March is the busiest month of the year, the school year ends, most businesses hire around March and it’s moving season. I decided to move this year and it’s always so competitive in Tokyo.
Lots of apartment management companies are very tough on foreigners, no matter how long you have lived here or if you are moving with a Japanese person , the standards are still high. We were rejected a few times this year, for many reasons, not being N2 level of Japanese, because I am not yet married to my partner, and because I am a foreigner in general. Also many apartments are gone within a few days, so you have to apply quickly. Why is there this stigma that foreigners always leave suddenly or won’t follow the trash rules? Or can’t move into an apartment unless they speak N2 level of Japanese. And what can foreigners currently living here do to break this stigma?
The stigma is xenophobia, and there isn't really anything we can do about it ourselves. It's fully up to Japanese society to decide, once and for all, that we deserve to be here and we are a part of this society in the same way they are.
One solution is to go to real estate agencies representing landlords that don't automatically reject foreigners. Another solution is UR housing.
Good question. I had the 保証人 being with me when signing the contract, maybe it helped. Can’t your partner just rent the room “alone“ then you still move in?