Move-in cleaning in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba

Who this is for

• Expat relocation agencies and international mobility firms: high-standard arrivals that need flawless, English-coordinated move-in preparation.
• Individual tenants and homeowners: renters and buyers who want a hygienic reset before moving furniture and clothing in.
• Property managers and leasing agents (賃貸不動産): vacant units between leases, or 原状回復 handovers.
• Corporate housing providers: multi-unit operators of serviced apartments for executive transferees.
• Interior designers and home stagers: empty properties before staging furniture arrives and before architectural photography.

What a move-in clean covers

A standard house clean maintains an occupied, furnished home. A move-in clean is done in a 100% empty space, so we can detail edge to edge, including where appliances will stand, inside wall vents and across bare floors, with no furniture to work around.

• Cabinet and storage interiors: every drawer, kitchen pantry, under-sink cabinet, medicine cabinet, wardrobe, closet and shoe cabinet (下駄箱) is vacuumed, damp-wiped with a neutral sanitizer and deodorized. A standard house clean usually wipes only the outside faces.
• Kitchen: range hood grease filters taken apart and soaked in food-grade degreasers, stove burners or the IH surface stripped of burnt oil, and the sink basin and drain trap descaled and dried.
• Bathroom and toilet: mirrors, faucets and shower heads descaled, the unit bath ventilation and dryer cover (浴室換気乾燥機) and filter screens detached, descaled and disinfected, the bath drain trap disassembled and cleared of buildup, and the washlet nozzle and toilet bowl rim descaled.
• Windows: interior glass squeegeed streak-free and sliding window tracks (サッシレール) scrubbed of road soot and mold.
• Insect and allergen precautions: a thorough chemical wipe of closet baseboards, dark pipe chases and shoe racks, to remove insect eggs, moth larvae and musty mildew before clothes and mattresses arrive.

Crew size and time on site

• Studio, 1K or 1R (under 30 m²): 1 to 2 cleaners, 3.5 to 5 hours.
• 1DK or 1LDK (30 to 50 m²): 2 cleaners, 4 to 6 hours.
• 2DK or 2LDK (50 to 75 m²): 2 to 3 cleaners, 5 to 7 hours, or a full working day.
• 3LDK, 4LDK+ or detached (75 to 120+ m²): 3 to 4 cleaners, 6 to 8+ hours, or about 1.5 days for large custom homes.

Commercial and office move-in

We also clean vacant retail tenancies, corporate offices and serviced studio spaces before a corporate move-in. That covers:

• deep carpet extraction and spot neutralization;
• dust clearing in server rooms and under raised OA floors; and
• deep descaling and restocking of dedicated corporate restrooms and kitchenettes (給湯室).

What is included and what is not

• Included: the inside of all empty drawers, closets and shoe cabinets; deep descaling and mold cleaning of faucets, shower heads, mirrors, washlet nozzles and bath drain traps; interior glass and sash tracks; and a drain chemical flush and siphon descaling for all drains.
• Quoted separately if appliances remain on site: refrigerator interiors, washing machine drums and oven interiors.
• Optional extras, quoted separately: a full range hood fan dismantle and chemical soak, a deep strip of the unit bath ventilation and dryer filter, a botanical pest deterrent mist, and protective acrylic resin floor waxing.
• Not included: exterior window faces on high floors with no balcony (for safety); trade repairs and painting (wallpaper tears, deep floor gouges and woodwork scratches are documented and reported to the property manager); active bed bug, cockroach or rodent infestations, which need a licensed exterminator (害虫駆除); and removal of furniture or appliances left by a previous tenant (粗大ごみ).

Booking and hours

• Notice: 3 business days. That gives us time to schedule cleaners, stage the chemical packs and arrange key access.
• Same-day service: available in an emergency, depending on standby capacity, with an emergency mobilization surcharge.
• Hours: 08:30 to 18:00 every day. Evening appointments (18:00 to 21:00) are available on request for quiet interior wipe-downs without vacuums, to respect residential building rules.
• Weekends and holidays: available 365 days a year with no surcharge, and no blackout dates, including the February to April and September to October moving seasons.

What we need before the day

• Walkthrough: not required for a standard apartment. A floor plan and photos are enough.
• Vacant condition: the unit must be completely free of moving boxes, furniture and belongings, unless pre-furnished corporate housing has been contracted.
• Utilities: running water and electricity must be on, for hot-water cleaning, descaling flushes and HEPA vacuums.
• Access: keybox code, smart lock PIN or concierge or property-manager key pickup, arranged 24 hours before.
• Parking: if a company vehicle is needed for a multi-person team, street or coin parking is passed through at actual cost.

When we arrive

• Condition survey: a 5-minute sweep before we open chemicals, run a vacuum or set down tool caddies. We photograph existing damage, such as gouged flooring, sun-bleached tatami, torn wallpaper seams, cracked unit-bath plastic, counter chips or mineral etching on mirrors, and send the photos to the property manager, agent or owner by LINE or email within 30 to 45 minutes of arrival. That is clear evidence that the defect existed before our work, so the incoming tenant or owner is not blamed at the final lease inspection.
• Unlocked or open on arrival: the cleaner photographs the latch or door from outside, stays at the threshold, contacts our operations desk and waits for your confirmation before going in.
• Missing or jammed key or lockbox: the cleaner documents the state of the lockbox and alerts the property manager at once. We never force locks or tamper with smart lock hardware.
• Security alarm triggered (SECOM, ALSOK or a local system): the cleaner stays at the entry panel, states that they are a contractor and calls us. Our operations team contacts the property manager or owner's emergency security line within 5 minutes, to verify credentials and cancel false-alarm charges.
• On leaving: a timestamped photo shows the deadbolt locked and the windows latched, and the key back in the lockbox.

The 36-point hygienic move-in checklist

• Entryway and storage (玄関): shoe cabinet shelves wiped and odor-free, floor tiles scrubbed, and the door's interior frame and lock hardware disinfected.
• Kitchen and pantry: range hood grease filters and fan housing degreased, burners or IH surface free of burnt oil, under-sink cabinets wiped and free of dampness and smell, sink basin and drain trap descaled and dried.
• Bathroom and washlet: mirrors descaled, the ventilation or dryer filter cleaned of lint, the bathtub drain trap dismantled and cleared of slime, and the washlet nozzle and toilet rim descaled.
• Living, dining and bedrooms: closets and wardrobe rods wiped dust-free, window glass streak-free, sliding window rails scrubbed of soot, and floors damp-wiped with a neutral sanitizer.
• Air and fixtures: light switch plates and intercom screens disinfected, and ventilation intake ports (通気口) cleared of outdoor dust.

How we check our own work

• White-cloth test on every job: before closing out, the lead cleaner wipes five high-risk surfaces with a white cloth: the inside of the top kitchen drawer, the shoe rack top shelf, the bathroom mirror, the shower door track and a window sash sill.
• Digital verification on every job: our Operations Manager on Duty reviews live photos on a smartphone before the crew locks the property.
• Physical spot audits on large 3LDK+ properties and custom detached homes, before the keys are handed over.

Photos and completion dossier

• 18 to 25 timestamped high-resolution photos per property, focused on the inside of enclosures: open kitchen cabinets and the empty under-sink pipe collar, the degreased range hood filter, the unit bath with descaled mirror and faucets and a cleared drain trap, open shoe cabinet shelves, cleaned sliding window tracks, wide shots of clean bare floors in every room, and the key back in the lockbox or handed to a secure location.
• Move-In Completion Dossier (PDF) by email or LINE within 2 to 3 hours of finishing, or as the crew leaves if the tenant moves in the same day. It contains the completion time, the signed 36-point checklist summary, the full photo set and any existing physical defects we found, such as chipped floorboards, aged wallpaper discoloration or cracked bathroom plastic.

Our guarantee

• What finished means: a hygienically clean home that passes our 36-point checklist, with all storage ready for clothing and kitchenware without a second wipe.
• 72-hour Move-In Satisfaction Guarantee, counted from the end of the job or the key collection.
• Free re-clean: our operations desk acknowledges your message in writing within 30 minutes, and a technician returns within 24 hours (or at the tenant's convenience) to re-clean the flagged area at no charge.
• Permanent stains: if what you report is an irreversible mark (sun-bleached flooring, or permanent mold staining inside aged silicone), we check it against the timestamped entry photos to show whether the condition was already there.

If something goes wrong

• Damage caused by a cleaner: reported to the owner or property manager at once. Global Access accepts 100% financial responsibility under its liability insurance (賠償責任保険). If a fixture is damaged, we send and pay an authorized repair craftsman (補修屋) to fix it before the moving trucks arrive.
• Complaints: our bilingual Operations Manager on Duty is your single point of contact, so cleaners never debate issues with incoming tenants or leasing agents. During a clean we answer within 10 to 15 minutes, and after a clean we acknowledge in writing within 30 minutes. A free re-clean follows within 24 hours, or the same day if it is scheduled before the moving trucks arrive. A Corrective Action Report (改善報告書) with the cause, before-and-after photos and the corrective steps arrives within 24 hours.
• A cleaner is late or unavailable: cleaners check in by GPS on arrival. If one misses the arrival window by 15 minutes, we send a relief technician from our standby pool. If the job will still finish before your key handoff or moving truck, you are not disturbed. If the timeline must change, we phone or message you with a new arrival time and a plan.

Staff and training

• About 70% direct or contract employees and 30% vetted partner technicians.
• Legal residency and work permission verified, identity audited and an NDA signed for every cleaner, the same standard as our hotel, office and post-construction teams.
• A dedicated Move-In Restoration Module covering acid and alkaline chemical pairing, washlet nozzle descaling, non-scratch glass scraping and removing allergens from inside cabinets.
• One cleaner for compact studios under 30 m², two cleaners for 1LDK to 2LDK, and three to four technicians for large family units and detached houses.

Pricing

Move-in cleaning is a fixed flat price per unit layout (定額制), based on standard Japanese floor plans. Prices start from ¥28,000 for a studio, 1K or 1R, and rise with the layout. Large 3LDK, 4LDK+ and detached homes are quoted individually. We confirm the price in yen before the job.

• Extras such as a full range hood fan dismantle, a deep strip of the bath ventilation filter, the botanical pest deterrent mist and floor waxing are priced separately.
• Discounts are available for agents and corporate housing teams booking several units a month.
• There is no travel fee within the central Tokyo wards. Beyond them, a travel fee applies.
• Same-day emergency service carries a surcharge.

Contract and payment

• Agreement: a Move-In Cleaning Work Order (作業確認書 / 発注書) for private clients, and monthly billing agreements for corporate mobility and real estate partners.
• Private clients and first-time tenants: full prepayment by credit card or bank transfer before dispatch.
• Corporate housing and real estate partners: invoiced monthly in arrears (月末締め / 翌月末払い) by Japanese domestic bank transfer, with no deposit.
• Invoices are issued as a registered business under Japan's Qualified Invoice System (インボイス制度).

Licences and insurance

• Liability insurance (賠償責任保険) covering accidental fixture damage, porcelain or acrylic etching and water leaks, up to standard commercial policy limits.
• Workers' accident compensation and employment insurance (労災・雇用保険).
• Japan requires no statutory cleaning licence for interior residential move-in cleaning.

Frequently asked questions