The Move-Out Cleaning Fee Fixed-Amount Trap
The Japan move-out cleaning fee clause fixes your move-out cleaning payment at a set yen figure written into the lease's special-clauses section.12 If that clause was explained at signing and you signed acknowledging it, courts will generally enforce it even when the unit is spotless, so the time to deal with it is before you sign.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). This article is general information, not legal advice; for an initial consultation contact the Consumer Affairs Center (188), or consult a licensed lawyer for a contested deduction or court claim.
Overview
A fixed-amount cleaning clause is a 特約 (tokuyaku, "special provision departing from the default rule") that converts cleaning from a condition-based question into a contractual figure.12 The figure is deducted from your 敷金 (shikikin, "security deposit") when the contract ends.
This article covers private-sector residential leases at roughly market rent, both at the signing stage and at move-out.3 It walks through the default rule the clause overrides, the test courts apply to the clause, what to do before signing, and what remains open to dispute after a valid clause takes its cut.
The Default Rule: Ordinary Wear Sits Landlord-Side
Restoration to original condition (原状回復, genjō kaifuku, "restoration to original condition") means restoring only damage from your intent, negligence, breach of duty of care, or use beyond normal use.3 It explicitly does not mean returning the unit to its move-in-day state.
Ordinary wear from normal use (通常損耗, tsūjō sonmō, "ordinary wear from normal use") plus aging deterioration (経年変化, keinen henka, "aging deterioration over time") are included in rent and sit landlord-side.3 Since the 2020-04-01 Civil Code revision, Article 621 writes this exclusion into statute.4
What the guideline covers and what it cannot do
The MLIT guideline compiles the standard contract, case law, and transaction practice into a general benchmark for how restoration costs should be split (first issued 1998-03; revised 2004-02 and 2011-08).3 It carries no legal force of its own, so each dispute ultimately turns on the contract text and the unit's condition.
The guideline is meant to be read at contract signing, not only at move-out.3 MLIT frames restoration as an entry problem: confirm the restoration conditions and every special clause at signing with both sides sharing the same understanding, and verify the unit's condition jointly at entry and exit with checklists and photos.
The Fixed-Amount Cleaning Clause
The clause lives in the special-clauses section near the end of the contract, where terms overriding the default tenant protections are written.12 Typical wording fixes a yen figure for a professional clean, and the amount comes out of shikikin at contract end.1
Shikikin itself is security money held against unpaid rent and tenant-caused damage.14 Absent such debts at handover, the full amount is returnable, and the landlord must return the balance after deducting only established claims.
What the clause usually says
The enforceable shape names a fixed figure and applies it regardless of soiling: one clause litigated in Tokyo fixed ¥25,000 excluding tax for a professional clean at contract end, whatever the room's state.1 That regardless-of-condition wording is the whole point of the clause, and the part tenants most often miss.
A bare line saying cleaning is the tenant's burden is a different, weaker shape.2 It leaves open whether a professional clean was even commissioned, and courts have repeatedly refused to read a flat fee into it.
Typical amounts by unit size
Content-plan scope puts the typical fixed figure at ¥30,000 to ¥80,000 for a 1K to 1LDK, with larger units above that band (as of 2026-09; confirm current figures with your broker or management company). Practitioner material corroborates the order of magnitude without fixing the band: the Tokyo-model restoration explanation treats roughly ¥25,000 as the yardstick for a full professional move-out clean (as of 2026-05).2
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed cleaning fee, 1K to 1LDK (plan-scope band) | ¥30,000–80,000 | 2026-09 | Scope band; independent corroboration pending |
| Tokyo-model professional-clean yardstick | approx. ¥25,000 | 2026-05 | Quoted in practitioner analysis2 |
| Court-upheld fixed figure (Tokyo District 2009-09-18) | ¥25,000 (excl. tax) | 2009-09-18 | Explained at signing, clearly agreed1 |
When Courts Uphold the Clause
A tenant-unfavorable restoration clause is not automatically valid or automatically void.1 It survives only if it passes the validity test, and the explained-and-signed scenario is the fact pattern that passes most reliably.
The test below, drawn from the MLIT Q&A and Supreme Court case law, runs in the order a tenant should apply it.12
The three-part validity test
A tenant-unfavorable special clause on restoration must meet three conditions: the clause has necessity plus objectively reasonable, non-profiteering grounds; the tenant recognizes they bear beyond-default restoration duties; and the tenant manifests intent to bear that burden.1 Supreme Court case law states the same test in two-condition form: the tenant-borne scope of ordinary wear must be stated specifically in the clause itself, and the tenant must have clearly agreed to it.2
Even a clearly agreed clause can still fail on content.12 If it is unreasonably one-sided, it may be void under Consumer Contract Act Articles 9 and 10 or Civil Code Article 90.5
The explained-and-signed scenario
A licensed broker (宅地建物取引士, takken-shi, "licensed real-estate transaction specialist") must explain important contract matters from a written document before signing, in the 重要事項説明 (jūyō jikō setsumei, "important-matters explanation delivered before signing").6 The cleaning clause should be read and explained in this process, with the tenant signing to acknowledge it.
Tokyo District Court on 2009-09-18 upheld a ¥25,000 fixed cleaning clause in exactly this shape: the content was explained at signing and clearly agreed, the tenant was spared ordinary cleaning, the amount was half the monthly rent or less, and it fell within a reasonable professional-cleaning range, so it did not violate Consumer Contract Act Article 10.1 Courts generally uphold explicitly explained and signed fixed-amount clauses within a reasonable range even where the tenant later considers the outcome harsh.12
When the Clause Fails
Clauses fail in two ways: vague wording that courts read narrowly, and content so one-sided that statute voids it.125 Both failure modes reward the tenant who kept the contract text and the explanation record.
Vague wording read narrowly
Tokyo District Court on 2009-01-16 held that a generic "tenant bears room-cleaning costs" line states only the general restoration duty.1 It does not impose ordinary-wear costs on the tenant, so no fixed-amount burden followed from it.
Tokyo District Court on 2013-05-27 read a "cleaning costs are the tenant's full burden" clause narrowly even though the important-matters explanation mirrored it.2 The court held it covers only professional cleaning actually commissioned to supplement insufficient tenant cleaning, not a flat fee charged where no professional clean was needed.
The lesson generalizes: a bare "hausu kuriningu is tenant-borne" line leaves open whether cases needing no professional clean are included, whether a fixed amount applies regardless of cleaning performed, and whether the landlord's commissioned cost is actually owed.2 Courts have repeatedly voided that shape.
Unreasonably one-sided content
Consumer Contract Act Article 9(i) voids preset-damages clauses exceeding the average loss from the breach type, and Article 10 voids clauses that unilaterally harm consumers against good faith.5 A fixed cleaning figure set far above the professional-cleaning range, or a clause demanding full replacement costs regardless of fault, risks failing this content test no matter how clearly it was signed.125
What to Do Before You Sign
Everything below costs little at signing and costs dearly at move-out. The contract is freely agreed within mandatory lease and consumer law floors, and agreed content binds both sides, so unread terms still bind after signing.1
Read the special-clauses section line by line
Find the general rule first (aging plus normal use sits landlord-side), then list every exception the special clauses claim.312 Resolve every ambiguity on the spot, because the signed Japanese original controls over any later recollection of what was said.
In Tokyo, the broker must deliver and explain a dedicated restoration document apart from the important-matters sheet, covering the general rule, any special clauses, repair duties, and contact points.7 Outside Tokyo no such duty exists, so request the same explanation yourself before signing.
Negotiate the clause out or pin down specifics
Where possible, ask for the clause to be struck. Negotiation in the Japanese Rental Market covers the broader fee-by-fee bargaining playbook this request belongs to.
Where the landlord insists, demand specificity in writing: a fixed charge applying regardless of cleaning performed, covering the landlord commissioning the work, at a reasonable stated amount.2 Spoken concessions bind nobody until written into the signed contract.1
A fixed amount owed regardless of condition is a certain loss at move-out, not a worst case. If the figure exceeds the Tokyo-model yardstick by a wide margin, question or refuse it before signing; post-signature changes are rarely possible.
What to Do at Move-Out If the Clause Binds You
A valid clause narrows the move-out fight but does not end it. The fixed sum is settled; everything above it is still contestable.
The move-out itself follows a short chain from handover to final settlement, and each step after the deduction is a chance to catch overcharges.1
Expect the fixed deduction regardless of condition
Under a valid fixed-amount clause, the fixed sum comes out of shikikin even if you cleaned thoroughly or the unit shows no soiling.12 Self-cleaning does not cancel the contractual figure, because the clause prices the landlord commissioning a professional clean as a term, not reimbursement for work actually done.
Demand the itemized statement and dispute what exceeds the clause
A landlord deducting restoration costs from shikikin must show the concrete basis; you may demand the itemized statement and an explanation.1 Restoration remains the largest single rental complaint category in the national consumer-affairs network, with 13,273 consultations in 2023, 13,312 in 2024, and 14,711 in 2025 (as of 2026-07-31; confirm current figures with the National Consumer Affairs Center).8 The Consumer Affairs Center network (hotline 188) takes these consultations before any court step.9
Where negotiation fails, claims of ¥600,000 or less may use the small-claims procedure at the summary court of the other party's address, generally resolved in a single hearing (filing fee ¥6,000 on a ¥600,000 claim, as of 2026-09).1 Aim the claim at charges above the valid fixed figure, which is the part a court can still cut.
Good to know
A fixed fee applies even if you cleaned the unit yourself
A valid fixed-amount clause bills the contractual figure even after a full self-clean or where no professional clean was commissioned.1 The clause upheld on 2009-09-18 applied regardless of soiling, which is exactly why the signing-stage reading matters more than move-out effort.
Larger units carry larger fixed fees
The fixed figure scales with unit size, so a clause that looks modest on a 1K can run substantially higher on a family-size unit. The plan-scope band puts 1K to 1LDK units at ¥30,000 to ¥80,000 with larger units above it, though independent corroboration of that band is still pending.
A signature after explanation is hard to undo
Once the clause was read and explained and you signed acknowledging it, courts generally treat the agreement as binding even if you later call it unfair.12 Explanation plus clear agreement satisfies the two-condition test, and only unreasonably one-sided content still fails.
The dedicated restoration explanation sheet is a Tokyo-only duty
Only Tokyo requires the broker to deliver and explain a separate restoration sheet for brokered residential leases.7 Outside Tokyo the same walkthrough is still worth having, but you must ask for it, because no statute makes the broker offer it.
See also
- Landlord-Deposit-Dispute Path
- Move-Out Inspection and Deposit Negotiation in Japan
- Japan Rental Contract Clauses to Read and Negotiate
- Negotiation in the Japanese Rental Market
- Signing Day: What Actually Happens
- The Standard 2-Year Rental Contract