Japan is confusing. We make it simple.

Quick Answer Japanese apartments come completely empty — often without lights or curtains. Furnish a 1K for under ¥100,000: futon set ¥15,000 (skip the bed initially), fridge + washer secondhand ¥30,000, microwave ¥8,000, table + chair ¥10,000, curtains ¥5,000, lights ¥6,000, kitchen basics ¥10,000. The two goldmines: sayonara sales (Facebook groups) and recycle shops (Off House, Treasure Factory). Nobody warns you about the emptiness. Japanese apartments come with no fridge, no washing machine, no light fixtures — you sign the lease, open the door, and it’s a bare room with wires hanging from the ceiling. And after paying 5 months’ rent to move in, your furniture budget is whatever survived. ...

Quick Answer A guarantor company (保証会社, hoshogaisha) guarantees your rent to the landlord so you don’t need a personal guarantor. Cost: 50–100% of one month’s rent upfront, plus ¥10,000–20,000/year renewal. Nearly all foreigners renting in Japan use one — landlords choose the company, you pay the fee, and screening takes 1–3 days. The apartment listing looks perfect. Then the agent explains you need a guarantor — a person in Japan who legally promises to pay your rent if you can’t. You’ve been in the country three weeks. You don’t know anyone who would sign that, and honestly, you wouldn’t ask them to. ...

Quick Answer Beyond rent, deposit, and key money, Japanese rental contracts commonly add: guarantor fee (50–100% of rent), lock exchange (¥15,000–25,000), fire insurance (¥15,000–20,000/2yr), “24-hour support” (¥15,000–20,000/2yr — often refusable), disinfection fee (¥10,000–20,000 — usually refusable), renewal fee every 2 years (1 month’s rent), and a move-out cleaning fee. Ask for the full 見積もり (itemized quote) before applying and challenge the optional lines. The listing said ¥80,000 a month. The agent’s quote says your move-in total is ¥427,350, and half the line items are things you’ve never heard of — 安心サポート? 消毒施工料? You don’t know which numbers are real, which are padding, and which you’re allowed to question. ...

Quick Answer No job doesn’t mean no apartment. Working paths: pass guarantor screening with a bank balance (roughly 2 years of rent in savings), use a job offer letter (内定通知書) before starting work, have a parent act as contract holder, use UR Housing’s savings rule (100x monthly rent deposited), or skip screening entirely with a share house or monthly mansion. What fails: applying for regular apartments with no income, no savings proof, and no documents. ...

Quick Answer Zero-zero (ゼロゼロ) apartments charge no key money (礼金) and no deposit (敷金). Find them by filtering 礼金なし on SUUMO/Homes, checking UR Housing (never charges key money), or using share houses. Trade-offs to check: higher rent, cleaning fees due at move-out instead, and lock-in clauses with penalties for leaving within 1–2 years. Key money (礼金, reikin) is the fee that shocks every foreigner: one or two months’ rent, paid to the landlord as a “thank you,” never returned. Add a deposit, agency fee, and guarantor fee, and a ¥80,000 apartment costs ¥400,000+ before you get the keys. ...

What you'll learn in this guide How to set up and use Amazon Japan (Amazon.co.jp) as a foreigner Navigating the Japanese interface with and without Japanese skills Amazon Prime Japan benefits vs US/UK Prime What you can and can’t ship internationally from Amazon Japan Best deals, Prime Day, and sale strategies How Amazon Japan compares to Rakuten Ichiba and Yahoo Shopping Amazon Japan (Amazon.co.jp) is one of the most useful tools for foreigners in Japan — it delivers almost anything the next day, accepts foreign credit cards, and has a surprisingly usable English interface. Here’s everything you need to know to use it effectively. ...

Quick Answer First 30 days in Japan: register your address at city hall within 14 days (required by law) → get a SIM card → open a bank account → enroll in health insurance → get a My Number Card. Do them in this order — the bank account and insurance enrollment both require your residence card and address registration certificate. You just landed in Japan. You’re jet-lagged, everything around you is in a language you may not read, and somewhere in the next few weeks you need to figure out your address registration, your phone, your bank account, your health insurance — and ideally not in the wrong order. It’s a lot. ...

Quick Answer In a May 2026 Japanese government survey, 47% of foreign residents reported experiencing discrimination in daily life. The most common forms: service refusals (restaurants, onsens), apartment rejections, and persistent “outsider” treatment regardless of how long you’ve lived here. Overt hostility is rare — systemic and ambient discrimination is common. Japan has no comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Knowing what to expect, and what your options are, makes it significantly easier to navigate. ...

Living in Japan without the right apps means guessing your way through train changes, menus you can’t read, and services that assume you speak Japanese. The right tools make daily life dramatically easier. Here are the apps that actually earn their place on your phone. Navigation & Transport Google Maps Still the best for general navigation in Japan. Walking, cycling, driving, and public transit directions are accurate. Download offline maps for areas with poor signal. ...

What you'll learn in this guide The best apps for learning Japanese in 2025 — honestly reviewed Which app is best for different goals (survival Japanese vs JLPT vs fluency) Free vs paid: where the paid tools are actually worth it How to build a Japanese study routine that fits around work What actually works for foreigners living in Japan vs studying from abroad Learning Japanese while living in Japan is both easier (immersion everywhere) and harder (work takes priority, brain is exhausted by 8pm) than studying at home. The right app makes a real difference. Here’s an honest look at what’s available in 2025. ...