October 2, 2025
TOKYO – The Osaka city government decided on a plan on Tuesday to suspend accepting applications to operate private lodging businesses, known as minpaku, following a surge in complaints from residents.
Minpaku is generally referred to private houses, such as condominium units and single-family homes, where guests can stay overnight.
Osaka City is designated as a special zone where minpaku facilities are allowed to operate. However, the city government aims to suspend accepting applications from both companies and individuals.
The plan was made after an increasing number of residents near minpaku facilities voiced their complaints amid a rapid increase in private lodging businesses.
While applications are suspended, the city government will provide more administrative guidance to minpaku facilities that are seen to be problematic.
The suspension will likely become official after the central government discusses the issue at a meeting in November at the earliest.
The suspension plan was decided at a meeting of a project team led by Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama.
The city also decided that a new team will be established to eliminate minpaku facilities that pose problems for nearby residents.
The new team will take charge of issuing administrative guidance and penalties when the city receives complaints from residents about minpaku facilities.
By the end of November, the city will also create a guideline on canceling problematic minpaku operators’ permits.
“I want to temporarily stop [accepting applications] to create a better system,” Yokoyama told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting.
The minpaku special zone system was established in 2014 with the aim to create more accommodation facilities, as the number of foreign tourists increased.
To make changes to a special zone, a local government needs to present a plan at a central government meeting about the national strategic special zones and obtain approval from the prime minister.
After the Osaka city government decides when the suspension will begin, it will seek approval from the prime minister.
While the Private Lodging Business Law limits the number of days minpaku can operate to up to 180 days a year, those under the special zones system can operate year-round.
There were 7,091 minpaku facilities in eight prefecture or municipalities, including Osaka Prefecture, Tokyo’s Ota Ward and Kitakyushu, as of July. Of them, more than 90% were in Osaka City.
The high concentration of minpaku facilities in Osaka City is believed to be the result of the number of tourists visiting the city being especially high. The need for lodgings further increased due to the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
In addition to the increase in minpaku facilities, issues regarding trash and noise have surged in Osaka City between minpaku guests and local residents.
The city government received 399 minpaku-related complaints from residents in fiscal 2024, more than double compared to the previous year. As of the end of August this year, the city had already received 250 such complaints.
The Osaka prefectural government announced Tuesday that 27 municipalities expressed their intentions to no longer continue the special zones system. On Sept. 1, the figure stood at seven.