Housing Discrimination in Japan

The Japan Times ran an article over the weekend entitled “Foreigners still dogged by housing barriers,” which highlighted the fact that many building owners and real estate agencies in Japan refuse non-Japanese customers. The overt nature of such discrimination is made painfully obvious in a scan of an Osaka realtor’s catalog obtained by Arudou Debito:

Just as the realtor includes icons signifying that certain apartments permit pets, there is an icon of the word “gaijin” to represent apartments that allow foreigners (it is highlighted in red). Of the twelve apartments shown in the full page scan posted by Debito, only one allows foreigners.

{democracy:53}

41 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - November 14, 2007 at 4:01 pm

Categories: Discrimination, Foreigners in Japan Tags: gaijin, japan

sod

i suppose it stops you and the vendor wasting time phoning around to see if the owner will take a gaijin. anyway if the neighbours don’t want you they’ll just tell the police your an over stayer or they saw you sell drug’s etc.
Whistler

It would be interesting to understand exactly what motivated this refusal for foreigners. I doubt it’s merely a case of “discrimination”.
David

This is increadable so see in a country that claims to call itself civilized.
ponta

The scan does show that there is some kind of practice on the side of owners to be reluctant to accept foreigners.
However, icon just means the owner clearly provides or accept the conditions:no icon for foreigner does not mean the owner reject foreigners. For instance, no icon for a student does not mean the owner does not accept the student.

I think the possible reasons for the reluctance, as Japan times insinuates, are that “foreign tenants might not have proper guarantors and might cause trouble with neighbors”; for instance, throwing away the trash on the wrong day, making noises, bringing in many friends to live without consent etc. cause troubles, but cannot get the message across to the foreigners when such things happen.
The anxiety is not well grounded and the landlord has measures to prevent it, as, again, Japan times wrote.
- The Overthinker
  
  I like to think ponta might be right, and that a landlord that will not rent to a FOB party-hearty Yank fresh out of college who thinks the most amazing thing about Japan is that you can buy porn in vending machines will be more likely to rent to someone who has a Japanese wife and children, has lived here for thirty years, and has a PhD in Japanology. But I also suspect that many of them lack sufficient discrimination to distinguish between the two and just give a knee-jerk “no gaijin” response.
  - shazzb0t
    
    I agree with the overthinker.. Man.. you do think too much.. you are almost over 100 posts for the month! Gratz! XD
    - The Overthinker
      
      Maybe I should be “Overtyper”….
- http://beautifuljapan.org/ John
  
  A tangential comment about the whole “gaijin don’t know how to separate their trash correctly” bugaboo: I “learned” how to separate my trash simultaneously to reading the simple rules (it’s not brain-surgery) and have always respectfully followed those rules, regardless of where I have lived. However, I’ve encountered MANY Japanese people who don’t follow those rules. I’m not sure if this is actually used as a justification by any renters for not renting to foreigners; it is certainly not used as a reason for not renting to Japanese people, if several of my residences are any indication; it appears too that my landlords haven’t complained at all to these rule-breakers (apart from posting an ineffective note to everyone in the lobby), which casts doubt on the notion that those who don’t want to rent to foreigners are worried they won’t be able to communicate with them in case they make cultural blunders like not sorting their trash.
- Happy
  
  My Japanese neighbors pot there trash out on the wrong day.
  Have friends over that make noise I am from the US
  I know when to take the trash out in Japan I don’t make noise I don’t stomp across my floor when walking like my Japanese neighbor above me who walks like a 2 ton elephant.
  My children don’t run in my apartment and bounce balls in the house like my neighbors.
  
  It is discrimination don’t try to candy coat it.
  
  Japanese come to America and live where they like and are not hassled by the Police for being Japanese why because it is against the law simple and plane
  
  Last year my Japanese neighbors move out at 2 in the morning and didn’t pay rent people are people their is no justification for this type of crap you want respect in other country’s so you have to give respect in yours…..
  - W
    
    100 percent correct. There is no gray area to justify discrimination. There are asshole foreigners, but their presence, in no way, should obstruct civil foreigners (not to mention that being an ‘asshole’ is not technically illegal in all but the most extreme circumstances) from getting a reasonable apartment in a reasonable area. The only people arguing against this are the usual devil’s advocates, who (now in their thirties) live in Illinois and had an ‘awesome time’ during their exchange in Japan, or are JETs living in Hokkaido/Kyoto/Saga/some other irrelevant place, who think their individual experiences are relevant grounds to make concrete diagnoses of Japanese culture.
http://www.mysonabsalom.com S. Pihlaja

Is there any law against this sort of discrimination?
- The Overthinker
  
  Only UN ones. The Japanese Constitution was rewritten by the Japanese to change “no persons” etc to “no citizens” (see Dower, Embracing Defeat, for details on this) during the Occupation, which means that unless you are a citizen it is hard to sue for racial discrimination. But not impossible – see the Bortz jewel shop case for an example.
- Happy
  
  No there is no law
ponta

The civil code 703 704(Tort law), coupled with the article 14 of the constitution (the equality clause), will take care of this sort of discrimination, I think.

In practice, “citizen” and “people” in the constitution are not taken literary:it depends of the nature of the right in dispute.
- The Overthinker
  
  Or how good the lawyers/how bad the judges are….
  
  Article 14 is another of those “kokumin” ones:
  すべて国民は、法の下に平等であつて、人種、信条、性別、社会的身分又は門地により、政治的、経済的又は社会的関係において、差別されない。
  All people – uh, citizens – are equal before the law….
  - ponta
    
    http://ofunalaw.blog105.fc2.com/blog-entry-43.html
    Few scholars used to hold that the fundamental right were only granted to Japanese nationals when the constitution says “citizen” and granted to everyone when it says “people” (文言説） but the article 22 　says “Freedom of all persons to ….. to divest themselves of their nationality shall be inviolate.”But it does not make sense to talk about foreigners to be divested of Japanese nationals.
    Hence it is reasonable to assume that there is no clear and strict distinction between “people” and “citizens” in the constitution itself. We have to take the nature of right into consideration.(性質説）And the latter is a standard theory(通説）.
    That is why the lawyer for the foreigners can file a complaint based on the constitution 14 and the civil
    code 703, 704.
    For instance,
    
    (2005/11/17)
    「外国籍を理由にマンション入居を拒否され、精神的苦痛を受けたとして、在日韓国人2世の康由美弁護士(40)が17日、家主と大阪市を相手に、550万円の損害賠償を求める訴訟を大阪地裁に起こした。　訴状によると、康弁護士は1月、不動産業者の仲介で同市北区の賃貸マンションに入居を申し込んだが、家主は不動産業者に「古くからの入居者が外国人入居に反対している」と伝え、拒否。その後、家主側は「物件はファミリー限定だったため」と弁明し、国籍差別を否定したとされる。　原告側は、不合理な差別を禁じた憲法14条や人種差別撤廃条約などに違反し、民法上の不法行為に当たると主張。市に対しても「国籍・民族差別に基づく入居拒否を防ぐための条例を制定する義務を怠った」としている」
    （時事通信）
    - The Overthinker
      
      Interesting. I remember hearing about that Korean case recently actually. Also of interest that the defendant avoided using race/nationality as the reason, implying that (assuming he was not telling the truth of course) admitting to such would make his legal position rather weak. What was the judge’s decision regarding the national discrimination use of the Constitution? Did he allow it?
    - ponta
      
      Well I am not sure how the result of this case went. I just googled it and found out that case.
      But probably the cases in favor of foreigner will increase just like the recent case of Zainichi-Korean you mentioned.
      The xenophobic landlord will have to find trickier reason to reject foreigners.
    - sai
      
      Basically the constitution is a rule to a case between the government and national(or people).
      
      Between people the constitution rule is not aplied directly because of Private Autonomy,Freedom of Contract.
      So a coordination between a value of the constition and Freedom of Contract is realized through ‘公序良俗(CivilCode90) or 不法行為( CivilCode709)etc.(私人間効力における間接適用説)
      
      In a case of continuous cantract (labor contract,rent house contract),　making a contract more belongs to Freedom of Contract. But once you make a cntract you can’t dissolve it because of being foreiger etc.
Roaf

It’s worth noting that the only place where gaijin are permitted is a crappy one-room apartment. Like my apartment, in fact!
Joseph K

Following from what punta said regarding no logo being more an indication of no stipulation given – this behavior, coupled with the possibility of using a 外人 mark, makes the entire practice unclear. So it doesn’t in fact save you from calling around to see which landlords accept non-citizens after all. What it does do is repeatedly emphasise that this form of discrimination exists and does so in a semi-formal capacity.

Also, everyone seems to be interpreting this set of symbols incorrectly. It appears to be a set of features included in the apartment. Is this related to the earlier “adopt a NOVA teacher” post, perhaps?
mike

landlords often feel that since it is their building, they have the right to choose who they will allow to live in it.

personally, i didn’t have any problem finding an apartment in tokyo. i went to a real-estate office and they showed me lots of places and called around and made sure it was ok for a gaijin to live there. in most cases it was not a problem.

the main complaint i had was the stupid shikikin and reikin… but EVERYONE has to do that. man, who has 6 months rent just to move in?
- The Overthinker
  
  Ah, the rights of humans vs human rights. So a bus company that makes black people sit at the back is fine then? Or if Walmart said “no Jews”? Yale decides to stop accepting women? Where do we draw that line?
Dan Crowther

Wow…

That apartment is $1000 dollars cheaper per month than my tokyo apartment!! I gotta get to Osaka!
- http://www.neilduckett.com Neil Duckett
  
  And there`s a reason why it`s 1000 cheaper to live in Osaka …. i`ll stay put in Tokyo.
  - The Overthinker
    
    What is that reason? Because Tokyo Disney is better than USJ?
JO-NasT

I believe that it is to prevent constant move-ins and move-outs. Landlords want to rent out to someone who will stay permanently, not someone who will move out in a month or two. This prevents disturbance to the other residence since moving in and out is a loud and dirty process.
- sod
  
  nope started at the end of the world war 2 as a bribe to the person renting the house out and when your on to a good thing or money for nothing why stop!
Girl in Japan

I can’t count the number of times in Japan that I’ve been outright discriminated against while searching for apartments. I’ve moved three times since arriving and invariably, the places that I want tell me that no foreigners are allowed. Simply that they don’t want a foreigner, and that’s that. It’s unfair racial discrimination. I mean, for crying out loud, I have guarantors and I’m searching in japanese using a japanese realtor. It all goes fine and dandy until the realtor calls up the owner and asks if a ‘gaijin’ is okay. 99% of the time, a flat out “no” (they don’t need a reason because it’s legal to discriminate here) is their answer. I’ve even looked at places before and went to sign the papers only to find out at the last minute that the landlord decided not to rent to me because they don’t want foreigners. This kind of stuff is illegal where I come from, but Japan doesn’t bat an eye.
- The Overthinker
  
  Tell the realtor not to mention that next time and see what happens….
The Overthinker

BTW, no way in hell would I go anywhere near this agent: look at the bond prices: 350,000 to 900,000 yen! That’s insane – ‘traditional’ standards were two months bond, two money ‘key’ (bribe) money. So a 44,000 yen apartment should cost 88,000 in bond, and 88,000 in key money (though many places now don’t demand the key money), 176,000 extra, not 250,000…. And nearly a million yen for a 100,000/month apartment? Ouch….
sai

I think there are 3 type reasons for “reject foreigners(外人お断り)”

1, a guarantor
To Japanese or not ,almost landlords claim a gurantor who is a resident in Japan.
Many foreigers don’t have this.

This poster says “保証金(deposit　money)”is 250000yen.Considering a relatively cheap rent (44000yen/month),it is rather expensive.
So I guess the landlord doesn’t need a guarantor and says “foreigner(外人) is O.K.”

2, trustworthy
Many freelance or elder Japanese encounter these rejects.
(I think most foreigners who work for a solid company rarely encounter them.)Part-time job worker or person who just arrived here (ex.eikaiwa teacher)is not so different from these Japanese.

Language is also an important factor.

When the landlord rejects making a contract, the landlord may think that “being foreiger” is less offensive reason than “You fail to convince me that you’re trustworthy” and sounds more “shikataganai(仕方がない)” for both.

3,Racism or xenophobia
There is no excuse.But many landlords have bad experiences with foreigners then reject them.

Here is my 5yen.
Even you’re Japanese you encounter these reject.
Before jumping to a conclusion you had better analyze
yourself(and broker不動産屋)and try another places.
- The Overthinker
  
  “When the landlord rejects making a contract, the landlord may think that “being foreiger” is less offensive reason than “You fail to convince me that you’re trustworthy” and sounds more “shikataganai(仕方がない)” for both.”
  
  I don’t know about “less offensive,” but it’s certainly less open to argument. Which is important.
  - Evan
    
    I am forever offended by people being foreign.
    how dare they?
  - sai
    
    I just pointed out one possible reason of these rejects besides racism.
    
    Rent house contract is very different from buying commodity at shop.Once landlord make a contract ,it’s very difficult to dissolove it.
    So Personal trust between landlord and tenant is very important.And personal trust comes from various factors.
    
    But these “reject foreigner” stories often come from onesided view.So I feel somthing different view need mentioned.
    - sai
      
      I suggest one ultimate resolution (as a joke).
      Buy a real-estate.There is almost no reject while many countries prohibit foreigners from doing so.
http://myso-calledjapaneselife.blogspot.com/ Shari

As others have mentioned, the main problem with this type of discrimination is that it assumes all foreigners are a greater risk of being bad tenants than all Japanese people. The truth is that none of us are in a position to know the relative risks of a foreign vs. a gaijin tenant. However, I’ve been in the same place for 18 years and have had noisy Japanese neighbors who do not sort their trash or use proper bags. The also don’t pay their rent on time on occasion (I’ve heard my landlord at their door asking for the rent). Though I do understand the concerns of the landlords, the bottom line is that it’s wrong to assume any particular group is going to be more troublesome than any other group based on superficial criteria and this type of discrimination would never be tolerated in other developed countries.

The interesting thing is that, in the U.S., if this happened and just one Japanese person were refused the chance to rent a place, you’d have a lot of ‘stupid, horrible, bigoted American people’ reactions, but in Japan you have those who are discriminated against justifying the prejudicial behavior being directed toward them. I’m not sure why but Japan seems to get a free pass about such things relative to western countries.

As for comments that we can get a place despite this sort of discrimination, that’s rather beside the point. However, the places foreigners tend to rend are more expensive than those the Japanese get. We’re often given access to places that are less desirable to Japanese folks so they have to open the door to foreigners to fill the vacancies.
- AdmiralNelson
  
  You bring up a good point that I’ve always felt true. Japan has a lot of bigots. However, not all of them are japanese. There is a large population of foreigners in japan who, for one reason or another, basically view unacceptable behavior by japanese as ok because ‘they don’t know better’ or ‘it isn’t their culture’. Hearing these these people always make think they bigger bigots than any of the japanese people that people rant about. They’re enablers. With phrases like ‘they don’t know better’, they treat the japanese as early Americans treated the indians, or Christians viewed heathens.
J-ude

Well, this isn’t really that surprising, since those Zainichi-Koreans and Chinese typically were only allowed to live in the crummiest areas (a few exceptions), near garbage dumps and such during community relocation in the late 50’s, early 60’s.
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poo

All country’s should stop renting to Japanese.
And see hoe they react to that treatment.

Housing Discrimination in Japan

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