In preparing for my trip to Tokyo where I will spend the next three months, I embarked on what I thought was a relatively simple task. I needed to find an apartment. I had a budget. I knew how close to downtown Tokyo I wanted to be. I know how to use Google. I can read, write and speak Japanese. It would take some time, yes. But, would it be hard? No.
Needless to say, I was wrong. After several hours looking through apartment after apartment, refining searches and eliminating options, I found a place. A loft north of Tokyo, cute (!), furnished, reasonable price, and available. I write to the rental agency. They write back. It’s a go. I call just to be sure and this is when it all goes downhill.
We were getting along on the phone just fine. Then came the question. “Do you have an inkan?”
An inkan is a stamp used in place of a signature. It’s supposed to be registered with the local ward office or city hall. Not having a permanent Japanese address I can’t register one. Not living in Japan, I don’t need an inkan. I explain all this to her and then comes the second question.
“Are you Japanese?”
“No.”
“I see. I need to speak to my supervisor then.”
I pause. This isn’t good. I know it. I don’t like where this is going. When she gets back on the phone I hear the words, “Sorry. We only rent to Japanese.”
I pause again. Did I hear what I just think I heard? Did she actually say out loud that they won’t rent to me because I’m a foreigner? I don’t say anything for a few more seconds.
“It’s okay if you stay there but the contract needs to be with a Japanese citizen. We need the inkan.”
I say I’ll have to ask my Japanese friends in Tokyo if any are willing to do this and hang up.
I’m seething. I have friends I can ask. That’s not the point. That I have to go tell them this story is what bothers me. This is blatant racial discrimination. What Japanese wouldn’t be embarrassed to have to show up at this rental agency signing and stamping papers because their fellow countrymen won’t rent to a gaijin? I decide to sleep on it. That didn’t go too well, by the way. I lay in bed thinking this over and getting more and more angry.
I woke up early and wrote back to the agency. “I’ve been told by my Japanese friends in Tokyo there are places that will rent to foreigners so I’m going that route. Thanks anyway.” I get a response right away.
“I spoke to my supervisor again and if you agree to pay three months rent upfront we can rent to you directly.”
So, now instead of needing an inkan and needing to be Japanese, I’m in if I pay the rent in full. Interesting. I write back and say with all the tact I can muster up, “Your policy of not renting to foreigners bothers me. I’ll look for something else. Thank you.” I get yet another reply.
“Japanese law requires us to sign the rental contract with someone who has an inkan. It’s not that we don’t rent to foreigners. Sorry for the misunderstanding
Bullshit. Let’s recap. First, you say out loud that you only rent to Japanese. That I must have an inkan. Then you say you’ll ignore that rule if I pay for three month’s rent in full. Then you say Japanese law is what states all rental contracts must have an inkan stamp. Except you just said you would rent to me without this stamp and that you now say you do rent to foreigners. Which is it? It’s not a lot of fun being called out on your lie, is it?
I did find a place that never asked for an inkan and never asked about my citizenship. Evidently, there are companies that are willing to make money without following this so-called Japanese law that requires a stamp. For others, beware: No gaijins need apply.
GAIJIN! 