When it comes to renting an apartment in Japan, there are two types of contracts. The vast majority of people will have an individual (個人) contract, which is simply a direct contract between the tenant and the property management company. There are also corporate (法人) contracts however. If you’re employed at a company and there’s a chance your company may end up leasing an apartment on your behalf, it’s best to understand the differences between an individual and corporate contract, as while they are similar in most ways, there are some key differences. Let’s go through the main points to consider, then look at a list of the information your company may need to provide in the event of a corporate application.
The Roles of Company and Tenant
An individual contract is, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather simple. You will be the one contracted as the lessee, and thus bear the responsibility for following the contract. You will need to contact the property management company when you need a repair or want to terminate your contract, and in turn, the property management company will go directly to you should they need information or to inform you of something.
In the event of a corporate contract though, your company is on the hook. Contact will generally go through a designated member of staff, meaning you will have less to worry about. You may also be less thoroughly scrutinized as a potential tenant if you have a company to back you up. For example, you may not need to have much Japanese ability, assuming someone at your company can communicate in Japanese. That probably makes corporate contracts sound good, though companies usually only offer these to transferees or high-level employees, so for most, it isn’t something you can simply request. There are also some downsides to corporate contracts that must be kept in mind, which we’ll get to shortly.
Contract Terms
When it comes to the contract details, there usually are not too many differences between an individual or corporate contract. Most times, the contract length, the required notice for termination, and the rent won’t differ. There may be some differences in the initial fees though. For example, sometimes a guarantor company may not be required on a corporate contract, although they may balance this out with a higher deposit. But overall, you don’t need to expect much difference once you’ve moved in, other than who the property management company would contact first.
Screening Length
If there’s only one thing you take from this article, this is it. There are a lot of documents and information required for corporate contracts, and property management companies often have strict due diligence requirements for approval. Ultimately, a corporate screening is generally going to be a safer bet than an individual one on average, but it could sometimes take up to a month from the date of application to actually move in. Screening length can vary significantly; It’s possible it may only take a week, but it might take four weeks. We do not recommend corporate contracts if you’re under a strict time constraint.
Screenings require approval not only from the property management company, but from the guarantor company (if applicable) and owner as well. Each of these stages could potentially take time. Because of that, even if you’re in a tough situation, such as having a deadline by which you need to leave your temporary accommodation, there isn’t much way to speed up the process. Patience and flexibility is required when it comes to corporate contract applications. You will also want to try to decide on a property more quickly if you’re planning to use a corporate contract, unless you are comfortable with a longer wait once you have finally chosen to apply.
This can go for personal contracts as well, but some screenings also use online systems for document and information submission. The quality of these systems varies widely and they can sometimes be confusing or even bug out, which can cause further delays. Ideally, an agency such as ourselves will be able to handle submitting everything, but there are times that these systems do not allow the agent to edit or see what you do. In such cases, you may need to be patient and share screenshots with your agent if you run into any hiccups.
Lastly, individual contracts these days are becoming more and more digitized, but often, corporate contracts still use paper. That means you need to account for the time it takes to mail things back and forth, especially if your corporate office happens to be located in another region in Japan.
Documents Required
Next, here is a list of potential documents and information that may be required for a corporate contract. Keep in mind, not everything on this list may always be applicable to every application, nor is it exhaustive! But it can hopefully give you an idea of what you/your company might be getting into.
1) Company Profile & Registry
- Legal company name (English/Japanese; include furigana)
- Legal entity type
- Certificate of Registered Matters copy (issued within the last three months)
- Certificate of Company Seal (issued within the last three months)
- Registered address (postal code, city/ward, street, building, room)
- Phone / Fax
- Corporate Number (13 digits)
- Industry & brief business description
- Capital amount
- Establishment (YYYY/MM)
- Employees: full-time / part-time / total
- Major customers (1–3 companies)
- Parent / related companies (if any)
- Main bank (name & branch)
- Website (URL)
2) Financials (most recent two fiscal periods)
- Revenue / Sales
- Ordinary profit
- Income Statement / P&L (full documents preferred, covering the above)
- Reporting period labels (e.g., “FY 2023/04–2024/03”)
- Fiscal period label (YYYY/MM)
3) Banking & Billing Setup
- Bank name; Branch name
- Bank code (4 digits); Branch code (3 digits)
- Account type (普通 / 当座)
- Account number (7 digits)
- Account holder name
- Invoice / Billing Destination
- Address
- Department & Title
- Contact person
- Honorific to use (様 / 御中)
- Phone / Fax (“none” if not available)
- Billing closing day (e.g., month-end / specific day)
- Payment day (day of month)
- Payment month (same month / next month / month after next)
4) Authorized People
Representative Director
- Name (with furigana)
- Date of birth
- Home address
- Phone
Contract Representative / Point of Contact
- Name (with furigana)
- Department / Title
- Work address (if different)
- Contract branch/office handling the application (if your company has multiple branches)
- Phone / Fax
Emergency Contact
- Name (with furigana) and relationship to applicant
- Gender
- Date of birth / Age
- Current address
- Mobile phone / Home phone
- Email (optional)
On top of all of the above, you can assume you’ll need personal documents and information provided for you, and any co-tenants. This includes passports, residence cards, along with things like your date of birth, gender, etc.
Individual Contracts VS Corporate Contracts
In the end, we wouldn’t really recommend one strongly over the other (with the exception of those in a rush), as in reality, most people don’t have a choice. Either your company will say they are going to do a corporate contract for you, or you have to arrange an individual contract on your own. But hopefully with this information, if you do end up going for a corporate application, you won’t be caught off guard when additional documents are requested, or the screening takes longer than you expect!