How Can I Get a Guarantor in Japan?

Except for a quite few cash, serious decisions, and some assuasive medical support, you are always required to have a guarantor named as “Hoshonin” for renting an apartment in Japan,

However, finding a guarantor is not a easy job to do because no one is willing to be the one unless that person is a family member or close friends.

In this article, we explain how foreigners find a guarantor.

What is a Guarantor in Japan?

A guarantor is an individual or an organization that guarantees your contract, house rent, compensating for any damage costs if you can’t deal anymore because you are leaving Japan.

Mostly, only Japanese nationals tend to be accepted as your guarantor because of the need to prepare for any tricky situations if you are a foreign renter. Additionally, a guarantor is required high responsibility, so if you do not have Japanese relatives or a close and trusting friend it is not easy to find someone who willingly accepts that responsibility.

Even for Japanese locals, finding a guarantor is a big obstacle for securing a reasonable apartment from the perspective of strict financial conditions that guarantors have to fulfill.

Most Japanese people ask their parents or relatives to be the guarantor, although they have to give proof that the rent is not over 30% of their salary. Plus, it is increasingly becoming that older non-homeowners have been finding it difficult to rent an apartment, due to insolvent people as part-time workers or retired people are excluded from a guarantor.

Fortunately, this is not only a way to find a guarantor, but also there could be several options for providing it.

Requirements to be a guarantor in Japan

Not only do the renter have the same responsibilities along with Japanese civil law, but also a joint guarantor has to take the same level of responsibilities. To get approval, you have to fulfill certain requirements.

There may be slight differences depending on each owner and apartment. However, most contracts that we usually see have requirements for the following criteria.

There is a possibility that the guarantor may be denied because of other conditions as if income, although they met every requirement.

Can a company be a joint guarantor？

Is it possible to ask your company to be a joint guarantor when you have already worked in Japan, or when I’m going to work in Japan?

Generally, a joint guarantor is an individual, so when you plan to ask your company about a joint guarantor, you should confirm if your company supports corporate contracts.

Once you get a corporate contract, you do not need an individual guarantor anymore.

You need the joint guarantor’s information when you are at the lease contract. If you cannot find a joint guarantor in Japan, you should better talk to your boss before that.

The joint guarantor’s information is required at the time of the lease contract. If you cannot find a joint guarantor in Japan, talk to your boss in advance.

Available options when you have no joint guarantor 

Even though you couldn’t find a joint guarantor, don’t worry. There is a way that you can make a rental contract with a rental guarantee company. By paying a rental fee, the company can play the same role as a joint guarantor does.

But, then you have to care about stuff below.

Who can be your guarantor in Japan

Employer or School

You can ask your employer or education institution to be your guarantor.

If you’re a foreigner and employed by Japanese company, your employer might handle the procedure of a lease instead of you. In that case, the employer will be your guarantor. This is commonly seen as an ordinary case on established exchange programs, a transfer to abroad within listed companies and so on.

If your employer is able to consent to be the guarantor, it’s up to the realtor whether the landlord is convinced that the guarantor is suitable for it. However, you should care that once you lose your job during the tenancy, you are no longer available to live in the apartment, too.

For instance, there are some services offering a guarantor by schools and universities for students. If the institution you’re supposed to go to is approved by the JEES(Japan Education Exchanges and Services), they should have an offer named ‘Comprehensive Renters Insurance for Foreign Students Studying in Japan’.

Applying to Short Term Rentals

One of the ways for less moving fees and no effort for finding a guarantor is to live in a share house or monthly apartment.

Share house

You can have your private room, but the common areas and kitchen and bathroom with every resident. If you’re new to the country and especially in the big cities where you’re not familiar with, that’s an easy way to meet people.

Also, there are tons of different types of share houses having their one’s owncharacteristics such as college-basic, super-luxury, and so forth. Generally, you don’t have to pay for the initial set-up fees and you can rent rooms on monthly basis contracts.

Monthly apartment

Monthly apartments are provided by some housing companies like Leopalace with rental furniture services. Additionally, you can rent that without a guarantor although it depends on what kind of contract it is. This is a better alternative choice giving you the opportunity that you can confirm your bearing in a new place, especially if you have a young partner or need further private space.

It seems that the Japanese government is starting to review the regulations about renting because of the continuous decrease in the rate of homeownership and the age of renters gets older annually. Hope current restrictions about housing will be relaxed before we can’t have options because of getting too old. Good luck with finding a suitable guarantor.

Guarantor company

A guarantor company (hoshonin-gaisha, 保証人会社) plays the same role as a personal guarantor. The annual fee for these companies is normally from 30% to 100% of your one-month rent and you might need the renewal charge of around 10,000 yen every time you extend your contract.

Each realtor is likely to tie up with some companies and with which, you won’t need to go through a lot of paperwork because they’ll do it for you. You can also find a company online and recommended ones are described below in this article.

When making an application, you will be required to have an emergency contact, bank statement, and official documents such as a passport.

Recommended guarantor companies in Japan

Although there are many guarantor companies in Japan, finding one that provides foreigners with a comprehensive service is can be a toil. If you have no idea which one is good for you, these companies are the most popular and trustworthy companies. 

GTN (GLOBAL TRUST NETWORK)

GTN offers a foreign-friendly rental guarantor service, which is available in 18 languages including English, Chinese, Spanish, and French. They have been selected by foreigners the most in Japan and their service has been highly rated. Not only a guarantor service but also they have comprehensive services for foreigners such as rental housing agency, mobile career, and living support. 

CASA

CASAprovides a guarantor service, which is available in 17 languages, as well as a consultation service once you move in the apartment. You can chat with them when you are in trouble and they will help you from relocation to job hunting. What makes Csa special is that only their contractors can get special benefits. You will be able to get special discounts on many stores or tours.

J Lease

J lease is one of the biggest guarantor companies and they deal with 19 languages. J lease is one of the listed guarantor companies so they are very reliable. Also, The whole application process can be done within 20 minutes so if you need a guarantor really soon, this company can be good. 

Guarantor in Japan

The guarantor procedure is very complicated. No matter how good the conditions are, in most cases you will not be able to make a contract without it. If you can’t find it, we recommend using a share house/monthly apartment, monthly condominium, or company.