A non-resident Chinese-speaking owner turning a property into a minpaku: how to file and manage it while absent

The key point: A Chinese-speaking owner who does not live in Japan can still turn a property into a minpaku (a residential lodging business). But Residential Lodging Business Act (Act No. 65 of 2017) art. 11 requires that, where the owner is absent while guests stay (the "host-absent" type) or the number of guest rooms exceeds the figure set by ministerial order, the lodging-management work for the notified dwelling be entrusted to one registered residential-lodging manager (registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism). The notification (art. 3) goes to the prefectural governor (or the mayor of a city/ward with a health centre), and the annual days offered must not exceed 180 (art. 2 (3)). For a condominium unit, you first check that the management rules do not prohibit a minpaku. We (a real-estate transaction business) handle the property's use, ownership rules and neighbourhood checks and the lease/sale brokerage; support with notification documents is an administrative scrivener's, management of guests is the registered residential-lodging manager's, and withholding and filing on rental/lodging income and a tax agent are a tax accountant's, each an independent business contracted with separately (no referral fees are exchanged).

For non-resident owners who hold a home or an investment property in Japan while living in Taiwan, mainland China and elsewhere, and the local real-estate professionals who handle their sales and management, this article organises "how to run the notification and management of a minpaku while absent," in the order of the Residential Lodging Business Act. This is general information; the final judgment on whether a particular property can be a minpaku, whether a notification is accepted, and which manager or professional to engage rests with the municipality, qualified professionals and the registered operators.

Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (四葉不動産株式会社), based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, provides surveys of commercial/investment property and lease/sale brokerage. For the property-side issues when a non-resident owner turns a property into a minpaku, you can consult us from what can be confirmed before contracting.

How do a minpaku (residential lodging business), a special-zone minpaku, and a hotel business differ?

A business that lodges people for a fee broadly falls into three frameworks—residential lodging business (minpaku), special-zone minpaku, and hotel business—each with its own governing law and procedure. Which framework you use changes both the conditions required of the property and where you file.

Residential Lodging Business Act art. 2 (3) defines a residential lodging business as "a business, by a person other than an operator under Hotel Business Act art. 3-2 (1), of lodging people in a dwelling for a fee, where the days people are lodged do not exceed 180 in a year." So a minpaku is a scheme using a dwelling, within a cap of 180 days offered a year. A hotel business (Hotel Business Act) has no day cap; a special-zone minpaku, as a special exception to the Hotel Business Act under National Strategic Special Zones Act art. 13, is a business of letting people use a facility for at least a set minimum number of nights within a certified zone.

Framework	Governing law	Procedure	Day guide
Residential lodging business (minpaku)	Residential Lodging Business Act art. 3	Notification to the prefectural governor (or a city/ward with a health centre)	Days offered ≤ 180 a year (art. 2 (3))
Special-zone minpaku	National Strategic Special Zones Act art. 13	Certification by the prefectural governor etc. (special certification); only in certified zones	The use period is set by cabinet order at or above a period fixed by ordinance within a range of 2 nights/3 days to 9 nights/10 days
Hotel business (simple lodging etc.)	Hotel Business Act art. 3	Licence from the prefectural governor etc.	No day cap

A special-zone minpaku can only be used in a certified zone (e.g. Ota Ward in Tokyo, Osaka City) and is a separate procedure in which the municipality's certification replaces the Hotel Business Act art. 3 (1) licence. Which framework a property's location can use varies with zoning, the zone and the management rules. We check which framework a candidate property might fit; the general conditions for use as a minpaku are covered in checking the conditions of a property that can be a minpaku (Japanese), and the certification requirements for a special-zone minpaku in the property requirements and certification for a special-zone minpaku (Japanese). The final judgment on which framework to file under is the municipality's jurisdiction.

In the "host-absent" type, where the host is not in Japan, who do you entrust with what?

The Residential Lodging Business Act requires, for a form in which the owner is absent while guests stay, that the management work for the notified dwelling be entrusted to a registered residential-lodging manager. A non-resident owner, in principle, needs this entrustment.

Art. 11 (1) provides that where either (i) the number of guest rooms in the notified dwelling exceeds the number of rooms set by order of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (five rooms under the enforcement regulation), or (ii) the operator is absent (other than a temporary absence set by order) while guests are lodged in the notified dwelling, the operator "must entrust the residential-lodging-management work for that notified dwelling to one residential-lodging manager." Item (ii) is the category that practice calls the "host-absent" type. The terms "host-present" and "host-absent" are not statutory terms but a classification in the ministerial order and the Japan Tourism Agency's guidelines; the basis for the entrustment duty is in the items of art. 11 (1).

A temporary absence means a short outing such as buying daily necessities; the Tourism Agency's guidelines treat it as, in principle, around one hour (at most two hours given traffic conditions). A non-resident owner who does not live in Japan does not fall within this temporary absence, so is usually treated as host-absent and needs to entrust the management work.

The manager entrusted must, under art. 22 (1), be a business registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the registration is valid for five years (art. 22 (2)). Once entrusted, the measures in arts. 5 to 10—ensuring sanitation and safety, guidance in a foreign language, keeping a guest register, explanation on preventing adverse effects on the living environment of the surrounding area, and handling complaints—are carried out by the manager (art. 11 (2)).

Role	Who carries it out
Notification (filing with the prefectural governor etc.)	The owner; support with documents is an administrative scrivener's
Guest handling, cleaning arrangements, register, complaints	Registered residential-lodging manager (entrustment is mandatory for the host-absent type)
Property checks (use, management rules, neighbourhood) and lease/sale brokerage	Us (a real-estate transaction business)
Withholding/filing on rental and lodging income, and a tax agent	Tax accountant

We do not ourselves perform the guest management work. The approach to managing a non-resident owner's rental property is also covered in managing Japanese real estate for an owner living abroad (Japanese).

Where do you check whether the condominium management rules prohibit a minpaku?

Whether a unit in a condominium can be a minpaku is checked, ahead of the law, by confirming that the building's management rules and use bylaws do not prohibit a residential lodging business. If the rules prohibit it, a minpaku is not possible even if the statutory requirements are met.

The national model management rules were amended in 2017 so that each management association can decide in its rules whether to "permit" or "prohibit" a residential lodging business. In practice many associations put in rules that prohibit it, and permitting a minpaku requires a provision allowing it. The notification under art. 3 also calls for confirming that the management rules do not prohibit it. The starting points for confirmation are as follows.

What to confirm	Where to look
The minpaku clause in the management rules / use bylaws	The latest rules held by the management association/company; obtain them from the seller
General-meeting minutes (any resolution prohibiting/permitting a minpaku)	The association's general-meeting minutes
An inquiry to the management association	If the rules are silent, confirm with the association whether a minpaku is allowed
The lessor's consent for a leased property	For a sublease type where the operator differs from the owner, the lease and the lessor's consent

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How Chinese-speaking owners and buyers read the management rules and the repair plan is covered in checking the management rules and repair plan for Chinese-speaking buyers (Japanese). We help obtain the candidate property's management rules, use bylaws and general-meeting minutes and confirm, before contracting, whether there is any provision prohibiting a minpaku and how the effect on neighbours must be explained. Interpreting the rules and building consensus at the general meeting themselves are the association's field.

Who handles the notification, the management entrustment, and the tax—respectively?

A non-resident owner's minpaku spans separate professional fields: surveying the property, the notification, the management entrustment, and tax. What we handle is the check of the property's use, ownership rules and neighbourhood and the lease/sale brokerage; everything else we connect to each professional or registered operator, each an independent business contracted with separately.

Trouble	Who to ask
Checking the property's zoning, management rules and neighbourhood; lease/sale brokerage	Us (a real-estate transaction business)
Support with the residential-lodging notification and attached documents	Administrative scrivener (owner may also file themselves)
Managing the host-absent type (guests, register, complaints, cleaning arrangements)	Registered residential-lodging manager (registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)
Certification application if run as a special-zone minpaku	Municipality (separate procedure); document support by an administrative scrivener
Withholding/filing on a non-resident's rental/lodging income and appointing a tax agent	Tax accountant
Registration of ownership transfer, mortgage, etc.	Judicial scrivener

These are each independent businesses, contracted with separately. We neither receive nor pay referral or introduction fees. A non-resident owner faces the added arrangements of how to exchange documents and verify identity from abroad and who to make the point of contact for tax on rental/lodging income. Looking at the property, we take consultations from separating the issues—the minpaku framework, the management rules, the management entrustment, and tax—and arranging where to confirm each. For commercial/investment property, see also the consultation desk for commercial/investment real estate (Japanese).

Consult Yotsuba Real Estate about a non-resident owner's minpaku property—initial consultation is free

In your message, write "non-resident owner's minpaku" and include the property type (detached house, a condominium unit, etc.), the area, the country you currently live in, and whether you have a contact in Japan. Without presuming whether it can be done, we begin with checking the minpaku framework, the management rules, the host-absent management entrustment and the tax contact, and arranging who to refer each part to.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can I turn a property into a minpaku even though I don't live in Japan?
A. Turning it into a minpaku (a residential lodging business) is itself possible. But under Residential Lodging Business Act art. 11 (1), for the host-absent type in which the owner is absent while guests stay, the management work for the notified dwelling must be entrusted to a residential-lodging manager registered with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. A non-resident owner who does not live in Japan does not fall within a temporary absence and is usually treated as host-absent, so the entrustment is needed. The notification goes to the prefectural governor (or a city/ward with a health centre), and the annual days offered are capped at 180.

Q. What counts as "host-absent"?
A. The text (art. 11 (1) (ii)) excludes a temporary absence from "being absent while guests stay." A temporary absence means a short outing such as buying daily necessities; the Tourism Agency's guidelines treat it as, in principle, around one hour (at most two hours given traffic conditions). An owner living abroad exceeds this range and is usually treated as host-absent. The final judgment on this falls under the municipality's jurisdiction.

Q. Can I run a minpaku even in a condominium unit?
A. The premise is that the management rules and use bylaws do not prohibit a residential lodging business. The national model management rules were amended in 2017 so that the association can decide in its rules whether to permit or prohibit a minpaku, and many associations have rules that prohibit it. The notification also calls for confirming that the rules do not prohibit it. Obtaining the latest rules, use bylaws and general-meeting minutes from the association/management company and checking them is the starting point.

Q. Who do I consult about tax on minpaku income?
A. Where a non-resident earns rental/lodging income from real estate in Japan, issues of withholding, tax filing and appointing a tax agent arise. This is a tax accountant's work; neither we nor an administrative scrivener or a manager can judge or file in their place. This article is general information and does not state a particular tax position, so confirm amounts and whether filing is required with a tax accountant.

Sources

The following public materials are starting points. Laws are amended, so check the current text, paragraph, item, enforcement date and latest amendment on e-Gov Law Search. The final judgment on whether a minpaku framework applies, whether a notification is accepted, how management rules are interpreted, and the tax position rests with the municipality, the management association and qualified professionals. All were consulted on 27 October 2026. They do not guarantee that a particular property may be a minpaku or that a notification will be accepted. The sources below are in Japanese.

• e-Gov Law Search: Residential Lodging Business Act (Act No. 65 of 2017; art. 2 (3) = definition of a residential lodging business and the 180 annual days offered, art. 3 = notification to the prefectural governor, art. 11 (1) = the duty to entrust to a residential-lodging manager where guest rooms exceed the ministerial figure or where the operator is absent while guests stay, art. 11 (2) = measures of arts. 5–10 on entrustment, art. 22 = registration of a residential-lodging manager [(1) registration with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, (2) five-year validity]; in force 15 June 2018)
• Japan Tourism Agency: Minpaku system portal (minpaku.mlit.go.jp) and guidelines (the host-present/host-absent classification, the idea of a temporary absence = around one hour, at most two hours, for buying daily necessities etc., and the counting of annual days offered; consulted 27 October 2026; the final judgment is the municipality's jurisdiction)
• e-Gov Law Search: National Strategic Special Zones Act (Act No. 107 of 2013; art. 13 = the national strategic special-zone foreigner-stay-facility management business [special-zone minpaku]; as a special exception to Hotel Business Act art. 3 (1), it receives certification [special certification] from the prefectural governor etc.; the use period is at or above a period fixed by ordinance within a 2-nights/3-days to 9-nights/10-days range set by cabinet order; a separate procedure limited to certified zones; consulted 27 October 2026)
• e-Gov Law Search: Hotel Business Act (art. 3 = business licence; for confirming the difference in framework from a residential lodging business and a special-zone minpaku)

This article provides general information and does not guarantee whether a particular property may be a minpaku, the acceptance of a notification, the interpretation of management rules, or the tax position. Whether a minpaku framework applies and the acceptance of a notification are judged by the municipality; management work is carried out by a registered residential-lodging manager; support with notification documents by an administrative scrivener; tax by a tax accountant; and registration by a judicial scrivener.

Joji Uramatsu (浦松 丈二), Representative Director and licensed real estate transaction specialist, Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (四葉不動産株式会社). We provide surveys of commercial/investment property and lease/sale brokerage. Author profile

Updated: 27 October 2026