One of the first problems that you will face in Japan if you are looking to move will be if you don't speak Japanese very well it becomes a far more complicated process. Knowing this, our choice of "Nishi", we thought, was a good one, as it's a fairly multicultural area (for Japan anyway) and so there would be a better chance that the estate agent would have some experience with foreigners.We were greeted with the complimentary green tea and offers of this place and that. The woman in charge – a confident, older mama-san who wouldn't look out of place as an izakaya matriarch - showed us some flats were available in a block just five minutes on foot from the station. We were asked if we wanted to take a look and we agreed.
We were accompanied by another slightly nervous woman in her 40s who had some command of English. She gave us some assurances about the place, telling us how popular it was and the usual spiel. We took the elevator to the 5th floor. We had a look inside – plenty of light, spacious enough for two. The best thing about it though was that it was clean. We were both ready to move, the place looked good, we checked with each other and both agreed that it would be a good option. So we headed back to the estate agent's to negotiate.
After arriving back, we sat down, waited with more green tea, and then declared our interest. The manager took over the negotiations, with the younger woman acting as translator. We said we were interested, this was translated, there was a pause, then the manager checked through her large address book. Running her finger down the page to an address with a thick red line through it, she declared surprise at something and relayed it to the translator:
“This cannot, sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“This apartment already taken.”
It appeared that we had just missed out on this flat as it had suddenly been snapped up by someone else through another agent. The thing that was quite strange though was that the red line canceling out the address didn't look like fresh ink (it was old and dry and partially covered by old stains mapping the page). Oh well, we thought, that's your luck sometimes. At that point the manager relayed something to the translator. It just so happened that there were two identical flats in the same block that were available and if we were interested we could sign up for one right away. "Great!", we agreed. OK, lets go and take a look. At this point the atmosphere changed. It was as if someone had dropped a massive faux pas. We asked through the translator again if it was OK to go and take a look. This was the response:
“Why? You've already seen it.”
At that point, in these sort of situations, where you don't really feel that much in control, you could buckle under pressure and make rash decisions. Luckily, as we were together, we made the point that we wanted to take a proper look at the place and we wouldn't go any further unless we were allowed to do so. Finally, after some patient negotiating, they reluctantly agreed to let us see the place. And thank god we did. We went back and looked at two places: one was the most rancid smelling room I have ever been in – and I lived in a squat for a while – with four oily car tyres sitting stacked in the middle of the tatami room, fist-sized holes in the walls, and a broken balcony window, the outside of which was smothered in pigeon shit. The second one was just as rotten.
Of course we immediately said no way, even though they claimed the flats would be thoroughly cleaned if we decided to take one. We didn't even bother going back in the shop, as we got the feeling they had been trying to dupe us. We did have the slight suspicion that if you were a foreigner moving into this area, with limited Japanese skills and desperate for a place to live, this would be the ideal scam. Maybe a little over exaggerated but at the time it felt visceral.
We thought it might just have been bad luck, so we tried once more around Nishi a few days later. This time we asked my friend's Japanese girlfriend to help us and chose a very well known estate agent – less likely to have the same thing happen again. We went to the shop with a better idea of what we were looking for. This time, it's hard to comprehend what happened. Definitely one of the more bizarre events I've experienced in Japan.
We browsed outside the shop for a few minutes, looking at places within our price range advertised in the window – we saw it was busy so we we waited for a decent opportunity. As we walked in, the staff – a large, unfriendly looking woman – gave us the most unwelcoming look. We did the usual, “sumimasen” courtesies, and asked if it was OK to sit down. After we did, my friend's girlfriend asked to see some apartments in our price range. The woman got angry. Our friend asked for confirmation, all the time my friend and I looking on helplessly, occasionally asking for updates on what was being said. Suddenly our translator got up, said the usual thank yous, and said we had to leave. At this point the woman turned to the Japanese couple next to us and with a big smile looked to assist them in any way possible.
When we got outside, my friend's timid and extremely kind girlfriend was shaking – adrenalin was peaking.
“What's the matter? What was that?” we asked.
“She said there was nothing for you here.” she replied.
“What? Nothing for who?” we implored.
She told us that the woman had made disparaging comments towards us and that she wanted us to leave. She had said there was nothing, even though there were several places in our price range in the window. We went mad, at one point nearly steaming back in for an explanation. I caught the woman's gaze and she gave me a “What you going to do about it? / get out of here” look. My friend's girlfriend was livid, and she did mention the “R” word, but it would be hard to prove anything. Maybe she thought my friend and I were a couple and didn't approve of that kind of thing. Maybe she was just having a bad day, but the behavior of a member of staff at somewhere so well known was quite shocking. Anyway, it was enough to put us off more flat hunting. We both agreed to leave it for a while and stay in our respective boxes.
These episodes are certainly an uncomfortable reminder that some people will do anything to take advantage of those not in the know. It also served as a wake up call that if you are moving in Japan you should make sure you are thoroughly prepared, for you are likely to have some jaw-dropping moments, waiting to surprise you when you least expect it.
Episode 3 to follow.
