Minpaku Private Lodging Services Come Under Scrutiny, Tougher Regulation by Local Governments

By Arisa Fujii and Shinsuke Yasuda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

15:22 JST, November 4, 2025

An increasing number of local governments are shifting to policies of toughening regulations on private lodging businesses, known as minpaku in Japan, which offer ordinary houses and condominium units as accommodation facilities.

The reason is an upsurge in complaints from residents near the facilities about bad manners on the part of lodgers. There have been negative reactions against the central government’s relaxed regulations, which aim to attract inbound foreign tourists, from municipalities where the services are provided. There are also voices calling for a reexamination of the system.

Local ordinance

A 77-year-old man in Kita Ward, Tokyo, said, “Though I’m glad that tourists come to Kita Ward, I want them to comply with rules.”

The man, who serves as head of a local community association in a residential area of the ward, lamented seeing empty bottles abandoned at a trash-collecting site.

He said that since a private lodging business began in a nearby building, violations of local rules about taking out garbage have occurred very frequently. There were many cases of trash including items with foreign-language labels being left at the site without being sorted.

The number of housing units registered as private lodging facilities in the ward has approximately tripled in the past three years, and stood at 522 as of the end of September.

The ward office has received a stream of complaints from residents about not only garbage but also late-night noise. The number of such complaints increased about ninefold over the past three years, reaching 53 in fiscal 2024.

In January this year, the ward office held a consultative meeting, which members of residents’ associations and the police also attended, for the first time.

After the meeting, the ward office began considering the establishment of a local ordinance imposing restrictions on minpaku private lodging businesses. For example, it is considering prohibiting the opening of new minpaku facilities in residential areas unless superintendents are stationed there.

Since the start of this year, the Sumida Ward Office and the Katsushika Ward Office also began considering similar measures.

The Sumida Ward Office aims to allow minpaku to operate only on weekends across the entire ward, unless superintendents are stationed in the facilities.

An official of the ward office said, “We want to prevent residents’ living conditions from worsening, while paying consideration to minpaku business operators.”

Concentration in Tokyo wards

Minpaku private lodging services began nationwide under the Private Lodging Business Law, which was enacted in June 2018. In contrast to accommodation facilities covered by the Hotel Business Law, which need to be permitted by local governments, minpaku services require only registration to begin, and thus the barrier for entering the business is lower.

The aim of the system is to help accommodate more inbound foreign tourists, whose numbers were expected to grow.

The number of housing units registered as minpaku facilities across the nation rapidly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic eased.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, the number as of Sept. 16 had reached 35,246, with 14,611 of them, or just over 40%, concentrated in Tokyo’s 23 wards.

Local governments are responsible for accepting registrations from minpaku business operators and supervising the operators. Local governments can limit the areas of service and the number of days the businesses may operate.

Among the 23 wards, 19 established local ordinances about the business in conjunction with the enactment of the law.

Moves to establish similar ordinances began in some of the remaining wards, including Kita Ward, because minpaku facilities have become concentrated in municipalities where regulations were lax and troubles have surfaced as a result.

In Toshima Ward, where an ordinance was established but strong regulations were not imposed, the ward office is considering revision of the ordinance so that the cap on the annual number of operational days will be lowered from the 180 days allowed by the law to just 120 days.

Central govt cautious

However, some local governments voiced a view that the effects of local ordinances alone are limited.

Each local government can order minpaku operators to improve business conditions or suspend their services, but an official of the Shinjuku Ward Office said, “Our manpower can not keep up with the need” to deal with such problems as violations of garbage disposal rules and late-night noise.

An official of the Toshima Ward Office urged, “We want the hurdle to entering the business to be raised by, for example, setting certain criteria on registrations under the law.”

The central government has a goal of increasing the number of inbound foreign tourists, which was 36.87 million in 2024, to 60 million in 2030. Thus, the government is cautious about toughening restrictions on minpaku businesses.

An official of the Japan Tourism Agency said: “The circumstances of minpaku private lodgings differ nationwide and it is difficult to impose uniform regulations. We want [local governments] to respond with their local ordinances.”

Concerning minpaku, it is also seen as problematic that there have been cases in which Chinese who want to immigrate to Japan obtained the resident status of “business manager” under the pretext of running minpaku business.

In October, the central government toughened the criteria for business manager visas, such as by raising necessary capital amounts.

Masaki Yamashita, a fellow of JTB Tourism Research & Consulting Co., said, “Considering the economic effects brought by inbound tourists, minpaku private lodging is essential for the economic development of Japan.”

But he also pointed out, “Situations have changed as seven years have passed since the enactment of the law, and we have entered a phase in which we need to consider more flexible legal systems better suited to regional situations.”