How move-out restoration costs work in Japan

When you leave a rental home in Japan, the landlord deducts repair costs from your deposit (shikikin) and may bill you for the rest. This is called genjo kaifuku, restoration to original condition. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) publishes a guideline on who pays for what. This page summarises the parts tenants ask about most, with page numbers of the Japanese guideline so you can show the source.

Restoration does not mean "make it new"

The guideline defines restoration as repairing loss of value caused by the tenant's intent or negligence, breach of the duty of care, or use beyond normal use. Ageing and normal wear are paid for through the rent and are the landlord's cost (Guideline p.8). The reference material also quotes article 621 of the Civil Code, which excludes normal wear and ageing from the tenant's duty to restore (Reference material p.2).

Typical examples

From Table 3 of the guideline (Guideline p.25):

The same mark can fall on either side depending on its cause and degree (Guideline p.11). Damage from earthquakes or from a third party such as an upstairs neighbour is not the tenant's cost (Guideline p.8).

Useful life lowers your share

Even for damage you caused, you do not pay the full price of new wallpaper or flooring. The guideline reduces the tenant's share in a straight line to a value of 1 yen at the end of the item's useful life, for example 6 years for wallpaper, carpet and cushion vinyl flooring (Guideline p.12, Guideline p.22 to 24). Wallpaper that was new when you moved in is 50% after 3 years and about 22% after 4 years 8 months (Reference material p.17).

If the item was not new at move-in, its age at move-in is added to your stay, or the line starts from a value agreed at move-in (Guideline p.13, Reference material p.17). Partial floor repairs, tatami surfaces and fusuma or shoji paper are not depreciated (Guideline p.14).

Repair scope

For wallpaper, the guideline prefers charging by the square metre, and accepts charging up to the whole wall containing the damage. Replacing the whole room only to match colours is not the tenant's cost, except when smoking has stained the whole room (Guideline p.15, Guideline p.23). Tatami is charged per mat; carpet and cushion flooring per room if there are several damaged spots (Guideline p.22).

Reading the deposit statement

1. Ask for an itemised statement if you did not get one. The landlord has a duty to explain deductions (Q17, Guideline p.45).
2. For each line, check whether it is damage or normal wear.
3. Check the quantity: one wall, one mat, the damaged square metres.
4. Check whether the useful life was applied. The guideline's sample statement has columns for elapsed years and the tenant's share (Guideline p.28). Use the calculator to check each line.
5. Upgrades, such as better-grade wallpaper, are not the tenant's cost (Q13, Guideline p.43).

Signing a check sheet at the move-out inspection to confirm that damage exists does not by itself mean you agreed to pay for it. Without a special clause, you do not have to pay for damage that was not caused by your intent or negligence (Q14, Guideline p.43 to 44).

Special clauses (tokuyaku)

A contract may make the tenant pay for things the guideline would leave to the landlord, such as a fixed cleaning fee. The guideline says such clauses need an objective and reasonable need, the tenant's awareness that they go beyond the normal duty, and the tenant's clear agreement (Guideline p.6 to 7). Courts have upheld a clearly agreed fixed cleaning fee in one case and refused to read a vague clause as covering normal wear in another (Q16, Guideline p.45).

If you cannot agree

The guideline lists small claims court, civil mediation, consultation at consumer affairs centres and arbitration as ways to settle disputes (Guideline p.33 to 34). It is written in Japanese; MLIT also publishes a short leaflet in English and other languages, linked in the sources below.