Tokyo check-in during Golden Week and Obon

If your Tokyo move-in falls around Golden Week or Obon, ask the rental company whether its office will be open on your arrival date and how you'll collect the keys. Confirm this before paying for an arrival date that depends on someone being in the office.

Some homes can arrange check-in while the office is closed. The important questions are whether your application can be completed in time, how you'll get in and who can help if access fails.

Check the calendar for your year

Use the Cabinet Office's national-holiday calendar for the year you are travelling. Golden Week includes holidays in late April and early May; weekends and substitute holidays affect the shape of the period. May 6 is not a fixed annual national holiday.

Obon office closures follow company schedules rather than a single national-holiday block. Ask about both the booking office and the team handling your arrival. A company may take summer leave on dates that differ from the ones you found in a travel article.

Also ask about the last day for document review and payment confirmation. A room can be accessible during a closure while the staff needed to approve a new application are unavailable.

Settle paperwork before discussing the key code

Confirm what remains outstanding: identity checks, signatures, employer authorisation or payment. Ask for a deadline in Japan time and a reply confirming completion.

MetroResidences' FAQ offers a useful example of these dependencies: key instructions follow signing, and even an immediately available room requires payment and screening to be completed.

If the office closes before your payment is likely to be confirmed, ask for an accepted plan. Don't assume an automated booking email overrides an incomplete application.

There can also be a closure at a company your booking depends on. In its 2026 Golden Week notice, Credit Saison's rent-guarantee department closed from 2 to 6 May and said screening and results would be handled after the closure. That matters only if your rental needs that department's approval, but it shows why the apartment team's opening hours may not answer the whole question.

For a 4 May arrival in that example, approval would have needed to finish before the closure, or the guest would have needed temporary accommodation. The department reopened on 7 May, but that didn't promise immediate approval.

Ask whether another company needs to finish its work before your keys can be released, and use its closure notice for the year you're travelling.

Match your arrival to the handover method

For staffed reception, confirm the hours for that date, the latest permitted arrival and what happens if you are delayed. For office collection, verify the office address separately from the apartment address and allow for the journey between them.

For a lockbox or digital lock, ask when instructions will arrive, when access becomes active and whether you need a phone connection or app. Save the instructions offline and check that they explain the building entrance as well as the apartment door.

A digital system still needs a recovery route. Ask whom to contact if a code is rejected, the key is missing or your phone is unavailable. Keep a phone number that can be used from your planned mobile service. If the support team is only available during certain hours, factor that into your arrival time.

One email can collect the essentials

My arrival is [date and approximate time], during [holiday period]. Please confirm your office closure dates, the deadline for my documents and payment, and how I will enter this exact unit. When will you send the instructions, and which contact can help if my flight is delayed or access fails?

If handover isn't possible on that date, please quote the earliest available start and explain whether changing it affects rent or other charges.

A useful reply gives a method and a deadline. “We'll arrange something” leaves work unfinished. Follow up on the missing part while staff are still available; save the confirmed support contact with your arrival instructions.

Compare a later start with temporary accommodation

If arrival can't be arranged, price the options before changing anything. You might move the lease start, arrive earlier or book a hotel until handover is possible. Check availability and cancellation terms for the fallback too.

For illustration, three hotel nights at an invented ¥15,000 rate cost ¥45,000. If the apartment continues charging an invented ¥7,000 per day over those same three days, the overlap adds ¥21,000, bringing the combined hotel and apartment cost to ¥66,000. If the apartment agrees in writing to move the contract start without those charges, the comparison changes.

Include luggage storage and transport if they are needed. Don't assume a later physical arrival changes the rent start date automatically. Don't cancel the apartment until you know the cancellation cost and have another confirmed place to stay.

Plan the first working day as well

Ask what support remains available during the closure and which non-urgent matters wait until staff return. You may want to leave a little space in your schedule for reporting missing items or resolving a setup issue before your first important work call.

Keep genuine emergency instructions separate from routine maintenance contacts. If the company provides building-specific procedures, read them before arrival and save them with the access details.

If the check-in plan changes, keep the revised dates, charges and access instructions together so you're using the latest version when you travel.