Cockroaches - whose responsibility?

I moved apartments about 4 months ago. I'm recently seeing an increase in cockroach activity. I keep the place very clean, no food open etc. They seem to live in a cupboard under the sink that I cannot use because of the overwhemling mold smell (though I clean regularly with bleach).

My question is this: whose responsibility is the roach problem? Mine or my landlords? What about the ever present mold in the kitchen cabinets (which was there before I moved in)?

What a nasty problem. If it gets too bad you shoudl move out. But in the meantime try to take care of it yourself and let teh landlord know.

If you move to a higher class apartment, it won't be a problem.

What do you mean by "responsibility"? Are you trying to get some refund for this? If so, most city halls provide various types of free consulting service in foreign languages. Often they can give you advise about laws. Try contacting your local city hall for details.

But generally speaking, local residents don't expect too much for apartments that had a smelly cabinet before they ever moved in. Actually, in other words, you knew that cabinet was there and you still moved in, so in an average local's perspective, it's natural to assume that you sort of took in the responsibility.

In any case, as for the cockroaches, how about using a smoke type repellent such as Barusan, so that you can kill all the ones hidden in the narrowest part of your apartment.
http://varsan.lion.co.jp/
Be sure to use it properly and put a sign on the door as you use it.

As for the mold, it's natural to assume that it's coming from a place the bleach cannot be reached. Why not ask the landlord to see if (s)he can get a specialist to take a look at it.

Either way, normally a local resident will talk to the landlord in cases like this. And if nothing is improved, normally a local resident would find another place that gets more sun and air.

By responsibility I assume Iko means "Who should pay for fixing these problems?".

In New Zealand at least, if these were obviously pre-existing problems, it would definitely be the landlord's responsibility to fix them, as you can't expect people to live in sub-standard, unhygienic buildings, regardless of whether the tenant knew about the problem when they moved in or not- is it so different in Japan?

Do you really think Iko knew there was a mouldy cabinet when she/ he moved in? I kind of doubt it.

"Do you really think Iko knew there was a mouldy cabinet when she/ he moved in? I kind of doubt it."

A local would normally check the cabinet before moving in. At least you would talk about it to the landlord as soon as you know you can't use it.

But the law consultant would judge where the responsibility should lie in. Also, usually when something complicated or something expensive is required, the landlord will take care of it.

Thanks guys :)

I did mean whose financial responsibility was it to see to these problems moreso than anything else.

I've gone and bought some roach traps and will try them before complaining too much more....icky roaches.

The kitchen cupboards meanwhile, yes they had a suspect odour when I inspected the place but no visable mould. The mould turned up in about a months after i moved in. I guess it had been cleaned out before the inspection. As I cannot replace the kitchen myself, I figure at some point this issue becomes the landloards, just was wondering when that point was.

...also am not on best of terms with estate agent, they are not overly impressed at leasing to a non-Japanese person and made that fact clearly known but I wanted the apartment.

Iko, thanks for your response.

Usually in Japan, the resident tend to pay small expenses like traps and repellent, and the landlord usually pays for AND finds the people who would do big jobs like carpentry.

So do you ever talk to the landlord? If you talk to her/him regularly that would be a good chance to chat about your problems. Perhaps you'd want to try one of those Barusan things and then you'll need to inform the landlord about the expected smoke. Otherwise, a local would just go knocking on the door and, not complain but, sort of ask for advise along the lines of, "I have this problem. Do you have any suggestions?"

Actually, I have to say that you make a good point by saying, "they are not overly impressed at leasing to a non-Japanese person and made that fact clearly known," because one of the major reasons that landlords try to avoid foreign residents is that they believe foreign residents tend to speak up more than locals.

That is not necessarily true, but in the same sense, local residents nowadays often tend to step back because they don't want to be considered as what we call a "claimer" or, depending on the subject, "monster parent."

At the same time, normally locals wouldn't expect too much from a stinking old apartment (for that reason, they tend to chose new ones). So having roaches and mould in an old shady ground-level apartment is a different story compared to having roaches and mould in a shiney new manshon.

But as long as you tell them mildly, it should be okay. Locals do complain. They just do it so that it won't sound like a complaint. Anyway, asking won't hurt.

I just signed a new lease last weekend for a 'mansion'. I'm not sure if you went through the same process for your place but when I used "Able" (company name) as my agent and signed a contract, I had to pay a fee (other than the contract fee) for cockroach cleaning.

They told me that although they'd clean and kill all pests at first (before I move in), the work is guaranteed for only a month and that the only option after that would be to simply hire pest control on my own... Since it's already been four months in your case, I'm guessing (and only my personal opinion) that you're probably on the hook for further pest control. Shouldn't be too expensive though, from what they told me, it's less than 20000 yen.

20000 yen (around US $ 200) is very very expensive to spray an apartment as this doesn't guarantee the beasties will be gone for ever. buy traps instead and don't leave food and garbage around.