Thursday, October 22, 2009

Won't Miss #63 - no room at the inn


Though it isn't nearly as obvious or omnipresent as it once was, many landlords still do not welcome foreigners. When we first arrived about two decades ago, there were signs in real estate agencies (who in Japan arrange for rental contracts) saying, "no foreigners, no pets, and no prostitutes." These days, there aren't as many signs, but the best rental deals (especially cheap places) are often off-limits to foreigners. More often than not, the places that welcome foreigners are those which offer the types of accommodation most Japanese people would not accept like large, shared housing with relatively high rent for the space provided or simply small, expensive places that are less attractive to the Japanese.

I won't miss knowing that if I moved, I'd almost certainly have to deal with a lot of discrimination and have limited options.

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