Most foreigners who arrive in Japan think they need a Japanese friend, family member, or employer to co-sign their lease. But that is no longer how the system works. You can have a traditional individual guarantor (連帯保証人 or rentai hoshōnin), a Japanese citizen or permanent resident who signs the lease alongside the tenant and accepts…

Does Japanese inheritance tax apply to foreign owners of Tokyo real estate? Here is the 2026 update on condo and rental property valuation rules.

Shirokane is one of Tokyo’s oldest, wealthiest addresses. The neighborhood has housed feudal lord estates, Meiji-era industrialist mansions, and, more recently, a generation of wealthy Japanese families and international executives who prefer quiet residential streets over the commercial intensity of Roppongi or Omotesando. A 1998 magazine article gave the residents a nickname, “Shiroganese,” riffing on…

You have a car you’d rather not leave behind. Maybe it’s a European sedan that isn’t sold in Japan in the spec you want, a classic you’ve spent years restoring, or simply the family car you’ve grown attached to during a long posting somewhere else. Whatever the reason, you’re now looking at a move to…