Value Village ／ Before you come to Japan
Renting a house or apartment in Japan (Airbnb, minpaku): what do visitors get wrong?
This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete.
The answerBook only listings that display a registration number (minpaku "M" number, hotel licence, or special-zone licence) — unlicensed rentals are illegal and can be cancelled mid-stay. Expect a passport copy to be taken at check-in (required by law for foreign guests), a strict rubbish-sorting schedule with specific bags and collection days, and quiet hours from 22:00. Do not treat a residential apartment like a hotel: no parties, no extra guests beyond the booking, shoes off, and no rolling suitcases along corridors at night. If the host asks you to move the rubbish on a certain morning, that is not optional — the neighbours will report it.
Short-term rentals are legal in Japan under a 2018 law but tightly controlled, and the rules land on the guest as much as the host: rubbish sorting, noise, key handling and neighbour relations are written into the listing and sometimes into the local ordinance. Reviews from Japanese neighbours are the reason many buildings have since banned rentals altogether.
The legal framework and what it means for guests
| Type of licence | Rules | What you see |
|---|
| Minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act, 2018) | Host may rent up to 180 nights a year; notification number ("M" followed by nine digits, e.g. M1300xxxxx) must be displayed on the listing and at the door; guest register with passport copy required; rubbish and noise rules must be explained | Airbnb shows the number; a laminated notice inside |
| Special zone (tokku minpaku) | Osaka, parts of Tokyo (Ōta) — minimum stay 2 nights, no 180-day cap; Osaka announced in 2025 that it intends to wind the scheme down, so check current status | Licence number on listing |
| Hotel/ryokan licence (Ryokan Business Act) | Full hotel licence; no cap | "Hotel licence" wording |
| Unlicensed | Illegal. Platforms de-list them, but some survive on other sites | No number; host asks to meet "somewhere else" — walk away |
- Local ordinances add rules: Kyoto limits host-absent minpaku in residential-only zones to January 15 – March 15 (exceptions for host-resident listings and registered kyō-machiya); separately, Kyoto requires a manager who can reach any host-absent listing within about 10 minutes (~800 m); Shinjuku and Nakano ban weekday operation in residential zones; many condominium associations prohibit rentals outright — if a neighbour tells you the building doesn't allow guests, they may be right.
- Check-in: passport copies are legally required for non-resident guests; key boxes and remote check-in are common but the host must be reachable and, in many wards, able to arrive within a set time.
- Rubbish: Japanese municipal rubbish is sorted into 4–10 categories with specific bags and collection days (see the rubbish-sorting article). Listings give a calendar; burnable rubbish twice a week, plastics once, bottles/cans once, paper once is typical. Putting the wrong bag out on the wrong day is the number-one neighbour complaint, and hosts can be warned or, for repeated violations, have their notification revoked, so they pass the pressure on to guests.
- Noise: walls in Japanese apartment blocks are thin; 22:00–07:00 is quiet time, and "party" complaints lead to police visits and eviction. Rolling suitcases in the corridor, slamming doors, talking on balconies are the usual triggers.
- Occupancy: the number booked is the number allowed; fire regulations limit it, and hosts are penalised.
- Bathrooms: the tub is for soaking after washing (see the ofuro article); Japanese drains and toilet paper only in the toilet — no wipes.
- Futon and tatami: do not drag suitcases or furniture on tatami; futon are folded away in the day; air the futon if you stay a week.
- Leaving: strip nothing unless asked, take out rubbish per the calendar, switch off the gas water heater, return keys to the box. Hosts review guests too, and a poor record follows you on the platform.
[Verify] Kyoto residential-zone dates and the 800 m host-residence rule with the city; 180-night cap and passport-copy requirement with the JTA portal.
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Sources
- Japan Tourism Agency — Private Lodging Business Act (Minpaku Shinpō) portal and registration lookup
https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/en/
- Kyoto City — Minpaku ordinance (residential-zone period limits)
https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — Hotel Business Act and guest registration requirements
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/
⚠️ Editorial note: the source URLs above were identified by search. Our working environment cannot reach go.jp domains, so the contents have not been checked against the text. Verify every source before publication and record who checked it and when.
About this article
What we share here are ideas and everyday practices passed down among people living in Japan, together with general information drawn from public sources. They are not official recommendations, and they are not professional instruction. Practices vary between households and regions.
This is general information. Results vary from person to person and depend on your own conditions and surroundings.
Please decide for yourself, using your own judgement, whether any of this suits your situation. We cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss or injury arising from following this article.
Rules and procedures change. Please confirm the latest official information before you act.
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