Fontana

I've been living in a Fontana property for about 6 months now. The people are very professional and helpful, and the location are very good. I would recommend it to people looking to live in Japan long-term.

My agent was Jason. He's very accomodating and helpful. They also have discounts for students, and never fail to apply and remind you for better deals and great locations for your needs.

Friendly staff with well-located apartments. Daniel has been really helpful and accommodating. I totally recommend their services.

I’m still waiting to get my deposit back. I moved out more than 2 months ago.
Please help: (

This is the worst agency I've known. They care nothing about the apartments nor the customers. Had the worst experience. Stay away from this place. You'll get cheated and you'll have the worst waste of money, effort and time. Believe me.

The aircon broke in winter and it took them 1 month to get it repaired. We got a small heater but that wasn't enough. Also cockroaches.

A really cozy 2 bedroom apartment. There’re extra futon for 6 of us.
It’s close to metro and safe area to walk at night

Before moving to the country, Fontana had been a great help in letting me find the right place and apartment for myself. Along with the bonus of all amenities. Super satisfied with the humble staff and their services. They offer an extensive hand of support when in need. Thank you Fontana.

Happy customer

Fontana have been great to deal with. I can highly recommend Jason. He is efficient, understanding and kind! If we have ever had a request or issue he always goes above and beyond to make us happy. Thank you Jason!

Everything was smooth as could be. Nothing dodgy about this company and they know what they are doing. Very accommodating. Staff is all great.

Everything was great! The apartment is just what I expected and my agent was so nice. Thank you!

I have had no problems with Fontana so far, and in particular recommend agent Jason who is always courteous in answering my questions and responding to the occasional (minor) problem. Apartments are furnished and in good condition; terms are relatively flexible and foreigner-friendly. Would recommend.

Fontana really helped me to find the ideal apartment. The procedures were super easy and fast. I highly recommend Jason, who suggested me apartments that fit my requirements, kindly answered to all my questions and helped me to move in. He always do his best to make us feel good and happy. Thank you a lot Jason!

I am renting a studio flat from Fontana and I am really happy with the house and the service. The apartment is well located and fully furnished, also staff very nice and helpful. Jason is highly responsive and always available to help out immediately if any issue arise. I highly recommend this agency!

The best option for start in Japan:

-The flat comes furnished
-Gas, water, electricity and internet is already installed so no need to worry with all those.
-The initial cost is only one months rent extra.
-The initial term contract is only 2 months so is good if you don't know how long you will be there and if you need the freedom to move to another place.

Used fontana and lived in two of their apartments in different locations. They were very helpful and informative, no matter if I just had a question before or after moving in, even helped me moved from one apartment to the other. Recommended!

Fontana Agency made it easy to me to find- in no time- an affordable, tokyo-sized, well centered apartment. I highly recommend Jason as an agent. He is super reliable and engaged to meet your demands and needs. For the latter 2 examples.

The first one is related to the moment, when I was looking for an apartment. It is to say, I had only 4 days more left to find one and to move in. Jason proposed me 30minutes after I contacted him 5 apartments, out of them I chose 4, the same day we arranged the apartment viewings for the next day. He drove me to each location, showed me the apartments in detail as well as informed me where to find the closest convenience stores open near the apartment + the JR or Metro Station. As a foreigner who just arrived in Tokyo, I highly appreciated that service. 2 days after I moved in.

However, my other example is related to a complain I had and the positive reaction I received from the Fontana Agency. Next to my chosen location, a factory suddenly started to do their work at night over weeks, hence, huge lack of sleep from my side. I asked Jason if there was the possibility to change location. A few days after, I found myself in an other apartment. Even better located and very close to the JR.

So, overall, I can tell, I am very satisfied, and recommend Fontana and Jason's service!

I really recommend Fontana to everyone, who is looking for a good stay in Tokyo.
They offer a wide range of furnished apartments and sharehouses and it is also very easy to move into their apartments.
My sister and I, we moved into two of their apartments in a short time. We had to change our apartment once because we wanted to have better rail connections and our agent Jason immediately came to us and recommended Apartment 2 so that we could move there within a month. The Fontana agents helped us with the move and it was all very easy thanks to them.

Highly recommended is Agent Jason.
Jason is very friendly, helpful, caring and competent. He was around the clock for me and my sister and answered our questions and requests as quickly as possible. Even on his days off. He takes care of everything very fast.

We are really happy with Fontana and Jason!

I was a bit worried when reading all those complaining reviews before moving to a Fontana flat, but I decided to follow advice from my friend who had rented from Fontana earlier and gave his recommendations. I guess as usual, people who are happy with the service don't bother to write about it, so in order to help others considering options from where to rent, I wanted to share my experience.

I’ve stayed in two of their apartments, both in Koenji, and with the overall experience I can say Fontana is by far the easiest and most chill option for starting life in Japan. I’ve lived in Tokyo for a year now, and at some point I started looking for an apartment in local market, but I keep staying at Fontana since I really appreciate the fact that 1) there’s no paperwork hassle, 2) the flat comes furnished with the very essentials, 3) your agent opens the gas, water and electricity contracts for you + internet is included so no need for any extra hassle with all those 4) I can stay here as long as I need, and with 1 months notice, I can leave anytime I want, 5) the initial cost with deposit is only one months rent extra.

When renting from regular real estate market, first of all it’s a lot more difficult for a foreigner to get accepted. It requires bunch of papers such as guarantor and bank statements etc, the initial cost with all the guarantor companies, agents and deposits is 2-4 times monthly rent, the contracts need to be done for 2 years, after which you might have to pay renewal fees of your contract. In most cases, when moving in you’ll need to buy absolutely everything from scratch, meaning your apartment won’t have fridge, laundry machine, closets, many times not even aircon when you move in.

Things mentioned above I avoided when dealing with Fontana, saving not only my nerves, but I also calculated that within two years, it won’t become any cheaper for me with local markets supposingly lower rent plus all the hassle, than what I’m paying now for Fontana.

I really like my current apartment, it’s a brand new building with a lot of light, warm in the winter and everything works great. My previous apartment of theirs was ok too, but it was quite old and small, and not as convenient. I love my neighbourhood and I’m happy Fontana has apartments here, since this is the only place I want to live in Tokyo.

My agents Charlotte and Daniel have been very helpful and super flexible, they’ve always been fast to reply to any questions I’ve had and to provide help whenever I’ve needed it, so no complaints on that side either.

The only cons of staying here is the tad higher rent compared to regular long term renting in Japan, and what I don’t like is that since all the neighbours come from different international backgrounds, not everyone respects the Japanese habit of keeping silence at home, so quite often my neighbours might talk loud on Skype many nights a week until 2-3am. Also I’m planning to bring my cats to Japan at some point, so eventually I’ll need to move out to a place that accepts pets.

As said, when moving to Japan and especially if for a shorter or undefined period, in my experience this is definitely one of the best options. I've heard others staying in share houses, of which I don’t have any experience since living with others is not my thing. I know many people who’ve come to live in Tokyo for different periods of time and they've also chosen to stay at Fontana for pretty much the same reasons as I, and everyone’s been happy about it.:)

Fontana is a really good agency.
It's really convenient for gaijins since they take care of everything (like setting up utilities).
I was especially pleased with my agent Laurent, who's really available and reactive, and always helpful.

Some "agents" aren't very professional, and they don't always act in your favor. It seems as if some agents don't even know what is right and wrong when it comes to their working terms. One review below mine stated that they sometimes send you an email stating "A" - but just a couple minutes later they reply and say "B". And well, it's true. My agent was quite rude once I announced that I am no longer in need of another apartment when I ended my contract. Apartments aren't always super clean when you move in. Make sure you check how clean it is and look around, open cupboards and check the dishes when you go there with your agent. They disabled reviews on their FB a long time ago after receiving many bad ones. Speaks for itself.