[Wasabista]

Thanks for your replies. Just to clarify, I didn't mean to imply that kanrikin (Bribe #1), Shikikin (Bribe #2) and Reikin (Bribe #3) were only for foreigners. I'm aware that Japanese have to pay them too. But one of these is touted as a deposit, and I've never received that deposit back. (I even left some money with the fudosan when I left one apartment, to take care of future bills. The utilities people all showed up the day I signed out, and the fudosan demanded I pay the bills, even though I'd left the money with her!)

On the surface of it the "short period of stay" issue makes sense, but look at who else wants to rent. Students are probably the biggest bloc of renters, and they may stay for no more than a year in most cases. And they can be just as noisy as AETs!

Also, foreigners are no more or less a risk than students, if they are working legally. When I got my apartment, my employer served as my guarantor. For students, the parents routinely serve as guarantor -- and everyone needs a guarantor to rent.

Here's something that should make foreigners more attractive as tenants, though: Foreigners are often unaware of the strong rights they hold as tenants in Japan. I paid my rent on time every month, not just because it's the right way to do business but also because I feared being turfed out. I didn't realize that evicting a tenant in Japan can take up to a year and ¥10 million in legal fees.

Still, there's a fundamental point here: In other advanced countries, it is simply not acceptable to refuse a person an apartment because she is a foreigner. I'm aware that there's discrimination in the States too, but could you imagine a rental agent in America saying, "Sorry, we don't rent to black people/immigrants/women"? It should be possible to turn right around, march to the koban and report a crime when this sort of thing happens. But it isn't, because such discrimination is still perfectly legal in Japan.