Do you need a licensed lodging manager for your property in Japan?

If you own property in Japan and want to rent it out to travellers, the first question is not "which platform" but "under which law".

Japan has two separate routes, and the one you pick decides how many nights you can sell, what you must build, and whether you are legally required to hire a management company. Getting this wrong after signing a lease is expensive.

This guide is written by MOSVA Inc., a lodging management operator registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism under No. F04591 (01). We run our own properties and act as the registered manager for other owners, so everything below is what we deal with in practice.

The two routes: minpaku law and the Hotel Business Act

	Housing Accommodation Business Act ("minpaku law")	Hotel Business Act (simple lodging)
Nights you may sell	180 per year, hard cap	No cap
Procedure	Notification	Licence
Facility requirements	Lighter	Heavier (front desk rules, floor area, sanitation)
Local rules	Prefectures and wards often add restrictions	Prefectures and wards often add restrictions
Typical fit	A second home, a property you also use yourself	A property you intend to run as a business year-round

The 180-night cap is the thing most overseas owners underestimate. It is not 180 nights of occupancy per listing per platform. It is 180 nights of accommodation business per registered property per year. If your numbers only work at high occupancy, the minpaku route will not carry them, and you should be looking at a simple lodging licence from the start.

One useful detail: a stay under a lease agreement of one month or longer is not "accommodation" under the minpaku law, so it does not count toward the 180 nights. Some owners fill the low season with monthly rentals to preserve the cap for the high season. This requires a genuine lease, not a relabelled nightly booking.

When you are legally required to hire a management company

Under Article 11 of the minpaku law, you must commission a registered lodging management operator if either is true:

• the operator is not present at the property while guests are staying (the "owner-absent" type), or
• the notified property has more than five guest rooms

If you live overseas, you are almost always the owner-absent type. This is not optional and it is not something a property manager can waive for you.

Two things that surprise people:

The management company must be registered, and you can check. The registration number looks like ours: Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (01) No. F04591. A company without one cannot sign the document you need for your notification.

Article 35 forbids delegating the entire job onward. A manager who tells you they will simply pass all the work back to you, or to a third party, is describing something the law does not allow. A legitimate arrangement keeps at least part of the duties with the registered operator.

The document your notification will be rejected without

At notification you will be asked for a copy of the document issued under Article 34 of the law. In Japanese paperwork it appears as 法第三十四条の規定により交付された書面の写し.

This is the copy of the written contract your registered management operator gives you when you sign the management agreement. You cannot write it yourself, and you cannot obtain it before choosing a management company. Owners who leave the manager decision until after they have lined up the property routinely lose weeks here.

On-site response: the requirement that decides your property

Separately from the paperwork, your local public health centre will require someone able to reach the property quickly when something goes wrong. The minpaku law speaks of roughly 30 minutes, but local practice is far stricter than the national text.

We record the requirement each client was given at the time we sign a response contract. As of September 2026 we have 295 records, and among the 270 that specified a time:

Required arrival time	Contracts	Share
Within 10 minutes	213	78.9%
Within 15 minutes	5	1.9%
Within 20 minutes	2	0.7%
Within 30 minutes	44	16.3%
Within 60 minutes	6	2.2%

Almost four in five were "within 10 minutes". The means of travel matters just as much: 108 specified on foot only, 29 allowed a bicycle, and 45 accepted any means. On foot only, within 10 minutes, means you need a person based roughly 800 metres from the door.

This is not a public table of standards. It is our own aggregation of what clients were told, and answers vary by ward and by the type of notification. Confirm both the time and the permitted means with the public health centre that covers your address, before you commit to a property.

What this costs

Full-service management in Japan, where the company handles cleaning, guest communication and emergencies, typically runs 15–20% of revenue.

If you want to keep running the property yourself and only need the part the law requires, that is a different service. MOSVA offers registered management at 990 yen per month including tax, plus an 11,000 yen one-time registration fee, charged per notified property with no surcharge for the number of rooms. Cleaning, key handover and on-site response stay with you or a provider you choose, and you can add any of them from us when you need them.

FAQ

Can a foreigner run a vacation rental in Japan?

Yes. There is no nationality requirement for notification or for a simple lodging licence. What is required is a Japanese address for the property, a registered lodging management operator if you are the owner-absent type, and someone able to reach the property within the time your public health centre specifies.

Do I need a management company if I live abroad?

Almost certainly yes. Article 11 of the minpaku law requires a registered lodging management operator when the operator is not present during guest stays. Living overseas puts you in that category.

How do I check a management company is legitimate?

Ask for the registration number issued by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. MOSVA's is (01) No. F04591. Also confirm that the company performs at least part of the duties itself, because delegating the entire job onward is prohibited under Article 35.

What is the 180-night limit exactly?

Under the minpaku law you may operate accommodation for at most 180 nights per year per notified property. Stays under a lease of one month or longer are not accommodation under the law and do not count toward it. If your plan needs year-round operation, look at a simple lodging licence instead.

How fast must someone reach the property?

The national text refers to roughly 30 minutes, but local requirements are stricter. In our 295 records, 78.9% of the contracts that specified a time required arrival within 10 minutes, and 108 of them allowed travel on foot only. Confirm with your local public health centre before choosing a property.

Which comes first, the property or the management company?

The management company, or at least the shortlist. You cannot obtain the Article 34 document without a signed management agreement, and the on-site response requirement may rule out the property you were about to sign for.

In short

• Decide between the minpaku law and a simple lodging licence before you sign for a property. The 180-night cap is the deciding factor
• If you are overseas, you are the owner-absent type and a registered management operator is mandatory
• You cannot file your notification without the Article 34 document, and you cannot get it without a manager
• Confirm the arrival time and the permitted means of travel with your local public health centre. In our records, four in five required 10 minutes

Talk to us

If you own a property in Japan and are not sure which route fits, tell us the address and what you want from the property. We will tell you which route is realistic and what the local requirements are likely to be.