Tokyo check-in during Golden Week and Obon

If your Tokyo move-in falls around Golden Week or Obon, ask the rental company whether its office will be open on your arrival date and how you'll collect the keys. Get that answer before paying.

The company may be able to arrange check-in while its office is closed. Ask whether it can approve your application before then and who will help if you cannot get into the apartment.

Check the calendar for your year

Use the Cabinet Office's national-holiday calendar for the year you are travelling. Golden Week includes holidays in late April and early May; weekends and substitute holidays can lengthen the break. May 6 is not a fixed annual national holiday.

Obon office closures follow company schedules rather than a single national-holiday block. Ask about both the booking office and the team handling your arrival. A company may take summer leave on dates that differ from the ones you found in a travel article.

Also ask about the last day for document review and payment confirmation. A room can be accessible during a closure while the staff needed to approve a new application are unavailable.

Settle paperwork before discussing the key code

Ask what you still need to do. The company may be waiting for your identity documents, a signature, your employer’s approval or payment. Get the deadline in Japan time. Once you have sent everything, ask the company to confirm that your application is complete.

MetroResidences' FAQ says it sends key instructions after you sign. Even if a room is available immediately, the company must finish checking your application and receive payment first.

If the office closes before your payment is likely to be confirmed, ask whether there is another way to complete payment in time, or whether you need to move the arrival date. Don't assume an automated booking email overrides an incomplete application.

There can also be a closure at a company your booking depends on. In its 2026 Golden Week notice, Credit Saison's rent-guarantee department closed from 2 to 6 May and said screening and results would be handled after the closure. If your application needed that department’s approval, the closure could delay it even if the rental company’s own office stayed open.

For a 4 May arrival in that example, approval would have needed to finish before the closure, or the guest would have needed temporary accommodation. The department reopened on 7 May, but that didn't promise immediate approval.

Ask whether another company needs to finish its work before your keys can be released, and use its closure notice for the year you're travelling.

Match your arrival to the handover method

For staffed reception, confirm the hours for that date, the latest permitted arrival and what happens if you are delayed. For office collection, verify the office address separately from the apartment address and allow for the journey between them.

For a lockbox or digital lock, ask when instructions will arrive, when the key or code will start working and whether you need a phone connection or app. Save the instructions offline and check that they explain the building entrance as well as the apartment door.

Ask whom to contact if a code is rejected, the key is missing or your phone is unavailable. Save the support number and check that you can call it with the phone service you'll use in Japan. If the support team is only available during certain hours, factor that into your arrival time.

One email can collect the essentials

My arrival is [date and approximate time], during [holiday period]. Please confirm your office closure dates, the deadline for my documents and payment, and how I will get into the apartment. When will you send the instructions? Who can help if my flight is delayed or I cannot get in?

If I cannot collect the keys on that date, what is the earliest date I can move in? Please tell me what I would pay if I changed the start date.

If the reply says only “we’ll arrange something,” ask for the key-collection method and the date you’ll receive instructions. Save the support contact with those instructions before travelling.

Compare a later start with temporary accommodation

If arrival can't be arranged, price the options before changing anything. You might move the lease start, arrive earlier or book a hotel until handover is possible. Check availability and cancellation terms for the fallback too.

For illustration, three hotel nights at an invented ¥15,000 rate cost ¥45,000. If the apartment continues charging an invented ¥7,000 per day over those same three days, the overlap adds ¥21,000, bringing the combined hotel and apartment cost to ¥66,000. If the company agrees in writing to move the contract start without those charges, you avoid the ¥21,000 overlap.

Include luggage storage and transport if they are needed. Arriving later does not automatically change the date from which you owe rent. Don't cancel the apartment until you know the cancellation cost and have another confirmed place to stay.

Plan the first working day as well

Ask what support remains available during the closure and which non-urgent matters wait until staff return. You may want to leave a little space in your schedule for reporting missing items or resolving a setup issue before your first important work call.

Keep genuine emergency instructions separate from routine maintenance contacts. If the company provides building-specific procedures, read them before arrival and save them with the access details.

If the check-in plan changes, keep the revised dates, charges and access instructions together so you're using the latest version when you travel.