By the HalfKey team
Build a Tokyo furnished-apartment move-out packet
Keep your checkout arrangements in one place so you can find them after leaving Japan. Include the accepted departure date, key-return instructions, condition photographs and an agreed refund method, with copies you can access without your Japanese phone number.
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Start a move-out folder when you give notice, then check it about a week before checkout. Keep the agreed departure date and time, key-return instructions and refund details together, ready to add your final condition photos. You'll want to find these easily if a bill or question arrives after you've left.
A folder on your phone with an offline copy works well. Do not leave the evidence inside an email account that asks for a code sent to the old Japanese number.
Start with the accepted notice
Save the message in which the company you're renting from accepts your move-out date. A sent notice without a reply may not prove that it reached the correct address or met the contract deadline.
Record:
- Contract end date
- Accepted checkout time
- Notice date and acceptance date
- Unit name and number
- Contact handling departure
- Any approved early or late departure exception
Keep the contract beside it. Japan's housing ministry advises renters to retain the signed contract through move-out because it contains the terms needed for deposit settlement and departure. Its move-out guidance also tells renters to check who pays for cleaning or repairs and what the agreement requires when ending the rental.
Put the key method in writing
List every physical key, card, remote, and access item received. Add the exact return place and deadline.
“Leave the key” is not enough. Ask whether it goes to a front desk, staff member, unit mailbox, first-floor return box, or prepaid envelope. Confirm what to do if the mailbox is locked or the return envelope is missing.
For a PIN or app key, save the rental company's expiry instructions. Do not include the live code in a packet shared with a mover or travel companion.
After return, photograph the sealed envelope or instructed drop point. Send a short message with the time. Do not photograph a key beside a visible unit number if that image could expose the apartment before access is disabled.
Keep the final condition record beside move-in evidence
Take wide photographs of each room, then closer photographs of appliances, furniture, walls, floors, windows, bathroom, kitchen, and entry. Use the same angles as the arrival record when possible.
Remove personal goods before the photographs. Open cupboards and the refrigerator. Include the rental company's supplied inventory if one exists.
Do not repair, repaint, or hide a mark at checkout. Report it. The MLIT condition checklist exists so move-in and move-out condition can be compared, not replaced by memory.
Save any maintenance reports and replies from the rental company in the same folder. A stain reported in week two should not become a new unexplained photograph on the final day.
Separate included utilities from your own accounts
Write down which utilities the furnished-apartment invoice includes. For any account opened in your name, save the closure date, final meter or reading if requested, payment method, and confirmation number.
Do not close building internet, gas, water, or electricity that the rental company supplies. Ask first when the bill or appliance label is unclear.
Record the final invoice contact and a reachable email. If a later charge needs supporting detail, you should know who receives the question after your Japanese number ends.
Finish the mail plan before access ends
If you are moving to another address in Japan, Japan Post offers free forwarding from the old address for one year from the submission date. The official service page asks for identity and proof of the former address. Japan Post says registration can take 3 to 7 business days, so submit it before checkout.
Japan Post's international-student guide says ordinary forwarding is not available to an overseas address. If you are leaving Japan, change the address directly with banks, insurers, schools, employers, and any sender that may post a final document.
Ask the rental company what happens to mail delivered after departure. Do not assume staff can open, store, or internationally send it.
Give refunds somewhere they can arrive
Save the refund amount if already known, expected timing, deductions process, account details, currency, and transfer-fee rule.
Confirm whether the rental company can pay an overseas account. Use the account holder name exactly as the bank records it. Never send new bank details in reply to an unexpected account-change message without verifying the contact through a known channel.
Keep the final invoice and any record of money withheld for damage together. Ask for a breakdown and supporting photographs if a charge is unclear.
Save the final key-return confirmation in the folder before you leave. If a question arrives later, you'll have the agreed instructions and your record together.