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I agree with your points about Japan in general. However, one major reason “people seem much less stressed about getting kicked out of their homes here” is that

I agree with your points about Japan in general. However, one major reason “people seem much less stressed about getting kicked out of their homes here” is that there are strong laws protecting tenants from eviction [0, 1]. Landlords also cannot raise rents unilaterally [2]. My own anecdatum comes from about twenty-five years ago. I was living with my family in Tokyo in a rental condominium owned by a large corporation. The corporation tried to get us to move out so that they could sell the unit. Our children were small and I worked at home, and it would have been a major hassle to move then. I looked into the law and learned that the landlord needs a “proper reason” (正当事由 seitō jiyū, [3]) to evict a tenant and that wanting to sell the property does not count as such. I told the company’s representative that we knew our rights, and they stopped bothering us. [0] https://www.generalunion.org/laws-and-rights/1700-so-you-re-being-evicted https://www.generalunion.org/laws-and-rights/1700-so-you-re-... [1] https://japanpropertycentral.com/2017/11/landlords-ending-a-lease-is-not-easy/ https://japanpropertycentral.com/2017/11/landlords-ending-a-... [2] In Japanese: https://www.homes.co.jp/cont/rent/rent_00378/ https://www.homes.co.jp/cont/rent/rent_00378/ [3] In Japanese: https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001017685.pdf https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001017685.pdf

nemothekid 6y ago
Going off Google translate, Japan doesn't seem to be any more strict than San Francisco. To evict a "no-fault" tenant in San Francisco, it must be done in a court and the tenant gets financial recompense (and like Japan, wanting to sell the unit is not a valid reason to evict). I'd argue that San Francisco tenant protection laws are stronger than Japan's. Likewise, going off [2], in Google translate, a Japanese landlord can increase your rent as long as they are increasing it to "market rate."
- tkgally 6y ago
  Interesting. I didn’t know about the laws in San Francisco. Then maybe better explanations for people feeling “less stressed about getting kicked out of their homes” in Japan than in San Francisco are the more flexible housing supply, made possible in part by looser zoning regulations; more stable long-term housing prices, resulting from a combination of demographic and macroeconomic factors; and different cultural assumptions about proper interpersonal relations, including between landlord and tenant.
  - presentation 6y ago
    Another big part is the phenomenal public transit. There are a lot of places you can live and still have a reasonable commute.
- ridaj 6y ago
  San Francisco proper, perhaps. But the giant sprawl around it, not so much Source: https://www.urbandisplacement.org/policy-tools/bay-area https://www.urbandisplacement.org/policy-tools/bay-area

nemothekid 6y ago

Going off Google translate, Japan doesn't seem to be any more strict than San Francisco. To evict a "no-fault" tenant in San Francisco, it must be done in a court and the tenant gets financial recompense (and like Japan, wanting to sell the unit is not a valid reason to evict). I'd argue that San Francisco tenant protection laws are stronger than Japan's. Likewise, going off [2], in Google translate, a Japanese landlord can increase your rent as long as they are increasing it to "market rate."

tkgally 6y ago
Interesting. I didn’t know about the laws in San Francisco. Then maybe better explanations for people feeling “less stressed about getting kicked out of their homes” in Japan than in San Francisco are the more flexible housing supply, made possible in part by looser zoning regulations; more stable long-term housing prices, resulting from a combination of demographic and macroeconomic factors; and different cultural assumptions about proper interpersonal relations, including between landlord and tenant.
- presentation 6y ago
  Another big part is the phenomenal public transit. There are a lot of places you can live and still have a reasonable commute.
ridaj 6y ago
San Francisco proper, perhaps. But the giant sprawl around it, not so much Source: https://www.urbandisplacement.org/policy-tools/bay-area https://www.urbandisplacement.org/policy-tools/bay-area