Fixed Asset Tax on Japanese Short-Term Rental Property: The Line Item Most ROI Spreadsheets Miss
Many ROI spreadsheets I review for prospective short-term rental buyers in Japan get cleaning fees, OTA commissions, and utilities right, but fixed asset tax (固定資産税, kotei shisan zei) is often under-budgeted. It’s not exotic or hidden; it’s just easy to underestimate if you’ve never owned property in Japan before, and it lands every single year whether the property is occupied or not.
If you’re comparing a gross yield number on a listing sheet against your actual holding costs, fixed asset tax is one of the recurring gaps between the two. Here’s what it actually is, roughly what it costs, and the one wrinkle that catches minpaku operators off guard.