Fudosan, what or who is it?

What or WHO is a "fudosan"? It sounds like a real estate agent (realtor) but I'm not sure.

If the fudosans are realtors, is the use of fudosans’ services optional or mandated by law?

Are Fudosans licensed or certified or bonded or can any be a fudosan?

If you ask me if "fudosan" is a realtor, my answer would be no, it's a common noun that simply means "real estate."

But some real estate developers AND agents use this word "fudosan" as part of their names, for example, Mitsui Fudosan. (They do both development/re-development of large-scale real estate, as well as apartment lease contracts.)

We normally refer to the small real estate agents (the ones you go to to find an apartment to rent) as "fudosan-ya."

If you are asking whether one needs to use such service to find/rent an apartment in Japan, I'd say no. If you happen to know some landlord, you go directly to rent from them.

There is a license one must obtain to run real estate agent business.

Okay, I think I follow what you said:
“Fudosan-ya” are real estate agents,
Real estate agents are licensed.

The word “realtor” translated by my PC shows “estate agent”

Can you translate the kanji for me?

【Ｃ】 《米国》 不動産仲買業者 （《英国》 estate agent）.

【Ｃ】 《米国》 不動産仲買業者 （《英国》 estate agent）.


(US) real estate broker/agent, = (UK) estate agent

In other words, "realtor" is the term normally used in the US, and "estate agent" in the UK. They both mean the same thing, real estate agent. The guy you go to when you want to buy/rent properties. And we normally call them "fudosan-ya" (real estate shop) or "fudosan-gyousha" (real estate business) in everyday language in Japan, and the term given (the part that is in kanji) according to your online dictionary is a bit official version. That's all.

Thanks for clearing that up for me!