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We constantly update this blog post so that the rent figures for Japan in 2026 stay useful for buyers, landlords and foreign investors.
Japan has cheap homes in some rural areas, but the rental market in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Nagoya and Sapporo is much tighter than the national vacancy rate suggests.
This guide focuses only on residential rentals in Japan, with simple estimates for monthly rent, tenant demand, vacancy, taxes and landlord costs.
And if you’re planning to buy a property in this place, you may want to download our pack covering the real estate market in Japan.
What are typical rents in Japan as of 2026?
What's the average monthly rent for a studio in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, the average monthly rent for a studio in Japan is about ¥65,000, which is roughly $420 or €380, when we focus on ordinary urban rentals rather than remote rural homes.
In most investable cities in Japan in 2026, studios usually rent for about ¥55,000 to ¥75,000 per month, or around $355 to $485 and €325 to €440.
That range changes mostly because a studio in Japan rents much better when it is a clean 1K unit near a train station, while old walk-up studios far from transport rent for much less.
What's the average monthly rent for a 1-bedroom in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, the average monthly rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Japan is about ¥90,000, which is roughly $580 or €530, using 1DK and 1LDK layouts as the closest local match.
Across the main rental cities in Japan in 2026, most 1-bedroom apartments rent for about ¥75,000 to ¥105,000 per month, or around $485 to $680 and €440 to €620.
Within Japan, cheaper 1-bedroom rents are usually found in outer wards, older suburbs and regional cities, while the highest 1-bedroom rents are in central Tokyo areas like Minato, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo and Shinjuku.
What's the average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, the average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in Japan is about ¥130,000, which is roughly $840 or €765, when we use 2LDK family-style apartments as the main reference.
For most 2-bedroom apartments in Japan in 2026, a realistic monthly rent range is about ¥105,000 to ¥155,000, or around $680 to $1,000 and €620 to €910.
The cheapest 2-bedroom rents in Japan are usually in older suburbs and regional cities, while the most expensive 2-bedroom rents are in central Tokyo neighborhoods like Azabu, Roppongi, Hiroo, Aoyama, Ebisu and Shirokane.
By the way, you will find much more detailed rent ranges in our property pack covering the real estate market in Japan.
What's the average rent per square meter in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, the average rent per square meter in Japan is about ¥2,500 per month, which is roughly $16 or €15, for urban residential rentals that an investor could realistically lease.
Across different neighborhoods in Japan in 2026, a realistic rent-per-sqm range is about ¥2,200 to ¥2,800 in many large cities, or around $14 to $18 and €13 to €16, while Tokyo 23 wards often reach ¥4,700 to ¥5,100, or around $30 to $33 and €28 to €30.
Compared with other Japanese cities, Tokyo is clearly the most expensive rental market, while Osaka, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Nagoya and Sapporo usually offer lower rents but often better entry prices for small landlords.
Rent per square meter in Japan rises above average when the apartment is close to a station, in a newer reinforced-concrete building, near central jobs, and in areas with strong expat, student or corporate demand.
How much have rents changed year-over-year in Japan in 2026?
As of 2026, average rents in Japan’s main urban rental markets are up about 3% year over year, with Tokyo 23 wards closer to 3% to 5% and the strongest submarkets sometimes around 4% to 7%.
The main drivers of rent growth in Japan in 2026 are higher wages, more people moving to large cities, construction-cost pressure, foreign-resident growth and limited new supply near central stations.
This year’s rent growth in Japan looks stronger than the slower official rent trend from the previous year because new asking rents are rising faster than old lease rents that have not reset yet.
What's the outlook for rent growth in Japan in 2026?
As of 2026, projected rent growth in Japan’s main urban rental markets is about 2% to 4%, with Tokyo, Fukuoka and central Osaka more likely to reach about 4% to 6%.
Over the coming year, rent growth in Japan will depend on wage growth, job creation, foreign residents, student demand, construction costs and how much new rental supply reaches station-near areas.
The neighborhoods expected to see the strongest rent growth in Japan include central Tokyo areas such as Shibuya, Minato and Chuo, plus Fukuoka areas such as Tenjin, Hakata and Yakuin, and Osaka areas such as Umeda, Nakanoshima and Hommachi.
The main risks are a weaker economy, lower hiring, tenant affordability limits, more new supply than expected, or a sudden drop in foreign and corporate tenant demand.
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Which neighborhoods rent best in Japan as of 2026?
Which neighborhoods have the highest rents in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, the three highest-rent neighborhood groups in Japan are central Tokyo’s Azabu and Roppongi area at roughly ¥300,000 to ¥600,000 per month, or $1,935 to $3,870 and €1,765 to €3,530, the Aoyama and Omotesando area at roughly ¥280,000 to ¥550,000, or $1,805 to $3,550 and €1,650 to €3,235, and the Hiroo and Ebisu area at roughly ¥250,000 to ¥500,000, or $1,615 to $3,225 and €1,470 to €2,940.
These Japan neighborhoods command premium rents because they combine central jobs, embassies, luxury retail, international schools, restaurants, good train links and a limited supply of large modern apartments.
The typical tenants in these high-rent Japan neighborhoods are senior professionals, foreign executives, wealthy families, diplomats and corporate transferees who want comfort, security and easy access to central Tokyo.
By the way, we’ve written a blog article detailing Sources and methodology: we used Savills Japan, Tokyo Kantei and LIFULL HOME’S. We ranked areas by rent levels, centrality and premium-tenant depth. We also cross-checked high-end Tokyo rents with our own Japan property-pack data.
Where do young professionals prefer to rent in Japan right now?
The top neighborhoods for young professionals renting in Japan right now include Nakameguro, Ebisu and Sangenjaya in Tokyo, with strong alternatives in Koenji, Nakano, Shimokitazawa, Fukushima, Horie, Yakuin and Akasaka.
Young professionals in these Japan neighborhoods usually pay about ¥80,000 to ¥160,000 per month, or around $515 to $1,030 and €470 to €940, depending on whether they rent a compact 1K, a 1DK or a small 1LDK.
These neighborhoods attract young professionals in Japan because they offer quick train access, cafes, nightlife, coworking spaces, supermarkets, compact modern apartments and a lifestyle that feels active without needing a car.
By the way, you will find a detailed tenant analysis in our property pack covering the real estate market in Japan.
Where do families prefer to rent in Japan right now?
The top family-friendly rental areas in Japan right now include Setagaya, Bunkyo and Koto in Tokyo, with strong family demand also in Toyosu, Futako-Tamagawa, Kichijoji, Suita, Toyonaka, Nishinomiya, Ohori Park and Momochi.
Families in these Japan neighborhoods usually pay about ¥160,000 to ¥350,000 per month for 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartments, or around $1,030 to $2,260 and €940 to €2,060.
These areas are attractive to families in Japan because they offer schools, parks, supermarkets, hospitals, wider sidewalks, safer streets, earthquake-resistant buildings and larger 2LDK or 3LDK layouts.
Top educational options near these family-friendly neighborhoods include schools around Bunkyo, international schools near Hiroo and Azabu, university-linked areas near Hongo and Waseda, and strong local school districts around Setagaya, Kichijoji, Suita and Nishinomiya.
Which areas near transit or universities rent faster in Japan in 2026?
As of 2026, the fastest-renting transit and university areas in Japan include Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro in Tokyo, plus Umeda in Osaka, Hakata in Fukuoka, Waseda, Hongo, Ochanomizu, Demachiyanagi and Nishijin.
In these high-demand areas of Japan, good studios and 1K units often stay listed for only 15 to 30 days, while larger family units can take about 35 to 60 days if priced correctly.
Properties within walking distance of major stations or universities in Japan can command a rent premium of about ¥10,000 to ¥40,000 per month, or roughly $65 to $260 and €60 to €235.
Which neighborhoods are most popular with expats in Japan right now?
The three most popular expat rental areas in Japan right now are Azabu and Hiroo, Roppongi and Akasaka, and Ebisu and Meguro, with growing expat demand also in Omotesando, Yoyogi-Uehara, Kichijoji, Umeda, Horie, Kyoto’s Okazaki and Fukuoka’s Tenjin.
Expats in these Japan neighborhoods usually pay about ¥180,000 to ¥600,000 per month, or roughly $1,160 to $3,870 and €1,060 to €3,530, depending on size, furniture, English support and lease type.
These neighborhoods attract expats in Japan because they offer international schools, embassies, English-friendly services, restaurants, parks, serviced apartments, airport access and landlords who are more used to foreign tenants.
The most visible expat communities in these Japan neighborhoods often include American, British, French, Australian, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Southeast Asian residents, especially in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka.
And if you are also an expat, you may want to read our Sources and methodology: we used Immigration Services Agency, Savills Japan and LIFULL HOME’S. We linked foreign-resident growth with expat-friendly rental districts. We also used our own expat-demand map for Japan.
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Who rents, and what do tenants want in Japan right now?
What tenant profiles dominate rentals in Japan?
The top three tenant profiles in Japan are single workers, young couples and families, while students, foreign professionals and corporate transferees form important extra demand in the right neighborhoods.
A simple 2026 estimate is that single workers represent about 40% of private rental demand in Japan’s investable urban market, young couples about 25%, and families about 20%, with the remaining 15% split between students, expats and corporate tenants.
Single workers usually seek 1R and 1K units, young couples usually seek 1DK and 1LDK units, and families usually seek 2LDK and 3LDK apartments near schools, parks and rail stations.
If you want to optimize your cashflow, you can read our Sources and methodology: we used Housing and Land Survey, At Home and MEXT statistics. We grouped tenant demand by layout because Japan rentals are strongly layout-coded. We also checked the split against our own tenant-demand model.
Do tenants prefer furnished or unfurnished in Japan?
In Japan, about 80% to 90% of ordinary long-term tenants prefer unfurnished rentals, while about 60% to 75% of expat, student and short-stay tenants prefer furnished or semi-furnished apartments.
A furnished apartment in Japan can usually earn about ¥10,000 to ¥40,000 more per month, or roughly $65 to $260 and €60 to €235, but only when the location fits expats, students or corporate renters.
The tenants most likely to prefer furnished rentals in Japan are foreign professionals, corporate transferees, exchange students, short-stay workers and people who do not want to buy appliances for a short lease.
Which amenities increase rent the most in Japan?
The top five rent-boosting amenities in Japan are a location within 5 to 10 minutes of a station, a newer earthquake-resistant building, auto-lock security, separate bath and toilet, and delivery lockers or fast internet.
In Japan, station proximity can add about ¥10,000 to ¥50,000 per month, or $65 to $325 and €60 to €295, newer buildings can add ¥10,000 to ¥35,000, security can add ¥5,000 to ¥20,000, separate bath and toilet can add ¥5,000 to ¥15,000, and delivery lockers or strong internet can add ¥3,000 to ¥10,000.
In our property pack covering the real estate market in Japan, we cover what are the best investments a landlord can make.
What renovations get the best ROI for rentals in Japan?
The five best ROI renovations for rental properties in Japan are new wallpaper and flooring, modern air-conditioning, better lighting, a cleaner kitchen surface, and improved internet or intercom security.
In Japan, simple wallpaper and flooring refreshes can cost about ¥150,000 to ¥500,000 and add ¥5,000 to ¥20,000 in monthly rent, air-conditioning can cost ¥80,000 to ¥180,000 and add ¥3,000 to ¥10,000, lighting can cost ¥30,000 to ¥120,000 and add ¥2,000 to ¥8,000, kitchen refreshes can cost ¥150,000 to ¥600,000 and add ¥5,000 to ¥20,000, and internet or intercom upgrades can cost ¥50,000 to ¥250,000 and add ¥3,000 to ¥12,000.
Poor-ROI renovations in Japan often include luxury finishes in cheap suburbs, oversized Western-style kitchens in small 1K units, expensive full gut renovations far from stations, and upgrades that ignore the building’s age or earthquake perception.
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How strong is rental demand in Japan as of 2026?
What's the vacancy rate for rentals in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, Japan’s national vacant-dwelling rate is about 13% to 14%, but the practical vacancy rate for strong urban rental apartments is closer to 3% to 5%.
Across Japan, prime station-near areas in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka can have vacancy near 2% to 4%, while older, remote or rural properties can have vacancy far above 10%.
The current Japan vacancy picture is more divided than the historical average because rural and old vacant homes keep pushing the national number up, while modern rental units in large cities remain tight.
Finally please note that you will have all the indicators you need in our property pack covering the real estate market in Japan.
How many days do rentals stay listed in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, a well-priced rental apartment in Japan’s main urban markets usually stays listed for about 25 to 45 days before finding a tenant.
In Japan, clean studios and 1K units near stations often rent in 15 to 30 days, 1LDK units often take 25 to 45 days, family apartments often take 35 to 60 days, and old or overpriced units can take more than 60 days.
Compared with one year ago, days on market in Japan’s best urban rental areas appear slightly shorter because asking rents are rising and tenants are competing for modern station-near units.
Which months have peak tenant demand in Japan?
The peak months for tenant demand in Japan are January, February and March, with many move-ins happening in March and April.
This seasonal pattern in Japan is driven by the April school year, new graduate hiring, corporate transfers, university starts and families wanting to move before the new school term.
The lowest tenant demand in Japan is usually in late May, June, July and parts of November, when fewer students, companies and families are planning major moves.
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What will my monthly costs be in Japan as of 2026?
What property taxes should landlords expect in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, landlords in Japan should often expect annual property taxes of about ¥120,000 to ¥300,000 for a typical ¥50 million Tokyo condo, which is roughly $775 to $1,935 or €705 to €1,765.
For residential investment property in Japan, a realistic annual property-tax range is about ¥60,000 to ¥600,000, or roughly $390 to $3,870 and €355 to €3,530, depending on the assessed value, location, age and land share.
Property taxes in Japan are based on assessed value rather than market value, with fixed asset tax commonly calculated at 1.4% of assessed value and city planning tax up to 0.3% in urban-planning areas.
Please note that, in our property pack covering the real estate market in Japan, we cover what exemptions or deductions may be available to reduce property taxes for landlords.
What utilities do landlords often pay in Japan right now?
In Japan, ordinary long-term tenants usually pay electricity, gas, water and internet, while landlords more often pay building management fees, repair-reserve fees, insurance and common-area costs through the condo association.
For a small apartment in Japan, landlord-paid building fees and reserves often cost about ¥15,000 to ¥45,000 per month, or roughly $95 to $290 and €90 to €265, while included internet or common utilities may add about ¥3,000 to ¥10,000 per month.
The common practice in Japan is simple: tenants pay their private daily utilities, and landlords pay the building-level costs that remain attached to the property.
How is rental income taxed in Japan as of 2026?
As of 2026, Japan-source rental income is taxable in Japan, and non-resident landlords can face 20.42% withholding on rent unless the tenant is an individual using the property as a home for themselves or relatives.
Landlords in Japan can usually deduct rental expenses such as management fees, repair costs, insurance, property taxes, mortgage interest, depreciation and agent fees before calculating net taxable rental income.
Common Japan-specific tax mistakes include forgetting non-resident withholding, confusing withholding with the final tax bill, not appointing a tax representative, and treating land and building depreciation the same way.
We cover these mistakes, among others, in our Sources and methodology: we used National Tax Agency, Tokyo Metropolitan Tax Bureau and MLIT transaction-price information. We used the tax authority as the main source, not private blogs. We also translated the rules into simple landlord cash-flow language.
We did some research and made this infographic to help you quickly compare rental yields of the major cities in Japan versus those in neighboring countries. It provides a clear view of how this country positions itself as a real estate investment destination, which might interest you if you’re planning to invest there.
What sources have we used to write this blog article?
Whether it’s in our blog articles or the market analyses included in our property pack about Japan, we always rely on the strongest methodology we can … and we don’t throw out numbers at random.
We also aim to be fully transparent, so below we’ve listed the authoritative sources we used, and explained how we used them and the methods behind our estimates.
| Source | Why this source is reliable | How we used it |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics Bureau of Japan, Japan Statistical Yearbook 2026 | This is Japan’s official national statistics office, so it is the best baseline for national housing data. | We used it for official data on rented housing, rent levels, dwellings and vacancy. We treated it as the slow-moving national anchor before adding fresh 2026 market data. |
| Statistics Bureau of Japan, Housing and Land Survey | This is Japan’s main official survey for housing stock and vacant homes. | We used it to separate Japan’s national vacancy issue from real rental demand in large cities. We relied on the latest full survey available before June 2026. |
| e-Stat, Housing and Land Survey tables | e-Stat is Japan’s official government statistics portal. | We used it to cross-check official housing and vacancy tables. We mainly used it for rental stock and vacant-home context. |
| Tokyo Kantei, monthly condominium rent reports | Tokyo Kantei is a long-running Japanese real-estate data and appraisal firm. | We used its 2026 rent-per-sqm data for Tokyo and condominium rental trends. We treated it as a current market-price anchor because it updates monthly. |
| Savills Japan, Tokyo Residential Leasing Q1 2026 | Savills is a global real-estate consultancy with clear Tokyo residential leasing coverage. | We used it for Tokyo 23 wards rent growth, central-ward premiums and occupancy. We used it to estimate urban vacancy instead of relying only on Japan’s broad vacant-home ratio. |
| At Home, market data reports | At Home is a major Japanese property portal and real-estate data provider. | We used it to cross-check 2026 asking-rent momentum in large Japanese cities. We also used it to understand rent changes by tenant segment and unit size. |
| LIFULL HOME’S rent index page | LIFULL HOME’S is one of Japan’s largest housing portals and gives detailed listing-based rent estimates. | We used it to sanity-check city, neighborhood and station-level rent ranges. We did not use it alone because listing data can change with property mix. |
| MLIT official land-price publication | MLIT is Japan’s national land and real-estate ministry. | We used it to understand land-value pressure and location premiums. We used it as context for why rents are strongest near central Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and transit nodes. |
| MLIT real-estate transaction price information | MLIT collects transaction-price information from real-estate transactions across Japan. | We used it to frame rental demand against actual housing-market activity. We did not use it directly for rents because it tracks transaction prices, not lease prices. |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Tax Bureau, fixed asset and city planning tax | This is the official tax authority for Tokyo property taxes. | We used it to estimate recurring property-tax burdens for landlords. We used Tokyo as the clearest example because many foreign buyers focus on Tokyo. |
| National Tax Agency, real-estate income of non-residents | This is Japan’s national tax authority. | We used it for rental-income tax treatment and non-resident withholding. We separated withholding from the final income-tax filing because they are not always the same. |
| Immigration Services Agency, foreign residents | This is Japan’s official immigration authority. | We used it to estimate foreign-resident and expat rental demand. We linked the foreign-resident count to likely demand in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka. |
| MEXT statistics | MEXT is Japan’s education ministry and is the official source for education-related statistics. | We used it to identify university-driven rental demand. We used it mainly for student areas in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Fukuoka and Sapporo. |
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