Master leases: who rents your Tokyo apartment to you?

Find the company named as your landlord or accommodation business in the agreement, even if you booked through a different website. That is a better starting point than assuming the booking brand owns the apartment.

The company you book with might own the apartment, manage it for the owner, or rent it from the owner and then rent it to you. That last arrangement uses a master lease. Other companies may be involved too; Tokyo apartments don’t all work the same way.

What a master lease does

MLIT’s rental-management guidance describes a master lease as an agreement to rent a property so that the tenant can run a business renting it to other people. In a simple example, the owner rents to a company, which then rents the apartment to you.

A separate building manager or booking agent may be involved too. Ask what each one handles; the job title may not tell you. The approval-chain guide explains why some requests need more than the booking team's agreement.

For your stay, ask who signs the agreement with you, receives the payments, returns the deposit and handles repairs. Keep an emergency contact separately from the general booking address.

An extension is still another availability decision

Union Monthly’s customer-support page says guests can extend a stay by individual days if the room is free for those dates. Even if a company rents the apartment from its owner year-round, it may not be able to let you stay longer.

The next dates may already belong to another guest. If you need another ten days, confirm availability and the extended agreement before changing your flight.

A worked cost example

Suppose a company pays the owner ¥125,000 a month. For a 30-night stay, it charges a guest ¥165,000 rent, ¥15,000 utilities and ¥50,000 departure cleaning. The guest pays ¥230,000 in total. These are made-up prices to show how the calculation works.

If the company pays ¥15,000 for utilities and ¥18,000 for cleaning, its costs so far are ¥158,000, including the rent it pays the owner. That leaves ¥72,000. Staff, furniture, repairs, payment fees, insurance and other costs still need to come out of that money, so it isn’t all profit.

Keep a refundable deposit out of that calculation: the company may have to return it. The upfront-payment guide makes the same distinction for your own budget.

Empty periods affect the picture

If the company has agreed to pay the same rent every month, it still owes that money when the apartment is empty. Making a profit in one busy month doesn’t tell you whether it makes a profit over the year.

Here’s another made-up example. If the company’s regular costs are ¥150,000 a month, it needs to collect ¥1,800,000 a year to cover them. If guests stay for only ten months, it needs ¥180,000 for each of those months. If guests stay all twelve months, it needs ¥150,000 a month. It still has to cover costs such as cleaning, which change with the number of bookings. Actual costs and agreements will differ.

A company may therefore welcome an extension that keeps the apartment booked, but that doesn’t mean it will offer a discount. The apartment may already be reserved, the rate may be fixed, or the agreement may require another approval.

Ask about an extension before negotiating its price

Send the exact new departure date and ask whether the same apartment is available. Request the complete extension price, payment date, how utilities will be billed and any extra cleaning or administration charge. Ask whether the company will change your existing agreement or ask you to sign a new one.

An extension without a move can avoid practical work for both sides, but don't assume every fee disappears. Ask whether the original departure-cleaning fee covers the eventual checkout.

If another booking blocks the dates, ask about an alternative apartment and the cost of moving. A cheaper apartment may save less than you expect once you add another cleaning fee, any days you’ll pay for both homes and the time it takes to move.

Who can say yes to a request?

If you want someone else to stay, bring a pet, hire your own cleaner or use a shared area, ask which rule applies and who can say yes. The answer may depend on your agreement, the owner, building rules or the law.

If the team says “the owner doesn’t allow it,” ask which rule they mean. They may not be able to make an exception, even if you offer to pay more.

Keep any agreed exception in writing with your rental agreement, so the check-in or building team can refer to it.

When several sites show the same building

Check whether the listings are for the same apartment, dates, furniture and services. A price difference may come from a different room or booking terms as well as any website fee. Compare support hours, cancellation, utilities and deposits as well as rent.

Before payment, know which company is signing the agreement with you, who may receive your payment and who you should contact during the stay. Those details help you get the right answer when something needs fixing.