Renting an apartment in Kyoto, in English

This page covers the Kyoto metro area: Kyoto city's 11 wards, with Uji, Mukō, Nagaokakyō, Ōyamazaki, Yawata and Kyōtanabe. The north of the prefecture, such as Fukuchiyama and Maizuru, is outside it. Smoovin still explains its listings, without the commute or English station names.

Open a listing and Smoovin explains every fee in English, shows the amounts in yen and US dollars, gives station names in English and lists the convenience stores, supermarkets and pharmacies nearby.

For the commute, it finds the nearest station with a direct train to Kyoto Station, Shijō-Karasuma, Kawaramachi, Sanjō and Umeda, with the line and the walk. When every one of them needs a transfer, it links to a public-transport route instead.

It works on listings from SUUMO, GaijinPot Apartments, LIFULL HOME'S and at home.

Many Kyoto listings now use shikikin (敷金) and reikin (礼金) as in Tokyo, and some still use the Kansai style: a guarantee deposit (hoshōkin, 保証金) with a part kept at move-out (shikibiki, 敷引). In a 2019 count of about 180,000 apartments, a Kyoto listing that charged a renewal fee (kōshinryō, 更新料) asked about a month's rent on average, second only to Tokyo. The move-in costs guide explains both styles, and the rental contracts guide the renewal fee.

On listings here, Smoovin explains these fees the local way:

Key money (Reikin)

Non-refundable payment to the landlord. Many Kansai listings charge it, and one with a guarantee deposit (hoshōkin) may too, so ask if it isn't listed.

Guarantee deposit (Hoshōkin)

A deposit some Kyoto listings ask instead of a security deposit (shikikin), often larger. The landlord keeps the deduction (shikibiki or shōkyaku) when you move out and returns the rest, less any repairs.

Deposit deduction (Shikibiki)

The part of your deposit the landlord keeps when you move out (shikibiki, shōkyaku or kaiyakubiki), a Kansai custom. It comes out of the deposit, so you don't pay it on top.

Renewal fee (Kōshinryō)

Paid when the lease renews, typically every 2 years. Common in Kyoto, often one month's rent or more; ask before you sign.

In September 2026, a single's flat of 30 m² or less in Kyoto city was listed at ¥62,869 a month on average in a マンション (a concrete apartment building), and ¥59,552 in an アパート (a smaller wood or light-steel building). Both figures are rent plus the management fee, from listings on at home.

The room layouts guide explains what 1R and 1K mean, with the average size of a 1R flat in Kyoto city.

ICOCA, from JR West, pays fares on JR and on the private railways, the subway and the buses, and Japan's other main IC cards, such as Suica, work here too.

Register your address at the ward or city office within 14 days of moving in. The moving-in guide says what to bring.

Kyoto city sells designated paid garbage bags in shops: a 45 L bag for burnable garbage costs ¥45. The garbage guide covers sorting.

Electricity is 60 Hz, as in the rest of western Japan. The utilities guide explains what that means for appliances bought in eastern Japan.

In Kyoto city, the Kyoto City International Foundation helps with city and ward office procedures in English and other languages, by phone or at its center, kokoka. Elsewhere in the prefecture, the Kyoto Prefecture Multilingual Living Consultation Service does, in 25 languages.

• Using SUUMO and Japan's rental sites in English: How to use SUUMO, LIFULL HOME'S and at home in English: what each site is, searching with your browser translating, and the labels on an apartment listing.
• Apartment move-in costs in Japan: Deposit, key money, guarantor fees and the other move-in costs on a Japanese apartment, what the first payment covers, and what to ask about the estimate.
• Rental contracts in Japan: renewal and moving out: Ordinary and fixed-term leases in Japan, renewal fees, notice periods and what you pay when you move out: what to check in an apartment contract before signing.
• Japanese apartment layouts: 1K, 1LDK and 2LDK: What 1K, 1LDK and 2LDK mean on a Japanese apartment listing, how room sizes in jō compare with square meters, and what a floor plan can't tell you.
• Moving into an apartment in Japan: Your first weeks in a Japanese apartment: the handover check, registering your address and residence card, National Health Insurance, the pension and mail.
• Garbage and recycling in Japan: How garbage sorting and collection work in Japan, when to put it out, and how to get rid of oversized items, appliances, computers, batteries and moving boxes.

Once it's in Chrome, Smoovin appears on its own the next time you open a listing.