· Updated
By the HalfKey team
Checking a Tokyo minpaku registration number
A registration number is useful when it belongs to the home you are actually booking. Check the address and the date of the official list too, then ask the local office about any mismatch you cannot resolve.
On this page
If a Tokyo listing gives an M-number for a registered minpaku, a home offered for paid short stays, ask for the full number and the property's Japanese address. Then compare them with the relevant authority's published information. The number, address and room need to describe the same accommodation.
Do this before making a payment you cannot easily recover. If you cannot find a match, do not immediately assume the property is operating illegally. You may be looking at an older list, the wrong authority or a property using a different licensing route.
Which official list should you use?
Ask the host which permission or registration it uses. A minpaku can be registered with the local authority under the Private Lodging Business Act; other accommodation may have a Hotel Business Act licence or use another scheme. A property with a hotel-business licence may be listed separately from registered minpaku.
Shinjuku's official minpaku publication page, for example, links separately to its hotel-business facilities list. If the host gives you a hotel-business licence number, use that facilities list.
The accommodation's name on a booking platform may also differ from the name in an official record. Start with the Japanese address and the number the host supplies. If you cannot tell which office issued the number, ask the host. A corporate registration number identifies a business, so it cannot tell you whether the home is registered or licensed for paying guests.
Match the details, not just a number
Find the official website for the ward or other authority responsible for the address. For Shinjuku, use the page linked above and open its current list of registered minpaku. For properties covered by Tokyo's published information, start with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's list page. Check which area the list covers and when it was published.
Search using the supplied number, then compare the location. Japanese address formats can look different in English, so use the Japanese version from the host. Include the building and room information where the record provides it. If several apartments at that address take paying guests, check that the record covers the apartment you have booked.
These labels help with a Japanese list:
| Label | What you are checking |
|---|---|
| 届出番号 | Notification number |
| 所在地 / 施設所在地 | Property location |
| 施設方書 | Building or other address detail, where provided |
| 届出年月日 | Notification date |
| 連絡先 | Contact details |
Shinjuku's page explains which contact appears when the owner manages the accommodation and when another company manages it. The registered manager may use a different name from the host's profile on the booking site. Ask how they are connected if that is unclear.
A missing entry needs a second check
Shinjuku publishes its list on the tenth of each month, using records from the end of the previous month. If the office is closed on the tenth, it publishes the list on its next working day. A notification made early in a month therefore may not appear in the list currently on the website. Compare the date the host says it registered with the date covered by the list before drawing a conclusion.
Tokyo's metropolitan list includes a registered home only if the person who registered it agrees to publication. Tokyo explains this alongside its rules for handling personal information. A property can be registered even if it is missing from this online list.
If you still can't find the property, send the authority the number and address, explain what list you checked, and ask whether it can confirm the record or direct you to the correct office. Ask the host for the details needed to make that enquiry. Wait to pay until you understand why the address or registration details differ.
What a matching record tells you
A matching record helps confirm that the supplied number belongs to the address you are booking. You'll still need the booking terms for your dates and confirmation that the host can offer the unit.
If the host sends a photograph of the registration sign, compare its details with your booking. If the address, room or number changes between the advertisement and payment instructions, ask why and repeat the check for the new details.
Don't try to infer a property's age, management quality or exact location from the digits in its number. Read the address and other details printed in the record, along with the authority's explanation. Our licensing overview explains the different permissions used by minpaku and hotels.
Keep the answer with your booking
Save the listing, the details supplied by the host and any clarification from the authority. Then read the ordinary booking terms: who takes payment, how you get inside, whom you contact after arrival and what happens if the accommodation is unavailable.
If the host cannot explain why the address or permission number differs, pause the booking before sending more money.