I am relocating to Okinawa and have a great team over there helping me to do so. I found a place that looked perfect for me, but I was told the owner only wanted Japanese tenants and they would not even do the apartment tour. I am a French Canadian neuroscientist, not American military. Is it even worth telling this or just move on? I guess you don't want to live where they do not want you, but it hurts a little. I am a grown up and this will pass but on the spot, it felt weird and made me question my move if I am to be written off as undesired. Anyway, sorry for the vent, but I've lived on 3 continents so far and this would be seen as an atrocious response anywhere I've lived in the past.
by Egare
25 comments
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I feel like you’ve blown this way out of proportion. It’s most likely that they just don’t want to deal with foreigners. There’s business that also will not allow you to enter, don’t be offended. You’ll find a place. Don’t act entitled and enjoy your time.
Just move on, they aren’t all like that. The first place I rented in Okinawa (also as a non military foreigner) was happy I wasn’t Japanese because (and in their words) “Japanese renters complain too much about everything”. So I was lucky I suppose I found a local landlord who wanted us. I’ve moved a couple times and never ran into a problem on the island.
It seems really common these days that the apartments here want you to provide a guarntor with a proof of income in the country. May or may not be related, it very well could be plain racism. Okinawa seems to be better with renting to foreigners compared to places like Tokyo.
I would give up on that place and try looking some more. Even if you were able to negotiate yourself into that place, the owner might not be worth the hassle of dealing with if he is infact racist.
Ouin…
You are going to be fine. Did you ask the university to help you with relocation? OIST must have someone in charge of relocation.
Don’t let what you can’t control stress you out, welcome to being a minority.
Just move on…
Foreigners have a bad rep for being noisy, not understanding garbage rules, having communication issues and being, well, different, and thus a possible disruption to local harmony (“there goes the neighbourhood”, if you wish). It happens.
And it probably happens in a much more covert way in Canada, with a major difference that there are much stricter regulations in place to avoid this kind of thing, and that Canada is at its core a much more multicultural society project. It certainly happens in France for instance, though this kind of discrimination is completely against the law.
Just take it as a learning experience, and a reminder that you will always be an outsider here, and – in most cases – physically identified as such (racialised, if you wish), in what is idealised as a more “homogeneous” community (reality being quite different..).
I think that accepting that you will always be a foreigner living here – a guest – might be humbling especially for those building their whole life here, but also helps,and I would say this holds true, as a westener (what ever that means) in other places, say Thailand or Indonesia. Gaijin, Farang, Bule, même combat…
So yeah, it happens, and will probably happen again.
Japan is quite famous for these kind of issues actually. The situation is improving, but there a still quite a few places where foreigners are restricted to foreigner-friendly areas.
And Okinawa is/was also famous for being quite closed-off to mainland Japanese for instance – complex, often difficult history, island + village mentality, all combine. It will also often be harder in more “isolated” or rural areas than more urban ones (say in Ôgimi vs. Ishikawa).
But this is also improving.
Just keep in mind that while it happens, it doesn’t always.
You’ll find other places/landlords where this won’t be an issue, especially here in Okinawa.
I’d say just move on.
This is incredibly common all across Japan. If you walk into an estate agent’s office here as a foreigner, a huge pile of possible apartments will become tiny scraps of foreigner-friendly rentals. This has nothing to do with military, it’s that we as foreigners are thought to be able to just flee the country without paying rent, or have loud parties…plus, there could be trouble with neighbors due to language barrier, or trouble sorting trash…it’s just minor annoyances that give foreigners a bad image to Japanese. It’s discriminatory, sure, but it’s just how it is, welcome to Japan.
I don’t know if it will make you feel better but despite the fact that I am a permanent resident fluent in Japanese I have been denied two apartments last year.
That’s quite ironic considering the fact that in my current residence, I am the only foreigner and the Japanese don’t respect the property’s rules. I had to call the management company twice to force these idiot Japanese to follow the damn rules.
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It’s actually against Japanese constitution to do that and you can find stories on here where it’s fought and won. Personally I wouldn’t fight that battle but yeah the fact they admitted it’s based on xenophobia that’s an easy win for you in Japanese legal system
Japanese are xenophobic
You can fight it
It’s not worth it
It won’t change their mind.
You will always been seen this way by the majority.
My japanese friend had a super funny qoute that I will never forget when i asked her if japanese people are racist, she said.
“Yes very racist, but too polite to tell you” lol
It’s not an American thing lol, it happens all around Japan to anyone not Japanese. I’ve heard it’s because of xenophobic tendencies, because foreigners can leave on a whim, a million excuses lol
i had the same thing happen to me when i was looking to move here. apartments were happy to talk with my coworker (who is japanese) until she told them the apartment was meant for me (american). now i don’t really believe their issue was that im foreign, but that **i can’t speak japanese**. many of the apartments cited concerns about “lack of japanese proficiency” and that was their **ONLY** concern.
i have an american friend living in nakagusuku that was able to get an apartment no problem. she mentioned that her speaking japanese made the whole process a lot easier. once these apartments saw she could communicate, there was no issue with her at all.
do you speak japanese at all? if so, try mentioning that when inquiring about apartments. if they just reject you flat out and refuse to keep talking, then save it and move on. there’s lots of places here that would be fine renting to you, especially if you can speak decent japanese. good luck.
A lot of people in the comments are projecting pretty hard. This situation likely has much less to do with racism or xenophobia and more to do with the **practical realities of renting in Japan—especially as a newcomer.**
In Japan, whether you’re renting a house, apartment, or even leasing a car, you need a guarantor. As a foreigner who’s new to the country and probably doesn’t have close Japanese friends or family, you’ll almost certainly need to use a guarantor company. It’s straightforward—ask your “team” that’s supposedly helping you to look into it, or do it yourself.
Another issue is not having a Japanese bank account. Many landlords require rent to be paid via automatic bank transfer from a domestic account. When I first arrived, I was denied rentals not because of racism, but because I didn’t have a Japanese bank account, credit history, or a guarantor. Once I had those in place, I had no issues.
If you want to bypass these hurdles, you can go through agencies that cater to foreigners, specifically U.S. military housing companies. Just be ready to pay move-in fees of $10,000+ and monthly rent starting at around $1,800.
One last tip: a lot of foreigners living here long-term end up putting everything in their Japanese spouse’s name. Don’t do this if you plan to establish yourself independently. You’ll never build credit or trustworthiness that way—and it’s no different than trying to function in Canada or the U.S. without any financial history.
I knew an American who didn’t pay rent for several months, and then just left Japan. He even left a f-you note, since his landlord wasn’t responsive or something. I had a discussion with him after I found out he left, ended up going to his apt, taking the note, and he later emailed with some sad excuse why he left. I can understand why apts are reluctant to rent to someone who could just leave. His guarantor was his first job, which he didn’t work for at the time he left. Not sure if that company was financially liable, but when I had a guarantor, they said it wasn’t financial liability.
Hi, congratulations on getting a gig at OIST. I’m a bit jealous, as I’ve been trying to get a job there. I have spent a lot of time in Japan. As others have said Japanese can be racist. Having said that just about every other culture can be racist as well.
My suggestion is to take the accommodation option that OIST provide until you get yourself settled and have had a chance to improve your Japanese language skills.
Good luck with your job. I will be in Oki later in the year if you want to have a chat.
It’s normal in Japan for landlord to refuse to rent to foreigners.
This is totally common here. When I moved here my agent and I made a shortlist of 20 properties. Then she told me to leave for a coffee while she’d call the landlords. When I returned, 9 of them were OK with with a foreigner (tenured professor at that, so totally stable income and not a job that spells troublemaker).
Yeah, it’s not uncommon. Japanese people can be super xenophobic. Its even worse in Korea. It’s just kind of the kind of game foreigners have to play over here.
I had the same problem moving here, as a French student getting her PhD my Japanese is quite limited and some agencies told me straight away « no foreigners ». I was also ready to rent an apartment after visiting it, but the agency called me back saying the landlord wasn’t comfortable renting to someone who can’t speak Japanese because they wouldn’t be able to communicate with me so they had to cancel my application… Finally found a place, the agency doesn’t speak a single word of English but we made it work with Google translate and same thing with the landlord ! Good luck in your search for a place !
I know it may sound odd but Okinawa residents do not all associate with Japan as well. They have an island heritage that has been around even in prehistoric times with a thriving kingdom in the 1500’s.
Then China stepped on them, then Japan, then the Americans. Like some have said, many of them would rather just have their islands back and live in peace.
It would be better to get here and figure where you want to live, get an agency, I know of two very good ones, but there are tons.
As others have said, the move in costs are typically 1st, last and a month deposit on top of an agent fee resulting in $10,000 to $13,000 to move in.
It is also very rare to find an Okinawan that rents directly to non-Okinawans as some have mentioned. The reasons are not having a Japan bank account, having been burned by the transient folks that come and go.
But all that said, the people here are truly the most kind, happy and welcoming people I have ever met – and I have been shunned by the best of them believe me.
Don’t take one home owner’s desire, maybe even justified, as an indicator of the thousands of others here.
You will love the island, the food, the cost of living and he’s even. The people once you get to know them and they you.
Be positive, respectful and patient. We are visitors in someone’s home that have had horrible experiences with non-native islanders. That is not their issue – it is ours.
Fucking crazy and ridiculous that this kind of shit is not illegal.
If you need a good realtor let me know.