There are many real estate agencies with listings targeted toward students near the campuses and stations that can help you find housing.
In Japan, landlords usually require a co-signer or guarantor as a guarantee of payment when renting an apartment in Japan. In an effort to help students smoothly complete their housing rental contracts, we recommend using the services of the guarantor company described below.
When you sign a contract and move into a new apartment, please utilize this guarantor company to serve as your co-signer. If you are an international student of our university (regardless of visa status), you are eligible to utilize the guarantor company’s housing cosign guarantee at a specially discounted rate.
*Ritsumeikan University and its faculty and staff will not serve as guarantors for housing rental contracts. If you need a guarantor, please use the recommended guarantor company below.
＜Our Recommended Guarantor Company＞
Global Trust Networks (GTN)
【Japanese】http://www.gtn.co.jp/
【English】http://www.gtn.co.jp/en/
＊There is a website available in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese in addition to the above-mentioned languages.
＜Guarantor Services＞
① Support in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Nepali.
② You don’t have to find anyone to co-sign for your housing.
You can enjoy the company’s co-sign guarantee simply by designating both an emergency contact person in your home country (family), and an emergency contact here in Japan (any nationality).
③ Support for your daily life.
Call the help line for assistance when you move in and need to complete your utility contractsͲ electric, gas, and water. You can also call for support when you’d like to cancel or renew your housing contract.
④ You can find rooms available for non-Japanese.
The GTN run website called Best-Estate provides information on rental apartments available for non-Japanese. This multilingual website allows you to search for rooms for rent easily in the language of your choice.
Best-Estate: https://www.best-estate.jp/en/
GTN’s guarantor services can be used when renting from the following housing rental agencies. When you want to use GTN’s services, please visit one of the customer service counters below.
【Kinugasa Campus】
■Ritsumeikan Co-op: Kinugasa Sumai Sagashi Center TEL：0120-606-315
http://www.ritsco-op.jp/shopinformation/kinugasa/sumaicenter.html
■Gakusei Housing Inc. Kinugasa Branch TEL：0800-200-3215
https://www.3215.co.jp/
■Flat Agency Inc. Main Office TEL：0120-75-0669
https://flat-a.co.jp/
【Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC)】
■Ritsumeikan Co-op: BKC Sumai Sagashi Center TEL：0120-077-390
http://www.ritsco-op.jp/re/bkc/index.php
■Student Information Center Inc., Nasic TEL：0120-356-542
https://749.jp/school/ritsumei/2/
【Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC)】
■Ritsumeikan CoͲop: OIC Sumai Sagashi Center TEL：0120-283-481
http://www.oicliving.jp/
■J.S.B. Network Co., Ltd. UniLife Ibaraki Branch TEL：0120-332-617
https://unilife.co.jp/search/school/pref_id:27/school_id:16899/
*In addition to the companies listed above, there are many other rental agencies where you can use GTN’s services. Contact rental agencies directly to learn whether they are GTN’s partner agencies.