OSAKA–City officials have designated more than 2,800 “minpaku” private lodgings under the Tokku Minpaku system as “closely monitored” facilities due to inappropriate management practices.
The municipality will examine these 2,817 facilities in fiscal 2026 for compliance with laws and regulations and how they deal with complaints.
If necessary, the city will revoke certifications or issue orders to suspend or improve their operations.
“We want to make further efforts to make sure there will be no illegal or inappropriate minpaku facilities by expanding the system (for handling issues related to private lodgings) in and after April,” Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama told reporters on March 25.
Tokku Minpaku facilities operate in designated areas where restrictions have been eased.
The city government conducted a survey on 7,312 facilities between November and December 2025.
It found that 124 facilities were confirmed or suspected of having engaged in inappropriate operations, including violating laws or regulations.
In addition, Osaka city had received multiple complaints about noise and litter by guests related to 256 facilities, while 357 facilities showed inconsistencies between complaints reported to the city and their responses to the survey.
Meanwhile, operators of 692 lodgings took more than 10 minutes to travel to their facilities in emergencies and provided information on how to use them only through emails and social media.
Based on the findings, the city government decided to closely monitor a total of 2,817 facilities, including 1,488 lodgings that have yet to respond to the survey and those found to have multiple problems.
The municipality will also keep tabs on 2,070 facilities in the Chuo, Naniwa and Nishinari wards, which are home to about half of Tokku Minpaku lodgings in the city.
POSSIBLE REVOCATIONS
The city’s public health center will conduct inspections to determine if Tokku Minpaku operators comply with laws and regulations, including setting up a signboard at the entrance indicating that it is a private lodging facility and responding to complaints around the clock.
It will also check whether private lodgings are operated in accordance with the city’s guidelines, such as establishing a system where managers can get to them in about 10 minutes in the event of an emergency.
If violations are not addressed, the city intends to revoke certifications or impose other penalties in line with administrative measures drawn up in November.
It will publicize the results of its monitoring and guidance efforts in late September this year and again in late March 2027.
The municipality also revised its guidelines on Tokku Minpaku lodgings, requiring operators to provide key points on how to use them over the phone or in person and inform them of how their complaints are handled.
Osaka contains more than 90 percent of Japan’s Tokku Minpaku facilities.
Following a spate of complaints about noise and improper use of residential garbage disposal sites, the city government decided to pause accepting new applications for operations of Tokku Minpaku lodgings from the end of May.
AloJapan.com