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A comment on Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with their parents. Parent comment

Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by nipponese on Friday October 02, 2020 @07:50AM (#24661640)
Like others having lived there for a short period of time, I agree with this observation. The cultural premium on risk, that may merely inconvenience someone, is unreasonably high (by my standard, anyway). Ever have to pay a bribe to a landlord to rent an apartment as a matter of accepted business protocol? Look up "reikin". Then you'll realize why some think it's totally reasonable to live out of an internet cafe.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by gfxgirl on Friday October 02, 2020 @09:00AM (#24662126)
It's not a bribe. That's your negative spin. The positive spin is it's just 2/26th pre-payment of the rent for 2 years. You then pay 1/26th every month for 2 years, repeat when you renew your contract. Do I like having to pay 2/26th up front (2 months rent?) no. But I also would prefer not to have to put down payments on cars/houses.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by brazzy on Friday October 02, 2020 @11:08AM (#24663407)
If it truly were a pre-payment, it would be partially refunded when the rental contract terminates early.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by gfxgirl on Friday October 02, 2020 @03:11PM (#24666008)
No, it wouldn't. It would just be your non-refundable downpayment. Plenty of other things have non-refundable up front payments in the USA and other countries.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by brazzy on Saturday October 03, 2020 @06:11AM (#24670946)
Then don't try to spin it as "pre-payment". It is not.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by tasogare on Friday October 02, 2020 @03:05PM (#24665954)
You are wrong. Those fees are added to the normal rent, they are not part of it. I choose my current appartment in part because there was no additional "gift money" to pay. Each time one moves place those have to be paid, which makes moving quite costly.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by gfxgirl on Friday October 02, 2020 @03:14PM (#24666036)
I'm not wrong. Different apartments give different offers just like everything else in the world.
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by neilparikh on Friday October 02, 2020 @04:07PM (#24666545)
I think gfxgirl's point is that you can mentally model the gift money as added on the rent, and use that number when comparing apartments.

Ex. 50/mo + 240 gift money (for a 2 year lease) == 60/mo without gift money.

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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by michaelt on Friday October 02, 2020 @03:13PM (#24666032)
Loads of countries have something functionally equivalent to reikin - just they call it a "background check fee" or "credit check fee" or "administration charge" or "inventory fee"
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Re:Japan’s lost generation is still jobless and living with ... by freetime2 on Friday October 02, 2020 @04:22PM (#24666655)
Calling it a bribe is seriously misleading. A bribe implies illegal or dishonest behavior. But reikin is perfectly legal, and is typically fully disclosed up front in the rental listing.

It’s basically just a one-time fee that is paid up front - something which is not at all uncommon in the world of commerce.

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