Japan Minpaku Statistics 2026: How Many Airbnbs Are There in Japan, and How Often Are They Booked?

Japan had 43,037 registered minpaku homes as of September 15, 2026, up 22.1% in a year, and 36.6% of all registrations ever filed have already closed. Total nights booked rose 29.3% in June–July, yet nights per home were roughly flat. In our view, growth is coming from more listings, not busier ones, and budget minpaku and high-rate whole-house rentals are now two different markets.

1. The Short Answer

According to the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), the number of registered homes under the Housing Accommodation Business Act (Japan's minpaku law, in force since June 15, 2018, which caps lodging at 180 days a year, as explained on the JTA minpaku portal) reached 43,037 as of September 15, 2026. That is 22.1% more than a year earlier (35,246 as of September 16, 2025).

Total nights booked across all minpaku in June–July 2026 rose to 129.3% of the same period last year. Per home, however, the picture is close to flat: the JTA's own figure (nights divided by the number of homes that reported) moved from 15.6 to 15.4 nights, while our calculation using all registered homes moved from 12.5 to 13.1 nights. Depending on the denominator, it is a small decrease or a small increase. In our view, most of the market's growth comes from more homes, and more homes reporting, rather than from each home being booked more.

The other number to watch is closures. Of 67,932 registrations ever filed, 24,895 (36.6%) have already closed. Minpaku is easy to enter because it only requires a notification, but many operators also leave. In our view, budget minpaku will keep competing on price, because demand per home is not growing as fast as supply. High-rate whole-house rentals operating year-round under a Hotel Business Act license (no 180-day cap) are a separate market with a different set of competitors.

2. Supply: 43,037 Registered Homes, 36.6% Closure Rate

Table 1. Minpaku registrations nationwide (as of September 15, 2026)

Source: JTA, registrations by prefecture (as of September 15, 2026). Registered homes = registrations − closures. All figures are counts.

Minpaku notifications are handled by prefectures, by cities that run their own public health centers (such as Sapporo, Osaka and Kyoto) and by Tokyo's 23 wards. In the latest two months alone (July 15 to September 15, 2026), 2,095 new registrations were filed and 1,128 closed, a net increase of 967. Roughly half as many homes left as entered over the same period (a two-month comparison, so treat it as indicative).

Figure 1. Registered minpaku homes (September of each year)

Each ■ = 2,000 homes (rounded). 2020 and 2021 omitted. Source: JTA registration tables for each date.

After staying at about the same level in 2019 and 2022, registered homes grew 13.8% (2022→2023), 28.8% (2023→2024) and 32.2% (2024→2025). Growth slowed to 22.1% in 2025→2026, but that is still a net increase of 7,791 homes in a year.

Closure rates vary widely by area. In Osaka City, 4,224 of 6,267 registrations (67.4%) have closed; in Sapporo, 3,124 of 6,227 (50.2%). Osaka City's registered homes barely moved in a year, from 1,996 to 2,043. Separately from minpaku, there is tokku minpaku (special zone minpaku, a year-round scheme under Japan's National Strategic Special Zones); the same JTA table lists 30,921 approved special zone rooms nationwide as of the end of June 2026. In our view, supply in areas where special zone minpaku is available, such as Osaka, cannot be seen from minpaku registrations alone. We cover Osaka's rule changes in Osaka Minpaku Rules 2026.

3. Geography: Tokyo Has 40%, Our Areas Are Small

Table 2. Minpaku registrations by prefecture (as of September 15, 2026, our aggregation)

Source: JTA (as of September 15, 2026). We added each prefecture's own figures to those of the cities and wards within it. All figures are counts.

Tokyo alone accounts for 41.4% of registered homes nationwide (our calculation: 17,814 ÷ 43,037). By ward, Shinjuku (3,980), Sumida (2,255), Shibuya (1,829), Toshima (1,810) and Taito (1,459) lead, and Shinjuku added 589 homes (17.4%) in a year.

In our operating areas, Kanagawa (which includes Hakone) has 1,328 registered homes in total, and Yamanashi (which includes the Fuji Five Lakes) has 396. Yamanashi is just 0.9% of the national total, a completely different competitive density from Tokyo.

4. Occupancy: 13–15 Nights per Home in Two Months

Minpaku operators must report nights booked and other figures every two months (a periodic report under Article 14 of the Act; see the JTA reporting page), and the JTA aggregates them. For June–July 2026, the JTA's lodging results show:

• Nights booked: 557,439
• Guests: 582,162
• Guest-nights: 1,627,034
• Registered homes: 42,587 (as of July 31), of which 36,197 reported (85.0%)

Table 3. June–July 2026 versus the same period in 2025

Source: JTA.

Of the guests, 247,473 (42.5%) were Japanese nationals and 334,689 (57.5%) were foreign. The largest foreign markets were the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

Figure 2. Nights booked per reporting home, June–July 2026

Each ■ = 1 night (rounded). The JTA calculates the per-home figure by dividing each area's nights by the number of homes that reported.

5. Year-on-Year: The Denominator Changes the Story

Figure 3. Nights booked per home, June–July 2025 vs. 2026

Each ■ = 0.5 nights (rounded). Our calculation = nights ÷ registered homes (2025: 431,024 ÷ 34,411; 2026: 557,439 ÷ 42,587). Source: JTA lodging results for June–July 2025 and June–July 2026.

• The JTA's denominator, homes that reported, rose 31.0%, from 27,624 (80.3% reporting) to 36,197 (85.0%). On that basis, nights per home went from 15.6 to 15.4 (−1.3%).
• Dividing by all registered homes (34,411 → 42,587, +23.8%) gives 12.5 → 13.1 nights (+4.5%, our calculation).
• Part of the +29.3% rise in total nights reflects a higher reporting rate, which brings more homes into the count.

On either basis, the change per home is within ±5%. In our view, most of the market's +29.3% growth is explained by more homes and more homes reporting.

Annual occupancy (our estimate)

• Two-month occupancy: 15.4 nights ÷ 61 days ≈ 25% (on a registered-home basis, 13.1 ÷ 61 ≈ 21%).
• Annual nights: the average of the last two periods per reporting home (17.9 nights in April–May and 15.4 in June–July) is 16.65; × 6 periods ≈ 100 nights.
• Assumptions: the remaining eight months match the average of the last two periods. Including the winter off-season could push the figure lower. Because this is per reporting home, the roughly 15% of homes that did not report are excluded, while homes that reported zero nights are included.

In other words, the average minpaku is booked about 100 nights a year (our estimate), well below the 180-day cap. In our view, the cap only binds a minority of high-occupancy homes. For when the 180-day model works, see Only 2 Cases Where Operating Under the 180-Day License Makes Sense.

Guest-nights ÷ nights booked = 1,627,034 ÷ 557,439 ≈ 2.9 guests per night (our calculation), so families and groups dominate. In our areas, Yamanashi averages 9.1 nights per reporting home with an average stay of 1.6 nights per guest (guest-nights ÷ guests), and Kanagawa 14.6 nights and 2.0 nights. On average, minpaku around the Fuji Five Lakes and Hakone are booked less than those in central Tokyo.

6. Visitors Fell, So Why Did Minpaku Grow? (Our View)

According to JNTO's October 21, 2026 release, foreign visitor arrivals were 3,148,754 in June (−6.8%) and 3,442,310 in July (+0.2%), both provisional figures, and 3,098,900 in August (−9.6%) and 3,103,700 in September (−5.0%), both estimates. The main cause is the sharp fall in visitors from China (−44.5% in September). We cover this in Is Japan's Tourism Boom Over?

On the hotel side, the JTA's Overnight Travel Statistics show foreign guest-nights in July 2026 (second preliminary figures) down 6.5% year on year.

Table 4. Room occupancy by facility type, July 2026

Source: JTA. "Simple lodging" (kan'i shukusho) is a hotel-license category for facilities whose sleeping areas are mainly shared, such as hostels; its occupancy fell 2.8 points. The survey's sampling basis changed from January 2026, which the JTA notes may affect year-on-year comparisons.

Yet minpaku guests rose to 123.8% of the previous year. In our view, there are three reasons:

• More homes, and more homes reporting. Registered homes rose 23.8% and reporting homes 31.0% in a year, which explains most of the market's growth. Per home, the change is roughly flat to slightly up.
• More domestic guests. Japanese guests grew to 127.0% of the previous year, faster than foreign guests (121.4%), according to the JTA.
• Demand for groups and longer stays. At about 2.9 guests per night, and an average of 4.1 nights per guest in Tokyo, minpaku capture demand that does not fit easily into a single hotel room.

Note that minpaku occupancy (our estimate of 21–25%) and hotel room occupancy are defined differently and cannot be compared directly.

7. Why Minpaku Supply Has a Ceiling: The 180-Day Cap and Local Rules

Minpaku is capped at 180 days a year, and prefectures and cities can restrict areas and periods further by ordinance (Article 18 of the Act). We cover Tokyo's ward-level rules in STR Regulatory Tightening Across Tokyo's 23 Wards, so here we focus on the effect on supply.

Source: JTA minpaku portal; JTA registration tables.

8. By Price Tier, the Competition Looks Completely Different

Budget minpaku (studio to two-bedroom apartments in central Tokyo). Some 40% of registered homes are in Tokyo, and five wards alone account for more than 10,000. Similar rooms exist in large numbers, and while homes grew 23.8%, nights per home stayed roughly flat to slightly up. In our view, this tier will keep cutting prices to win bookings, and yields will trend down.

High-rate whole-house rentals (Hotel Business Act license, year-round, Hakone, Fuji Five Lakes). Yamanashi has 396 registered minpaku homes and Kanagawa 1,328, and their average occupancy is relatively low. Put the other way, a product that is different from the average minpaku faces very few direct competitors. In our view, whole-house rentals with space for families and groups, onsen or views, and hotel-level cleaning and service are a separate market from the minpaku in these statistics.

9. What This Means for Investors (Our View)

Short term (up to 1 year)

• Be cautious about buying new budget minpaku in central Tokyo. Registered homes are growing 22% a year, while nights per home are changing by less than ±5%.
• The fall in visitors is driven mainly by China, and minpaku guest numbers are still above last year. The risk to watch is not disappearing demand but rates pushed down by oversupply.
• If you already own minpaku, now is the time to consider switching to a Hotel Business Act license or trading up to larger, higher-rate properties.

Medium to long term (3–10 years)

• As the 36.6% closure rate suggests, we expect budget minpaku to remain a high-turnover market.
• We recommend starting with one or two whole-house rentals licensed under the Hotel Business Act, at roughly ¥100–300 million per property. They can operate year-round with no 180-day cap and do not compete with budget minpaku.
• For the exit, we think the realistic route is a sale after 5–10 years, with a documented track record of occupancy and rates, to high-net-worth individuals or family offices in Singapore or Hong Kong, or to domestic operators. Minpaku-registered properties tend to attract fewer buyers because of the day cap.

Tax and legal treatment depends on individual circumstances, so please confirm with a Japanese tax accountant, lawyer or other professional before buying.

Outside our areas. Hokkaido (21.1 nights per reporting home) and Fukuoka (18.4) have relatively high minpaku occupancy, but they are outside our operating areas (Hakone, Fuji Five Lakes and Tokyo), and we cannot support them. They are worth considering for investors who can partner with a local operator and are confident running low- to mid-priced properties for occupancy.

The Room specializes in developing, selling and operating high-rate whole-house rentals with serious investment in the building and the guest experience, in Hakone, Fujikawaguchiko and Yamanakako, and Shinjuku. If you are considering an STR investment in Japan, please get in touch.