes small, rooms in business districts all over Japan. The price for a twin or double room is usually at the lower end of 6,000-9,000 yen. Don't expect any stunning views, but I would heartily recommend staying with them. Book ahead.

A one-time 1,500 yen charge will get you a members card entitling you to 30% off future stays.

One last great thing about Toyoko-Inn is that they usually have beer vending machines which have the cheapest prices you will find in Japan! 

Another good chain is the reassuringly-familiar name of Holiday Inn. They have affiliates in many Japanese cities, but prices can get quite high. Expect to pay around 10,000 yen if you're lucky. Prices start from 7,000 in some places, but in others the minimum will be way out of your budget (22,000+).

Sunroute will also sell you a bed for the night for under or around 10,000 yen in many big cities or major locations.

Another option is a booking company, which will scour the net for the cheapest rooms in a given location. They often return some great deals. There are loads of these companies, and I've had good results using hostelworld.com (searching for just hotels), and Agoda. Agoda gave me an excellent price, and there were no problems. However, the company often gets bad reviews based on their cancellation policy (they have been known to not return any of your payment if you cancel), so tread carefully.

There are literally hundreds of other booking companies, including international entries on Expedia and Hotels.com. A quick search on google for your location will throw up a whole list of them. If you don't mind working your way through some Japanese, Jalan.net is another fantastic site to search for cheap hotel deals in the country.


Know of any other good chains or websites? Let us know in the comments.

Other posts in this series:

• Love Hotels
• Sleeping in Internet Cafes
• Capsule Hotels
• Youth Hostels
• Couch Surfing

Highway Tolls Cheaper for 2011

Starting in April, 2011, highway drivers in Japan can rejoice. The Ministry of Transport* announced last month its new toll policy for use of the country's national superhighway system (高速道路). Pretty much everything, unless you are a professional trucker, gets cheaper.
*(that is, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism")

Let's take a look how:

Until now, tolls on the superhighway system have been calculated by distance traveled, and there has been a fairly long list of targeted discounts that drivers can use to reduce their toll. The most widely known discount is the 休日上限, which caps a single trip's toll at 1000 yen on weekends and national holidays. But, other discounts, such as commuter discounts (50% off distances under 100 km during commuting hours on weekdays) and late night/early morning discounts (50% off all travel commenced or finished between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.), have also been automatically applied to relevant tolls. Until now, these discounts have only applied to ETC system users.

From April, 2011, however, this system will change dramatically for individual drivers. The 休日上限 will remain, capping all weekend and holiday travel at 1000 yen. In place of all other discounts, however, a new weekday discount (平日割引) will be used, which caps all travel during a weekday depending on the size of your vehicle. Normal "white plate" cars will be capped at 2000 yen per use of the highway. Smaller "yellow plate" cars and cars designated as eco cars, such as hybrids and electric vehicles, will be capped at 1000 yen per use of the highway. Furthermore, these weekday discounts will apply to all cars, regardless of whether they are using ETC or paying with cash.


The weekend discount, however, will continue to apply only to cars equipped with an ETC reader, and herein lies the loophole that continues to make ETC worthwhile to own: Cars who travel on weekends and pay in cash are still subject to the entire regular toll based on the distance they traveled without any caps or discounts.

So, that covers the bulk of it. There are some further details regarding specific superhighway lines and toll roads which are not part of the 高速道路 network. (For example, use of the Tokyo Aqua Line, a bridge-tunnel between central Tokyo and rural Chiba, is subject to its own fare system.) To check out all the other details, check out this Car Watch link (Japanese) for a simple run down or this exhaustive, mind-boggling PDF press release from the Ministry of blah, blah, Transport and blah (also Japanese) for complete explanations of all changes across the country and rationalization for said changes.

(By the way, former discount systems, such as the commuter discount and late night/early morning discount, will continue to exist and apply to commercial drivers. So, if you are a professional driver in Japan, pretty much nothing changes for you in April.)