Whether you avoid such houses no matter the cost, or actually prefer the stigmatized house more than a normal one because of the price, today you and I are going to explore how to find out if a property in Japan comes with a dark history and we’ll also try to uncover some tips to help you to either avoid or choose such a place.

What Is Stigmatized Property?

Stigmatized property is called 事故物件 (じこぶっけん/juko-bukken), 訳あり物件 (わけありぶっけん/wakeari-bukken), ブラック物件 (ぶらっくぶっけん/black-bukken), or in legal terms 心理的瑕疵物件 (しんりてきかしぶっけん/shinriteki-kashi-bukken) in Japanese. 瑕疵 (かし/kashi) means flaw; defeat; blemish and a property with “kashi” is a place that buyers or tenants may shun for reasons that are unrelated to its physical condition or features. Such reasons include murder, murder-suicide, family suicide, individual suicide, solitary death and arson. On top of that, it includes things like whether or not a gangster organization (yakuza) used the space, or if a religious cult exists nearby.

The Law And A Loophole

Although both the civil law of Japan, as well as the building lots and building transactions business law (what a mouthful) dictates that realtors to inform any prospective tenants of any “stigma” involving the previous tenant or property, the law doesn’t actually state what specifically that stigma is. Therefore, the realtors themselves have to decide what exactly is worth informing prospective tenants about by referring to precedents. In fact, it seems to be pretty difficult for realtors to judge because there are various precedents which could change depending on the situation.

For example, one precedent indicates that the prospective tenant needs to be informed for at least two years following some form of stigma, whereas the other said that it has to be 20 years, though the average accepted duration is typically between 5 to 10 years. There was also a precedent stating that the tenant has to be informed of such incidents 10 years after it happened unless a different tenant has already lived there.

This precedent created a loophole: the requirement of informing tenants of a stigma applies only to the most recent tenant and once the place has been rented a second time, whatever occurred prior to that need no longer be reported. Because of this, many people just changed the registered tenant’s name to their family member’s, or even hired someone to temporarily live there. This rampant, immoral method has actually caused a lot of hassle in the courts. For this reason, there is now a consensus among real estate companies to inform the prospective tenant of the stigma if the incident happened within the past 10 years or if the prospective tenant is the third registered tenant after the incident, though, again, it is still left to the realtor’s or owner’s discretion.

First, Simply Ask the Realtor

So now let’s suppose you’re in the market for a new apartment, and you spot one that’s pretty good. The location is favorable, the structure is very durable, and the unit has plenty of storage space and gets a lot of sunshine. It’s also in close proximity to a train station and convenient shopping places, but the rent seems too good to be true. Tintintin~♪ Bingo♪

If that’s the case, you are likely to find that the apartment may have experienced an “unfortunate incident.” In general, rent for stigmatized properties is usually listed at over 20% less than normal. Even if it is listed at the normal rate, you’re likely to be able to negotiate the price down by 20% or more, so long as you know that the stigma exists.

So, say you do find a place that is priced at the normal market value. How can you figure out about the stigma then? One thing that may set off some warning bells is if it was renovated. The place looks brand spankin’ new and it’s only this price? Or, even more suspicious, what if only part of the location is renovated. The flooring in this particular room is so beautiful but the walls are kind of old and shabby looking… or, why is the bathtub so new and high-tech when the toilet’s oshiri button doesn’t even move back and forth?

These are the kinds of things to look for, so if you notice any of these things or anything else that seems fishy, you can simply ask the realtor if this is a place with an undesirable history. As long as the realtor is a good person and follows the consensus, you will be informed, especially when you directly ask. You may also want to check if the neighboring units are occupied too, because it’s common for people to move away if there was an event or issue at the unit you’re looking at.

So, whether you’re trying to avoid a stigmatized unit or if you’re trying to find one so you can negotiate the price down, those are the things you need to do.

What To Ask?

Let’s say you do ask and they say “Nope, not stigmatized.” You know that look in their eyes. They seem uncomfortable and are making weird movements, just like a lier would! Something is wrong here…

One way to get past this is to ask for more details. Here are some questions that will help you to figure out if it is actually that type of place:

• How long did the previous tenant live here and how long has the unit been vacant (exactly when did they move out)?
• Did the tenant move out within two years of moving in?
• Did they move when it wasn’t normal moving season, such as March? Why?

If the realtor hesitates to answer or tells you that he/she doesn’t know the reason, you should keep being skeptical. With enough digging, you might make the person slip up and tell you something they didn’t intend to, or you may just catch them in a lie.

Furthermore, if you are enthusiastically recommended a unit with phrases that sound as though the person is rushing to sell the place, such as “I’ve never seen such a good place”, “I’d like to live here if I were you”, or “It’s so rare that such a place is available at this price”, then you may want to think twice. Maybe it is too good to be true. Oh and by the way, if you are seeking a stigmatized property and don’t mind being honest about that with the realtor, feel free to reveal that information right where you stand. In that case, no one would lie. They’re probably having trouble selling the place and that might come at a relief to them. That being said, maybe you could say that out front and then catch them at their lie.

Second, Go To Well-Disclosures Real Estate Site

If the situation arises when you’ve asked the realtor your questions, but didn’t get enough confidence boosting information and thus are still skeptical, the next thing you should do is to check out the real estate sites, such as SUUMO, which discloses stigmatized information.

As for SUUMO, not only are they unafraid to reveal stigmatized property but they’ve also even attempted a new and unique approach to offloading stigmatized property. In a very positive way, they try to convince the potential renter that it’s actually a great thing to live in a place where someone violently died! The following is what they wrote for the unit.

“事故物件♪
人気の事故物件♪初期費用が少額♪TDL近い♪バストイレ付き♪ー初期費用の少ない事故物件でました！一人暮らしなのに一人暮らしではないような感覚にさせてくれる寂しがり屋さんにオススメのお部屋です♪”
Stigmatized Property♪
Popular stigmatized property♪ Low initial cost♪ Near Tokyo Disneyland♪ Private bath and toilet♪ It’s a stigmatized property, which means low initial cost! You’ll be living alone, but you’ll never really feel like it. This room is perfect for lonely singles♪

It came with pictures of not just the apartment and surrounding area, but also of a cute, friendly ghost character ‘お化けのQ太郎(おばけのきゅうたろう/Obake-no-Q-taro)’, which means ‘Ghost Q-taro’ and was made by the creators of ‘ドラえもん(Doraemon)’, 藤子不二雄(Fujiko Fujio).

The price was 23,000yen(US$230) per month with no deposits for the 107 square-foot unit with a kitchen, balcony, bathroom, and toilet. It seems that this unique idea succeeded in its purpose and the ad was taken off shortly after.

事故物件・訳あり物件情報センター(Jiko-bukken・Wakear-bukken-Jouhou-center), which is Stigmatized Property Information Center is another website on which you can find these properties, as well. Although they only cover the Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba areas, they actually focus solely on stigmatized property for their business, whereas SUUMO only partly deals with such properties. So if you are looking for such a place, you can search for an ‘only stigmatized property’ realtor.

Third, Check Out Oshima Teru

Oshima Teru CAVEAT EMPTOR is an up and coming website operated by Manabu Oshima since September 2005. The site’s main purpose is to map out every property where unnatural deaths occurred and to show you the ‘stigmatized properties’ with burn marks from fires. Originally, it focused on the greater Tokyo area, but now they have extended into a near worldwide coverage including North America and Europe. They glean data from police reports and the media, visit the actual places or the courts to learn the correct addresses, and use Google maps to indicate where all the “stigmatized properties” around the world are. This site is getting popular and they even made a Google app. This site is also for free so to all of you are thinking of moving I’d recommend searching for a stigmatized property on Oshima Teru to make a stigmatized property your own.

However, despite the worldwide coverage of Oshima Teru, most places are limited to major cities. So, what can you do now? Unfortunately, your last resort may be to walk around and ask the neighbors by yourself: “This unit is very cheap compared to the average price in this area, so is it only this unit or is everyone in this apartment building paying the same price?” Although it may be a difficult, time-consuming way, you may be able to gain fruitful information not only regarding stigmatized properties, but also about your potential landlord’s or neighbors’ personalities.

Finally Make Your Own Decision

Though I listed the ways to figure out if the unit is stigmatized, most likely you will just be informed by the realtor because they will be afraid of being sued for hiding it from you (should you move in and find out later). Some real estate companies actually went bankrupt because of having a bad reputation from hiding such things.

Interested in buying or renting a stigmatized home? Go ahead! Although, there are also some cases where tenants complained of “residual smells” being left behind by decomposing corpses, or tenants who developed insomnia due to the psychological pressure of knowing what occurred in their unit, so you should also consider those things before making a decision. But, if you value a good deal over trivial things like your psychological health, I won’t hold you up any longer.

Me? As I told you earlier, there is no way that I could move into one of those places or learn that I used to live in one. However, my curiosity was far too great and I actually felt compelled to find out whether or not I unknowingly lived in stigmatized house. Unfortunately, or perhaps luckily, I couldn’t find any verifiable proof that the incident I wrote about in a previous article actually occurred there, perhaps because it was such a old case. Personally, I’m glad that I didn’t find anything out. I guess it will just have to remain an eerie possibility for my mind to nibble on.

So what about you? Think you could live in a stigmatized property? Where would you draw the line? Is suicide okay but not murder? Or perhaps the line is between murder suicide and regular murder? Let me know your opinion and where you stand. Oh, and if you’ve lived in a stigmatized property, tell me all about it, I want to know!

The Concept

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cC_ksJ2SMM']

Share houses are pretty similar to dorms or big hostels/apartments. A handful of people all live under the same roof and share common living areas, the kitchen, and bathrooms. At the very least they’ll have a bedroom to themselves which can be stocked with their own mini fridge and television. That way the most private of folk can pretty much live out of their bedrooms. But if you’re that private, you probably shouldn’t be living in a share house in the first place.

Like apartments, there’s some sort of landlord or administrator overseeing things at the share house so if any disagreements arise during your stay, you can always take it up and work it out with the landlord. Since you don’t really know the people you’ll be living with, chances are something will come up at some point.

Share houses are most common in city areas and can range from pretty basic set ups to lavish living arrangements. Some even come pre-loaded with cutlery, appliances, and furnishings.

Who Are They For?

While there are no restrictions on who can live in these share houses, they seem to be most popular with people in their 20s and 30s, mostly students and young adults new to the workforce. With the average stay being anywhere from a month to a year, share houses don’t seem to be all that popular for long-term housing. However, they’re great if you’re staying in Japan for longer than it would make sense to live out of a hotel but not so long that you’d actually want to rent or buy a house or apartment.

There are also these so-called “gaijin houses” that are basically share houses geared towards foreigners living in Japan. Those would be better if you’d like to live with people who (most likely) speak English, but where’s the fun in that? Nowhere. The answer is nowhere.

Pros and Cons of Share Houses

Share houses are great for those living on a budget. Most don’t even require deposits or initial fees of any kind as is common in the United States. Even when a share house does have initial fees, they’re usually pretty low. Costs of living can vary greatly depending on the location and condition of the share house and you should expect to pay between 40,000 to 100,000 yen (~$395-$985) per month per person, depending on the share house in question.

Living alone in Japan can be expensive. Add in the fees you have to pay before you actually move in and all the furnishings and appliances you have to purchase and you’re spending a lot of money. Share houses are definitely a lot cheaper than living on your own.

Share houses are great for those who enjoy living with others and like to socialize. Or maybe you’re a foreigner and just want to be around Japanese people to practice speaking with all the time. However, all this social exposure isn’t for everyone so if you are a very private person or can’t handle sharing a bathroom or kitchen, share houses obviously won’t be your thing. And then there’s all the usual roommate issues, plus you don’t really get to pick who you live with in share houses so you might get stuck with a few weirdos.

Share houses can be co-ed but some offer male only or female only houses as well. Some people aren’t so keen on living with the opposite sex, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a share house. This seems to be more geared towards women who don’t want to live with males, but I’m sure there are some guys out there who would prefer not to live with lady roommates as well.

Also, share houses aren’t available everywhere. Most of them are concentrated in the big cities and their surrounding areas so you might have some trouble finding one out in the country.

How to Find a Share House

Speaking of finding a share house, what’s the best way to find one? Well, the internet is here to help. Since they know that share houses/gaijin houses are popular with foreigners, a lot of these share house websites will also be in English. Like with any sort of living arrangement, there are big firms owning many share houses and smaller ones that don’t own many and will require more searching around for.

If you Google “Share House in Japan“, or “シェアハウス“, you’ll get plenty of results to browse through. It all depends on where you’re planning to live or visit, but you should be able to find something suitable to your needs. It also helps a great deal if you can read Japanese, especially for those intimidating results from that second search.

Most of the pictures I’ve seen of share houses look pretty nice. They definitely seem like a great option if you’re looking for a short to medium term living arrangement while in Japan and you enjoy the company of others. If you’re thinking of spending some time in Japan, I’d recommend giving these share houses a healthy consideration.

So tell me, have you ever lived in or visited a Japanese share house? What do you think of them? Would you ever live in one yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Platonic Male-Female Roomies

Around the time you get to college, it’s not that unusual for men and women to live together platonically under the same roof. I know a lot of people who’ve had an arrangement like this, and one of my friend’s sisters even lived with us at our house in college for one summer. While it’s definitely not the norm, most of the time nobody really thinks much of it unless there’s some funny business going on, they’re really old fashioned, or are a jealous boyfriend/girlfriend with trust issues.

And then there’s Japan. They don’t feel the same way about this as we Americans do. Aside from most Japanese apartments being relatively small (i.e. not much personal space) many Japanese parents are very protective of their children, especially the women, and would not be happy at all with their daughter living with a man before marriage, regardless if they were involved romantically.

“We’re just friends, I swear.”

Even if you are living with a purely platonic opposite sex roommate, good luck convincing everyone else that you aren’t actually involved somehow. Some Japanese people hard-set in their male-female relation views jump to conclusions way too fast and can’t believe that men and women can be just friends. While browsing some forums on this topic (link, link), I came across the following guy talking about his own experience in Japan.

I was showing my portfolio to a prospective client earlier today and I was commenting on a maintenance video that I made. There is a picture on the cover depicting me discussing the machine with a young woman, to which the client piped up, “Is that your wife?” I answered that it wasn’t, to which he responded, “Are you having an affair?!”

The guy claims it’s apparently much worse in the countryside, but this is just one person’s experience. Plus the post was from about 7 years ago. Regardless, this seems to be a very different view on things than it is in the West, but I’d imagine this view is mostly held by the older generation.

Living Together Before Marriage

And then on the other side of the spectrum, we have males and females living together non-platonically. Lovers, boy/girlfriends, or fiancés. In America at least, I feel like it’s becoming more of a “prerequisite” for couples to live together before they get married just to make sure they can stand being around one another all the time and would survive living together if and when they get married. Sometimes it’s even encouraged for couples to “test the waters” this way. In Japan, this is not the case.

Living together before you’re married in Japan seems to be pretty rare. Many people live with their parents, alone, or with same sex roommates. If Japanese couples are living together, it wouldn’t be too strange for them to keep it secret from their family and judgmental acquaintances. Many older Japanese people and those who are old fashioned would say that if you want to live together, you should just get married because it’s the right and proper thing to do. Living together before marriage can be viewed as indecent.

If you do live with your significant other, there’s a good chance you will incur at least one of the following: general scorn, an endless stream of “When’s the wedding?”, or other related wedding questions. Regardless if people view your living arrangement as improper, they’ll most likely assume it’s a stepping stone towards marriage and in their eyes and they’d prefer to see it happen sooner than later.

I asked some of my friends living in Japan what their personal experiences were with this and what they have noticed first hand. Here’s what they had to say.

I think there are so many young people in Japan who still live at home with their parents, and they only move out when they get married. None of my friends or Japanese people I know are living with someone of the opposite sex unless they’re married. I know one guy living with his girlfriend, but he’s American and she’s Japanese so I don’t know if that counts.

I have a Canadian friend whose Japanese girlfriend basically lives at his house but still retains her own residence.

Most of my Japanese friends said that it wasn’t strange for couples who are planning on getting married to live together, but some of the older generation may look down on it. They also said that it is still kinda strange for just friends of the opposite sex to live together, especially in the countryside. However, home shares are becoming more popular, and there is more attention being brought to opposite sex roommates through dramas and movies, etc. but it’s still pretty irregular and overall people think it’s strange.

But as they say, times are changing, and in cities at least, living together before marriage might be moving towards being not so strange as it once was especially with the younger generation being desensitized to it all through dramas and movies and such. It also really depends on the location, the families, and whether or not a foreigner is involved.

While living together before marriage is not quite as rare as it used to be in Japan, it’s still much less common than it is in the West. It used to be uncommon in the West too, but since then, it’s become much more acceptable. Will the same happen for Japan? Only time will tell.

So what are your thoughts on males and females living together, platonic or otherwise? Do you think that Japan will eventually become more accepting of this practice like the West is? Have any firsthand experience with cohabitation in Japan? Let us know in the comments!