This can be related to fears that foreign tenants may be unable to understand the level of Japanese to enter a leasing contract, to understand Japanese customs to do with living spaces, or that they might leave the country without paying rent or officially terminating the contract.
Even if the real estate agency is eager to assist you, they may have difficulty finding an apartment that will accept your application. Before your application even gets to the owner, it first must pass through the property manager. If this person has been instructed to refuse foreign tenants, the answer will be no. Japanese agencies are used to working with Japanese people and are often unaware of which property management companies reject foreign tenants. You may be shown floor plans for great apartments in the area, and perhaps even send in an application, only to find out you don’t qualify. This ends up being a huge waste of time plus the emotional upset of being rejected on the basis of nationality.
Certain agencies specialis in apartments for foreign residents All the apartments on their website are guaranteed to be foreigner-friendly, and they also perform custom in-depth searches of the Japanese real estate databases to find listings that are likely to accept your application.