Japan apartment move-in cost calculator
Last checked: 2026-11-06
Enter your rent and the terms on your listing to estimate what you pay to move in. Every default below is an example, not a typical figure for your home. This is an estimate, and it runs in your browser.
How this estimate works
Each month-based item is your rent times the months you enter. The total adds those items and any other costs you enter. The last row divides the key money by the extra rent on a home with no key money, the decision rule from our deposit and key money guide.
Worked example
Rent is 80,000 yen. You pay 1 month of first rent, 1 month of deposit, 1 month of key money and 1 month of agent fee, with no other costs.
- The total is 80,000 + 80,000 + 80,000 + 80,000 = 320,000 yen, or 4.0 months of rent.
- Key money plus agent fee is 160,000 yen.
- A home with no key money but 3,000 yen more rent gives 80,000 / 3,000, or about 27 months. If you will stay longer than that, the home with key money costs less over the stay, all else equal.
Set the deposit to 1, key money to 0 and agent fee to 0.5 for 200,000 yen. Set them to 2, 2 and 1 for 480,000 yen. These match the low and high cases on our guide. All three cases use assumed terms.
What to enter
| Item | What our sources say | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | Shinjuku says 1 to 2 months. MLIT says about 2 months. A Saitama guide says 1 to 3. | Amounts vary by region and landlord. |
| Key money | About 1 to 2 months. Some homes ask for none. | We found no rule that requires it. |
| Agent fee | Tokyo's consumer site says normally half a month's rent, and one month's rent if the parties agree. | That page's text was partly garbled for us, and we did not read the law itself. |
| Guarantee company fee | We found no official figure. | Use your own quote, under other costs. |
Use the figures on your own quote where you have them. A Tokyo guide, seen only as a search excerpt, says the total is often 5 to 6 months' rent. That guide returned an error when we tried to open it, so treat this as a rough check. MLIT's guidebook gives a rule of thumb of 4 to 7 months' rent, varying by region.
What it leaves out
- Other move-in charges. Tax on the agent fee, guarantee company fees, insurance and key replacement are not included unless you add them. With these, a real quote will be higher than the example.
- Renewal and move-out charges. These can change the no-key-money answer. Compare them too.
- Deposit deductions. The deposit comes back minus unpaid rent, other debts and damage beyond normal use. Your contract can contain special terms.
Next, read our deposit and key money guide, add the total to the first-year cost calculator, and use the moving checklist once you have keys.
This is an estimate, not a quote or legal advice. Your contract and your agent's written quote are the real figures.