how to lock japanese type door?

does anyone know how to lock japanese type door without putting holes in it?
im living in a "shared house" and i want to know if there is a way to lock a japanese type of room from inside and outside
thanks ^^

There are many different types of doors are used in Japanese houses.
Exactly what kind of door is used for your room?
(It is not very common in Japan to lock the door of each room except toilet and bathroom.)

From inside, just put a bar on the rail.
But outside, it's probably impossible to lock the door without putting a hole and screws.
Or go to DIY shops like "Tokyu hands" and search some anticrime devices.

So, there is no way to lock a sliding door from outside?

If you can't use screws (it mean making a hole) in the door, it's impossible to put a door lock.
But I'm not a professional, so you'd better go to DIY shops.
If the door lock is set without screw, it's very easy to be taken away by someone ...

For a sliding interior door, whether a shoji style door or a plain wooden one (as we have in Western countries) the only way is to drill holes in the frame and to make a notch inside the wall for the deadbolt to slide in. This has to be done on both sliding doors if you have the usual 2 leaves. HOWEVER Japanese shojis aren't meant to be locked and their wood frame is too thin and fragile for a sturdy lock. Looks like you are out of luck or need to replace the door by a conventional one (not sliding) not an easy task if you rent.
Just for the record many houses and apartments here in Canada, where I live, have OUTSIDE sliding doors and they can only be locked from the inside by a small "lock" on the handle that doesn't even use a key. For obvious safety reasons, especially in houses, most people install a lock -with keys--by drilling holes in the frame in another location, usually the bottom or the top--or both--. Plus they place a steel or wood stick in the tracks to prevent the door to slide. In other words the door CANNOT be opened at all from the outside.

I have a related question. I am trying to install modern exterior solid wood sliding entry doors and I would like a keyless lock.
Does anyone know of a solution used in Japan?

The doors will be solid wood, two sliding doors will meet in the center.

I have found one keyless lock for sliding doors, available in the US, but it is mechanical. And also ugly!
Only one code can be programmed. I am looking for something programmable, so that each family member or guest can have their own code.
Something like this one:
http://www.dutchguard.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD...

If anyone knows of a higher quality, programmable keyless lock for sliding doors, I would greatly appreciate the info.

thanks!

Depends on your reason, but I had the same experience and found a solution,

I have a cat, and when I leave the apartment, I want the cat to stay inside the room, which has sliding door.. but the cat is smart and can open the door.

so at first I put dumbbells just beside one of the doors, that way he can't push it. but later needed to move the dumbbells to another apartment

then the other solution, now I place umbrella, stuff it between the two doors. it works pretty well, the door becomes hard to open

but if you want to lock it from humans, humans are strong though, but the umbrella solution can let people know you don't want them to enter.

the stuffing could damage your door overtime if you do it too strongly, so be careful.

You can get locks that fit into the grooves at the top of the door and prevent it from sliding. There is no real key, but you can remove the little handle making it impossible to remove. They are really to lock aluminum 'sash' windows when there is a window air conditioner fitted, but there is no reason why you should not use them on wooden rails if you want.