¥600,000 before the keys — the 7 relocation steps I wish we had owned before our first Tokyo hire

Our first Tokyo hire nearly fell apart three weeks before his start date, and not for any of the reasons we had planned for. The visa was approved. The offer was signed. What went wrong was that he called me on a Thursday evening to say he could not put together the money to move into an apartment.

He was a strong senior engineer with savings. He had budgeted, sensibly, for a deposit and a first month’s rent — the way it works in most of the world. Nobody had told him that the number he actually needed was closer to five months of rent, in cash, before receiving the keys.

That gap is entirely avoidable, and it is the employer’s job to close it. Here are the seven steps we have run for every Japan relocation since.

Step 1: Budget the real upfront housing cost

Initial move-in costs in Tokyo and most major Japanese cities total roughly four to six months of rent. For an apartment at ¥100,000 per month, that means ¥450,000 to ¥600,000 before anyone gets a key.

The total is assembled from several separate line items:

Say this number out loud during the offer conversation. Not in a relocation PDF nobody opens — in the conversation. A candidate who hears “you will need about five months of rent upfront, and here is what we cover” makes an informed decision. One who discovers it later feels misled, however unintentionally.

Step 2: Understand the guarantor company requirement

Traditionally a tenant needed a guarantor — usually a Japanese relative or an employer — who would cover rent in the event of default. For a foreign hire arriving with no family in Japan, that requirement used to be a genuine barrier.

It largely is not any more. Guarantor companies have replaced personal guarantors: the tenant pays roughly 50 to 100 percent of one month’s rent at signing plus a small annual renewal, and the company vouches for them.

What has not disappeared is the employer’s role. Many landlords and guarantor companies still want a letter confirming employment, salary and start date. Prepare a standard bilingual template once and issue it within a day of any request. A delayed letter loses apartments in a market where good listings move within days.

Step 3: Sequence everything around the residence card

This is the dependency that catches employers who are used to other markets. Japan’s rental market is built around the residence card, and landlords, agencies and guarantor companies generally expect the card to have remaining validity at least as long as the lease — usually two years.

The practical implication is one most hiring teams never check: a hire granted a short initial period of stay may be structurally harder to house, regardless of how well they are paid. When the immigration outcome comes back, look at the granted period of stay, not merely that the status was approved. If it is short, plan for temporary housing first and a lease later, rather than discovering the constraint at a viewing.

Step 4: Decide what the company pays — and put it in writing

There is no single correct policy, but there is a correct process: decide, write it down, and apply it consistently. The three models we have seen work:

• Lump-sum relocation allowance. Simple, predictable, and it respects the employee’s judgement. The risk is that a candidate underestimates the upfront cost and spends it elsewhere — so state explicitly what it is meant to cover.
• Direct payment of move-in costs. The company pays deposit, key money and agency fee directly. Highest administrative load, lowest stress for the employee, and it removes the cash-flow barrier entirely.
• Company-held lease. The company signs and sublets. This solves the guarantor and residence-card issues cleanly, but creates a real obligation on your balance sheet and an awkward conversation if the person leaves.

Whichever you choose, be explicit about repayment conditions if the employee leaves within a defined period. Ambiguity here poisons an otherwise good departure, and it is straightforward to agree at the start.

Step 5: Plan the administrative chain in the right order

Post-arrival admin in Japan is a chain, not a checklist: several items depend on earlier ones, and getting the order wrong costs a week per mistake.

The order that works:

• Residence registration at the local ward or city office, which establishes the registered address.
• Health insurance and pension enrolment, typically handled alongside registration or through the employer.
• My Number notification, which follows registration and is needed for a range of subsequent steps including payroll.
• Bank account, which generally requires the registered address.
• Phone contract, which usually requires a domestic bank account or card.

Notice the trap at the end: the phone often needs the bank, the bank needs the address, and the address needs the apartment — which needed the guarantor and the residence card. An engineer who arrives without temporary housing arranged can spend two weeks unable to start any of it. Book temporary accommodation for at least the first two to four weeks as a default, not an exception.

The payroll side of this chain — social insurance enrolment and its cost to the employer — is where budgets tend to slip, and we covered that separately in our shakai hoken and payroll guide.

Step 6: Consider housing routes that skip the friction

The traditional worst case is no longer the only case, and knowing the alternatives is worth real money to your hire.

UR Housing is the strongest option to know about. As official policy it charges no key money, no agency fee, no renewal fee and requires no guarantor. Applicants need a valid residence card and income of roughly four times the rent. For a well-paid engineer that income test is usually comfortable, and it removes most of the upfront cash problem in one move.

Beyond that, no-key-money listings have become common in Tokyo and Osaka, particularly in newer buildings and properties marketed to foreign residents. Share-houses and serviced apartments remain sensible bridges for the first months while someone learns the city well enough to choose a neighbourhood deliberately.

One piece of advice I give every relocating engineer: do not sign a two-year lease in your first fortnight. Commute patterns in Tokyo are not intuitive from a map, and the difference between a good and a poor location is measured in hours per week for the next two years.

Step 7: Protect the first 30 days

Every relocation I have seen go badly went badly in the first month, and the cause was never the work. It was the accumulation of small administrative failures while trying to look competent in a new job.

Three things that cost little and change the outcome:

• Give paid time for admin. Ward office visits happen on weekdays. Pretending otherwise means your new hire either takes leave in week one or does everything badly.
• Assign a named colleague — not a document, a person — for practical questions. Ideally someone who has been through it.
• Set explicitly low delivery expectations for month one, and say so out loud. Most engineers will push themselves regardless; the point is removing the fear that they are underperforming.

The wider context is worth keeping in view. Japan competes for the same senior engineers as several other well-organised markets — Singapore through its pass framework, covered by our colleagues at HireDeveloper.sg, and the UAE through its own residency and workforce structure, discussed at HireDeveloper.ae. Candidates comparing offers across those markets notice which employer has thought about arrival and which has not — often before they notice the difference in salary.

Frequently asked questions

How much do you need upfront to rent an apartment in Japan?

Roughly four to six months of rent in Tokyo and most major cities. For a ¥100,000 per month apartment, budget ¥450,000 to ¥600,000 in cash before receiving the keys, combining deposit, key money, agency fee, guarantor company fee, first month’s rent and insurance. This is the most common reason a relocating engineer arrives financially stressed.

Does an engineer moving to Japan need a guarantor?

In practice yes, but guarantor companies have largely replaced personal guarantors. They charge roughly 50 to 100 percent of one month’s rent at signing plus a small annual renewal. Some landlords still ask the employer for a letter confirming employment, so prepare a bilingual template in advance.

Why does the residence card matter so much for housing?

Landlords, agencies and guarantor companies generally expect a residence card with remaining validity at least as long as the lease, usually two years. Someone granted a short initial period of stay can therefore be harder to house regardless of salary. Check the granted period of stay, not just that the status was approved.

Is there a way to avoid key money and guarantor fees?

UR Housing is the main route: no key money, no agency fee, no renewal fee and no guarantor as official policy, requiring a valid residence card and income of roughly four times the rent. No-key-money listings have also become common in Tokyo and Osaka, especially in newer and foreigner-friendly buildings.