[MMM]

Those "deposits" that don't get returned aren't deposits, and therefore don't get returned. Doesn't matter if you are gaijin or not.

And I didn't say you will never experience discrimination at a Japanese real estate agent, but sometimes other things are going on besides discrimination (of course, sometimes not).

In the city where I used to live some JETS (who lived in seperate apartments) consistently got complaints from neighbors, so they ended up moving the all those young gaijin to the same building where they could be loud together. Guess what happens the next time a gaijin tries to rent from her? What memory is she going to have? AND her responsibilities are to your neighbors just as much as to they are to you.

After my first year our lease was up, and I lived kinda far from the school (to me at least...a 20 minute bike ride) and asked about moving into an apartment closer. It was a pain in the butt, but the school was nice enough to ask for me for a certain building that was actually cheaper than the one I was in (which was probably why the school was willing to ask). The real estate agent just said "You don't want to live here". And after repeated askings, that's all she would say. I felt I was discriminated against until later I brought it up with someone and it turned out there were quite a few underworld types living there and the cops came around once in a while (maybe that's why it was cheaper), so in the end, I stayed put, and was probably happier for it.