How should I ask my papa (a male supporter) to rent an apartment under his name?

About how much is the rent at your current place? Are you thinking of moving just to lower your rent a little? Once you factor in the deposit, key money, and moving expenses, it would probably cost less overall to stay where you are now, even if the rent is slightly higher. I don’t think you need to move while you’re unemployed. I assume you either have another papa (a male supporter) or some other source of income, but if the only money you have is the 200,000 yen from your papa, moving isn’t realistic. Marika

Maezawa from the CEO’s Office here—I’ll answer this one too. Thanks for your question. A monthly rent of ¥170,000… As you said, I think only someone with a fairly substantial income would be approved to rent a place at that price. In Tokyo, a nice apartment may indeed cost around that much, but I think most people—even in Tokyo—try to keep their rent under ¥100,000. That varies from person to person, though, so setting that aside: For example, you could say something straightforward like: “My regular job has had me staying home because of COVID for a while now, so my income has dropped significantly and I won’t pass the screening. I’d be embarrassed if my application were rejected, so I’ll pay the rent myself every month—would you be willing to sign the lease on my behalf?” If he’s been saying he’ll help you in various ways, he may well be willing to do that much. However, the issue is that, as the leaseholder, your papa (a male supporter) would legally be able to enter the apartment at any time. Even if you don’t give him a key, he could tell the landlord he lost his and have a duplicate made. You should think carefully about whether you’d really be okay with that.

I’m Tetsu, a male member. Why not ask your papa (a male supporter) to rent an apartment for you instead of giving you a monthly allowance? The rent plus utilities would probably come out to about the same as a monthly allowance. If it’s difficult for him to rent the apartment in his own name, you’ll have to consult a real estate agent. These days, more properties require you to use a rent-guarantee company.

I’m Kazu, a male member. I’m not sure whether you can rent a place as someone working in the nightlife industry, but if you’re looking to rent a place with a monthly rent of ¥170,000, I don’t think you’ll pass the screening unless you have a take-home income of ¥7–8.16 million. That would be an annual income of ¥10–12 million before taxes. You’d presumably have to submit proof of that income to the real estate agent. Have you been lying to your papa (a male supporter), telling him you have a daytime job with that kind of income? If you have your papa rent the place for you, you’d have to give him over ¥500,000 for the deposit, key money, and agency fee. Are you planning to tell him you saved that up from a ¥200,000 monthly allowance? Unless your papa is completely clueless about the world, he’ll probably figure out that you lied about having a daytime job. So before considering having him rent the place in his name, I think you should focus on how to confess and come clean about the lie without getting cut off. Once the rent is deducted, the allowance you’d actually receive would be ¥200,000 − ¥170,000 = ¥30,000. You’d probably be taken for granted pretty quickly, and it would likely cause problems. So unless I really liked her, I’d tell her to rent the place herself. Especially if she had just confessed to lying to me. You should start by doing everything you can to make your papa unable to let you go—make him completely wrapped around your finger—so that he feels he can’t bear to lose you.