Japan Regulations

The Minpaku Maze: A Practical Guide to Short-Term Rental Licensing in Japan

The first time I tried to understand the rules for renting out property in Japan, I ended up with fifteen browser tabs open, three different government PDFs, and a growing sense that I was missing something important. That feeling was correct.

Japan’s short-term rental licensing system is genuinely complicated — not because of any malicious design, but because it evolved through layers of national legislation, municipal customization, and building management rules that interact in ways nobody fully explained to me until I was already knee-deep in an application.

Japan's Accommodation Tax: A City-by-City Guide for Guesthouse Operators

Japan’s accommodation tax (宿泊税) is a patchwork of local levies that differ by city, by price bracket, and sometimes by property type. If you run a guesthouse or short-term rental across multiple cities — or you’re just starting out and trying to get compliant — this post breaks down what you actually need to know.