Japanese tenancy law
 

My son, a 3rd year student at SOAS, has just arrived in Tokyo for his year of study at Waseda Uni. He organised his own accommodation thru a private letting agency, based on price, location and online pictures of apartments. Although he asked the agency for the actual address of his selected apartment, he was only told this when he went to collect the key. Imagine, his disappointment (i.e. horror) at finding the apartment to be situated adjacent to two busy rail lines, one of which runs one metre from his apartment wall. The trains run for 20 hours a day, approx every 2 mins, and the whole apartment shakes when they pass.(Think: "My Beautiful Launderette") Is there anything my son can do under Japanese law to get out of the tenancy without penalty, given that the landlord has obviously withheld vital information, even when asked for it? I should say that, apparently, the apartment itself is very nice; it's only the location that is the (big) problem. Ironically, one of the conditions my son must comply with is to keep the noise down after 10pm. Sounds to me he could play Thee Michelle Gun Elephant @ full blast and no one would notice!
I look forward to reading other people's experiences.

He may have trouble as I don`t think that this would necessarily be considered "vital" information. If he is close to a station, then the apartment will actually be considered quite desirable. As there are so many rail lines and tracks in Japan, it`s not abnormal at all for apartments to sit right next to them. There may be no deception or withholding of information involved - it`s entirely possible that no one thought the train bit was important.

As strange as it sounds, I have no doubt he will actually get used to it very quickly. I used to live in an apartment with the balcony facing raised rail tracks. A train came through every 3 to 5 minutes... Within a week, I no longer even heard them and only really noticed when I was talking on the phone with someone else (would have to pause the conversation for a few seconds when one flew by.)

Thanks!
 

I will forward your reply to my son - I'm sure he will appreciate it. I guess one can get accustomed to anything in time.

No problem. I hope everything works out for him.

LOL

Let this be a lesson to you, but: never sign for anything or hand over money before you've actually seen what it's for...

My apartment in Japan was right next to train trcks too, but being out in the countryside, the train went by every 20-30 minutes from 5 AM until midnight. But it shook the whole building and rattled the single-pane sliding glass door to the balcony, making a bigger racket than my alarm clock did! I learned to sleep through it after about a month, but my problem then was that I'd also sleep through my alarm clock...

He can try to ask for another place and explain the situation, but there may not be another place available.

Thanks for that! Much more helpful than Tenchu's reply !

Getting out of an apartment is usually not that difficult, though getting one's deposits back might be a problem. Your son should find a counselor at school who can help him explain his complaints to the rental agency. Waseda University is highly respected, and rental agencies will usually do what it takes to make sure their customers are happy, with any luck they will see if they can find him a better apartment. He'll have better luck if the counselor is a woman, Japanese women tend to be more persistent and persuasive when it comes to situations like this.

For others who are looking at apartments in Japan, most rental agencies will post a map showing the locations of their apartments and their proximity to rail stations and bus stops. Another way to get a better look is to use Google Earth and their street view option. Most of the metro area in and around Tokyo is now visible on Google's street view.

How is your son now? Still wants to move out?

Upate on noisy flat
 

Thanks for the latest posts. To reply to Letstalk first, my son is sticking with it for now, already getting used to daytime trains but nights not so good.

As for your excellent suggestion to involve the university, Sangetsu, that is certainly something I'm sure he'll want to explore when term starts. Thanks!