Japan Tourism Agency shares its recent findings on the impact of the new minpaku law introduced in June 2018.
The Japan Tourism Agency held a meeting on November 7, 2018 to discuss recent findings and share updates on how the new minpaku law, also known as Private Lodging Business Act put in place in June 2018 has affected the local government.
In the meeting, they discussed how registrations complying with the new Private Lodging Business Act has risen and announced the number of registrations as of the end of October. According to its findings, there are now a total of 11,069 registrations — an increase of 7341 registrations compared to the mere 3728 registrations when the law was enacted.
As for Private Lodging Administrators, there are now a total of 1382 registrations, and for Private Lodging Agents, there are a total of 65 agents registered.
JTA was quite pleased to announce that the number of registrations has risen to above 10,000 across Japan. It also revealed some interesting details. At most of the listed properties, the owners don’t live on site and are primarily run by corporations — unlike before the new law was put in place. That is not a surprise considering how hard they have set the bar for individuals (who wanted to share the spare bedroom in their house) to comply with the new law.
Data gathered by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also reveals that the number of facilities with permits under the Inns and Hotels Act are skyrocketing at 32,556 registrations, roughly three times the number of those registered under the new Private Lodging Business Act. Numbers of Special Zone Private Lodging facilities have also doubled to 1433 facilities compared to half a year ago.
In terms illegally operated minpaku, one owner has been sued by his building’s owners association in August 2018. However, there has not been any 'Public Notice of Supervisory Disposition' issued by any local government up to this point. That does not mean, though, that the Japan Tourism Agency is lax on illegal operations. In 2016, JTA saw a huge rise in illegal lodging operations, which ultimately lead to putting the new law in place. There were at least 10,849 listings in 2016 without any kind of registration, certification, or permit, a huge rise from 1413 listings in 2015. Although the number of unregistered lodgings have since calmed down to 5255 listings in 2017, they are keeping an eye out for those who still have not taken action to register with the government in one way or another.
To continue to strengthen the future of the lodging business across the country, Japan Tourism Agency plans to spend over JPY 209 million in 2019.
Data source: Jutaku Shimpo report – November 13, 2018 issue
By Kaori Kitagawa
Similar to this:
How to legally host on Airbnb in Japan: A mini guide
Airbnb in Japan: How legal is it?
The future of Airbnb in Japan: Cloudy, with a strong chance of bureaucracy