Move-out and lease-end cleaning in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba

Who this is for

• Departing expat transferees and multinational HR teams: reliable, English-coordinated departure cleaning that avoids disputed deductions from a corporate deposit.
• Embassy and diplomatic personnel leaving leased residences.
• Individual tenants and homeowners who want to leave the home in a condition that meets their lease and protects their security deposit (敷金).
• Property management companies (管理会社) and landlords preparing units for the market between tenants.
• Real estate brokerages and expat relocation agencies managing departing international assignees.

What a move-out clean covers

Move-out cleaning is not move-in cleaning in reverse. A move-in clean focuses on hygiene and readiness. A move-out clean focuses on the lease-end standard: removing accumulated wear from tenancy, and showing the surfaces are clean, not neglected (善管注意義務).

• Kitchen: range hood taken apart, and baked-on grease stripped from the filters, motor casing, stove rings, fish grill (魚焼きグリル) and the tile splashback on the wall.
• Bathroom and washlet: hard-water limescale removed from mirrors, chrome taps, shower doors and bidet nozzles, plus deep cleaning of hair traps and the inside of drain seals.
• Floors and walls: vinyl wallpaper (クロス) dusted and wiped without damaging it, scuffs and grime lifted from baseboards (巾木), and floor dirt and old wax haze damp-stripped.
• Windows and balconies: sash rails (サッシレール) scraped free of caked dust and mold, glass polished, the balcony floor swept and the drain gullies cleared.

Normal wear and tear, and tenant neglect

• The standard we work to: Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省) 原状回復 guidelines distinguish normal wear and ageing (通常の損耗・経年劣化) from tenant neglect (特別な損耗). Our work is planned around that distinction.
• The failure points landlords penalize, and where we spend our time: oil buildup on kitchen walls and range hoods, mildew and water stains in bathrooms from poor ventilation, and soot and grime packed into window sashes.
• Where cleaning stops: we do the deep professional cleaning (特別清掃) that rental contracts call for. Structural restoration, such as re-hanging torn wallpaper, replacing gouged floor planks or repainting, is documented and referred to licensed repair craftsmen (補修屋).
• Deposits: the decision on a deposit is the landlord's or property manager's. We cannot promise an outcome. We give you a clean that meets the standard and a timestamped photo record of both our work and the existing wear.

Crew size and time on site

• Studio, 1K or 1R (under 30 m²): 1 to 2 cleaners, 4 to 6 hours.
• 1DK or 1LDK (30 to 50 m²): 2 cleaners, 5 to 7 hours.
• 2DK or 2LDK (50 to 75 m²): 2 to 3 cleaners, 6 to 8+ hours, or one full crew day.
• 3LDK, 4LDK+ or detached (75 to 120+ m²): 3 to 4 cleaners, 1 to 1.5 days (8 to 12 crew hours).

A move-out clean takes more labor and dwell time than a move-in clean, because years of grease, hard-water scale and ground-in dirt have built up.

Expat and corporate relocation

• We routinely manage relocation cleans for international mobility agencies, multinational HR departments and foreign embassy personnel.
• Our cleaners deliver full condition reports in English and Japanese.
• Our operations team coordinates directly with the Japanese property management company (管理会社) to schedule the handover walkthrough, so a departing foreign resident does not have to handle the language barrier.

What is included and what is not

• Included: grease and carbon stripping (stovetop, filter meshes, hood housing, fish grill chamber, under-sink cabinets); descaling of shower mixers, taps, mirrors and bidet nozzles, grout mold treatment and cleaning behind the bath skirt; sash rails, accessible balcony glass and balcony drain channels; and a neutral vinyl wallpaper wash around switches and lifting of baseboard scuff marks. Rubber heel and heavy scuff removal is part of the base price.
• Optional extras, quoted separately: floor wax stripping and re-coating (剥離), a full range hood fan dismantle and high-alkaline tank soak, a deep carbon gel treatment for the fish grill, an extensive chemical wash for heavily stained vinyl wallpaper, attendance at the walkthrough, and bulky waste clearance.
• Not included: trade repairs and wallpaper re-hanging (torn wallpaper, punched doors and deep timber gouges are reported to the property manager or landlord's craftsmen); outside glass on high floors with no direct balcony access, for safety; and active infestations such as heavy cockroach or bed bug problems, which need a licensed pest contractor (害虫駆除).

Left-behind items and bulky waste

• Our cleaners do not haul away bulky furniture or appliances (粗大ごみ・家電リサイクル品) as part of the standard clean. The property must be cleared of belongings before we start.
• A few stray items, such as odd kitchen items or coat hangers, are bagged and placed in the designated municipal bags, within reason.
• If arranged in advance, we coordinate clearing of abandoned beds, mattresses and appliances through a licensed waste collection partner, with a separate quote and a manifest slip (マニフェスト伝票).

Booking and hours

• Notice: 3 to 5 business days, so we can line up access with the property manager and prepare equipment.
• Same-day service: subject to standby availability, with an emergency mobilization surcharge.
• Hours: 08:00 to 18:00 every day. Quiet interior wipe-downs without vacuums can run until 20:00.
• Weekends and holidays: available 365 days a year with no holiday surcharge.
• Moving seasons: we bring in surge capacity for February to April and September to October, with no blackout dates, so month-end lease expiries can be met.

What we need before the day

• Walkthrough: a floor plan and photos are enough. A pre-visit is only for large custom luxury homes.
• Vacant condition: the property must be completely clear of moving boxes, suitcases and furniture before the crew arrives.
• Utilities: running water and electricity must stay on through the cleaning date. Please schedule the utility shutoff for the day after the clean.
• Access: a smart lock code, lockbox code or a property manager to let us in, arranged 24 hours before.
• Parking: street or coin parking fees for service vehicles are passed through at cost.

When we arrive

• Condition survey: a mandatory 10-minute survey before we unpack tools or use chemicals. We photograph existing damage, such as gouged wood flooring, sun-faded tatami, water-damaged sills, wallpaper tears, punctured hollow-core doors and chipped bathroom fiberglass, with a ruler or card for scale and wide shots to show where each is.
• Sent within 30 to 45 minutes of arrival to the tenant, relocation agent or property manager by LINE or email. It is timestamped evidence that the damage was there before our work, so it is not attributed to the tenant or to cleaning.
• Unlocked or open on arrival: the cleaner photographs the door from outside, stays outside and contacts our Operations Manager on Duty before stepping in.
• Missing or jammed key or lockbox: the cleaner photographs it and alerts the property manager. We never force entry or tamper with hardware.
• Alarm triggered (SECOM, ALSOK): the cleaner identifies themselves at the keypad and our Operations Manager contacts the property manager or security desk within 5 minutes to confirm our status and avoid false-dispatch charges.
• On leaving: a timestamped photo shows the deadbolt engaged and the balcony latches secured, and the keys go back through the exact return channel you named (mail slot, keybox or handover to the building superintendent).

The 38-point lease-end checklist

• Kitchen and degreasing: range hood filter mesh and grease cup stripped, sirocco fan housing degreased, fish grill carbon cleared, stovetop ring carbon lifted, under-sink cabinets wiped and dry, sink drain cup descaled and slime removed.
• Unit bath, washlet and vanity: faucets, shower mixer and mirrors descaled with no white mineral rings, the bathtub apron panel removed and the space behind it scrubbed and disinfected, ceiling ventilation or dryer lint cleared, washlet nozzle and rim descaled with no uric acid stains (尿石).
• Wallpaper, doors and baseboards: high-traffic vinyl wallpaper wiped with a PVC-safe cleaner without lifting seams, hand-smudge grease around switches removed, baseboards wiped and rubber heel marks lifted.
• Windows and balcony drainage: sash rails scraped free of caked dust and mold, interior and balcony glass squeegeed streak-free, balcony floor swept and the exterior drain gully cleared.
• Storage and floors: shoe closets and wardrobes wiped, floor wax stripped and leveled if uneven, and hard floors damp-wiped with a neutral cleaner.

How we check our own work

• Flashlight check: every technician inspects the four zones landlords penalize most with a flashlight: behind the bath skirt, inside the fish grill, across the bathroom mirror and along the window sash track.
• Digital verification on every job: our Operations Manager on Duty signs off the photos before the crew leaves.
• Physical supervisor audit on large 2LDK to 3LDK family homes, custom detached homes and corporate expat assignments.

Photos, dossier and certificate

• 25 to 40 timestamped high-resolution photos per property. They show clean evidence (degreased hood filter and fan housing, the inside of the cleaned fish grill, descaled mirrors, the opened bath drain trap, cleaned window tracks), wide shots of completely cleared floors in every room, and close-ups with a measuring tape or pointer of existing wear such as floor dents, furniture marks on carpet, sun fading and wallpaper tears, so that normal wear and tear can be told apart from cleaning neglect.
• Move-Out Handover Dossier (PDF) within 2 to 3 hours of finishing, or before the walkthrough if it is the same day, by email or LINE to the tenant or mobility manager. It contains the signed 38-point checklist, the full photo set and a log of wear-and-tear exceptions.
• Certificate of Professional Move-Out Cleaning Completion (清掃完了証明書) that you can show to the landlord.

At the walkthrough (退去立ち会い)

• Attendance is an optional concierge service, and standard for corporate expat accounts.
• A Global Access field supervisor or bilingual coordinator walks the property with the departing tenant, or stands in for a transferee who has already left Japan.
• They bring the dossier and a mobile touch-up kit, and when the property manager reviews the unit they present our photo log and the wear-and-tear distinction under the MLIT guidelines.
• Minor flags, such as a missed streak on a window corner or a water spot on a tap, are fixed on the spot in 5 to 10 minutes.

Our guarantee

• What finished means: the unit passes our 38-point lease-end checklist in full.
• Guarantee window: 48 hours after the clean, or until the scheduled walkthrough.
• Free re-clean: if the landlord flags an item and our supervisor was not at the walkthrough, a technician returns within 24 hours to re-clean that item at no charge.
• If the landlord charges for wear or damage rather than cleaning (deep floor gouges, aged yellowed wallpaper, degraded silicone caulk), we provide our photo evidence to show it is age-related or structural and not a cleaning omission.

If something goes wrong

• Damage caused by a cleaner: reported at once to you and our operations desk. Global Access accepts 100% financial responsibility under its liability insurance (賠償責任保険). We contract and pay an authorized repair specialist (補修屋) to restore the surface before the landlord walkthrough, so the repair does not become a deduction.
• Complaints: our bilingual Operations Manager on Duty handles all contact with landlords, property managers and tenants, and cleaners never debate lease terms. We acknowledge in writing within 15 to 30 minutes. If a landlord disputes cleanliness during the walkthrough, a manager or roving supervisor joins by phone or visits within 45 to 60 minutes. A Move-Out Rectification Notice (改善報告書) follows within 24 hours, with before-and-after photos, the products used and the MLIT references.
• A cleaner is late or unavailable: technicians check in by GPS. If one is 15 minutes late, dispatch sends a replacement from the nearest Tokyo ward hub. If the job still finishes before the inspection you are not disturbed, and if the walkthrough is at risk we contact you within 30 minutes with a new arrival time and plan.
• Valuables found on site: passports, residence cards, bank passbooks, cash, seals (実印), jewelry and similar items are never read, opened, moved or thrown away. The cleaner photographs where they were found, and our operations team tells the tenant or mobility officer within 15 minutes. The items are sealed in a tamper-evident envelope signed and logged by the lead cleaner, then locked away with your written consent, handed to the building manager against a signed receipt, or taken to our operations safe for tracked courier shipment to your forwarding address. Unclaimed mail is bundled and left on the kitchen counter or put in the building's return box, as the landlord instructs.

Equipment and products

• Vacuums and mops: Makita commercial HEPA 13/14 canister and backpack vacuums, and a flat-mop system with micro-loop damp pads and twin-compartment wringers.
• Kitchen: Kao Professional Kitchen Magiclean or Saraya food-grade degreaser for surfaces, and a heavy alkaline immersion soak (Rinrei Pro Impact, Kao Wide Magiclean) for range hood baffles and fish grills. A heavy alkaline carbon gel (Miyaki, Rinrei Carbon Cutter) loosens carbonized fish oil and scorched residue from fish grill chambers.
• Bathroom: acidic descalers (Seiko, Rinrei Pro Impact) for calcium rings on taps, mirrors and shower doors, a strongly acidic toilet descaler (Sanpole, Kao Professional) for uric acid scale, and Kao Professional Kabi Haiter chlorinated foam for grout and caulk mold.
• Wallpaper: a low-moisture neutral cleaner made for textured vinyl wallpaper (Rinrei, or a Kao Quick and Clean dilution) that lifts hand grease, cooking film and dust without softening wallpaper paste or leaving water rings.
• Floors: a low-odor non-ammonia wax stripper (Rinrei Pro Strip, Rinrei All Stripper) for aged, yellowed or uneven wax on wood composite flooring and vinyl cushion floor, which does not swell the tongue-and-groove joints. Rinrei Scuff Cut, damp melamine blocks and rubber heel mark buffers lift shoe scuffs, suitcase caster marks and furniture friction lines from baseboards and hallway floors.
• Cloths: the same 5-zone colour-coded microfiber system as our hotel, minpaku, office and move-in work: red for toilets, bidets and urinals; yellow for bathroom basins, mirrors, tubs and shower surrounds; green for kitchen ranges, hood housings, sinks and cupboards; blue for wardrobes, shoe closets, doors and vinyl wallpaper; white for balcony glass and mirrors.
• Protective equipment: chemical-resistant nitrile gloves, anti-fog goggles and non-marking indoor shoes, and dual-cartridge respirators for chlorinated mold sprays in unventilated baths and during wax stripping.

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 Lease-End Restoration Module covering the MLIT boundary between normal wear and tenant neglect, non-scratch blade scraping, alkaline sirocco fan soaking and protecting vinyl wallpaper.
• One cleaner for studios, two for 1LDK to 2LDK, and three to four for 3LDK+ homes and detached houses.

Pricing

Move-out cleaning is a fixed flat price per unit layout (定額制). Prices start from ¥32,000 for a studio, 1K or 1R, and rise with the layout. Large 3LDK, 4LDK+ and detached homes are quoted after a survey. We confirm the price in yen before the job.

• Extras such as floor wax stripping and re-coating, a full hood fan soak, the fish grill carbon gel, a heavy wallpaper wash and walkthrough attendance are priced separately. Rubber heel and heavy scuff removal is included.
• Discounts are available for agents and landlords with several properties a month, and for contracted corporate mobility accounts. Attendance at the walkthrough is included for corporate expat enterprise contracts.
• There is no travel charge within the central Tokyo wards. Outside the 23 wards we pass on the actual train fare, and coin parking for service vehicles is billed at cost.
• Same-day emergency service carries a surcharge.

Contract and payment

• Agreement: a Move-Out Restoration Work Order (退去清掃作業確認書 / 発注書) for private renters, and monthly billing agreements for corporate mobility clients and property managers.
• Private tenants and departing expats: full prepayment by credit card or bank transfer before cleaning.
• Corporate accounts and relocation agencies: invoiced monthly in arrears (月末締め / 翌月末払い) by Japanese domestic bank transfer. No deposit for vetted corporate accounts.
• Invoices comply with 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 surface etching, appliance damage and water leaks, up to standard limits.
• Workers' accident compensation and employment insurance (労災・雇用保険).
• Japan requires no statutory licence for interior lease-end cleaning.
• Haulage of bulky furniture or abandoned appliances is subcontracted to licensed waste partners with manifest slips.

Frequently asked questions