[Sangetsu]

I have little experience dealing with real-estate types. My GF's father purchased our apartment through his company. The process was surprisingly quick, less than one month from looking at the property to moving-in.

The direct approach should be fine; most wives in Japan are very direct when it comes to financial matters. With the current housing market as it is (many vacancies), you should find agents to be quite flexible. Many are waiving excess move-in costs such as "key money" (a non-refundable deposit which is actually a bribe of sorts). In better times when occupancy rates were high, landlords could easily charge 2 or 3 months worth of key money, which could make move-in costs very high.