About Minpaku & Whole-House Rentals

What is minpaku — the "Private Lodging Business" that puts homes to use for stays

"Minpaku" refers to offering all or part of a residence for travelers to stay in. In Japan, the Minpaku Act (Private Lodging Business Act), which came into effect on June 15, 2018, made it possible to legally offer a home as lodging by filing a notification and following certain rules.

This private lodging business comes with several requirements. The number of days per year that guests may be hosted is capped at 180; the property must be equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, toilet, and washbasin; and a notification must have been filed with the prefecture or other authority. Because it is fundamentally a system for making use of a "residence," its nature differs from that of large facilities like hotels.

That is precisely why minpaku offers a charm hotels do not. A lived-in machiya or detached house, a room tucked into a local residential neighborhood — the greatest appeal of minpaku is being able to experience "staying as if you live in the town, not merely as a tourist."

What is Special Zone minpaku — another kind of minpaku, common in Osaka

Search for lodging in Osaka and you'll often see the phrase "Special Zone minpaku." This is a system separate from the Minpaku Act; its formal name is the "Business of Operating Accommodation Facilities for Foreign Nationals in National Strategic Special Zones." It is a lodging business permitted as a special exception to the Ryokan Business Act within a National Strategic Special Zone designated by the government. Osaka is a region that has made use of this system since early on, and there are many Special Zone minpaku there.

There are two major differences from the Minpaku Act. One is that there is no 180-day-per-year limit, so operation is allowed year-round. The other is that a minimum length of stay is set. In the case of the City of Osaka, for example, a stay of "2 nights and 3 days or longer" is required. You could say it is a framework suited to trips where you settle in and stay a while over consecutive nights.

The difference from the Ryokan Business (hotels, ryokan, and simple lodging houses)

Alongside minpaku and Special Zone minpaku, another type often compared is lodging based on the Ryokan Business Act. Besides so-called hotels and ryokan, simple lodging houses such as dormitories and guesthouses also fall under this Ryokan Business. Facilities that have obtained a Ryokan Business permit have no 180-day-per-year operating limit like the one under the Minpaku Act.

In other words, even among places you can "stay," there are three distinct systems — the Minpaku Act, Special Zone minpaku, and the Ryokan Business — and each has its own rules on operating days and minimum nights. At Tabitime, keeping these differences in mind, we introduce places from whole-house machiya to hotel-style rooms — all of them lawfully operated lodgings.

What is a whole-house rental — an entire building, all to yourselves

A "whole-house rental (ittōgashi)" is, just as the name says, a way of staying in which you rent out an entire building. A detached house, a machiya, or each floor of a small building can be used exclusively by your own group, without sharing with other guests.

The appeal of a whole-house rental is privacy and freedom. Everything from the entrance to the bath and kitchen is yours alone, so you can relax without worrying about those around you. If the room comes with a kitchen, you can buy ingredients at a nearby market and cook for yourselves, or gather in the living room and talk late into the night. It is a form especially suited to families and groups of friends traveling together.

"Make the stay itself the point of the trip." — Rather than simply sleeping in a single hotel room, you rent a whole house and spend your time as if you live in the town. A whole-house minpaku is a choice that can make that very experience the star of your trip.

Tabitime's lodgings — introduced directly by the operating company

Tabitime operates many lodgings itself in Osaka and Kyoto. Rather than through an intermediary site, we who operate them guide your stay directly. From check-in instructions to advice during your stay and how to enjoy the surroundings, our team — which knows the towns inside out — supports you.

When looking for a room, you can filter by area, number of guests, and amenities (such as having a kitchen). We also offer Area Guides that let you choose lodging by the character of each neighborhood and a Festival Almanac that lets you build a trip around seasonal festivals. Even on a first visit to Osaka or Kyoto, you can choose the "town to stay in" without getting lost.