Tokyo’s Shinjuku moves to close half its holiday rentals to visitors

What has been decided, and what has not

Shinjuku Ward has settled on a policy of banning minpaku — the licensed short-term rentals most travellers book through Airbnb and similar platforms — in city-planning zones designated exclusively for residential use, and in school districts. The decision was reported by the Yomiuri Shimbun on 7 September. Existing rentals would be caught too, after a grace period.

Nothing changes yet, and the distinction matters if you are booking a trip. This is a ward policy, not yet law. The ward plans a public consultation, then an amendment to its lodging ordinance at the regular assembly session in February 2027, with enforcement targeted for summer 2027.

Two carve-outs are proposed. Operators who live on the premises and meet certain operating conditions could be allowed to continue as an exception. In commercial districts, where minpaku would stay legal, the annual operating limit would fall from the national cap of 180 nights to 120.

The scale of it

Shinjuku has 3,775 registered minpaku as of July 2026, more than any other municipality in Japan and about nine per cent of the roughly 42,000 active nationwide. The ward estimates that more than half — around 2,000 — could lose the ability to operate.

The pressure behind the move is domestic, not touristic. The ward logged 1,334 minpaku complaints and consultations in the last financial year, 542 more than the year before, over rubbish, noise and trespassing, and has concluded it does not have the staff to pursue operators one at a time.

What it means for Indian travellers

If you are travelling to Tokyo this year or next, book as you would have. The ban cannot take effect before summer 2027 at the earliest, and even then it applies to particular zones within one ward rather than to the city.

For trips beyond that, the thing to watch is price rather than availability of any single flat. Shinjuku is where a large share of Tokyo’s budget self-catering stock sits, close to the station most visitors use. Removing roughly 2,000 units pushes that demand towards hotels in a city where room rates are already climbing.

A second cost change is already dated: from April 2027 Tokyo replaces its flat-rate lodging tax with a 3% charge on the room rate, and extends it to minpaku for the first time. Together the two make a Tokyo stay in 2027 a different budgeting exercise from a Tokyo stay today. Our Japan destination pages cover the wider country.

Sources

This report is based on the following published sources. Rules and schedules change — confirm with the issuing authority before you travel.

• Shinjuku Moves to Ban Airbnb-Style Rentals Where People Actually Live — Unseen Japan, 07 September 2026
• Tokyo ward looking to change lodging laws, ban more than half of its Airbnb-style rentals — SoraNews24, 07 September 2026