What It Is Like Finding Houses In Japan- For Same Sex Couple

These days, I have been searching for houses where I can live with Candice. In the end, we decided waiting for a while but here I write what it is like finding houses in Japan for same sex couple like us, about both bright side and dark side.

（Bright Side）

On the Internet, it is said that finding accommodations which accept same sex couple is difficult in Japan. Some say many landlords will not accept same sex couple at all. So… when I started searching rental property, I was so afraid whether I can find one.

However, actually, it was easy to find places where two women can live together. There are many rental properties which accept two people sharing rooms.

The problem was, it was so difficult to find properties which allow to have dogs (Candice has a cute dog). We had to give up many nice properties because of this limitation.

Anyway, it means, in Japan, finding houses which accept same sex couple is easier than finding houses which accept dogs. That’s nice, right?

（Dark Side）

It does not mean Japan is perfect country for LGBT+ couples to find houses.

First of all, although some property companies introduce ‘LGBT-friendly certification’ to show accommodations which are open to LGBT+ couple, unfortunately scarce properties are given the certification.

What is worse, because of the certification system, when we want to look at properties which are not given ‘LGBT-friendly’ certification, it is really difficult to openly tell staffs that we are same-sex couple. I myself couldn’t tell: I introduced Candice as ‘my best friend’. Japanese hetero-sexual couples would never experience such embarrassing moment.

Also, as we are both women, many people repeatedly told us it is quite dangerous living without any men. Some people advised us to have dogs… although it was quite difficult to have dogs as I told above. That was burdensome.

（Conclusion）

In the end, what I want to say is: finding accommodations which accept same sex couples is burdensome but not as difficult as the Internet says. I really hope that next time I go to a property company, I can have enough courage to introduce Candice as my lover.