The struggle of renting an apartment in Japan when having not 1, not 2 but 3 pets
Written by
Name: Andra
Country of origin: Romania
How long you’ve lived in Japan: Fully in Japan since Feb 2023 (resident since Sept 2022)
Where you live in Japan: Tokyo
Instagram
Renting an apartment in Japan is already tricky, but when you add pets into the mix—especially big dogs and a cat—it can feel impossible. Trust me, I know. My husband and I spent three long months, visited three different real estate agents, and faced countless rejections before finally finding a place that didn’t require us to give up our pets, sell a kidney, or carry our dogs like oversized handbags.
If you’re in Japan with pets and trying to find a rental, buckle up. I’ll walk you through everything I learned, the mistakes I made, and how you can (hopefully) find a home without wanting to cry into a bowl of convenience store ramen.
Step 1: Understanding the Japanese rental market (A.K.A. Why is it so hard?!)
In many countries, finding a pet-friendly apartment is as simple as checking a box on a website filter. In Japan, it’s more like a treasure hunt, except the treasure is hidden behind layers of strict rules, extra fees, and landlords who really don’t like pets.
Most landlords don’t want pets because they worry about noise, scratches, smells, and damage. Even if an apartment says “pet-friendly,” it often only allows small dogs or cats or has a limit on the number of pets you can have.
When researching for a place to live, we realized that most buildings have some really crazy pet rules. In some apartment buildings or as they’re called in Japan, mansions, dogs are not allowed to touch the ground in hallways or elevators. Yes, really. That means you’re supposed to carry your dog from the moment you leave your apartment until you are out on the street. Now, imagine me, trying to carry two medium-sized dogs every time I left the house. Nope. Although, I’ve heard some buildings have a special pet trolley you can use. But my dogs would never fit nor be willing to sit in it.
Being a foreigner makes it even harder. Some landlords don’t rent to foreigners at all. They worry about communication issues, cultural differences, or that you’ll run away without paying rent. Since we didn’t speak Japanese fluently, it made things even more difficult.
Step 2: Setting realistic requirements (A.K.A. Lowering your expectations, but not too much)
Before we started our search for a place to live, we made a list of what we needed:
- Earthquake-safe building – Japan has earthquakes all the time, so we wanted a building built after 1981, that would be resistant and met the strict earthquake resistance requirements.
- Not too high up – In an emergency, I didn’t want to be on the 30th floor, trying to evacuate with two dogs and a cat. Plus, fewer elevator rides meant fewer awkward moments with neighbors who might not love big and barky dogs like mine. As you may know, Japanese citizens really respect other people, and I wanted to make sure I do the same in return.
- No more than 1-hour commute – I did not want to spend 3 hours a day commuting to and back to work or be away from the city center. While it is common in Tokyo to commute for long hours, I reached a point in life when I really value my time off spent with loved ones rather than on a packed train.
- A place that actually allows our pets – Not just “small dogs only” but two medium-sized dogs and a cat.
- A house with a garden rather than an apartment – This is where things got a little more complicated because rent for houses in Tokyo is considerably higher than apartments / mansions. I quickly learned that most houses do not have a garden and even if they do, nobody allows their pets in their backyards to play, which is quite common in other countries. So we quickly gave up on looking for a house.
Did we find this magical place easily? Of course not.
Step 3: The long, painful search for a Pet-Friendly apartment
At the two-month mark, after being rejected by countless landlords, we expanded our search area. If Tokyo wasn’t working out, maybe somewhere nearby would, provided it was within our commute requirements.
We found a three-bedroom apartment in Yokohama that was exactly within our budget. It had everything we needed, and the commute was exactly one hour door-to-door. It seemed perfect, until we realized… it didn’t have air conditioning.
Now, in some countries, this might not be a big deal. But in Japan, summers are hot and humid enough to make you question your life choices. We thought, “Okay, we’ll just buy and install AC units ourselves.” We were already two months into our search and desperate.
We told the agent we were ready to commit. We thought we had it. But in the end? We didn’t get the apartment. The landlord changed their mind. Back to square one.
Since real estate agents were not really helping us out (sorry not sorry but that’s kind of true) I started looking online myself. I went into Expat Facebook groups in Tokyo and started asking around if anyone knows of a pet-friendly place we could rent. Someone reached out and offered us their beautiful house, which also had a parking space and a beautiful garden. Yes, a garden! It was spacious, way under our budget, and honestly felt too good to be true. But of course, not everything can be perfect. The catch? It was in Hachioji, and the commute was over 1 hour and 30 minutes. With a schedule that already felt tight, we had to say no.
At this point, I was convinced Tokyo was playing a cruel joke on us.
Back to Tokyo & the final apartment
Real Estate Agent #1: “Sorry, but…”
Our first real estate agent was not Japanese and was very excited to help us. He advised us to wait until maybe a month before we would bring our dogs to Japan. We agreed but after a few weeks, he reached out and said “Sorry, but I cannot help you anymore, it seems like an impossible task to find a place suitable for you”. Well, that was that.
Real Estate Agent #2: “Maybe if you pay more?”
This agent actually tried but came back with an offer: “If you pay 3 months’ rent as a pet deposit, the landlord might consider it.” Nope. Not paying thousands of dollars just because I know I won’t see that money back ever. In all fairness, he did help us see the apartment in Yokohama, which was pretty great! I am still a bit sad we couldn’t get it.
Real Estate Agent #3: “I think I found something!”
Finally, an agent who actually helped. He showed us an apartment that:
- Allowed all three pets
- Was in an earthquake-safe building – it was actually a brand new building which was still under construction
- Was a 5 minutes walk to the train station
- Was on a low floor – 1st floor (2nd floor in Japan, so just above the G floor) with only a staircase and no elevator
- Didn’t require key money – In case you don’t know, Key money is called 礼金 (reikin) in Japanese. It’s a non-refundable “gift” to the landlord as a way of thanking them for letting you rent their property. Unlike a deposit (敷金 shikikin), which might be returned, key money is gone forever.
- Gave us the first month rent-free!
The catch? The apartment was quite small – 40 sqm – and we had to pay two months’ rent as a security deposit instead of the usual one. At that point, we were so desperate, and our temporary AirBNB rental was coming to an end, that we had to say yes! In all fairness, this apartment was ticking most of our boxes, including a monthly rent under our initial budget.
Step 4: Moving in and dealing with apartment life with pets
The “Will My Neighbors Hate Us?” problem
Some people in Japan aren’t comfortable around dogs, especially bigger ones. Luckily, our neighbors never complained… but every time I saw them in the hallway, I gave them my friendliest “I swear my dogs are angels” smile, despite them barking at everyone, always!
The Elevator Challenge – which we luckily did not have to deal with
As I mentioned, some buildings require dogs to be carried in common areas. Thankfully, our place didn’t and it also did not have an elevator so we did not have to deal with causing any inconvenience to our neighbors.
Finding places to walk the dogs
Dog parks? They are kind of rare in Tokyo and all dogs must be on a lead all the time in public spaces. Sidewalks? Narrow. Luckily, we found a small dog run within walking distance, which saved our dogs’ sanity.
Step 5: Tips for renting with pets in Japan (learn from my struggles!)
Work with multiple Real Estate Agents
While it is not advisable to go “shopping for real estate agents” I believe that when you have a special situation, just like we did, you kind of have to. While my understanding is that all agents have access to the same database, I feel each agent found for us different listings. Since pet-friendly options are limited, don’t rely on just one.
Have extra money ready
Expect to pay a higher deposit if you have pets. Some places require “pet cleaning fees” when you leave. This is something we also had to add to our contract.
Visit the apartment before signing
Check the neighborhood—is there a good place to walk your dog? Look at the building rules—do you have to carry your dog? (This is important!). If you have the chance to also have a look at your neighbors and interact with them a bit to find out if they like pets, would be highly advisable. While all our immediate neighbors are fine with us and nobody complained, we do live in a building where the rest of the tenants either have dogs or are very young and most probably do not care so much about a bark here and there.
On the other hand, other (specifically elderly) neighbors are not particularly happy when they see us walking up and down the street.
Final Thoughts: Is it worth it?
Was it stressful? Absolutely.
Did I cry a little? Maybe.
But in the end, was it worth it? 100%.
We got lucky—our apartment allowed all our pets, we didn’t have to pay key money, and our neighbors never complained. But not everyone gets this lucky.
If you’re a foreigner in Japan with pets, renting won’t be easy, but if you’re patient, persistent, and prepared to negotiate, you’ll find a place. Just be ready to fight for it!
And when you do find that perfect pet-friendly home? Take a deep breath, hug your furry friend, and celebrate with a well-deserved konbini snack. You earned it.
We also recommend checking out these articles!
