The City of Kyoto has released a draft plan to strengthen regulations on private lodging accommodations (minpaku). The plan was presented at a meeting of experts, and the city aims to submit a proposed ordinance amendment to the Kyoto City Assembly in February 2027.
Under the draft, both simple lodging facilities and private lodging businesses operating registered residences would be required to have staff permanently stationed either on the premises or in an adjacent building. Kyoto machiya townhouses would in principle also be subject to the regulations, and the city is considering applying the rules uniformly to existing facilities after allowing a grace period. Facilities that violate the staffing requirement would be subject to prioritized unannounced inspections, with guidance potentially leading to suspension orders.
Regarding operating days, the city is considering a “zero-day regulation” that would prohibit operations in exclusively residential zones and industrial zones, regardless of whether the owner resides on the property. The measure would not apply to existing facilities. Currently, only owner-absent facilities in exclusively residential zones are permitted to operate, from noon on January 15 through noon on March 16.
Other proposals include regulating the location of registered residences, in the same way as simple lodging facilities, in areas such as narrow alleyways where the road in front is less than 1.5 meters wide. Another proposal would establish soundproofing standards for party walls in row houses. The city does not plan to impose regulations based on proximity to schools or similar facilities.
As of the end of fiscal 2025, accommodation facilities in Kyoto City comprised 641 ryokan inns and hotels with 42,554 rooms; 749 simple lodging facilities not equivalent to private lodging, with 15,280 rooms; 2,420 simple lodging facilities equivalent to private lodging, with 2,924 rooms; and 1,216 private lodging businesses, with 1,216 rooms. Private lodging accounts for about 7% of rooms, but it represented 74% of all complaints received between fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2025.
In a survey of 518 residents living near private lodging facilities, 70% said regulations should be strengthened, while 65% had a negative impression of private lodging. Among 137 randomly selected Kyoto City residents, 84% said regulations should be tightened. Meanwhile, 67% of 339 tourists surveyed had a positive impression of private lodging.
Going forward, the third meeting of experts will be held on November 2. The city will formulate its regulatory proposal during November and conduct a public comment process.
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This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
