Apartment Viewings in Japan (Naiken): Checklist and Questions to Ask

Published August 28, 2026 | Kurabeel

A Japanese viewing — 内見 (naiken) — typically lasts fifteen to twenty minutes, with an agent standing beside you and another appointment after yours. Rooms are almost always empty and unfurnished, which makes them look larger and quieter than they will feel once you live there.

What you fail to notice in those twenty minutes becomes a daily annoyance for two years. Here is how to use them well.

Bring these five things

• A tape measure (5m or longer) — the single most useful object you can carry
• Your phone — photos, video, compass, and a signal check
• A printed floor plan to write measurements onto
• The dimensions of furniture you already own
• Socks — you will remove your shoes, and slippers are not guaranteed

Measure these before anything else

Listings quote area in square meters and in 帖 (jo, tatami mats — roughly 1.65 m² each), but neither tells you whether your sofa gets through the door. See how to read Japanese listings for what the layout codes mean.

Things you can only test in person

Water

Turn on the shower and the kitchen tap. Check the pressure and how long hot water takes to arrive. Weak pressure on an upper floor of an older building rarely improves.

Smell

A drain smell in a long-empty flat is often just an evaporated water trap, and running the taps fixes it. But note it and ask — persistent drain odour is a real problem and hard to solve after you move in.

Noise

Open every window and listen. Trains, arterial roads, a restaurant extractor, a school playground. Then close them and listen again for neighbours, footsteps above, and the lift. Tapping a wall tells you something about its thickness; a concrete building will sound solid, a timber one hollow.

Damp and condensation

Look at ceiling corners, behind where furniture would stand, and around window frames. Fresh paint in one corner only usually means something was covered up. North-facing rooms in older buildings are the most common places to find mould.

Mobile signal

Check reception in the corners and the bathroom. Reinforced concrete blocks signal effectively, and it is not something you can fix later.

The building tells you more than the room

• The rubbish area — the most honest indicator of how the building is managed, and of your neighbours
• Shared corridors and stairs — personal items left out, accumulated flyers, burnt-out lights
• Post boxes — overflowing boxes suggest long-vacant units
• Bicycle parking — is there space, is it covered, is there a fee
• The walk from the station — do it yourself; listings count 80 meters as one minute and ignore hills, level crossings and traffic lights

Questions worth asking your agent

• "How long did the previous tenant live here?" — repeated short tenancies have a cause
• "Why did they leave, if you can say?"
• "Have there been any noise or water leak reports in this building?"
• "Is the internet included, and which provider?"
• "What is the cancellation notice period, and is there a short-term penalty?"
• "Could I have an itemized move-in estimate, not just a total?"
• "Can this listing be handled by other agencies?" — most can, and that affects your costs

That last question is the one that saves money. The rent and deposit are the landlord's, but the agency fee belongs to whoever you sign with (details here).

Photograph edges, not rooms

Wide shots of empty rooms all look identical afterwards. What you will actually want later is the tape measure held against the washing machine pan, the position of every power socket, the view from the window, and the entrance width. A slow video walkthrough while narrating what you notice is worth more than thirty still photos.

Do not view more than four in a day

Beyond four, rooms merge in memory and judgment gets sloppy. If you have a favourite, view it second — the first viewing sets your baseline and the last one meets a tired brain.

* The agency fee is as low as ¥0. Listings for which the landlord pays no advertising fee (AD) may not qualify. We always confirm the exact amount in a written estimate before you sign.