Until the postwar growth period, the majority of Japanese rented rather than owned the places where they lived, but renters in Japan have never had much in the way of rights. Still, it is difficult to evict someone from a home they rent, even when they've been delinquent with payments. The Leased Land and House Lease Act essentially requires a landlord to go to court to carry out an eviction, which can be costly in both time and money, even when a tenant is clearly at fault.

It is also illegal for a landlord to change the locks or use force in order to remove a tenant, and if a landlord does either of these things, the tenant can demand compensation. Most courts prefer that landlords and tenants work things out through negotiation, and rarely grant evictions for payment delinquencies of less than four months.

Nevertheless, most standard rental agreements say that the contract is void if a tenant is delinquent with payment for two months, thus implying that they are subject to eviction. Government statistics reveal that the vast majority of renters are prompt with their payments. According to a 2016 nationwide survey by the Japan Rental Property Management Association, 6.9 percent of tenants had been late with their payments at least once during the year, but only 2.7 percent had not paid rent a month after it was due, thus indicating that the other 4.2 percent had paid in the meantime. Only 1.6 percent of tenants had been delinquent for two months or more during the year.