Guarantor Company Renewal Fees

The guarantor company renewal fee in Japan is the recurring charge that keeps your rent guarantee active long after move-in.¹² It arrives on the guarantor company's own schedule, and it is easy to confuse with the landlord's lease renewal fee.³⁴

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).

Overview

A guarantor company (保証会社, hoshō gaisha, "guarantor company") guarantees your rent obligations to the landlord for a fee.¹² The renewal fee extends that guarantee for another period, usually another year.¹²

Casa states its contract requires an initial guarantee fee plus an annual guarantee fee of 10,000 JPY each year (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the handling guarantor company).¹ Nihon Safety states its guarantee period is one year and renews every year for long-term renting, with a safety fee due at each renewal (as of 2026-09-06).² Amounts and cycles vary by company across the country, so the exact schedule is set by the designated company rather than by any ward or municipal rule.

This guide covers what the fee is, how much it costs across company models, how billing works, and why it cannot be cancelled while you keep living in the unit. MLIT runs a voluntary registration system for rent debt guarantee businesses, so registration status can serve as one reference when checking a designated company.⁵

What the Fee Is and Is Not

The guarantee renewal keeps a private contract between you and the guarantee company alive. It does not pay the landlord for the room itself, and it does not buy insurance for you.¹⁶

Term	Meaning
保証委託更新料 (hoshō itaku kōshinryō, "guarantee-consignment renewal fee")	The recurring fee that extends the rent guarantee7
更新料 (kōshinryō, "lease renewal fee")	The lease renewal fee paid to the landlord4
口座振替 (kōza furikae, "bank auto-debit transfer")	The bank auto-debit channel commonly used for rent and related housing charges

Separate from the landlord renewal fee

The guarantor-company renewal fee goes to the guarantee company, while the landlord renewal fee goes to the landlord.³⁴ Japan LifeHub lists them as separate renewal line items, with the guarantor item commonly around 10,000 JPY against a landlord item of around one month's rent (as of 2026-07-28; confirm current figures with the handling guarantor company).³

Mooovin lists the guarantee-company renewal alongside fire insurance as additional costs beyond the landlord renewal fee at lease renewal time.⁴ Budget for each payee separately rather than treating one payment as covering both.

Separate from fire insurance renewal

Fire insurance renewal is a separate contract with its own insurer, typically costing around 10,000 to 20,000 JPY for two years of cover (as of 2026-09-07; confirm current figures with the insurance provider).⁴ The guarantee renewal follows the guarantee company's cycle, which is often yearly, while fire insurance commonly runs on a two-year period tied to the lease term (as of 2026-09-06).²⁴

How Much and How Often

Costs follow recognizable bands, but each company sets its own system for initial and renewal charges.⁷ The table below carries the currency signal for every row, and the prose note covers the table as a whole (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with the handling guarantor company).¹⁶⁷³

Item	Amount	As of	Notes
Casa annual guarantee fee	10,000 JPY each year	2026-09-06	After the initial fee; business use and agency handling may differ1
Market annual renewal band	10,000–20,000 JPY per year	2026-09-06	Paid yearly6
Glossary annual renewal	About 10,000 JPY per year	2026-09-06	Charged after the second year in the glossary example7
Practitioner renewal range	About 5,000–20,000 JPY	2026-07-28	Varies with company and rent level3
Biennial or percentage variants	10,000 JPY every 1–2 years, or about 10% of annual rent	2026-09-07	Company-dependent alternatives4

The annual flat-fee model

The most documented pattern is a flat yearly charge. Casa's company-stated term is 10,000 JPY each year on top of the initial guarantee fee (as of 2026-09-06).¹ Fees may differ for business use and between real estate companies handling the same product.¹

GTN's fee table gives the same shape at market level, with annual renewal at 10,000 to 20,000 JPY (as of 2026-09-06).⁶ A Tokyo agency glossary describes the usual case as about 10,000 JPY per year after the second year (as of page fetched 2026-09-06).⁷

The biennial and percentage models

Some companies bill every two years instead of every year, aligned with the standard two-year lease cycle. Mooovin states guarantee-company renewals range from 10,000 JPY every one or two years to 10 percent of the total annual rent, depending on the company (as of 2026-09-07).⁴

Practitioner sources describe biennial billing at roughly half the original guarantee fee, but no fetched primary company page states that 50 percent figure verbatim, so treat the exact ratio as company-specific and confirm it in the fee table before signing (as of 2026-09-06).⁷⁴

Ask for the renewal schedule in writing before signing

Initial-fee-only quotes can hide the recurring charge. Request the designated company's name and its renewal table, including the cycle and the exact yen amount, before signing.⁷

The monthly-fee model

A smaller group of plans charges 1 to 2 percent of monthly rent through the lease period instead of a flat yearly amount (as of page fetched 2026-09-06).⁷ GTN's table separately lists an administrative fee of 5,000 to 10,000 JPY at contract alongside an initial guarantee fee of 50 to 100 percent of rent (as of 2026-09-06).⁶

Over a multi-year stay the monthly-percentage shape can total more than a flat annual fee. Compare the two schedules over your likely length of stay rather than on the first year's bill alone.

How Payment Works

Renewal-time costs are typically paid by transfer to a designated account by the due date, alongside the landlord renewal fee and insurance where they coincide.⁴ Confirm the guarantor schedule separately, because some companies bill annually even when the lease itself renews every two years.³

The collection flow usually runs through the same rent-payment channel:

Billing timing and auto-debit

In practice the renewal is often collected through the rent-payment auto-transfer channel, though no fetched primary company page states auto-debit as a universal rule, so confirm the method on your own contract rather than assuming it. Mooovin describes renewal-time payment of the guarantee fee by transfer to the designated account by the due date.⁴

Because anniversary billing and the two-year lease cycle can diverge, a guarantee bill can arrive in a year with no lease renewal. Renewal guides therefore advise checking the guarantor agreement's own schedule rather than the lease dates.³

Missed payment and guarantee lapse

A lapsed guarantee leaves the landlord without the contracted cover, which is why renewal guides treat the fee as required to keep the service active rather than optional.⁷³ Casa describes the underlying service plainly: when rent cannot be paid because of illness or accident, the company pays the landlord on the tenant's behalf.¹

GTN describes the delinquency sequence as company payment to the landlord, usually within three to five business days, then a payment demand to the tenant, followed by collection activity and eventually legal steps if the debt stays unpaid (as of 2026-09-06).⁶ Contact the company early if a payment will be late.

The renewal fee buys continued cover, not tenant insurance

The company pays the landlord first and collects the same debt from the tenant afterward. A paid renewal does not forgive missed rent.¹⁶

Cancellation and Move-Out

The guarantee is a condition of the tenancy set by the landlord or management company, not an optional subscription the tenant can switch off mid-lease. Japan LifeHub notes the guarantor fee is usually fixed by the company and not typically negotiable.³

Why the guarantee cannot be dropped mid-lease

Nihon Safety only accepts applications through a real estate company that handles its system, and rentable properties vary by which company's system the agency handles.² In practice the landlord or management company designates the company and the tenant pays the set schedule.²⁶

GTN's contracting checklist frames the same point from the tenant side: verify the guarantee scope, the renewal conditions, and the cancellation terms before signing, because mid-term exit options are company-specific.⁶ GTN operates its own rent guarantor service as a foreigner-specialized channel that needs no joint guarantor, which shows how company terms rather than a single market rule govern each contract.⁸ Do not plan on dropping the guarantee while continuing the same lease.

What ends the renewal cycle

Moving out ends future renewal billing because the guarantee attaches to the continuing tenancy. Past fees stay non-refundable: Nihon Safety states its guarantee charge is not a deposit and is not returned even on mid-period cancellation.²

Give notice to the management company before leaving, commonly at least one month ahead of the planned move-out date, rather than simply letting the lease lapse.⁴ Keep the final contract copy until the last billing clears.

Good to know

The renewal fee arrives even in a no-koshinryo lease

Some leases charge no landlord renewal fee at all, yet the guarantee renewal still bills on its own schedule. The two fees have different payees and different triggers, so a zero on the landlord line does not cancel the company line.³⁴

Annual billing and biennial lease renewal run on different clocks

A lease that renews every two years can pair with a guarantee that bills every year. That mismatch puts a guarantee-only bill in the off year, which surprises tenants who budgeted renewal costs exclusively around the lease date.³ Mark both schedules at move-in.

Budget the guarantee renewal alongside fire insurance at year two

At the first two-year lease renewal, the guarantee-company renewal and the fire insurance renewal can fall due together with the landlord renewal fee. Mooovin lists all three as concurrent renewal-time costs.⁴ Reserve for the stack, not just the headline landlord fee.

Ask for the company name and fee table before signing

Each company runs a different system for initial and renewal costs, so a quote that names only the initial fee is incomplete.⁷ Get the designated company's name, the renewal cycle, the yen amount or percentage basis, and the payment method in writing before signing.

See also

• The Guarantor Company System
• Move-In Cost Breakdown: What 4-6 Months Actually Buys
• The Standard 2-Year Rental Contract
• Fire Insurance and the Carrier-Substitution Trick
• Negotiation in the Japanese Rental Market
• Renewal Fees (Koshin-ryo) and the Regional Variation

References

Footnotes

1. Casa Inc. "Guarantee Service." https://casa-inc.co.jp/en/service/user/guarantee/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Nihon Safety Co., Ltd. "The rental guarantee system." https://www.nihon-safety.co.jp/english/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. Japan LifeHub. "Apartment Lease Renewal Costs in Japan: Breaking Down Agency Fees, Guarantor Fees and Hidden Charges." 2026-07-28. https://japanlifehub.com/en/housing/apartment-contract-renewal-costs-fees-japan/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

4. Mooovin Editorial Department. "What Is a Renewal Fee (Koshinryo) in Japan?" Published 2026-04-24, updated 2026-09-07. https://mooovin.jp/en/article/detail/78 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

5. 国土交通省 (MLIT). 「家賃債務保証業者登録制度」. https://www.mlit.go.jp/jutakukentiku/house/jutakukentiku_house_fr7_000024.html ↩

6. Global Trust Networks. "Understanding Japan's Co-guarantor and Guarantee Company System for Foreign Renters." GTN Magazine, updated 2026-09-06. https://www.gtn.co.jp/magazine/en_us/article206/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

7. HouseRep Tokyo. "Renewal Fee for Guarantor Company: 保証委託更新料 (Hoshōitaku-koushinryo) / Glossary." https://www.houserep-tokyo.com/glossary/20 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

8. Global Trust Networks Co., Ltd. "家賃保証サービス (Rent Guarantor Service)." https://www.gtn.co.jp/business/realestate/rent-guarantor ↩