23 October 2026
Mid-stay housing in Japan: the 4 rental types explained
Mid-stay housing in Japan explained for foreigners: weekly mansions, monthly mansions, fixed-term leases and share houses, by stay length and paperwork.
Mid-stay housing in Japan covers stays of roughly one week to a few months: longer than a hotel trip, shorter than a two-year lease. Japanese listings don't use the word "mid-stay". They use four labels: weekly mansion, monthly mansion, fixed-term lease and share house. Each implies a different contract, minimum stay and set of paperwork.
This glossary maps them to stay length and points to the deeper guide for each.
The four mid-stay housing terms
ウィークリー (weekly), short for ウィークリーマンション (weekly mansion)
A furnished unit rented by the day or week, priced in tiers with cleaning and utilities on top. At one Kyoto operator, Monthly KYOTO (マンスリー京都), seen on 23 Oct 2026, weekly stays ran from 7日 (7 days = 6 nights), and only a few units offered them. Read more: weekly mansions in Japan and weekly mansion vs Airbnb in Japan.
マンスリー (monthly), short for マンスリーマンション (monthly mansion)
A furnished unit on a short contract, usually from about a month. At the same operator, the minimum is 30日 (30 days = 29 nights), and on most sheets seen, daily rent drops at the 3- and 7-month tiers. There's no deposit, key money or agent fee there. Read more: monthly mansions in Japan for foreigners and what a monthly mansion costs.
定期借家 (fixed-term lease), formally 定期建物賃貸借 (fixed-term building lease)
A contract type, not a building type. The lease ends on an agreed date, and staying longer means signing a new contract. It shows up in two places: as the 契約形態 (contract type) on monthly mansion listings (every Monthly KYOTO listing checked said 定期借家), and on regular, often unfurnished, rentals offered for a set period through agents. Read more: Kyoto 3-month rentals for foreigners.
シェアハウス (share house)
A private or shared bedroom with a shared kitchen and bath, run by an operator. Minimum stays, fees and paperwork vary by operator, so treat them as unknown until you ask. Read more: monthly mansion vs share house in Japan.
Which one fits your stay length
| Stay length | Usually rented as | What it tends to ask of you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 weeks | ウィークリー (weekly) | ID and passport copy. Cleaning fee per stay, and possibly 宿泊税 (accommodation tax) |
| About 1 month | マンスリー (monthly), shortest tier | ID and passport copies, an emergency contact. Some operators need a Japanese-speaking contract holder |
| 2 to 3 months | マンスリー (monthly), or a share house | Same as above. Check where the price tiers change |
| 3+ months | マンスリー middle/long tiers, a share house, or a 定期借家 (fixed-term lease) via an agent | For agent leases, possibly a guarantor or guarantor company, a deposit and key money. Ask |
The paperwork column is based on one Kyoto operator's published rules, seen on 23 Oct 2026: passport copies, a family emergency contact with ID, no guarantor, and a contract holder who can read, write and speak Japanese for overseas applicants. Other operators' rules are unknown until you ask.
Pick the label by how long you'll stay, then read the contract type. The name on the listing doesn't tell you what you'll sign.
Photo: Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0
Words you'll meet alongside them
- 敷金 (deposit), 礼金 (key money), 仲介手数料 (agent fee): typical of regular rentals. See key money for foreigners and deposits on Kyoto monthlies.
- 保証人 (guarantor) / 保証会社 (guarantor company): see furnished apartments with no guarantor.
- 光熱費 (utilities), 清掃費 (cleaning): the two lines most often added to furnished stays. See hidden fees.
- 簡易宿所 (licensed simple lodging): two weekly-capable Kyoto listings' notes said they run under this lodging licence. Ask which contract applies.
Where to go next
- New to all of it: how to rent a monthly mansion in Japan
- Visiting on a tourist entry: tourist monthly apartments in Japan
- Staying about a month: Kyoto one-month apartment rental
- Reading a Japanese listing: how to read a monthly mansion listing in Kyoto
- Kyoto specifically: Japan monthly apartments in Kyoto for foreigners
Soft next step
Midstay is in private testing, and the public board is still coming soon. Midstay is not the landlord: you pay the operator directly for rent and keys.
Read the Midstay guide to see how Pass takes you from a room to a Japanese inquiry in your name. Join the waitlist for updates, or write to hello@midstay.app.