Japan's emerging share house market

In an aging society that is seeing falling occupancy rates in the property market, unused real estate is becoming an increasingly serious problem. However, this has led to a creation of a new market for share house developers. According to an investigation by a major real estate company, the number of sharehouses has risen 26-fold in the past 8 years, with Tokyo being the most popular location.

In a typical share house, tenants have their own private rooms while the kitchen, living and bathroom areas are shared. Unlike a typical Japanese guest house which is designed for travelers staying for a short period, share houses cater to long-term tenants.

While it may be common in many countries for the younger generation to rent an apartment or house with several friends, share houses in Japan are only a recent phenomenon.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Able to offer improved rental apartment service for foreign students

Japanese rental agency, Able, have introduced a new service for foreign students that will assist them in finding an apartment to move into as soon as they arrive in the country.

Up until now, foreign students have had to stay in temporary accommodation, such as student dormitories, until they receive their alien registration card. It was only when they had received the card that they could rent an apartment privately. This resulted in the student waiting several weeks before moving into more permanent accommodation.Read more

by Zoe Ward

47-yr old ryokan converted to sharehouse in Tokyo

Real estate company R Bank have converted an old Japanese inn (ryokan) into a character-filled female-only sharehouse in Tokyo's Katsushika ward. Called 'Tokyo Kita Wave', the property was renovated from a 47 year old post-war inn, and is their 30th sharehouse.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Lose weight and pay less rent?

One share house in Osaka has come up with a unique concept of combining weight loss with rent. The 'Beauty&Diet Ladies Sharehouse' in Suita City is offering tenants a discount of 1,000 Yen off their monthly rent for each kilogram they lose while living in the house.

The monthly rent charged to each tenant is calculated by how much they each weigh. For every 1 kg, you are charged 1,000 Yen/month in rent. Lose weight, and your rent goes down. The landlord, Broad Enterprise, believe this might be the first of its kind in the world.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Rent a house in a UNESCO World Heritage area for just 10,000 Yen/month

A 88-year old house in Gokayama has been listed for rent at just 10,000 Yen/month (127 USD) in a bid by Nanto City to entice families to the area.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Cheats and tricks in real estate advertising

Japan has rules that regulate real estate advertising to consumers, but they are self regulated by nine organizations across the country. One of those organizations is the Real Estate Fair Trade Council of greater Tokyo. According to the Council, the number of illegal advertising tricks by real estate companies is increasing online. The most common of these tricks is bait-and-switch and misleading advertisements.Read more

by Zoe Ward

Can rental renewal fees be avoided?

In a year there are as many as 1 million rental contracts with renewal fees in existence across Japan. But, as a tenant, do you have to pay these renewal fees? And if you do, are the fees reasonable?Read more

by Zoe Ward