Would You Pass Tenant Screening in Edo? | Room Hunting, Then and Now: Edo ③

This is the English edition of our Japanese series 「お部屋探し今むかし」 (Room Hunting, Then and Now). 日本語版はこちら ／ All English articles

Last time I wrote that the guarantor even vouched that the tenant was “not carrying debts.” After writing it, I started to wonder. How on earth did anyone check that? There were no credit bureaus and no internet.

The landlord goes asking around your old neighborhood

According to Okitsu Kaname’s book Ōedo Nagaya-banashi, an Edo landlord questioned not only the applicant but the whole family in detail: their backgrounds, character, conduct, even their health.

It did not stop there. The landlord went to the neighborhood of the applicant’s previous home to look into things, and turned the applicant down if anything seemed suspicious.

In today’s terms: you hand in your application, and the landlord goes door to door around your old apartment. Practically a detective. The idea of personal information did not exist yet, not even a shadow of it.

“Ask the previous landlord” was the government’s rule

This was not the landlord’s hobby.

An Edo town ordinance of 1730 contains a rule to the effect that you should check with the previous landlord, and may rent to the person if there is no problem. It also says to confirm where a new tenant comes from. Going further back, an ordinance of 1650 orders that guarantors be examined carefully and that a reliable person be put forward.

Asking around was an officially approved procedure.

If the tenant runs, the landlord’s wallet hurts

The reason they went that far is clear.

If a tenant disappeared leaving debts behind, the principle was that the landlord and the guarantor would cover those debts (Katakura Hisako, Edo Jūtaku Jijō). Lax screening came back to your own wallet. Of course they were thorough.

The detailed screening by today’s guarantee companies follows the same logic. They are the ones who pay if things go wrong.

The methods changed. What they look at did not

Edo: interviews, the neighbors’ opinion, the previous landlord, the guarantor. Today: the application form, proof of income, credit information, the guarantee company. The tools have been completely replaced.

But what they want to know has not changed. “Will this person keep paying the rent?” That is all.

Being asked for a pile of documents can feel like being doubted, and it is not pleasant. Still, it is a good deal gentler than having someone go asking your neighbors.

A note on sources: for this article, I confirmed passages from books about life in Edo through a research blog that quotes them. If I get to check the original books, I will report back.

Next time, finally, inside the nagaya, the row-house tenements of Edo. How many tatami mats’ worth of space do you think one had?

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Please note: Lease contracts and the legally required explanation of important matters (jūyō jikō setsumei) are provided in Japanese.