Registered money lender · Tokyo Metropolitan Government · Governor of Tokyo (1) No. 31998
Yen mortgages
for non-resident buyers
of Japanese property
No Japanese incomeNo Japanese visa or residencyNo Japanese bank account
YEN LOANS offers first-mortgage loans collateralized by Japanese residential property for non-resident foreign buyers, and for foreign residents of Japan without access to domestic bank financing.
Loan product
A transparent mortgage product
The All Japan Tracker: a yen first mortgage for purchase, refinance and equity release, priced at 1-month TIBOR + 3.50% with every fee published before you apply.
All Japan Tracker
Variable rate · indicative 4.73673% p.a. · reset monthly · ref. 1 September 2026
- Maximum LTV
- 65%
- Maximum tenor
- 35 yrs
- Loan size
- ¥15–525M
- Loan purpose
- Purchase, refinance, equity release
Fully amortizing, with an optional interest-only period. Premiums apply to loans over ¥150M and during any interest-only period.
How the rate is built
| Indicative rate · 1 September 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Base — 1-month TIBOR | 1.23673% p.a. |
| Fixed rate | + 3.50% p.a. |
| Indicative base rate | 4.73673% p.a. |
| Premiums, where applicable | |
| Large-loan premium (over ¥150M) | + 0.50% p.a. |
| Interest-only period (max 5 yrs), then reverts to the base rate | + 1.00% p.a. |
All loans are full recourse to the borrower. Final pricing is subject to credit assessment and security review under the Money Lending Business Act (MLBA). Effective annual rate (実質年率) within 14.6%, calculated on the principal net of fees; late-payment charge up to 20.0% p.a. Applications are subject to careful review and may be declined. Please check the terms of your agreement and borrow within your means. 慎重な審査の結果、お申込みの意に沿えない場合がございます。ご契約内容をご確認のうえ、ご利用は計画的に。 Full fee schedule · 貸付条件の表示.
Comparison
How YEN LOANS differs from a traditional Japanese lender
Traditional Japanese lenders are oriented around domestic retail consumers with documented Japanese income, and their criteria follow from that business model. YEN LOANS is a specialized cross-border lender built for borrowers whose income and assets sit outside those parameters.
| Requirement | YEN LOANS | Traditional Japanese lender |
|---|---|---|
| Loan purpose | Purchase, refinance, equity release (cash-out) | Purchase or refinance only |
| Japanese income | Not required | Mandatory |
| Visa or residency status | Not required | Mandatory |
| Credit decision | ~10 business days | 2 – 6 months |
| Language support | English, Japanese, Mandarin and Korean | Japanese primary |
| Income verification documents | English, Chinese and Japanese accepted | Japanese translation required |
| Japanese bank account | Not required | Required |
| Who can borrow | Nationals of eligible countries and regions — including Japanese nationals — wherever resident | Residents with Japanese income |
| Market focus | Non-resident and foreign-resident borrowers | Domestic retail consumers |
Eligibility
Check you meet our criteria before you apply
Most declined inquiries fail on property type or location, not on credit — so here is what we check, and what we don't lend on, up front. A short interactive check confirms where you stand in about a minute, before any fee.
- A strata-titled RC or SRC apartment, built after 1990.
- Located in one of our qualifying cities (mapped below).
- A loan of ¥15M–¥525M, with income evidence and bank statements.
- Over 20 at application, under 80 at maturity.
- A passport from one of our eligible countries and regions — nationality, not residence — or Japanese Permanent Residency held by certain other nationals. See the full list.
Where we lend
Five metropolitan areas across Japan
Coverage is concentrated in Japan's principal urban markets. Numbered areas correspond to the coverage index alongside.
- Tokyo23 Wards, Musashino, Mitaka, Chofu, Komae, Koganei, Kokubunji, Kunitachi, Fuchu, Tama, Nishitokyo, Kodaira, Tachikawa, Hino, Akishima, Hachioji, Machida
- KanagawaYokohama, Kawasaki, Zushi, Kamakura, Fujisawa, Chigasaki, Yamato, Sagamihara (Minami & Chuo Wards)
- SaitamaSaitama, Toda, Warabi, Kawaguchi, Wako, Asaka, Niiza, Shiki, Fujimino, Soka, Koshigaya
- ChibaChiba, Urayasu, Ichikawa, Funabashi, Narashino, Matsudo, Kashiwa
- OsakaOsaka, Takatsuki, Ibaraki, Suita, Toyonaka, Settsu, Moriguchi, Kadoma, Higashiosaka, Sakai
- KyotoKyoto, Muko, Nagaokakyo
- HyogoKobe, Ashiya, Nishinomiya, Takarazuka, Itami
- AichiNagoya
- FukuokaFukuoka
- HokkaidoSapporo
Outside central Tokyo (the 23 Wards, Musashino, Mitaka and Chofu), the security property must be within a 10-minute walk of the nearest railway station.
Process
From inquiry to settlement, in four steps
Most borrowers receive a credit decision within about ten business days of a completed application; settlement commonly runs to four to eight weeks, depending on the property, your nationality and document turnaround.
- Step 01
Inquiry & consultation
Submit an initial inquiry and a short client intake form. We carry out a preliminary property and serviceability assessment and return an indicative borrowing figure.
24 – 48 hours - Step 02
Application
Submit a formal application with identification, income evidence and property details, accepted in English, Chinese or Japanese. We complete KYC and credit underwriting and issue a decision.
10 business days - Step 03
Confirmation & documentation
On credit approval, you confirm the loan amount and we issue the formal documentation — the loan offer letter, loan agreement, mortgage agreement and payment instructions — for your review and execution.
5 – 10 business days - Step 04
Settlement
Settlement brings together final credit approval, disbursement through escrow, and registration of the mortgage lien with the Legal Affairs Bureau by our designated judicial scrivener. It completes remotely, without travel to Japan.
5 – 15 business days
Application to settlement typically four to eight weeks
Frequently asked
Questions borrowers ask before applying
Do I need a Japanese bank account, visa, or company?
No. YEN LOANS does not require borrowers to hold a Japanese bank account, visa, residency status, or to incorporate a Japanese entity.
Why is your rate higher than a Japanese lender's?
Because it is a different product for a different borrower, not a markup on the same loan. A domestic lender's headline rate is built for a resident, salaried borrower whose income it can verify from Japanese tax records — a non-resident, self-employed or foreign-income buyer falls outside that model, and most lenders decline rather than reprice. Our rate reflects specialist cross-border underwriting and our position as a principal lender carrying the credit risk on the loans we offer. The fair comparison is not an advertised rate you cannot access, but the financing actually available to a non-resident buyer.
What kind of property can you lend against?
YEN LOANS lends against a strata-titled residential apartment of reinforced concrete (RC) or steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) construction, completed after 1990, in one of its qualifying metropolitan areas.
How much can I borrow?
YEN LOANS lends between ¥15M and ¥525M, and up to 65% of the value established by an independent third-party valuation; the purchase price acts as a ceiling only. Maximum LTV reduces to 50% for short-term rental properties, second homes and loans over ¥250M. The amount is also subject to our affordability test.
Contact us
Speak to our team
Submit the form below. A member of the YEN LOANS team will contact you within one Tokyo business day to arrange a consultation by phone or email.
If the form above does not load, email us at inquiry@yenloans.com and we will reply within one Tokyo business day.