By the HalfKey team
Can a friend or family member stay in your Tokyo rental?
In a leased apartment, an overnight visitor is a question for your contract. In licensed lodging, the business must record every person who sleeps there. Find out which applies, then compare adding your visitor with booking them a hotel nearby.
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Before a friend or relative books a flight to stay with you, send the company you're renting from their name, the nights they'll be there and where they'll sleep. Get a written yes before anyone pays for travel. If the answer is no, you'll still have time to book them somewhere nearby.
The rules for that visitor depend on how your stay is arranged. If you're renting under a lease, your contract decides who may live in the apartment. If the company hosts you under a lodging permit or a private-lodging registration, the law requires it to record every person who stays overnight. Both lodging laws define a stay, 宿泊 (shukuhaku — staying), as using bedding at the property. A friend who comes for dinner isn't staying; a friend who sleeps over is.
Lease or lodging: check your documents first
Look at the title of your agreement. A 賃貸借契約書 (chintaishaku keiyakusho — lease agreement) or 定期建物賃貸借契約書 (teiki tatemono chintaishaku keiyakusho — fixed-term building lease) means you're renting. Accommodation terms, a hotel-business permit number or a private-lodging notification number point to lodging. A registered private lodging must also display an official registration sign where the public can easily see it.
If the documents don't make it clear, ask the company which arrangement covers your stay. The licensing overview explains the different arrangements, and the registration-number guide shows how to check a number against official lists.
Under a lease, the contract lists who lives there
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism publishes a model residential lease. It's a template, not a law, so your own contract may differ. Its first page names the tenant and each 同居人 (dōkyonin — a person living with the tenant), with their ages and the total number of people. Under its Article 8 and an attached table, a tenant who adds a new person to that list must tell the landlord. The ministry's notes also show how a landlord can change this so that adding someone who isn't a relative needs the landlord's consent.
The model lease doesn't say how many nights turn a visitor into someone who lives there. Your own contract may, so look for a clause about visitors or the number of occupants. If it says nothing, ask anyway: the building may have its own rules, and the apartment may only have bedding for one. A lease doesn't come with the legal guest register that lodging businesses keep, so what you provide for your visitor depends on the contract. The company may still ask for their name and dates.
Letting a friend use the apartment while you're away is a different question, especially if they pay you. The model lease forbids subletting without the landlord's written consent, and the sublet guide explains that rule in more detail.
Under a lodging permit, every guest goes in the register
The Inns and Hotels Act requires the business to keep a 宿泊者名簿 (shukuhakusha meibo — guest register) with each guest's name, address and contact details. Its enforcement rules add nationality and passport number for a foreign guest with no address in Japan. The health ministry's guidelines for inns and hotels tell the business to ask to see that guest's passport and keep a copy with the register. A business that doesn't keep the register properly can be fined up to ¥500,000. The law also says a guest must give these details when the business asks.
Registered private lodging works the same way under the Private Lodging Business Act. The Japan Tourism Agency's guidance says the register must list every guest, not only the person who booked. The host must also check each guest's identity before their stay begins. For bookings of seven days or more, the host must regularly confirm that everyone staying has had their identity checked. Meeting the guest in person is one example the guidance gives. The same guidance allows one guest for every 3.3 square metres of room floor area, not counting the kitchen, bathroom, toilet or hallway.
That's why an unregistered friend sleeping over is a legal problem for a lodging business, not just a broken house rule. Expect the company to ask for your visitor's passport details, check their identity before the first night and confirm that the room can take another guest.
Three ways to host a visitor
Once you know which rules apply, compare the options for the nights your visitor will be here. Price matters, but so do sleep and privacy: a sofa that works for a weekend may not work for two weeks.
Add them to your booking. This keeps you together and is simplest if the company agrees. Check the maximum number of guests, whether there's a real second bed or only a sofa, and whether the company charges per extra person or adds a linen or cleaning fee. A furnished listing doesn't promise a second set of bedding.
Book them somewhere nearby. A hotel or another short stay a few stations away gives everyone their own space and their own key. It's also your fallback when the company says no or the apartment is too small.
Move to a larger home for the overlap. If a partner is joining you for several weeks, perhaps to see whether they'd like to move too, ask whether you can switch to a bigger apartment for that month. This only works if one is free for those dates and the company can change your agreement.
Here's an illustrative comparison with invented prices: an extra-person charge of ¥3,000 a night plus ¥6,000 for extra linen and cleaning, a nearby hotel at ¥14,000 a night, and a larger apartment that costs ¥90,000 more for the month plus ¥25,000 for moving and cleaning.
| Option | 6 nights | 14 nights |
|---|---|---|
| Add your visitor to the booking | ¥24,000 | ¥48,000 |
| Hotel nearby | ¥84,000 | ¥196,000 |
| Larger apartment for that month | ¥115,000 | ¥115,000 |
Adding the visitor costs 6 × ¥3,000 + ¥6,000 = ¥24,000 for six nights, or 14 × ¥3,000 + ¥6,000 = ¥48,000 for fourteen. The hotel costs 6 × ¥14,000 = ¥84,000 or 14 × ¥14,000 = ¥196,000. The larger apartment costs ¥90,000 + ¥25,000 = ¥115,000 for any visit within that month. With these prices, the hotel is cheaper than switching apartments for up to eight nights (8 × ¥14,000 = ¥112,000) and more expensive from the ninth (¥126,000).
Your quotes will be different, so compare real prices for the same dates, including all fees.
What to send when you ask
Ask before your visitor books travel, and put everything in one message:
My [relationship], [full name], would like to stay with me from [date] to [date], which is [number] nights. They'll sleep [in the second bed / on the sofa bed / in my bed]. Is an overnight visitor allowed under my agreement and the building rules? If so, what do you need from them, is there an extra charge, and can you provide extra bedding?
Keep the written answer with your agreement. If the answer is no, ask whether the company has another home nearby for those nights before you start comparing hotels.
If you're still choosing an apartment and expect visitors, mention them in your first enquiry. You can browse HalfKey's current homes or send us your dates and who'll be staying.