Pets OK, No Foreigners: The Reality of Housing Discrimination in Japan
What’s it like renting in Japan? For many resident foreigners, it’s a humiliating ordeal — and it’s even worse if you aren’t white.
By Jay Allen
These days, more and more foreigners are moving to Japan. However, many here report having trouble finding a home to call home. Many landlords flat out refuse to rent to foreigners, making the housing search a frustrating and, sometimes, humiliating process.
Recently, NHK did a report on this issue, which doesn’t get much Japanese-language press. Here’s what they said, what UJ’s own readers said about their experiences with housing discrimination in Japan, and why residents from other Asian countries tend to bear the worst brunt of it.
40% of foreigners may experience housing discrimination in Japan
The article from NHK (which they’ve also published in English) spotlights the frustration that foreigners experience when they run up against landlords who refuse to rent to non-Japanese people. Sometimes, the reasons for this are practical: the landlord is afraid of renting to someone who’s in Japan for a short term and whose visa may not be renewed.
