Renting apartment for a year if non resident

Hi I travel to japan very often . Usually 1 month work in uk then 1 month holiday in japan throughout the whole year.

I currently rent and apartment in kyoto , a monthly mansion but it is very expensive near kyoto statipnand I only rent it when I am in Japan.

I want to try find a cheaper apartment away from kyoto station but rent it first a year as I xsm move things in the apartment ant it will be more convenient.

I always enter japan every other month for a period of 4 weeks. So I enter from UK on a normal tourist visa issue at immigration at KIX airport.

I am not a resident and do not have any special visa status. I do not gave a bank acount in japan either.

Will it be possible for me to rent an apartment in the normal way for a year paying every month ... considering j am non resident and not have a bank account ?

What should I do to make this possible... open a bank account.

I doubt I can get any visa as I am only a tourist.

I visit My japanese friends all the time so it would be possible to ask them to help me with paperwork that I need to fill in.

Does anyone have a similar situation to ne or can infer any advice or help

Thanks in advance

I don't think you can rent an apartment without a bank account or residency status (after all, how does the landlord know you won't just not come back?) You'd probably have better luck buying your own apartment here if you like it so much. You are allowed to own property in Japan, though you don't get a visa for doing so.

How would you pay the rent each month if you don't have a bank account? It would be very expensive if you need to remit each month from your UK account.

No, you will not get any long-term resident status because you visit only as a "temporary visitor."


I can only imagine you arrange it with your friends IF one of them agrees to rent the apartment for you in their name, do the paperwork, and pay the rent on your behalf and get reimbursed by you, etc., but that is a huge obligation.

I must say those "monthly apartments" are for people like you. If you rent an apartment on a regular two-year contract, pay deposit & key money, furnish it (including curtains, bedding, kitchen equipment, air conditioner, etc.), get utilities in, get wi-fi in, etc., it will turn out to be equally expensive.

My intention would be open a bank account and put for example 2-3 years rent money in the acount to provide funds for the rent.

The downside of monthly apartment I have now is I can not leave my clothes and possessions here when I vacate the apartment . Simply I have to bring g all Mt clothes cameras etc 3very month.

If have funds for 2- 3 rent with me right now no problem ... but regards opening a bank acount , I have no link to japan ie visa etc so that may be an issue also

Basically I want to be able to gave an apartment for over a year that I xsm put my things on and make things easier when I come to japan and feel more at home than the place I have now.

I would not ask my friends to take an apartment in my name ... that is not a kind request , I have no intention of doing that. Just would only ask for their help with filling in paperwork as my grasp of kanji is not sufficient for such formal forms.

Buying a place here would also be an option but as I only enter on a normal tourist visa issues at Kansai airport I would be worried if i was not allowed entry for some reason and I would have a property here.

I would not buy a property unless I had a residency or spouse visa etc with entitlement to stay in this way.

Seems not so simple ... Maybe I was hoping for too much.

I believe you need to have a Residence Card to be able to open an account. And under the new rules, Temporary Visitors do not get those cards, as far as I know.

Have you considered just renting your monthly mansion for the year? Maybe they'll cut you a deal on the rent since they know they'll have it rented for the entire year rather than rented for a month here and there.

Yes you can rent an apartment without residence card and without a bank account. You need to find a company that specialises or caters for rentals to visiting business people/foreigners.

As an example, I currently pay my rent monthly by credit card - it's easy and doesn't cost extra. I don't think I would bother paying it from my bank account.

You can get nice resort apartments by the lake north of Kyoto, some 1ldk can be in the region of 20-30k$ And it's short train trip from Kyoto.