Unexpected behaviour from a Japanese

Q: "What do you think of the Japanese people?"
A: "They are the kindest, politest, generous people I've ever known."

That was my answer each time someone asks me that, and it would have remained the same, if not for some troubles that have surfaced over the past 4 months. It all began in September, when heavy rain led to leakage in one corner of my roomie's bedroom. Quickly she contacted the real estate agent (in Japan you never have direct contact with the landlord), who promised to get the problem fixed asap. Due to the hot and wet weather, and to no sunlight into that corner, the walls and floor started to fall apart, with mould and mushrooms(yes you've read it right!) growing out of the wet wood!

Shocked at such turn of events, my roomie pestered the agent to contact the landlady over and over again, but to no avail, getting only the same replied from the landlady, who told us that she had already contacted the contractors and they will be coming. Sick and tired of the lack of activity, sincerity and everything else, we brought the case to the attention of our university, who acted as our guarantor when we signed the contract. The school quickly got into action, and in the space of less than a week, workers came to check out the situation. During that time, our dear landlady came knocking on our door, and I was the unlucky one who happened to be in at that time, yelled at me for being impatient (after 2 months that witch!), inconsiderate and for complaining so much!

The workers repaired? filled up? some holes, and things seemed to have been solved, altough the promise of cleaning and sanitarising my roomie's room has yet to be carried out (until today). Happy that we made progress, we left for Christmas break with a light heart. However, the weather god has refused to be kind to us, or perhaps, wanted us to know the truth. Coming back after a month, we found her room in a state worst than before!

That was the last straw and my roomie decided to move out (without caring whether the problem could be fixed, nor my feelings). We (she) handed in notice last Sat and this is where our real battle begins. Being so busy as we already are (it's the end of term), we will have to juggle school and apartment hunting, figure out how we're going to get the money to move, and start a whole negotiating process with the landlady to get our money back. Things are just going to get uglier and uglier...

On a different side, I found out that the landlady has refused the real estate agent to contact any contractors to fixed the problem (which would have solved the problem thoroughly back in September), for she has a contractor friend whom she contracts with. I don't really care who does it, as long as it is fixed in a week, but it is not possible for she is apparently not interested and doing so and tries to put us off by telling us that she's going to fix it... which was and is a big lie, for she only contacted the workers when the school got into the picture.

Such behaviour is unacceptable, regardless which country/nationality etc. Her actions has made us lost faith and trust in the Japanese people. We cannot help but question the thinking and the morality of her actions, which can only been seen as selfish and uncaring. Perhaps she felt that since we were foreigners, we will not be able to do much on our own. This is where is she is wrong. Precisely because we are foreigners, we are not afraid to voice out our opinions, our thoughts, and we are not submissive! Such behaviour is totally unforgivable and I hope that she will be well punished for what she did.