English-Speaking Real Estate Agents in Japan: How to Check One Before You Buy

Guide

English-Speaking Real Estate Agents in Japan: How to Check One Before You Buy

As of 23 October 2026, the first test for an English-speaking real estate agent in Japan is their licence, not their English. Brokering property sales as a business needs a real estate brokerage licence (宅地建物取引業の免許), and a business without one may not advertise that it does this work^[1]. You can look the agent up yourself on the government's search^[2] and check for disciplinary action on a second government site^[3].

Then ask two questions: who signs the brokerage contract with you, and who gives the explanation of important matters (重要事項説明) — the formal briefing a licensed specialist must give before the sale contract when the buyer is not itself a licensed real estate business^[4]. The person you email in English may be neither.

This guide is for buyers living outside Japan, or moving to Japan, who are looking at a home, a second home or a whole building in the hundred-million-yen range and above. It is a checklist, not a legal guide: it shows where to look and what to ask, and it does not explain how any rule applies to your own case. It does not cover tax, visas, loans or fee amounts; ask a Japanese tax accountant, judicial scrivener (司法書士) or lawyer about those.

A note on where this comes from: this site is run by a property agent whose income is brokerage fees. Use every check below on us as well.

The short answer: how foreigners can check a real estate agent in Japan

Check	Where to look	What a good answer looks like
Does the agent hold a brokerage licence?	The government's search for licensed businesses^[2]	The name and licence number match what the agent gave you
Any disciplinary action?	MLIT's search for administrative actions, and the licensing prefecture's own list^[3]	Nothing listed, or an explanation you can check
Who signs with you?	The brokerage contract (媒介契約): your contract with the agent, separate from the sale contract with the seller. The agent must give it to you in writing or, with your consent, electronically^[5]	A licensed business (a company or a sole proprietor) whose licence you have checked, not only an overseas partner or a staff member
Who explains the important matters?	Ask before the contract stage	A licensed real estate transaction specialist (宅地建物取引士) who shows their licence card when giving the explanation^[4]
What is the fee, in writing?	The brokerage contract, which includes the fee^[5]	A written amount. Fees have a legal upper limit^[6]. If you buy directly from a seller, ask whether there is a brokerage contract at all

Step 1: Check the licence yourself

The licence comes from the national ministry (MLIT) or from a prefectural governor, depending on where the agent has offices, and it must be renewed every 5 years^[7]. That tells you where to look.

Ask for the licence number and the exact name in Japanese. Licensed businesses must display a sign at each office showing, among other things, the licence number, the business name, the representative's name and, since 1 April 2025, the number of full-time licensed specialists^[8]. If the agent's website or email signature has no licence number, ask for it.
Search the agent on the government's licensed business search (建設業者・宅建業者等企業情報検索システム). It covers licensed real estate businesses^[2]. Compare the name and number with what you were given. Mie Prefecture notes that the search is updated 2 times a month, so recent changes can take a while to appear^[2]. Hyogo Prefecture, for example, points to this search as the place to check which authority issued a licence^[2].
For more detail, view the register. Licensing authorities keep a register of licensed businesses that can be viewed. Mie Prefecture, for example, lists the business name, licence number, licence date, officers or representative and office address^[9].
Check for disciplinary action. MLIT's search for administrative actions (ネガティブ情報等検索サイト) covers licensed real estate businesses, and Kyoto Prefecture, for example, points to it for actions nationwide^[3]. Prefectures also publish the actions they took themselves: Kyoto lists those from the past 5 years, and Saitama and Hokkaido keep each one up for 5 years from the date of the action^[3]. If the licence comes from a prefecture, check that prefecture's own page too.

What the licence check does not tell you: whether the agent knows your type of property, whether their English is good enough for a contract, or whether they also act for the seller. That is what the questions below are for.

Step 2: Find out who does what

Overseas buyers may deal with a chain of people. Before you send documents or money, write down who each person is.

Who you may deal with	What to confirm
An English-speaking staff member at a Japanese agency	Are they a licensed real estate transaction specialist? If not, who is, and will that person give the explanation of important matters^[4]?
An overseas agency or referral partner in your country	Which Japanese licensed business will sign the brokerage contract with you, and what is its licence number?
An interpreter or relocation consultant	Who arranges and pays for them? They help you understand; the explanation itself is given by the licensed specialist^[4]
A developer's sales office (new-build)	If the seller is a licensed business, look it up the same way^[1], and ask whether a separate agent is also involved

Every office of a licensed business must have full-time licensed specialists^[10]. That does not mean the person answering in English is one of them, so ask.

Step 3: Ten questions to ask before you sign

Send the same questions to two or three agents and compare the answers in writing. How clearly and how quickly they answer tells you a lot.

About the people

Which business signs the brokerage contract with me, and under which licence number?
Who will give the explanation of important matters, and will they show their licence card^[4]? Who interprets, and who arranges the interpreter?
Do you also act for the seller in this deal? If so, how do you handle that, and will you tell me in writing?
Who will be my contact after the purchase, and do they speak English?

About the documents

Which language is the original of the brokerage contract, the explanation of important matters and the sale contract? If you receive a translation, is it the original or only a reference copy? An industry association's column notes that the brokerage law does not require the explanation of important matters in a foreign language^[11]. Ask which version is the original, and get the answer in writing before you sign.
Who translates, and when will I receive the translation — before the explanation, or after?
Will you give me the brokerage contract in writing or electronically, and does it state the fee^[5]?

About protection if something goes wrong

Before the contract, if you are not yourself a licensed real estate business, the agent must tell you either the deposit office where it has lodged its business security deposit or, if it is a member of an association designated under the brokerage law, that association's name^[12]. Write down the name. Those designated associations handle complaints about their members' deals^[13].
Who at your company handles complaints, and in which language?

About your type of property

How many deals like this one — a whole building, a resort condo, a family home in this city — have you handled in the last few years? Can you describe one, without client names?

For purchases of a hundred million yen and above: what else to test

For a whole building, a second home or a purchase through a company, the agent's experience matters more than their English.

Moving money from abroad. Ask who coordinates the timing of the deposit and the final payment with your bank, which account each payment goes to and in whose name, and confirm the account details by phone before you send anything. Ask what identity and signature documents the judicial scrivener needs from someone living abroad, and how early. If you buy through a company, ask which company documents they need; delays in home-country papers can move the settlement date.
A whole building. Ask whether the agent will collect the leases, the rent roll and the building's inspection and permit documents before the contract, and who checks them. Ask how tenants' deposits and the management contract will be handed over.
A second home managed while you are abroad. Ask who will manage the property after the purchase, whether that company is separate from the agent, and how the agent and the manager split the handover. Whether the property may be let is a separate question to check.
Selling later. Ask whether the same agent can sell for you while you live abroad, and in which language reports will come. If you later sign an exclusive brokerage contract to sell, the agent must register the property on REINS, the industry's listing network, and report to you on its progress regularly^[14]; ask which type of contract they propose and why.
Coordination. Ask whether the agent will line up the judicial scrivener, the interpreter and the management company, who they normally work with, and whether you are free to choose your own.

Downsides and limits of these checks

A licence is a minimum, not a recommendation. It shows the business may do this work^[7]; it says nothing about quality.
The record has limits. Kyoto, Saitama and Hokkaido, for example, publish their own actions for 5 years^[3], and the licence search can lag behind recent changes^[2]. Ask the agent directly about anything older, and check again just before you sign.
A short track record is not a red flag on its own, but ask for examples of comparable deals (the last question in step 3).
The agent may also act for the seller. Ask (question 3) and weigh their advice on price with that in mind.
Fluent English is not the same as a licensed explanation. The explanation is given by a licensed specialist^[4]; if that person speaks only Japanese, budget time for interpretation and read the documents in advance.
The explanation may be in Japanese only. An industry association's column notes that the brokerage law does not require it in a foreign language^[11]. If you are given a translation, ask in writing which version is the original.
Government offices may not settle disputes for you. A regional bureau's reporting system for breaches of the law says it does not mediate disputes and points people to lawyers and other bodies^[15]. Hyogo Prefecture, for example, takes consultations about agents it licensed under the brokerage law, but not civil disputes such as refund or damages claims^[15]. For a serious dispute, plan on a lawyer.
Agents receive brokerage fees, which have a legal upper limit^[6]. That includes us. Weigh advice to move quickly with that in mind.

When this answer changes

You buy without an agent, for example directly from a private seller. The steps above assume a licensed business; ask a lawyer or judicial scrivener what checks and explanation you will get instead.
An overseas agency is your only contact. Then step 2 matters most: find the Japanese licensed business and check it as in step 1.
The licence comes from a prefecture, not MLIT. Check that prefecture's own page of disciplinary actions as well as MLIT's search^[3].
The deal is a whole building or a hotel-type property. Expect more documents and parties, and test the agent's experience with that property type before their language.
A rule changes. This checklist is as of 23 October 2026. Check the sources below for later changes.

FAQ: real estate agents for foreigners in Japan

How do I find an English-speaking real estate agent in Japan? Shortlist two or three agents that publish a licence number, check each number on the government's search^[2] and look for disciplinary actions^[3]. Then send them the same ten questions above and compare the written answers, especially who gives the explanation of important matters and who interprets^[4].

Is there a special licence for a real estate agent for foreigners in Japan? The sources cited here describe one brokerage licence, issued by MLIT or a prefectural governor^[7]; none of them mentions a separate licence for serving foreign buyers. MLIT has published a practice manual for agents dealing with foreign clients^[16]. Separately, the same page lists English-language materials on the laws related to property transactions as released in fiscal 2014^[16]. The page gives no later update to those English materials, so check for law changes since then.

Does any of this change for an English real estate agent in Tokyo? No. Ask which steps they handle themselves and which go to a judicial scrivener, lawyer or tax accountant, check the licence^[2], and confirm in writing who signs the brokerage contract and who explains the important matters^[4], wherever the agency is based.

Will the contract be in English? Do not assume either way. If there is an English version, ask the agent in writing whether it is the original or a reference translation. An industry association's column notes that the brokerage law does not require the explanation of important matters in a foreign language^[11]. Ask which version is the original and get the answer in writing before you sign.