Frequently asked questions

Operating under the Private Lodging Business Act (New Minpaku Law / 民泊新法) caps bookable nights at 180 per year. Owners who want to operate beyond that cap can look at special-zone minpaku (特区民泊, available only in designated wards such as Ota and Chiyoda, with no nightly cap but a 2-night minimum stay) or Hotel Business Act Simple Lodging (簡易宿所, no nightly cap but hotel-grade fire-safety and equipment standards apply). Which framework fits best depends on your property's location and target occupancy, so talk to us before you decide.

Filing and registration typically takes 1-3 months. BB handles registration under any of the three frameworks — New Minpaku Law (民泊新法), Hotel Business Act Simple Lodging (簡易宿所), and special-zone minpaku (特区民泊) — plus the bi-monthly MLIT operating reports (事業実績報告) that follow. If you're an "absent owner" living outside Tokyo or overseas, Japanese law requires you to delegate management to an MLIT-registered residential lodging manager — self-managing remotely isn't an option.

BB offers three tiers. Standard (15% of revenue) covers partial management — listing creation and cleaning coordination. Professional (22%), our most popular plan, is full management including dynamic pricing, 24/7 multilingual guest support, multi-OTA channel management, and monthly reports. Executive (28%) adds product design, professional photography, and annual strategy planning for premium properties — and all three sit within the industry's typical 15-28% full-management fee range.

Beyond the management fee (15-28% of revenue), expect cleaning costs per turnover, utilities and internet, consumables (amenities, linen), and OTA commissions from Airbnb and other platforms — these scale with occupancy. There are also as-incurred costs for garbage disposal and in-room repairs, plus periodic deep cleaning every 3 or 6 months. Cost shapes differ a lot between property types, so we prepare a property-specific estimate before you sign, and monthly reports show both revenue and costs.

Full management under our Professional and Executive plans covers listing creation, cleaning coordination and linen management, 24/7 multilingual guest support, dynamic pricing across peak and off-peak periods, multi-OTA channel management with double-booking protection, and monthly revenue reports. Neighbor relations and complaint handling are also part of the scope, so owners aren't drawn into day-to-day operations.

Full management means BB runs the whole operation and shares revenue with the owner — our Standard, Professional, and Executive plans are all built on this model. Co-hosting is closer to partial management: the owner stays in the driver's seat and hands off specific tasks, such as guest communication. A rental/lease arrangement (借り上げ, sometimes called a master lease) is structurally different — the operator leases the property and pays the owner a fixed rent regardless of occupancy, rather than sharing revenue. Which structure fits depends on your property and goals, so let's talk it through.

Detached houses, or buildings you own outright, are the easiest starting point. For condominiums, check the building's management rules first — many Tokyo condo associations prohibit minpaku outright. In Tokyo, product appeal moves your nightly rate more than floor area or station distance: in our own portfolio, a 72 sqm designed house books peak dates at rates plainer, larger properties never reach. Send us the property details and we'll tell you honestly whether it suits short-term rental.

Yes. We block the calendar for your own stays — family and friends included — and no guests are accepted during those dates. The 180-night annual cap counts nights guests stay, not nights you use your own property. Living in it part of the year and earning from it the rest is exactly the pattern we serve most — many of our owners are abroad for most of the year.

We document and assess the damage, file the claim with Airbnb's host-protection program, and where needed handle it under the dedicated minpaku-manager liability insurance we carry — you never negotiate with a guest yourself. Prevention matters more: guest screening, clear house rules, lawful ID verification through the guest registry, archived cleaning photos as evidence, and tracked cleaning reports after every turnover. Neighbor-complaint handling is part of standard scope as well.

Under the current system, Tokyo's accommodation tax applies to hotel and ryokan stays, not to minpaku stays under the Private Lodging Business Act. That changes on April 1, 2027: from that date, stays at minpaku (both 新法民泊 and 特区民泊) and 簡易宿所 become taxable at 3% of the accommodation charge, with stays under ¥13,000 per person per night exempt. Once it applies, we handle collection and remittance and reflect it in your monthly report — nothing extra lands on you.

Rental income from property in Japan is, as a rule, taxable in Japan even if you live abroad as a non-resident. We are not tax advisors and don't give tax advice — but our monthly reports give you the full-year revenue and cost data your tax filing needs. We recommend engaging a Japanese tax accountant (zeirishi) for the filing itself, and we can introduce one if you'd like.

The management agreement runs for one year and renews automatically for another year on the same terms unless either side gives notice before it expires. You can also end it mid-term at any time by written notice — the agreement terminates one month after that notice reaches the other party. On exit we prepare a transition plan covering confirmed future bookings, honored or handed over. Our policy is to be re-chosen on results, not to lock owners in.

Yes. The usual shape is keeping your existing Airbnb listing and its review history intact while operations transfer to us, and we handle the manager-change filing for your existing minpaku registration. Check your current contract's exit terms, then talk to us — confirmed future bookings carry over and get honored.

Yes — the Executive plan (28% of revenue) includes product design and professional photography, with setup labor billed separately. We design the stay as a product guests choose on purpose, not just a furnished room. Kimiko Jujo House (72 sqm, Kita-ku), which we designed with ukiyo-e murals and a projector, booked New Year's Eve at ¥49,800 a night right after launch.

Yes. We have hands-on filing experience under all three regimes — minpaku registration, the Hotel Business Act (簡易宿所), and special-zone minpaku (特区民泊) — and can plan a conversion when the 180-night cap becomes the bottleneck on your revenue. Ryokan-license conversion depends on building conditions such as zoning and fire equipment, so it starts with a feasibility check of your specific property.

Our native Japanese, English, and Vietnamese team handles owner meetings and reporting in the language you actually want to think in. We manage all municipal correspondence and legal paperwork in proper Japanese, and translate neighbor complaints appropriately for you. Remittance methods and tax treatment vary by individual circumstances, so we recommend confirming those specifics with a tax accountant or other qualified professional.

We operate with a native-speaker team in Japanese, English, and Vietnamese. From owner meetings and guest support to government paperwork, everything is handled at native fluency — not machine translation.

Just send us your property details on Facebook Messenger. We'll respond with a free consultation covering the plan and estimated revenue that fit your property, in Japanese, English, or Vietnamese.

We operate across Tokyo. We currently manage and self-operate 10+ properties across wards including Nerima, Kita, Sumida, Toshima, and Arakawa.

BB is registered with Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) as a residential lodging management business under the Private Lodging Business Act — license number F-00388, registered June 15, 2018. Delegating management to a company without this registration sits in a legal gray zone, and owners themselves can be held responsible if something goes wrong, so always confirm a manager's registration number before signing on.