Gas, electricity and water in an unfurnished Tokyo apartment

If you're moving into an unfurnished Tokyo apartment, book the gas appointment before you do anything else. Gas is the one utility that needs a person at your door, and the appointment has to fit the gas company's schedule as well as yours. Electricity and water start without a visit once you apply, but their application deadlines differ: the water bureau wants three to four days' notice, and TEPCO takes applications from the same day up to 31 days ahead.

So the order is gas, then water, then electricity. The details below are what Tokyo Gas, TEPCO and the Tokyo water bureau publish; if your meter names a different company, follow its instructions instead.

Gas needs an appointment with you there

Tokyo Gas says that starting gas requires someone present on the day. Its staff open the valve at the meter, then come inside to light your appliances and explain the safety points. On its procedure page it gives the visit as 20 to 40 minutes and asks you to have every gas appliance you plan to use ready, such as the cooker or a fan heater, because the staff check that each one works with its city gas.

You don't have to be there yourself. Tokyo Gas accepts a stand-in, such as the building manager or landlord, as long as that person can pass its instructions on to you. Give the name and phone number of whoever will be there when you book.

Visits run every day, including weekends and holidays. You choose a window: 9:00 to 12:00, 13:00 to 15:00, 15:00 to 17:00, or 17:00 to 19:00 on Monday to Saturday only. Tokyo Gas warns that the window you want may not be free, and it lists the busy periods: early March to early April, around Golden Week, the start and end of each month, and the end of September and December. If your move falls in one of those, book as soon as you have a date.

For a last-minute move, its site says a web application made by 7:30 can get a same-day afternoon visit at the earliest, and one made by 18:00 can get the next morning. Web applications are accepted around the clock; the phone line runs 9:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and Saturdays and 9:00 to 17:00 on Sundays and holidays.

Appliances must also match the gas type. Tokyo Gas supplies 13A city gas, and its page says an appliance made for another type needs a paid adjustment first. If you're bringing a cooker from a previous home, check its label for 13A or 12A/13A.

Electricity starts remotely, but you turn it on

TEPCO's moving page says no one needs to be present for electricity as a rule, and it takes applications from the same day up to 31 days ahead. That makes it the easiest of the three to leave until last, as long as you've applied before the first night you sleep there.

There is one thing you do yourself. TEPCO asks you to leave the breaker switched off until your chosen start date, to avoid a fire when the supply is connected, and to switch it on from that date. Check that hair dryers, irons and other heating appliances are off first. If the lights still don't come on after you flip the breaker, call the company's customer centre rather than waiting.

TEPCO also notes two situations where a visit or a call can happen after all: a building with an auto-locking entrance where the network company needs access, or an address where it can't identify which meter is yours. Answer the confirmation call or email quickly so the start date doesn't slip.

You can choose which electricity company to sign with. The energy agency's FAQ says apartment residents can switch like anyone else, with one exception: a building that buys power as a whole through its management association may restrict individual contracts, so ask the manager if the lease mentions a building-wide arrangement. The same FAQ says you need a contract even for a few days of use, so don't assume the previous tenant's supply will carry over.

Water: apply three or four days ahead

In the 23 wards and most of the Tama area, water comes from the Tokyo Bureau of Waterworks. Its moving FAQ asks you to apply three to four days before the move, through its app, or by phone to the customer centre if you prefer. No one comes to the apartment, and the water is available from the start date you gave.

The customer centre numbers are 03-5790-0572 for the wards and 042-548-5115 for Tama, open 8:30 to 20:00 except Sundays and holidays. The bureau says calls get through more easily after 10:00. Musashino, Akishima, Hamura and Hinohara run their own water supply, so residents there apply to the municipality instead.

If you've applied and nothing comes out of the tap, the FAQ points to the valve just before the water meter, which may have been closed when the last tenant left. Turn it anticlockwise all the way. If you can't find or move it, call the centre.

If the building uses LP gas

Not every Tokyo apartment is on city gas. Some buildings use LP gas delivered in cylinders by a company the owner chose, and you can't pick a different one. The Consumer Affairs Agency tells people to ask the real estate agent about LP gas charges before signing the lease, because each company sets its own prices.

Since 2 April 2025, LP gas bills must be broken into three lines: a basic charge, a usage charge and an equipment charge. For a gas contract signed on or after that date, the agency says a tenant in rented housing normally pays nothing on the equipment line. The exception is an agreement you made in advance with the gas company to pay for equipment yourself. If a figure appears on that line and you never agreed to one, ask the gas company what it covers before paying.

The LP company does its own opening visit, so get its name and phone number from the agent and book that with the same priority as city gas.

What to have ready

Tokyo Gas lists what its application asks for, and the other companies want much the same:

• Your name and a phone number you'll answer on the day.
• The full address, including the building name and room number, and whether it's a house or an apartment.
• The date and, for gas, the time window you want.
• For gas, the name of the person who will be there.
• For electricity, the supply point number or meter number if asked. It's on the notice left in the apartment or in the meter box.

A photo of the meter box on viewing day saves a trip later.

The first bills

Your first bill may arrive as a paper slip rather than an automatic debit. Tokyo Gas doesn't charge for the slip on your first three bills, to allow time for a card or bank debit to be set up, but after that it charges ¥220 per month, rising to ¥270 from the November 2026 meter reading. On a one-year contract that's nine chargeable months, or ¥2,430 at the new rate, for staying on paper.

Paying a slip at a convenience store works from day one. Switching to direct debit takes a billing cycle or two to start, so keep paying each slip until the company confirms the change.