{"id":128,"date":"2026-10-03T08:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T23:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/?p=128"},"modified":"2026-10-08T07:47:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:47:54","slug":"room-hunting-then-and-now-edo-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/?p=128","title":{"rendered":"Why Is the \u201cFor Rent\u201d Sign Crooked? | Room Hunting, Then and Now: Edo \u2460"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Why
Photo: Hida-Takayama, a town that keeps the look of the Edo period (Airu \/ Unsplash). The \u201ckashiya\u201d slip is an illustration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is the English edition of our Japanese series \u300c\u304a\u90e8\u5c4b\u63a2\u3057\u4eca\u3080\u304b\u3057\u300d (Room Hunting, Then and Now). \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u7248\u306f\u3053\u3061\u3089<\/a> \uff0f All English articles<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last time I took home one piece of homework. In old Japan, an empty house for rent was marked with a paper slip called a kashiya-fuda<\/em>, and that slip was usually pasted on at an angle. My homework was to find out why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conclusion first. I could not find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homework not handed in, on day one<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let me make my excuses. I checked two dictionaries. Both say the slip was \u201coften pasted at an angle.\u201d Neither says why. I went through other sources too and found no solid reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At school I would be sent to stand in the hallway. Still, I think that beats pretending to know. I will keep looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cVacancy\u201d sign from 300 years ago<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are things I did find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kashiya-fuda existed at least 300 years ago. In Hakata Kojor\u014d Namimakura<\/em>, a puppet play (j\u014druri<\/em>) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon from 1718, there is a scene where a \u201cpaper kashiya slip\u201d is pasted on a house that has become empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a time with no photos and no floor plans. The slip was the signal for \u201cthis one is empty.\u201d It did the same job as a \u201cVacancy\u201d sign today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lattice
Then: the lattice of an old wooden house (Photo: Naoki Suzuki \/ Unsplash). For illustration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Probably, it wanted attention<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From here on, this is my guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sheet of paper pasted straight blends into the scenery. Pasted at an angle, it catches the eye. It is the same logic as a discount sticker at the supermarket: the slightly crooked one is the one you notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe people 300 years ago were also wondering how to get noticed. Today\u2019s listings tagged \u201cNew\u201d or \u201cRecommended\u201d come from the same idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To repeat, this is a guess. If you know the real reason, please tell me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You found the sign. You still can\u2019t move in<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finding the slip did not mean you could move in right away. To rent a home in Edo (today\u2019s Tokyo), you needed someone to vouch for you. That person was called a tanaukenin<\/em>, and it was often a relative or someone from your hometown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today that job is done by companies. Many leases in Japan ask the tenant to use a rent guarantee company, which pays the landlord if the rent goes unpaid. In Edo, a person took that role. If you had no one to ask, all you could do was stand in front of the slip. Edo was a tough town too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tools changed. The steps did not<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Walking around looking for slips became a smartphone search. The tanaukenin became the guarantee company. The tools have been completely replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the steps, finding a vacancy and confirming trust, are almost the same as 300 years ago. Seen that way, I can be a little kinder to today\u2019s screening and paperwork. Just a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hands
Now: room hunting in the palm of your hand (Photo: Gilles Lambert \/ Unsplash).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next time, I dig a little deeper into this guarantor. What do you think people did when they had no one to ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking for a home in Sapporo?<\/strong>
Message us on LINE: https:\/\/line.me\/ti\/p\/u2qP4VZ5ZU<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note:<\/strong> Lease contracts and the legally required explanation of important matters (j\u016by\u014d jik\u014d setsumei<\/em>) are provided in Japanese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A \u201cfor rent\u201d slip pasted at an angle, 300 years ago. Why crooked? Even the dictionaries don\u2019t say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions\/143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iiie-r5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}