Minpaku: the 180 days and the report
If you notified your property under the Housing Accommodation Business Act (jutaku shukuhaku jigyo ho), three obligations matter month to month: stay under 180 days, file a report every even month, and keep a guest register. Here is what each one actually requires.
1. The 180 days
- The year runs from noon on 1 April to noon on 1 April the following year, and a "day" is noon to noon (Enforcement Regulation, art. 3).
- So a guest who checks in on 31 March and leaves on the morning of 1 April uses a day from the old year, not the new one.
- If two bookings overlap on the same night, that is still one day. The law counts "days on which you had people stay", not bookings.
- Going over 180 days is a breach of the Act. Stop taking bookings before you reach it.
Count your days (free, nothing saved)
2. The bi-monthly report
By the 15th of February, April, June, August, October and December you report the previous two months for each notified property (Act art. 14; Enforcement Regulation art. 12). You file it through the Minpaku Registration System run by the Japan Tourism Agency.
| What they ask for | How to count it |
|---|---|
| Days on which people stayed | The number of days. Two bookings on one night is still one day. |
| Number of guests | The number of people. Add up the party size of each booking. |
| Guest-nights | People × nights. Two people for three nights is six. |
| Breakdown by nationality | Number of guests by nationality — not guest-nights. This trips people up; the regulation says "number of guests". |
A period with no guests still has to be reported.
3. The guest register
| Minpaku (notification) | Ryokan business (licence) | |
|---|---|---|
| Law | Act art. 8; Enforcement Regulation art. 7 | Hotel Business Act art. 6; Enforcement Regulation art. 4-2 |
| Always required | Name, address, occupation, date of stay | Name, address, contact details |
| Foreign guests with no address in Japan | Nationality and passport number | Nationality and passport number |
| Keep for | 3 years from the date it was made | 3 years from the date it was made |
| Electronic records | Allowed, if you can display them clearly on paper when asked (art. 7(4)) | Not stated in the regulation — ask your public health centre |
Note the difference: the minpaku rules ask for occupation, the ryokan rules ask for contact details. "Occupation" is not in the current Hotel Business Act regulation.
4. Local ordinances can be stricter
The 180 days is the national ceiling. Prefectures, cities and Tokyo wards may restrict where and when you can operate, and several do so severely:
- 足立区: 住居専用地域では、月曜日の正午から金曜日の正午までは営業できません（チェックインできるのは金・土・日）。ただし国民の祝日などの休日の正午から翌日の正午までは営業できるため、休日当日もチェックインできます。休日の前日は制限の対象です
- 明石市: 住居専用地域では、全ての期間、住宅宿泊事業を実施できません（家主居住型・家主不在型の区別はありません）
- 尼崎市: 住居専用地域では、1年中（4月1日正午から翌年4月1日正午まで）住宅宿泊事業を実施できません。この区域内の住宅の届出は受け付けられません
- 荒川区: 区内全域で、月曜日の正午から土曜日の正午までは営業できません（チェックインできるのは土・日）。ただし国民の祝日などの休日の正午から翌日の正午までは営業できるため、休日当日もチェックインできます。休日の前日の晩は、その日が平日なら営業できません。家主居住型も対象です
- 文京区: 制限区域では、日曜日の正午から金曜日の正午までは住宅宿泊事業を行うことができません（チェックインできるのは金・土）。届出住宅の敷地の過半が制限区域に含まれる場合は、その敷地を制限区域とみなします
- 千葉県: No extra day/area limits by ordinance (check local district plans)
- 千代田区: 家主居住型は、文教地区等と学校等周辺では日曜日の正午から金曜日の正午までは営業できません（チェックインできるのは金・土）
- 中央区: 区内全域で、土曜日の正午から月曜日の正午までの宿泊に限られます（チェックインできるのは土・日）
Many of these apply only to host-absent operation, or only to properties notified after a certain date. The Japanese list has the detail and the source for each.
Special-zone minpaku is a different licence
Special-zone minpaku (tokku minpaku, National Strategic Special Zones Act art. 13) has no 180-day limit. Instead, each stay must be at least the period set by local ordinance, within a range of 3 to 10 days — Osaka City, for example, requires two nights. The Hotel Business Act does not apply to it. Osaka City stopped accepting new applications on 29 May 2026. More (Japanese).
Accommodation tax still applies
Minpaku is taxable under the accommodation taxes in most municipalities that have one. See which apply and how much.
This is reference information calculated mechanically from material published by Japanese national and local governments. It is not legal or tax advice. You make the final decisions and file the returns yourself. Please confirm anything unclear with the relevant local government office.
Sources: e-Gov Law Search (Housing Accommodation Business Act and its Enforcement Regulation; Hotel Business Act and its Enforcement Regulation), Cabinet Office, and each authority's own website (retrieved 2026-11-05).