Guesthouse & Hotel Licenses
Guesthouse & Hotel Licenses
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Japan was the 12th-most visited the country on the planet. In 2018, Japan attracted 31.19 million international tourists. Therefore, the Japanese tourism industry continues to maintain to be a high potential industry.
Whether you are planning to start a guesthouse business (minpaku, private residences rented out by their owners as short-term lodgings.) or to start a hotel business, we can offer support with your application for a Minpaku or a Hotel Business License. Please see below to have a general understanding of the requirements for minpaku and hotel. According to different wards, some requirements may be different. Please feel free to make a free consultation appointment with us.
General Minpaku Requirements:
● A minimum of 3.3 square meters of space dedicated for each guest.
● Installed and regularly checked emergency lighting equipment along with displayed evacuation routes.
●Information on how to use any equipment or amenities in a foreign language, along with foreign language information on means of transport and emergency phone numbers.
● Fire department approval and emergency fire safety equipment that is regularly checked.
● Waste must be collected from an industrial waste collection company rather than the residential waste collection services.
● Signs notifying the building’s purpose must be posted in a clearly visible and public place on the property.
● Prepare and maintain a guestbook that records guest information (name, nationality, and passport number must be listed) and days of business.
● This information must be kept for up to three years.
General hotel Requirements:
| Hotel | Japanese-Style Hotel |
Hostel/Inn |
|
| Number of Rooms | ・10 or more mainly Western-style rooms | ・5 or more mainly Japanese-style rooms |
・Non-shared sleeping space must make up less than 50% of total floor space ・Bunk-bed/other stratified sleeping arrangements must provide at least 1m between guests |
| Room Size |
・Western-style: 9m²+ ・Japanese-style: 7m² + |
・Western-style: 9m²+ ・Japanese-style: 7m² + |
・Total: 33m²+ |
| Room Space per Guest | ・3m² | ・3m² | ・1.5m² |
| Front Desk | ・Space of 3m²+ | ・Space of appropriate size to serve guests | ・N/A |
| Lobby, Restaurants etc |
・Must have a lobby and catering facilities ・Catering staff can be either employed internally or outsourced |
・Provision of catering facilities not compulsory where not deemed necessary |
・Must have space for storage of guests’ footwear ・Provision of catering facilities not compulsory where not deemed necessary |
| Bathing Facilities | ・Must have Western-style bathroom or shower room | ・Must have bathing facilities unless other bathing facilities are available nearby | ・Must have bathing facilities unless other bathing facilities are available nearby |