Japan and America's Costs: Rent

a.t.kumagai
Jun 22
4 min read

Updated: Sep 11

This is a continuation of my previous post where I talk about the cost of utilities and food in Japan.

If you’re planning to make the move to Japan, rent is likely the thing you’ll worry about most. Finding an apartment and getting a contract can be heavy ordeals in and of themselves. For this post, we will focus more on the average costs and the reality of living in a Japanese apartment.

Culture:

Before jumping into money talk, I want to go over apartments in general when it comes to renting in Japan versus America.

Most apartments don't come equipped with many of the items that American apartments have provided to renters. Among those items are a stove or oven. Apartments also don't come with other items such as refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and (annoyingly) air conditioners. I've even been to a lot of apartments that didn't have light fixtures put in. I can't count the number of apartments we visited where it was bare-bones nothing.

Of course, this means the price of the apartment might be cheaper for you as the renter. It's also nice because you own the items you buy and can therefore take them with you to the next place. For large appliances, this might not be an easy purchase for someone who just made the big move to Japan.

If buying those appliances seems taxing, there are apartments for a higher cost that provide them to you. Your monthly rent will be higher, and in the long run it might not make sense financially. However, if your time in Japan is temporary, you might not see the benefit of buying major appliances and then facing the arduous task of selling them or throwing them away.

I know that this is also a possibility in America. There are landlords who don't want to provide those items. However, while apartment hunting in America, I often found that many apartments included appliances such as stoves and refrigerators. Air conditioning, too, of course. This meant, as a renter, I didn't need to save excessively to buy those big appliances.

Japan and America have similar cultures when it comes to providing the first month's rent and last month's rent. Similar to America, there's also a realtor's fee you have to pay to whatever company helped you find the apartment.

The big difference between Japan and America is something called reikin (key money), which I can best sum up as a non-refundable thank you gift to the landlord or the company who owns the building. This payment is not a security deposit, and you'll never see it again. The payment can also get a little pricey depending on where you rent your apartment. The amount is usually a sum of one or two months rent which is your keeping count is getting pretty costly.

One-Bedroom Apartments:

I'm focusing my articles on a single person living alone. It's easier to calculate expenses without having to consider tons of other factors. With that in mind, I've focused my research on what a single person would look for in an apartment. Japan has apartments that are much smaller than a one-bedroom. The cost calculation, however, would become complex and confusing. If you want to live in an apartment of 200 square feet, then your rent might be cheaper than what I'm about to present in this article.

After much research, I found that one-bedroom apartments in America typically average out at around 800 square feet. This gives you more space for furniture and appliances. The average cost of an apartment is around $1,575. America is a large country and, of course, the prices can be significantly higher in some areas and much lower in others. The size of the apartment can also play a major factor in cost.

Japanese apartments, however, are smaller. I focused on 1LDK (one room plus a living, dining, and kitchen) which pretty much translate to a one-bedroom apartment in America. The average size is typically around 400 square feet. This is nearly half the size of an American apartment. The average cost of a 1LDK is around ¥78,000($534.55). Japan is also diverse and the cost of an apartment in Tokyo versus Fukuoka is going to be different.

Overall:

Now, let's go back over some previous details in my previous post covering utilities and food. If you didn't read my previous post, you might be under the assumption that living in Japan is incredibly cheap. Let's go over the big difference in salary and the similarities for monthly cost of utilities and food.

Salary:

America: $5000

Japan: ¥288,285($2000 depending on the yen's value that day)

Utilities:

America: $144

Japan: ¥16,973($117.75)

Food:

America: $300

Japan: ¥38,000($263.63)

If you're living in America, so far, your expenses will look something like this:

Utilities $144 + Food $300 + Rent $1,575 = $2,019

That's about 40.38% of your salary. This leaves you with $2,981 left over.

If you're living in Japan, your expenses will look something like this:

Utilities ¥16,973($117.75) + Food ¥38,000($263.63) + Rent ¥78,000($534.55) = ¥132,973($911.28)

That's about 46.13% of your salary. This leaves you with ¥155,312($1064.38) left over.

Sources:

I didn't add many American-based English resources. (Also, I think it's easy for people to research in English since many Americans might read this) Most of my time and energy went to reading Japanese articles and finding the common average.