I didn’t have one and have never had one. Didn’t want to be beholden or deferential to anyone. Bought my first house with a large down payment and a loan in my name. The bank said fine but for technical reasons had to fill in the blank space on a form. My wife became the guarantor, even though she is much younger than I am and earned about a third of my salary at that time
Years later, I became a guarantor for a colleague. He bought a ten million yen house near me and paid for half of it upfront. That left five million yen. I figured if anything went south I could pick up the mortgage myself. The house is smaller but much nicer than mine. A lawyer told me that if I did indeed pick up the mortgage, the house would be mine. I hoped it was true, since I don’t read Japanese and couldn’t verify this for myself. I became a guarantor. Well, my colleague is nearly finished paying for it. He asked me what I wanted for my guarantorship, if that’s even a word. I told him beer and pizza at regular intervals. I can tell you that many beers and pizzas later, free beer and pizza tastes great.
Who was your guarantor?
(Edited: Did a quick survey of six people in Japan yesterday. Five had their mortgages guaranteed by their fathers-in-law and one bought his house outright with cold, hard cash. Of the five who were dependent on grandpa, four had to list him as a co-owner. Two had to list their children as well as a pre-condition. One woman doesn’t quite remember but thinks that she, her husband, the grandparents and two kids are listed on the deed. Six people in all! Unheard of. Rather ironic since her husband constantly brags about HIS house and HIS land.)