Tokyo's Shinjuku plans broad restrictions on short-term tourist rentals

Shinjuku moves toward a local ban

Tokyo's Shinjuku ward plans to prohibit short-term visitor accommodation in residential districts and around schools and significant cultural sites. The measure would be implemented through a revised local ordinance and could affect about 2,000 private lodgings. Shinjuku has 3,775 registered minpaku properties, the largest concentration of such rentals in Japan.

Ward officials are responding to more than 1,300 complaints recorded during the 12 months to March. Residents reported excessive noise, improper rubbish disposal, smoking in restricted places and trespassing. The administration concluded that penalties against individual operators would not sufficiently address the volume of recurring neighbourhood disruption.

The proposal still has procedural steps

The policy is not yet fully in force. Shinjuku intends to seek public feedback in October and submit ordinance revisions in February. Alongside the geographic restrictions, officials plan to reduce the annual operating allowance for minpaku in residential areas from 180 days to 120. The final text, implementation date and enforcement arrangements remain to be determined.

The measure comes as Japan balances record tourism income against growing local opposition to overcrowding. Visitor numbers reached a record 42 million last year, with spending also setting a new high. National authorities are targeting 60 million arrivals by 2030, while cities and destinations increasingly deploy local restrictions, visitor caps and fees to protect infrastructure and residents' quality of life.

A wider urban-policy dilemma

UN-Habitat has identified short-term rentals as a recurring challenge for city governments because rapid platform growth can outpace licensing, taxation and enforcement systems. Its World Cities Report notes that concentrated tourist rentals may weaken community networks and reduce the supply of long-term housing, while tourism remains an important source of jobs and municipal revenue. Shinjuku's approach emphasises zoning and operating-day limits rather than a citywide prohibition.

Other Japanese municipalities will be watching whether the ordinance survives consultation and produces fewer complaints without simply shifting rentals into adjacent districts. The most important next evidence will be a published map of restricted zones, treatment of existing licences, enforcement resources and any assessment of the policy's effect on residents, property owners and legitimate accommodation businesses.