How do you choose a property for an internet café / private-booth café? The walls of fire compartments and the identity-verification ordinance

The key point: For a complex café (internet café, manga café), the key points are whether store use is allowed under the zoning, and whether the private booths can be fitted, as a facility under item (2)-ni of Appended Table 1 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order, with an automatic fire-alarm system and the like. In Tokyo, you must notify the public safety commission of the Internet Terminal Use Business by 10 days before opening. Settle the property's conformity on the real-estate side, and take the notification documents to an administrative scrivener separately.

When you set out to open an internet café or manga café (a complex café), you wonder "can this property hold private booths," "how far does the fire department go," and "when, and by whom, is the Tokyo notification filed." Owners wanting to lease a vacant store or floor for such use also want to know what kind of property will attract a tenant.

A complex-café property overlaps three sides: the building side (zoning, floor area), the fire side (fire compartments and escape for the booth areas), and the permit side (the Tokyo Internet Terminal Use Business notification). If you contract for a property first and only then find the booths' fire equipment is insufficient or the use does not fit, your opening stalls. It is safer to check the real-estate side and the permit side separately, in advance.

Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (四葉不動産株式会社), based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, provides investigation of commercial property and lease brokerage. For a complex-café property, we can start from what can be confirmed before contracting.

How far are internet-café properties restricted by zoning and floor area?

Under the Building Standards Act, an internet café or manga café is generally treated like a "store (a store for a service business)." That said, a format where booths let customers use amusement facilities may be seen as close to an "amusement facility" or "place of public entertainment," and which use category applies depends on the building's make-up and the designated administrative agency's judgment. Rather than assuming "this district can take it," check the zoning and use classification for each property.

To check	Points to look at on the property side
Zoning	Whether store/amusement-type uses can be built in the district; residence-only districts such as Category I low-rise residential are heavily restricted
Existing use	Whether a use-change confirmation application is needed from the former use (office, retail, etc.)—the need turns on changes to a special building over 200 m²
Floor area	Whether the number of booths, aisles, reception and a kitchen area fit
Floor/position	A basement, a windowless floor or an upper floor makes escape and fire conditions heavier

Whether a use-change confirmation application is required is governed by Article 87 of the Building Standards Act and the rules on changes to special buildings (such as over 200 m²). Judgments on zoning and building feasibility are the field of the architect and the designated administrative agency. Through lease brokerage and the important-matters explanation, we organise the property's zoning, existing use and area before contracting.

Where a complex café also serves food, the restaurant exhaust and compartments become points too. On how far property selection is decided for a late-night store, How exhaust and fire-prevention decide property choice when opening a restaurant in a skeleton unit (Japanese) is a useful reference.

What fire-prevention and escape conditions apply to the private-booth areas?

The heart of a complex café is the booth areas. Item (2)-ni of Appended Table 1 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order covers "stores engaged in the business of letting customers use, in private rooms (including similar facilities), karaoke boxes or other facilities or articles for amusement." Internet cafés and manga cafés are placed under this item by the enforcement regulation. Because customers stay in enclosed booths, a delay in escape during a fire is treated as serious.

To check	Content
Automatic fire-alarm system	Item (2)-ni requires it regardless of total floor area (the area threshold was removed by the amendment in force from 1 October 2008)
Guide lights / escape routes	Whether the booth layout keeps aisle width and distance to exits
Interior-finish restriction	Whether the booth walls and ceilings meet the interior-finish restriction
Notification of start of use of a fire-prevention object	Before use, notify the fire department under each municipality's fire-prevention ordinance (Tokyo: by 7 days before use)

For item (2)-ni facilities, the need for an automatic fire-alarm system even at a small scale differs greatly from an ordinary retail store or office. Where booths are retrofitted into an existing building, whether the alarm system, guide lights and compartments can be added afterwards becomes the dividing line in property selection. The design and installation of fire equipment and the notification to the fire department are the field of the fire-equipment engineer and the designated administrative agency. We confirm the property's current state (existing alarm system, floor, whether windowless) before contracting.

For a use that likewise combines private rooms, soundproofing and fire-prevention, the points in Confirming zoning, fire-prevention and soundproofing for a karaoke-box property (Japanese) are a useful reference for thinking about booth areas.

Who files the Tokyo Internet Terminal Use Business (identity-verification) notification, and when?

In Tokyo, the Ordinance on the Regulation of Internet Terminal Use Business (in force from 1 July 2010) regulates businesses that set up private rooms and let customers use the internet on communication terminals. A complex café that provides even some private rooms falls under this "Internet Terminal Use Business."

Item	Content
Timing	Notify, per store, by 10 days before opening (ordinance art. 3)
Where	Via the police station (community safety section) with jurisdiction over the store, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission
Identity verification	A duty to ask customers to present identity documents and verify their identity particulars (ordinance art. 4)
Record retention	A duty to create and keep the identity-verification record and the terminal-identification record (for 3 years from the last day of service)
Change notification	When a notified item changes, within 10 days of the change

Identity verification and record retention are the ordinance's central duties, aimed at preventing crimes committed under anonymity. The notification form (Appended Form 1) states the business hours and the method of creating and keeping the identity-verification record and terminal-identification record, with a resident record attached for a sole proprietor, or the articles of incorporation and a certificate of registered matters for a company.

Preparing these notification documents and organising the attachments is the work of the administrative scrivener. Our company (real-estate transaction business) does not act as agent for the notification. On the real-estate side, we organise whether the property can hold the "private rooms etc." under the ordinance and the property information behind the floor plan the notification needs. Note that outside Tokyo the existence and content of such ordinances differ, so confirm directly with the public safety commission or police station where you open.

Where is the line on whether late-night operation or the booth specification touches the Entertainment Business Act / "specified entertainment"?

Complex cafés often operate late into the night, so people worry "won't this need an Entertainment Business Act permit." An ordinary internet café or manga café generally does not fall under "specified entertainment restaurant business," which serves food while providing amusement, or under "entertainment business" involving hospitality, and the Internet Terminal Use Business notification is often enough.

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The line, however, shifts with what is provided in the booths. If sexual services are provided in a booth, the problem of store-type sex-related special businesses arises; if alcohol is served and amusement provided late at night, the permit for a specified entertainment restaurant business (Entertainment Business Act) becomes a point. The final legal judgment on which business category applies is the field of the lawyer and the police (public safety commission). Neither we nor an administrative scrivener can fix the business category.

What the property side can do is settle the intended format first (late-night operation or not, serving food/alcohol, booth specification) and check whether it is consistent with the building's use, fire-prevention and the ordinance. On property requirements for amusement-related uses, the points in Confirming use and area for a game-arcade property (Entertainment Business Act category 5) (Japanese) are a useful reference for the relationship between compartments and permits.

From viewing to contract and notification, where does the property side most often fail? (Separate mandates)

In opening a complex café, the property, building, fire-prevention and ordinance notification span different businesses. Getting the order wrong can leave you unable to install the booths' fire equipment in the contracted property, or with a use change that will not pass.

Role	Who handles it
Property investigation, lease brokerage, important-matters explanation	Real-estate transaction business (our company)
Zoning, use-change confirmation application, interior design	Architect, designated administrative agency
Design, installation and fire-department notification of fire equipment	Fire-equipment engineer, designated administrative agency
Preparing the Internet Terminal Use Business notification	Administrative scrivener
Legal judgment on the business category (Entertainment Business Act) and disputes	Lawyer

In practice, the clear order is to confirm the zoning and existing use (whether a use change is needed) on the real-estate side first, then check on the fire side whether an automatic fire-alarm system and escape routes can be fitted to the booth areas, and then proceed to the ordinance notification.

These are each independent businesses, and you contract with them separately. We handle the real-estate side of the property; the use change and fire-equipment design go to the architect and fire-equipment engineer, the ordinance notification to an administrative scrivener, and the business-category judgment to a lawyer. We do not receive referral fees.

How can you consult Yotsuba Real Estate about a complex-café property?

Those considering opening a complex café can contact Yotsuba Real Estate directly to request property investigation and lease brokerage. Please first tell us:

• The area where you plan to open and the desired floor area and number of booths
• Whether you will serve food/alcohol, and whether you will operate late at night
• Whether you want a fitted-out unit (with existing alarm system or compartments) or to build from a skeleton
• Your desired opening time

Yotsuba Real Estate investigates the zoning, existing use (whether a use change is needed), floor area and floor (basement or windowless), and organises what can be confirmed before contracting, including the prospect of fitting fire equipment to the booth areas. The use change and fire-equipment design go to an architect and fire-equipment engineer, the ordinance documents to an administrative scrivener, and the business-category judgment to a lawyer—each independent businesses that you contract with separately.

Consult Yotsuba Real Estate about a complex-café property—initial consultation is free

In your message, write "internet café / manga café property" and include the planned area, desired floor area and number of booths. Without presuming whether you can open, we begin with which properties to compare and in what order to proceed to the notification.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can I turn a vacant office floor straight into an internet café?
A. First check whether a use-change confirmation application is needed (such as a change to a special building over 200 m²) and whether an automatic fire-alarm system and escape routes can be fitted to the booth areas. An office as-is may not meet the fire or escape conditions, so fitting out the interior and equipment is a precondition. The feasibility of the use change is the field of the architect and designated administrative agency; the fire equipment, the fire-equipment engineer.

Q. When, and by whom, is the Tokyo Internet Terminal Use Business notification filed?
A. In Tokyo, notify per store by 10 days before opening, via the police station (community safety section) with jurisdiction over the location, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission (ordinance art. 3). Preparing the notification documents is the administrative scrivener's work; we do not act as agent. On the real-estate side we organise whether the property can hold the "private rooms etc." under the ordinance.

Q. If there are private rooms, is an automatic fire-alarm system always required?
A. A store falling under item (2)-ni of Appended Table 1 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order (a private-booth type such as a karaoke box or internet café) requires an automatic fire-alarm system regardless of total floor area (the area threshold was removed by the amendment in force from 1 October 2008). Where booths are retrofitted into an existing building, whether the equipment can be installed becomes the dividing line. The design and installation are the field of the fire-equipment engineer.

Q. Does operating late at night require an Entertainment Business Act permit?
A. An ordinary internet café or manga café generally does not fall under specified entertainment restaurant business or entertainment business, and the Internet Terminal Use Business notification is often enough. However, serving alcohol and providing amusement late at night, or providing sexual services in a booth, raise other regulations as points. The final judgment on the business category is the field of the lawyer and the public safety commission.

Sources

The following public materials are starting points for investigation. Laws and ordinances are amended, so check the current text, enforcement date and latest amendment on e-Gov Law Search or each municipality's regulations. All were consulted on 20 October 2026. They do not establish the use/fire conformity of an individual property or the applicability of a business category. The sources below are in Japanese.

• e-Gov Law Search: Fire Service Act Enforcement Order, Appended Table 1, item (2)-ni: the classification of private-room amusement facilities (karaoke boxes etc.); internet cafés are included by the Fire Service Act Enforcement Regulation
• Fire and Disaster Management Agency: Mandatory automatic fire-alarm systems for karaoke boxes etc.: item (2)-ni facilities require an automatic fire-alarm system regardless of total floor area (in force from 1 October 2008)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department: Ordinance on the Regulation of Internet Terminal Use Business—procedure guidance: notification by 10 days before opening (art. 3), identity verification (art. 4), retention of the identity-verification and terminal-identification records (3 years from the last day of service), change notification within 10 days of the change
• e-Gov Law Search: Building Standards Act, art. 48 (zoning restrictions) and art. 87 (use change); Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business, etc. (applicability of specified entertainment restaurant business and entertainment business)

This article provides general information. Individual legal judgments require review by the appropriately qualified professional. It does not guarantee zoning conformity, fire conformity, the need for the ordinance notification, or the applicability of a business category. Outside Tokyo the existence and content of such ordinances differ.

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 commercial-property investigation and lease brokerage. Author profile

Updated: 20 October 2026