{
  "slug": "japan-hotels-inbound",
  "question": "How big is Japan's accommodation market for a hospitality startup — who the guests are, what they spend on rooms, where rooms sit empty, and how ready small hotels and ryokan are to buy software?",
  "title": "Japan Hotels and Inbound Tourism 2026: Guest Spending, Occupancy by Hotel Type and Small Ryokan Readiness for Software",
  "answer": {
    "headline": "Inbound visitors spent JPY 94,549 hundred million in Japan in 2025, and 36.6% of it went on accommodation (Japan Tourism Agency, 2025). Japan city hotels fill 74.1% and business hotels 75.3% of rooms, but ryokan fill 38.2% and Japan establishments with 0-9 staff 35.6%; 59.2% of small Japan hotels and ryokan report a staff shortage, 33.9% already use generative AI and 62.7% name lack of know-how as the barrier (Japan Finance Corporation, 2025-2026).",
    "sample": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT): inbound visitor consumption survey 2025 and April–June 2026, inbound survey by nationality 2025, Overnight Travel Statistics Survey 2025 (all accommodation establishments, by type and by persons employed), resident travel consumption survey 2025, minpaku notification and reporting statistics to September 2026; Japan Finance Corporation surveys of small hotels and ryokan (2025, March 2026); Cabinet Secretariat labour-saving package for accommodation.",
    "verifiedAsOf": "2026-10-06"
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "market-size",
      "title": "What visitors spend in Japan (JPY)",
      "note": "Inbound spending is the Japan Tourism Agency's estimate of what foreign visitors spend inside Japan; units are the source's own (JPY 100 million = hundred million yen). Resident spending is a separate survey and is not added to it here.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Inbound visitor travel spending, total",
          "value": "JPY 94,549 hundred million",
          "segment": "all foreign visitors, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "— of which accommodation",
          "value": "JPY 34,578 hundred million",
          "segment": "36.6% of inbound spending, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "— of which shopping",
          "value": "JPY 25,541 hundred million",
          "segment": "27.0% of inbound spending, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "— of which food and drink",
          "value": "JPY 20,688 hundred million",
          "segment": "21.9% of inbound spending, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "— of which transport within Japan",
          "value": "JPY 9,449 hundred million",
          "segment": "10.0% of inbound spending, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Inbound spending captured by the three major metropolitan areas",
          "value": "JPY 65,081 hundred million",
          "segment": "Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya areas, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Inbound spending captured by regional prefectures",
          "value": "JPY 21,338 hundred million",
          "segment": "outside the three metropolitan areas, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Inbound visitor travel spending, quarter",
          "value": "JPY 25,125 hundred million",
          "segment": "all foreign visitors, Japan · +0.3% year on year",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Accommodation spending per inbound visitor",
          "value": "JPY 84,057",
          "segment": "per visitor, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Total spending per inbound visitor",
          "value": "JPY 228,782",
          "segment": "per visitor, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Average nights per inbound visitor",
          "value": "9.5 nights",
          "segment": "per visit, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Domestic overnight travel consumption by residents",
          "value": "JPY 21,721,138 million",
          "segment": "Japan residents, overnight trips",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Travel and Tourism Consumption Trend Survey (residents), 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shohidoko.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Accommodation outlay per domestic overnight trip",
          "value": "JPY 18,205",
          "segment": "per person-trip, Japan residents, all overnight trips",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Travel and Tourism Consumption Trend Survey (residents), 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shohidoko.html",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "occupancy-by-type",
      "title": "Room occupancy by accommodation type, Japan (%)",
      "note": "Share of available rooms sold over the year, all establishments of each type in the Overnight Travel Statistics Survey. The gap between hotels and ryokan is the clearest sign of idle capacity in the Japanese market.",
      "chart": "bars",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Business hotels",
          "value": "75.3%",
          "segment": "room occupancy, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "City hotels",
          "value": "74.1%",
          "segment": "room occupancy, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Resort hotels",
          "value": "56.9%",
          "segment": "room occupancy, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Ryokan (Japanese inns)",
          "value": "38.2%",
          "segment": "room occupancy, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Simple lodging (minshuku, hostels)",
          "value": "29.6%",
          "segment": "room occupancy, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Company or organisation lodging",
          "value": "24.2%",
          "segment": "room occupancy, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "occupancy-by-size",
      "title": "Occupancy by establishment size and prefecture, Japan",
      "note": "Size is persons employed at the establishment. Establishments with 10 or more staff sit near 70% room occupancy; the smallest ones sit at half of that. The prefecture rows show the same split inside one city.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Room occupancy, establishments with 0-9 persons employed",
          "value": "35.6%",
          "segment": "Japan, all types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001905499.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Room occupancy, establishments with 10-29 persons employed",
          "value": "70.4%",
          "segment": "Japan, all types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Room occupancy, establishments with 30-99 persons employed",
          "value": "71.5%",
          "segment": "Japan, all types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Room occupancy, establishments with 100+ persons employed",
          "value": "70.8%",
          "segment": "Japan, all types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Bed (capacity) occupancy, establishments with 0-9 persons employed",
          "value": "19.9%",
          "segment": "Japan, all types · beds, not rooms",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001905499.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Bed (capacity) occupancy, all establishments",
          "value": "40.6%",
          "segment": "Japan, all types · beds, not rooms",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Room-nights sold, all establishments",
          "value": "402,142,760",
          "segment": "Japan, all types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Room-nights sold, establishments with 0-9 persons employed",
          "value": "60,880,260",
          "segment": "Japan, all types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001905499.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Osaka — room occupancy, all establishments",
          "value": "78.6%",
          "segment": "Osaka prefecture, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Tokyo — room occupancy, all establishments",
          "value": "76.3%",
          "segment": "Tokyo prefecture, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Tokyo — room occupancy, establishments with 0-9 persons employed",
          "value": "54.7%",
          "segment": "Tokyo prefecture, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Kyoto — room occupancy, all establishments",
          "value": "66.8%",
          "segment": "Kyoto prefecture, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Kyoto — room occupancy, establishments with 0-9 persons employed",
          "value": "39.6%",
          "segment": "Kyoto prefecture, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002010340.xlsx",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Licensed ryokan and hotel facilities",
          "value": "51,038",
          "segment": "Japan, Hotel Business Act licences",
          "period": "FY2023",
          "source": "Cabinet Secretariat — labour-saving investment package, accommodation",
          "url": "https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/atarashii_sihonsyugi/shouryokukatousi/02.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "guests",
      "title": "Who the guests are",
      "note": "Foreign visitors account for about 27% of guest nights at Japanese accommodation (calculation from the two guest-night rows below), and they arrive almost entirely as independent travellers. Spending per visitor varies more than four-fold by origin.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Guest nights by foreign visitors, all establishments",
          "value": "179,922,130",
          "segment": "Japan, all accommodation types",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 annual",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Guest nights by Japanese residents, all establishments",
          "value": "475,608,960",
          "segment": "Japan, all accommodation types · preliminary",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics, 2025 preliminary",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/001984060.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Inbound visitors travelling independently (no group tour or package)",
          "value": "87.16%",
          "segment": "all foreign visitors to Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Inbound visitor survey, table 1-1, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020300.xls",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Inbound visitors staying at a ryokan",
          "value": "13.03%",
          "segment": "all foreign visitors to Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Inbound visitor survey, table 1-1, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020300.xls",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Inbound visitors staying in paid home-sharing (Airbnb-type)",
          "value": "10.04%",
          "segment": "all foreign visitors to Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Inbound visitor survey, table 1-1, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020300.xls",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Visitors from South Korea, quarter",
          "value": "2,596,948",
          "segment": "KR visitors to Japan · largest origin market",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Visitors from Taiwan, quarter",
          "value": "1,841,449",
          "segment": "TW visitors to Japan",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Visitors from China, quarter",
          "value": "970,906",
          "segment": "CN visitors to Japan",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Visitors from China, change year on year",
          "value": "-52.5%",
          "segment": "CN visitors to Japan, quarter",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Spending per visitor from the UK",
          "value": "JPY 458,090",
          "segment": "UK visitors to Japan, quarter",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Spending per visitor from France",
          "value": "JPY 421,625",
          "segment": "FR visitors to Japan",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Spending per visitor from China",
          "value": "JPY 271,093",
          "segment": "CN visitors to Japan",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Spending per visitor from South Korea",
          "value": "JPY 99,256",
          "segment": "KR visitors to Japan · lowest in this set",
          "period": "Q2 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Consumption Trend Survey for Inbound Visitors, Apr–Jun 2026",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002024946.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Foreign visitors who found booking sites useful before departure, from South Korea",
          "value": "15.4%",
          "segment": "KR visitors to Japan · vs 47.1% for social networks",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Inbound visitor survey by nationality, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020010.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "booking-channel",
      "title": "How Japanese residents book overnight trips",
      "note": "Resident domestic overnight trips by how they were arranged. Travel company websites in this survey include online travel agencies.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Domestic overnight trips booked without any travel company",
          "value": "45.4%",
          "segment": "Japan residents, person-trips",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Travel and Tourism Consumption Trend Survey (residents), 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shohidoko.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Domestic overnight trips booked on a travel company website",
          "value": "40.6%",
          "segment": "Japan residents, person-trips",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Travel and Tourism Consumption Trend Survey (residents), 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shohidoko.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Domestic overnight trips booked as package or group travel",
          "value": "22,685,636 thousand person-trips",
          "segment": "Japan residents · vs 277,279,535 thousand individually arranged",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Travel and Tourism Consumption Trend Survey (residents), 2025",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shohidoko.html",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "buyer",
      "title": "The buyer: small hotels and ryokan",
      "note": "Japan Finance Corporation surveys of small accommodation businesses it lends to. These are the operators with the emptiest rooms and the thinnest teams — and the clearest sign of what they would pay to fix.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Report a shortage of employees",
          "value": "59.2%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on staffing, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0226a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Use spot (short-term gig) workers",
          "value": "45.0%",
          "segment": "understaffed small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on staffing, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0226a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Shortened business hours because of the shortage",
          "value": "24.8%",
          "segment": "understaffed small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on staffing, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0226a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Responded with mechanisation or IT",
          "value": "19.3%",
          "segment": "understaffed small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on staffing, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0226a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Raised wages of non-regular employees in the past year",
          "value": "83.5%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on staffing, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0226a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Employ foreign workers",
          "value": "33.7%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "2025",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on staffing, 2025",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0226a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Already use generative AI in some operations",
          "value": "33.9%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Not using generative AI but considering it",
          "value": "19.9%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "No plans to use generative AI",
          "value": "26.3%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Barrier: lack of know-how",
          "value": "62.7%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Barrier: doubts about accuracy of output",
          "value": "48.0%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Barrier: no staff able to use it",
          "value": "47.1%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Barrier: implementation and maintenance cost",
          "value": "16.7%",
          "segment": "small hotels and ryokan, Japan",
          "period": "March 2026",
          "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — survey of small hotels and ryokan on generative AI, March 2026",
          "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Lodging facilities supported by the labour-saving investment subsidy",
          "value": "855 facilities",
          "segment": "Japan, FY2023 supplementary budget",
          "period": "FY2023",
          "source": "Cabinet Secretariat — labour-saving investment package, accommodation",
          "url": "https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/atarashii_sihonsyugi/shouryokukatousi/02.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "minpaku",
      "title": "Private lodging (minpaku) under the 2018 law",
      "note": "Home-sharing in Japan runs under the Private Lodging Business Act (in force since June 2018): every dwelling is notified to the prefecture, nights are capped per year, and host-absent dwellings must use a registered management operator. Notifications are cumulative since the law came into force.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Minpaku notifications filed since the law came into force",
          "value": "67,932",
          "segment": "Japan, cumulative",
          "period": "to September 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act) statistics",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/construction_situation.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Minpaku notifications still in force",
          "value": "43,037",
          "segment": "Japan, after discontinuations",
          "period": "to September 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act) statistics",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/construction_situation.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Minpaku notifications discontinued",
          "value": "24,895",
          "segment": "Japan, cumulative",
          "period": "to September 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act) statistics",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/construction_situation.html",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Nights sold per notified dwelling, April–May",
          "value": "17.9 nights",
          "segment": "Japan, 61-day reporting period",
          "period": "Apr–May 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act) statistics",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/content/001757290.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Share of foreign nationals among minpaku guests",
          "value": "62.4%",
          "segment": "Japan, April–May reporting period",
          "period": "Apr–May 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act) statistics",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/content/001757290.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        },
        {
          "label": "Average nights per minpaku guest",
          "value": "2.8 nights",
          "segment": "Japan, guest-nights ÷ guests as published",
          "period": "Apr–May 2026",
          "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku (Private Lodging Business Act) statistics",
          "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/content/002024857.pdf",
          "tier": 1
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "reconciliation": {
    "title": "Why Japan's accommodation numbers do not add up into one market",
    "body": "Four perimeters sit on this page. First, spending versus stays: the inbound consumption survey estimates what foreign visitors spend, while the Overnight Travel Statistics Survey counts guest nights and rooms sold at establishments; one is money, the other is volume, and they are not reconciled to each other. Second, residents versus visitors: resident travel consumption comes from a separate household survey with its own definitions and is not added to inbound spending here. Third, type versus size: occupancy by type (city, business, resort hotel, ryokan) and occupancy by persons employed slice the same establishments two different ways — a small ryokan appears in both the ryokan row and the 0-9 staff row. Room occupancy and bed occupancy are different ratios; bed occupancy is always lower. Fourth, the buyer surveys: the Japan Finance Corporation samples small accommodation businesses among its own borrowers, so its shares describe small independent operators, not hotel chains. A few rows come from a different edition than their neighbours (the 0-9 staff occupancy and room-nights rows are read from the 2024-edition workbook; the resident guest-night row is preliminary) — each row carries its own source link.",
    "sources": [
      {
        "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — inbound visitor consumption survey 2025",
        "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/content/002020046.pdf"
      },
      {
        "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — Overnight Travel Statistics Survey",
        "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shukuhakutokei.html"
      },
      {
        "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — resident travel consumption survey",
        "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tokei_hakusyo/shohidoko.html"
      },
      {
        "source": "Japan Finance Corporation — small hotels and ryokan surveys",
        "url": "https://www.jfc.go.jp/n/findings/pdf/seikatsu26_0603a.pdf"
      },
      {
        "source": "Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT) — minpaku statistics",
        "url": "https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/minpaku/business/host/construction_situation.html"
      }
    ]
  },
  "methodology": "Every number on this page is a fact node in the God of Startups Atlas — a knowledge graph where each metric carries its source URL, reporting period, evidence tier, the population it was measured on and the verbatim quote it was taken from. All rows here are tier 1: Japanese government statistics (Japan Tourism Agency, part of MLIT), a state policy lender (Japan Finance Corporation) and the Cabinet Secretariat. Values are shown in the units the source reports (JPY, JPY 100 million, person-nights); nothing is converted to other currencies, estimated or modelled. Share labels next to inbound spending categories are the source's own published shares.",
  "metaTitle": "Japan Hotels 2026: Inbound Spending, Occupancy, Ryokan",
  "metaDescription": "36.6% of inbound visitor spending in Japan goes on accommodation; city hotels fill 74.1% of rooms, ryokan 38.2%; 59.2% of small hotels lack staff.",
  "page": "https://godofstartups.com/atlas/japan-hotels-inbound",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "note": "Each row carries its primary source, period and evidence tier (1 = official/statutory, 2 = industry research with disclosed method)."
}