Guy and Girl staying in the same room?

My friend and I is thinking about going to Japan and thinking that I already got a place to stay at my grandparent's condo (or mansion). They won't allow my friend who's a girl to stay with them because they said it's not normal for a non-married couple to sleep in the same room, let alone in the same house even if they are a couple or even engaged.

I knew that was thing of a past but I was wondering, is that still a considered normal?

For that generation (seeing from your profile, your grandparents might be around my parents' age), it would be a no-no for a guy and a girl to share a room.

But what do they mean not even in the same house? If your grandparents and you AND your friend are staying in the same apartment together (but you and your friend in different rooms) that should be fine. Oh, maybe your grandparents has an unoccupied apartment unit they are not living in, so it will be just you and your friend staying there? Then probably (again, for that generation) it would be a no-no thing.

Since your grandparents are the ones who are doing a favor for you, their "no" is a "no," so I guess you'll need to find an accommodation on your own for the two of you.

In any case, whether or not that's considered "normal", their house their rules. If you don't like their rules, pay a hotel.

is that still a considered normal?
yes, it is normal, if your grandparents are classified as higher class.
your style might be normal (or be accepted) for lower class people in Japan.

it is just the same to tattoo's persons.

As suggested, whatever is considered normal today has nothing with what your grandparents think. Also, I can well understand that they don't like guys and girls staying under the same roof, be it an apartment or a house.

That said, back in the 80s, my German friend successfully convinced my Japanese parents and my grandparents to let her stay with a male just-friends friend in the same room, after exchanging letters back and forth (they didn't have emails back then). But I think they allowed it only because it was in the same house as my parents/grandparents lived. It's easier to be responsible for them when they can keep an eye on them.

Anyway, I think it's difficult for a respected adult (nothing to do with higher/lower class) to allow something when it's done under their responsibility, especially if the people involved are young. But if you book a room by yourselves, and pay for it by yourselves, and if your parents say it's okay, then your grandparents can't say anything about it.

My husband and I faced a lot of surprised looks from his relatives when we were living together in Kyoto before marriage. Most shrugged it off as a changing world eventually though.

The owner of the apartment building asked the rental company to let him meet us before he said we could move in. The reason being a young unmarried couple living together. Though I suspect it was also a little bit to do with me being a foreigner. But he was lovely and let us stay no problems.

Clear-cut class stratification in contemporary Japan? Really?