The minpaku industry in Japan is seeing major shifts as local governments gain increased power over this unique form of lodging. While the national government has in the past viewed effective bans on minpaku as unnecessary and overreaching, the Tourism Agency now plans to instruct municipalities that they may restrict or effectively prohibit operations if minpaku begin damaging the living environment in residential areas.
Minpaku are largely run under the Residential Lodging Business Act, which allows up to 180 days of operation per year. Some local governments are looking to create ordinances that drop that limit to 0 days, essentially banning operations outright. The previous government perspective was that Japan wanted to promote minpaku, but keep it under control. With increased complaints, particularly regarding noise and garbage disposal, it seems a breaking point has been reached. In fact, the national government also plans to create a night-time call center to deal with minpaku-related trouble.
An important clarification is that local governments may not need to wait for problems to occur before implementing stricter rules. If they expect that minpaku will create problems in a certain area, they may be allowed to act. On top of that, they may also be able to create ordinances that apply in areas where minpaku are already operating. Essentially, current owners and operators, along with those considering a minpaku investment, could both be caught in the crossfire.
This is also where local politics become important. The more problems poorly managed minpaku companies cause, the more complaints residents report to their local governments. And at the end of the day, local governments work for their residents, not tourists. If residents keep complaining about noise, garbage, safety, or constant guest turnover, it becomes much easier for local governments to justify tighter rules or even effective bans. That creates a kind of witch hunt-like situation within the industry, where responsible operators are under pressure because of the mistakes of irresponsible ones.
That pressure does not only come from residents or local governments either. Many minpaku companies now feel threatened by the direction regulations are moving, and some operators may become much more willing to report competitors that are violating minpaku rules. In other words, the industry itself may become less forgiving. If one company is following the rules and another is cutting corners, the rule-breaking operator is not just risking government attention. They may also be risking attention from their own competitors.
The Tourism Agency’s planned notice also includes encouragement for stronger management and monitoring, to a degree. For example, the installation of both noise meters and entrance cameras may be pushed through local ordinances. Importantly, these would not automatically become nationwide rules. Rather, the direction seems to be toward giving local governments more room to implement these kinds of measures where needed.
Let’s move to Taito Ward in Tokyo as a case study. On June 2, 2026, Bill No. 54 was submitted as a proposed amendment to Taito Ward’s ordinance on the operation of residential lodging businesses. The proposed amendment would define the restricted area for residential lodging business restrictions as the entire ward, with an effective date of October 1, 2026. This ordinance would apply to minpaku where a residential lodging business notification is filed on or after October 1, but previously registered minpaku would still be handled under the old rules. It’s likely this will cause a rush of applications, similar to what we recently saw in Osaka.
Taito Ward’s amendment would also give the ward mayor power to issue guidance and recommendations when necessary to ensure proper operation. While these would be simple recommendations at first, if the instructions were not followed, the ward could order the operator to take action. It’s essentially government-regulated passive-aggressiveness that, if not acted upon, turns into just straight-up forcefulness. Punishment, such as public disclosure of violators, is also on the table.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward, the local government just issued its first business suspension orders against 15 minpaku operators, planned to last one year. In April 2026, Toshima Ward issued business improvement orders to 202 facilities and 83 residential lodging operators that repeatedly failed to submit required regular reports. After those improvement orders, 23 facilities and 15 operators still failed to report and showed no improvement, resulting in the suspension orders.
It’s not just a paperwork issue though. Toshima Ward says that complaints from the public regarding minpaku have not decreased. With that in mind, they are only likely to get stricter, including watching minpaku operations closer than ever. Similar to Taito Ward, Toshima Ward may issue recommendations and publicly name operators that fail to follow their orders.
On top of that, Toshima Ward has noticed an increase in complaints regarding ryokan and hotels as well. Some operators are moving from minpaku to hotel or ryokan licensing due to restrictions on residential lodging business operating days, and Toshima Ward appears concerned that this could become a loophole or an improper replacement route. Ultimately, if a lodging business is still run similarly to an Airbnb-style operation, many of the same complaint issues may continue. Toshima Ward is therefore considering further ordinance changes to help close these loopholes before they become an even larger problem.
For buyers, this means the management company matters more than ever. If you are buying a property with the intention of operating it as minpaku, you need to be extremely careful about who will actually manage the operation. A bad management company does not just create bad reviews or lower income. It can create noise complaints, garbage complaints, reporting failures, local government attention, and eventually a much bigger problem for the owner.
If you are introduced to a property that is already being run as minpaku, you should not only look at the projected income. You should also check whether the property is being operated and reported properly under the latest regulations. The question is not just “Is this currently making money?” The better question is “Would this still be considered properly run if the local government reviewed it under the newest rules and the current regulatory direction?”
While minpaku often seem attractive to potential buyers, the amount of extra research that needs to go into them is heavier than can even be explained in a simple paragraph. The fact of the matter is, most real estate agencies do not have the time or manpower to deep-dive into local minpaku law when 1. it is constantly changing and 2. there is no guarantee the client will purchase something in the end. Point being, if you are seriously interested in minpaku, understand that you may have to do a lot of the legwork yourself.
The safest conclusion is that minpaku potential should be treated as a regulated, location-specific business risk, not as a simple bonus income assumption attached to a property. It may even be safest to assume that, someday, operating under the Residential Lodging Business Act may no longer be possible in certain areas. Public opinion toward Airbnb-style lodging in Japan is becoming increasingly negative, and once residents, local governments, and even competing operators are all pushing in the same direction, the risk becomes very real.
Here at Dovetail, we will always do our best to guide you honestly about what we can and cannot do, to your benefit. If you wish to learn more about what minpaku options may be available to you, or discuss real estate in the greater Tokyo area in general, please head to our inquiry page here, as we would love to hear from you.
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