Are Short-Term Rentals and Minpaku Legal in Japan?

This article is part of the Zagdim wiki series on buying property in Japan. It explains the legal routes for using a home in Japan as a short-term rental or minpaku (民泊, home-sharing lodging), and the local restrictions that apply. It is written for readers who live outside Japan, own or are considering buying a Japanese apartment, and want to know whether a particular home can operate as a minpaku.

Short-term rental is legal, but only through one of three routes: notify the authorities under the Private Lodging Business Act (住宅宿泊事業法) and host guests for at most 180 days a year; obtain a license under the Hotel Business Act (旅館業法); or operate a special-zone minpaku in a National Strategic Special Zone. Outside these three routes, taking payment to let people stay as a business means operating a hotel business without a license. An owner who lives overseas and chooses the notification route needs a home that meets the “dwelling” requirement and a building whose management rules do not prohibit minpaku. Because the owner will not be present during guest stays, the home must, as a rule, be entrusted to a registered management company. Local ordinances can also cut the permitted operating days far below 180.

Why Is “Can I Run a Minpaku?” So Hard to Answer in One Sentence?

The answer depends on three layers of rules. National law decides which route you can choose. Prefectural, city or ward ordinances decide which areas and which days operation is allowed. The condominium’s management rules decide whether the building permits it. The home can operate as a minpaku only if all three layers allow it.

The scale of actual use is as follows. As of September 15, 2026, 43,037 homes were notified for minpaku nationwide, and 4,740 minpaku management businesses were registered. Since the system began, 67,932 notifications have been made in total, of which 24,895 have been withdrawn. From June 1 to July 31, 2026, minpaku recorded 582,162 guests nationwide, of whom 334,689 (57.5%) were foreigners.

What Are the Legal Routes, and How Do They Differ?

The three routes differ in legal basis, procedure and limits.

Hotel business includes hotel and inn operations, simple lodging (簡易宿所) operations and boarding house (下宿営業) operations. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, even if the number of days is limited in advance or the home is used only on weekends, repeatedly and continuously taking payment to let people stay requires a hotel business license, unless the operator has filed a minpaku notification or obtained special-zone minpaku certification. Whether something counts as a “lodging fee” is not decided by what the charge is called: cleaning fees, bedding rental, utilities and other charges that are in substance payment for use of the room are all included. Ordinary hospitality for friends and relatives is not a business.

Does Renting by the Month Count as a Short-Term Rental?

Rentals of less than one month are, in principle, judged to be a hotel business, and a rental of one month or more is not necessarily an ordinary lease. The line between a hotel business and a rental apartment lies in who bears responsibility for the hygiene management of the room, and whether the guest establishes a base for daily life there.

Under a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare notice, the benchmark period for deciding whether something is a hotel business is set by each local government, and the standard is one month; local governments that already have another benchmark period keep it. Chuo Ward (中央区) in Tokyo goes further: even if a room is rented for one month or more, it is still a hotel business if it is not openly offered on the premise of a stay of at least one month, or if stays are repeatedly ended before one month. Boarding house operation, one type of hotel business, itself charges lodging fees for periods of one month or more, so “charging by the month” does not by itself prove that something is a rental.

When a property is rented under a lease, the Act on Land and Building Leases (借地借家法) applies. A fixed-term lease made in writing can provide that it will not be renewed at the end of the term; this is called a fixed-term building lease (定期建物賃貸借). A lease that is clearly for temporary use (一時使用) is not subject to the Act’s provisions on building leases, and whether a monthly rental counts as temporary use is decided case by case. When a short-term rental property is listed on a listing site, the listing must be conditional on signing a short-term lease and must state clearly that the property is not a lodging facility, and the contract must be made in writing or as an electronic record.

Tax treatment also depends on this distinction. Rent for housing used as a residence is exempt from consumption tax, but this exemption does not apply to rentals of less than one month and similar cases. Confirm how it applies in practice with a tax accountant (税理士).

Living Overseas: What Must You Clear Before Filing a Minpaku Notification?

Does the home meet the “dwelling” requirement? It must have a kitchen, bath, toilet and washing facilities, must not be used for another business, and must be a home where people live, or one that is being offered for rent or sale, or one that the owner, a tenant or a subtenant uses at least once a year. A newly built investment condominium that has never been lived in and is used only for minpaku does not qualify under the latter category. A home must not be rejected merely because it is new, however, and the decision depends on actual circumstances.

Condominium rules. The filing must attach the rules to show that they do not prohibit minpaku. According to the authorities’ guidelines, a clause that prohibits “a business that takes lodging fees to let people stay” also counts as a prohibition, and rules that permit only certain forms of use are treated as prohibiting the others. If the rules are silent, you must show that the general meeting or board of the management association (管理組合) has not passed a resolution prohibiting it. For this reason, in addition to the management rules (管理規約) and the usage regulations (使用細則), you should ask the management association whether there are any related resolutions.

Engaging a management company. If the owner is absent during guest stays, or the home has more than five guest rooms, the home must, as a rule, be entrusted to one private lodging management company (住宅宿泊管理業者) registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; registration is renewed every five years. The “temporary absence” that allows an owner to skip this is limited to going out within the time needed for daily life, and living overseas does not qualify. There are also exceptions in which an operator who is itself a registered management company manages the home directly.

An agent in Japan. Kyoto City (京都市) requires an individual or foreign corporation operator that has no address in Japan to appoint, as a rule, an agent living in Japan for each home; a foreign corporation that has already designated a representative in Japan under the Companies Act need not. Toshima Ward (豊島区) has had the same requirement since December 15, 2025.

How the 180 days are counted. A year runs from noon on April 1 to noon on April 1 of the following year, and the period from noon to noon the next day counts as one day. If payment is taken for any stay, however short, it counts as one day. Days are counted per notified home, not per operator, and when the operator changes, days in the same fiscal year are added together. What is counted is the actual number of days on which guests stay, and a day with several groups of guests still counts as one day. If a home exceeds 180 days in a year, it no longer falls within the private lodging business and may need a hotel business license instead; check with the local government on how to proceed.

The preparation period before filing. The law requires only that the notification be made no later than the day before operations begin. Shinjuku Ward (新宿区), however, requires that neighbors be informed in writing seven days before filing and that the ward head be notified, and Chuo Ward requires that neighbors be informed seven days before filing and, for a condominium, that the management association be informed.

Duties during operation. The operator must take hygiene and safety measures, provide explanations in foreign languages and keep a guest register (宿泊者名簿). When a guest is a foreign national with no address in Japan, nationality and passport number must also be recorded, and the register kept for three years. Booking arrangements must be entrusted to a private lodging intermediary or a travel agent, and a sign must be posted at each home. For each home, the operator must report to the prefectural governor by the 15th of February, April, June, August, October and December on the number of days, guests and guest-nights in the previous two months, and the number of guests by nationality. For a home entrusted to a management company, the duties of hygiene, safety, foreign-language explanation, register, explanation of house rules and complaint handling do not apply to the owner personally. The periodic report is not covered by this exception, so agree beforehand who will actually submit it.

**Example: Mr. Chang, an owner living overseas**

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Mr. Chang is looking at a second-hand condominium in Kyoto City in a Category 1 Medium-to-High-Rise Exclusively Residential Zone. The seller says the home is already operating as a minpaku. In Kyoto City’s exclusively residential zones, operation is allowed only from noon on January 15 to noon on March 16 each year. The exception for operators who live in the home for more than three months does not apply to Mr. Chang, who lives overseas and must engage a management company.

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The 180 days are counted per home, so days already used by the previous operator in the year he takes over also count. Because he has no address in Japan, he must appoint an agent living in Japan for the home and engage a registered private lodging management company. Before signing, he needs to confirm with the authority that accepts the notification the home’s notification status and the days already used, obtain the management rules and usage regulations, and estimate income and costs based on the operating window of mid-January to mid-March each year.

How Far Do Local Ordinances Restrict the Days?

The law allows prefectures and other authorities to designate, by ordinance and by area, periods in which operation is not allowed, so the number of days a minpaku can operate varies widely by location. The examples below were checked as of September 30, 2026. Exclusively residential zones (住居専用地域) are one category of land-use zones (用途地域); confirm which zone a given home is in with the city or ward concerned.

• Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo: In Category 1 and 2 Low-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones and Category 1 and 2 Medium-to-High-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones, operation is not allowed from noon Monday to noon Friday, so guests may stay only from noon Friday to noon Monday. In other zones, the legal maximum of 180 days applies regardless of the day of the week.
• Chuo Ward, Tokyo: Throughout the ward, operation is not allowed from noon Monday to noon Saturday, and guests may stay only from noon Saturday to noon Monday. The ordinance has no exception for owner-occupied types.
• Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo (千代田区): The revised ordinance applies to notifications made on or after July 1, 2026. In the areas listed in the ordinance, for the owner-present type (家主居住型), operation is not allowed from noon Sunday to noon Friday. For the owner-absent type (家主不在型), which includes the on-site manager type and the manager-dispatch type (管理者駆け付け型), operation is not allowed all year. The ward page explains that the listed densely populated areas are those other than areas such as Otemachi, Marunouchi and Yurakucho; the manager-dispatch type must also be able to reach the home within a 700-meter radius and within 10 minutes. Those who notified before July 1 are under the old rules.
• Toshima Ward, Tokyo: The area and period restrictions in the revised ordinance take effect on December 16, 2026. After that date, operation is not allowed across the ward from noon January 15 to noon March 15, from noon April 11 to noon July 1, and from noon September 1 to noon December 15. Only three windows remain: noon December 15 to noon January 15, noon March 15 to noon April 11, and noon July 1 to noon September 1 (the ward’s summary calls them winter break, spring break and summer break, 120 days a year). In Category 1 Low-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones, Category 1 and 2 Medium-to-High-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones, Category 1 and 2 Residential Zones, Quasi-Industrial Zones, and Category 1 and 2 Educational Districts, operation is not allowed at any time. Homes whose notification was accepted before December 16, 2026 are not subject to the all-period ban but are still subject to the ward-wide period restrictions; 2026 is a transition year, and details follow the ward’s announcements.
• Kyoto City: In Category 1 and 2 Low-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones and Category 1 and 2 Medium-to-High-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones, operation is not allowed from noon March 16 to noon January 15 of the following year, leaving only noon January 15 to noon March 16. The exceptions are operators who use the home as their base of living and have lived there for more than three months from the start of residence to the filing date and are not in a case that requires a management company, and certified Kyo-machiya (京町家) where each stay is limited to one group of nine or fewer.
• Osaka City (大阪市): In Category 1 and 2 Low-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones and Category 1 and 2 Medium-to-High-Rise Exclusively Residential Zones, operation is not allowed at any time, except where all or part of the site faces a road 4 meters or wider. Within 100 meters around the site of an elementary school or compulsory-education school, operation is not allowed from noon Monday to noon Friday. These two restrictions apply to minpaku that must be entrusted to a management company, which includes cases in which the owner is absent.
• Fukuoka City (福岡市): Minpaku notifications for the whole of Fukuoka Prefecture are accepted by the prefecture, while hotel business licenses are applied for with Fukuoka City. As of September 2026, the official explanations of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City do not mention any ordinance restricting areas or periods, and the prefecture’s page says only up to 180 days a year. Confirm with the Fukuoka Prefecture Living Hygiene Division before operating.

Can You Still Apply for a Special-Zone Minpaku?

Not in Osaka City. Osaka City stopped accepting new special-zone minpaku applications on May 29, 2026, and on the same date also stopped accepting change applications that add rooms or floor area to an already certified facility. Applications filed on or before May 29 and certified afterward are treated as having been certified before May 29. Facilities already certified may continue to operate. Osaka City’s minimum stay under the city ordinance is three days.

If you want to acquire an existing special-zone minpaku property in Osaka City, you must confirm with Osaka City whether the certification can be carried over to the new owner, and should not rely only on what the seller says. Ota Ward (大田区) in Tokyo, in a Q&A updated on April 8, 2026, states that the minimum stay for special-zone minpaku in the ward is two nights and three days, and that there is no limit on operating days per year; whether it is still accepting new applications must be confirmed with Ota Ward. Areas of Osaka Prefecture outside Osaka City are not covered in this article.

What Are the Consequences of Violating the Rules?

Taking payment to let people stay as a business without a notification or a license means operating a hotel business without a license, punishable by imprisonment without work (拘禁刑) of up to six months or a fine of up to 1 million yen, or both.

For a notified minpaku, under the Private Lodging Business Act: a false notification, or violating an order to suspend or cease the business, is punishable by imprisonment without work of up to six months or a fine of up to 1 million yen, or both. Failing to engage a management company when required, and similar violations, are punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Violating the rules on the guest register or signage, or failing to submit a periodic report or submitting a false one, is punishable by a fine of up to 300,000 yen. The prefectural governor can order all or part of the business suspended for up to one year, and can order the business to cease when other means cannot achieve the purpose of supervision. From December 16, 2026, violating Toshima Ward’s area and period restrictions is punishable by an administrative fine (過料) of up to 50,000 yen.

Which Claims Should You Be Careful About?

• “Minpaku in Japan can run 180 days a year.” 180 days is a ceiling; Shinjuku, Chuo, Chiyoda and Toshima wards, Kyoto City and Osaka City all restrict areas or periods by ordinance.
• “You can start the day after filing.” Shinjuku and Chuo wards require neighbors to be informed or notified seven days before filing, so the preparation period is much longer than one day.
• “This home still has 180 days available this year.” Days are counted per home, and days already used by the previous operator are included.
• “I only host on weekends and only charge a cleaning fee, so I don’t need to apply.” Repeatedly taking payment to let people stay requires a notification or a license, and a cleaning fee counts as a lodging fee.
• “A rental of one month or more is not a hotel business.” One month is a benchmark, and a stay of one month or more can also be judged a hotel business.
• “You can still apply for a special-zone minpaku in Osaka.” Osaka City stopped accepting new applications on May 29, 2026.
• “Minpaku income is always miscellaneous income.” The National Tax Agency’s 2018 explanation assumes the operator’s own residence and generally classifies the income as miscellaneous income (雑所得); it does not directly address how to classify income from an investment condominium used for owner-absent minpaku, so confirm with a tax accountant.

How Do You Decide What to Do Next?

1. First find the ward or city and the land-use zone where the home is located, check the local ordinance, and calculate how many days a year you can actually operate.
2. Obtain the building’s management rules and usage regulations, and confirm with the management association whether there is a resolution prohibiting minpaku.
3. Decide which route to use. If the permitted days are too few, compare a hotel business license, special-zone minpaku or an ordinary lease of one month or more, and confirm the conditions of each with the receiving authority.
4. If you are acquiring a home that already operates as a minpaku, confirm the notification status and the days used in the current year before signing; for special-zone minpaku, confirm whether the certification can be carried over.
5. Arrange a registered private lodging management company; in Kyoto City and Toshima Ward, also appoint an agent living in Japan, and confirm who will submit the periodic report.

Whether a home can operate as a minpaku, and for how many days a year, depends on its land-use zone, the building’s management rules and the local ordinance. For the costs, rental yield and taxes of minpaku or renting out, see the main article, “Before Reading Japan Rental Yields: Tenant Sources, Vacancy, Management Costs and City Differences.”

FAQ: Minpaku and Short-Term Rental in Japan

If I buy a Japanese apartment that already operates as a minpaku, does the 180-day count restart?

No. The 180 days are counted per notified home, and when the operator changes, days in the same fiscal year are added together. A year means noon April 1 to noon April 1 of the following year. Before taking over, confirm the days already used with the authority that accepts the notification.

Can an owner who lives overseas run a minpaku themselves?

They can file the notification, but because the owner is absent during guest stays, the home must, as a rule, be entrusted to a registered private lodging management company. Kyoto City and Toshima Ward additionally require an operator with no address in Japan to appoint an agent living in Japan for each home.

Does renting a Japanese apartment by the month take it outside the Hotel Business Act?

Not necessarily. A rental of less than one month is, in principle, judged a hotel business, and one month is a benchmark. Chuo Ward in Tokyo provides that a rental that is not openly offered on the premise of a stay of at least one month, or that is repeatedly ended early, is still a hotel business.

Glossary

• Private lodging business (住宅宿泊事業): a business that takes payment to let people stay in a home for no more than 180 days a year, commonly called minpaku and operated on a notification basis.
• Hotel business (旅館業): a business that takes payment to let people stay, including hotels and inns, simple lodging and boarding house operations, and requires a license.
• Special-zone minpaku (国家戦略特別区域外国人滞在施設経営事業): lodging for foreign visitors in a National Strategic Special Zone that, once certified, does not need a hotel business license.
• Private lodging management company (住宅宿泊管理業者): a company registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism that manages minpaku homes on behalf of owners.
• Owner-present type / owner-absent type (家主居住型 / 家主不在型): local-government terms for whether the owner is present or absent during guest stays.
• Land-use zone (用途地域): the categories into which Japan divides land by permitted use; local ordinances use them to define areas where minpaku is restricted.
• Imprisonment without work (拘禁刑): the name of the penalty that replaced “imprisonment with work” (懲役) on June 1, 2025.
• Administrative fine (過料): the monetary penalty set by Toshima Ward’s ordinance for violations of its area and period restrictions.

Notes on the Data

• The information in this article was checked on September 30, 2026, against Japanese laws such as the Private Lodging Business Act, the Hotel Business Act and the National Strategic Special Zones Act, and against official documents from the Japan Tourism Agency, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, MLIT, the National Tax Agency, the Tokyo wards, Kyoto City, Osaka City, Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City. The original sources are in Japanese.
• The following conclusions are drawn from official documents; the authorities do not state them directly. “A home that exceeds 180 days is no longer within the private lodging business and may need a hotel business license”: based on the fact that the law defines the private lodging business as lodging for no more than 180 days a year, and that the penalty provisions contain no penalty that uses a number of days as an element. “Fukuoka’s official explanations mention no restricting ordinance”: only the relevant Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City pages were reviewed, not each article of the local regulations.
• Items that could not be confirmed: how Osaka City handles the transfer of existing special-zone minpaku certification to a new owner, the application deadline for special-zone minpaku in Ota Ward, the special-zone situation in Osaka Prefecture outside Osaka City, and whether Kyoto City’s ordinance has been amended since. On the agent-in-Japan requirement, only the rules of Kyoto City and Toshima Ward were reviewed.
• Rules still changing: Toshima Ward’s restrictions take effect on December 16, 2026, and the ward has a follow-up review meeting; Chiyoda Ward’s revision applies only to notifications made on or after July 1, 2026. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Q&A and the Fukuoka City page still use the old term “imprisonment with work” (懲役); this article uses “imprisonment without work” (拘禁刑) in line with the current statutes.
• This article does not cover fire safety, building standards, urban planning and other procedures before filing, accommodation tax, facility requirements for a simple lodging license, or fixed asset tax on homes used for minpaku.

Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.

Sources

• e-Gov法令検索－住宅宿泊事業法
• e-Gov法令検索－住宅宿泊事業法施行令
• e-Gov法令検索－住宅宿泊事業法施行規則
• 厚生労働省・国土交通省－住宅宿泊事業法施行要領（ガイドライン）
• e-Gov法令検索－旅館業法
• 厚生労働省－民泊サービスと旅館業法に関するＱ＆Ａ
• 中央区保健所－旅館業と貸室業との判断基準について
• e-Gov法令検索－借地借家法
• 国税庁－タックスアンサー No.6201 非課税となる取引
• e-Gov法令検索－国家戦略特別区域法
• e-Gov法令検索－国家戦略特別区域法施行令
• 大阪市－国家戦略特別区域外国人滞在施設経営事業に関する条例
• 大阪市経済戦略局－大阪市国家戦略特別区域外国人滞在施設経営事業の新規受付終了について
• 大田区－大田区特区民泊認定に関するＱ＆Ａ
• 新宿区－住宅宿泊事業と新宿区のルールについて
• 新宿区－新宿区住宅宿泊事業の適正な運営の確保に関する条例
• 中央区－住宅宿泊事業に関する中央区のルールについて
• 中央区－中央区住宅宿泊事業の適正な運営に関する条例
• 千代田区－千代田区住宅宿泊事業の実施に関する条例・ガイドライン
• 千代田区－千代田区住宅宿泊事業の実施に関する条例
• 豊島区－住宅宿泊事業法の条例を改正しました
• 豊島区－豊島区住宅宿泊事業の適正な運営の確保に関する条例 新旧対照表
• 豊島区－民泊条例改正の概要について
• 京都市－「住宅宿泊事業」（民泊）に係る京都市の独自ルールについて
• 京都市－京都市住宅宿泊事業の適正な運営を確保するための措置に関する条例
• 大阪市健康局－住宅宿泊事業について
• 福岡市保健所－「いわゆる民泊」の営業には住宅宿泊事業法の届出か旅館業法の許可が必要です！
• 福岡県－住宅宿泊事業法の概要
• 観光庁 民泊制度ポータルサイト－住宅宿泊事業法の施行状況
• 国税庁－住宅宿泊事業法に規定する住宅宿泊事業により生じる所得の課税関係等について（情報）

Important Notice

This article is a general information summary. It is not individual legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not determine whether any particular home can operate as a minpaku. Information was checked on September 30, 2026. Laws, local ordinances and acceptance status may be updated, so please rely on the current announcements of the competent Japanese authorities and local governments and, where needed, consult a qualified professional.