Hotel Business Act
旅館業法
The licence (許可) needed to run a business that lodges people for a fee — a hotel or inn, shared lodgings or a boarding house — and the rules its operator follows on hygiene, the guest register, infectious diseases and refusing guests.
- Text in force since
- Promulgated
- Articles
- 22
- Amendments on the way
- 0
What this law does
- Anyone who wants to run a hotel business (旅館業) needs a licence (許可) from the prefectural governor (都道府県知事) — or from the mayor or ward mayor, in a city with a health center () or a special ward (). A hotel business lodges people in a facility for a lodging fee: as a hotel or inn (旅館・ホテル営業), as shared lodgings whose sleeping space is built mainly to be shared by many people (簡易宿所営業), or as a boarding house charging by periods of a month or more (下宿営業); to lodge (宿泊) means to use the facility with bedding.(Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1), Art. 2(2), Art. 2(3), Art. 2(4), Art. 2(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
- An operator (営業者) must take the measures guests' hygiene needs — ventilation, light, protection from damp, cleanliness and others — to standards set by local ordinance (条例), and must follow the standards a Cabinet Order (政令) sets for letting people use the facility. An operator must also try to keep up and improve the safety, hygiene and services of its facility, and to give its staff the training needed to take proper measures against the spread of a specified infectious disease (特定感染症) and to serve elderly, disabled and other guests who need particular consideration.(Art. 4(1), Art. 4(2), Art. 4(3), Art. 3-5(1), Art. 3-5(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An operator must keep a guest register (宿泊者名簿) recording each guest's name, address, contact details and other items a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order (厚生労働省令) names, and hand it to the governor (都道府県知事) on request. A guest must give those details when the operator asks.(Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An operator must not refuse to lodge someone except where the person is a patient of a specified infectious disease (特定感染症の患者等); seems likely to gamble or commit another unlawful act or an act against public morals; has repeatedly made demands of a kind a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order (厚生労働省令) names, whose burden is excessive and which are likely to seriously hinder service to other guests; or where there is no room, or another reason set by local ordinance (条例). The specified infectious diseases are those the Infectious Diseases Control Act (感染症法) classes as class 1 or class 2, novel influenza and similar infections, new infectious diseases, and some designated infectious diseases. A 'patient' here means a patient of one of them other than a new infectious disease, a person treated as a patient under that Act, or a person with findings (所見) of a new infectious disease, leaving out anyone a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order names as posing almost no risk of spreading the disease by staying.(Art. 5(1), Art. 2(6), Art. 4-2(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Bearing in mind the public character of the business and the person's circumstances, an operator is not to refuse lodging lightly; when it does refuse, it is to judge on objective facts whether one of the grounds applies and be able to explain the reason carefully if the person asks. For the time being, an operator that refuses on the infectious-disease ground or the excessive-demands ground is to record the reason in the way a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets.(Art. 5(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- While a specified infectious disease (特定感染症) is occurring in Japan — a period tied to public announcements under the Infectious Diseases Control Act (感染症法), which a separate Act governs, or set by Cabinet Order (政令) for a disease treated as endemic — an operator may ask a person who wants to stay for co-operation needed to stop it spreading in the facility. A person with symptoms or others a Cabinet Order names can be asked, where it is unclear whether they are a patient, to report a doctor's diagnosis or other matters a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order sets; they and patients can be asked for co-operation a Cabinet Order sets, such as not leaving their room or another place the operator names without good reason; anyone else can be asked for co-operation a Cabinet Order sets, such as having their temperature and health checked. The person must comply unless they have a justifiable reason (正当な理由).(Art. 4-2(1), Art. 4-2(2), Art. 4-2(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
Hotel business licenceKinds of hotel businessRefusing guestsInfectious diseases and guestsGuest registerHygiene standardsTaking over a hotel businessLicence revocation and suspension
Amendments
A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . No amendment to this law is waiting to come into force. Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.
12 amendments already in force
1 June 2025
The text on this site
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律
13 December 2023
Act Partially Amending the Hotel Business Act, etc. to Develop an Environment Contributing to the Continuation of Business Activities in the Environmental Health Industry, etc.
生活衛生関係営業等の事業活動の継続に資する環境の整備を図るための旅館業法等の一部を改正する法律
13 July 2023
Act on the Punishment of Acts of Photographing Sexual Poses, etc. and the Erasure, etc. of Electronic or Magnetic Records of Images of Sexual Poses Recorded on Seized Articles
性的な姿態を撮影する行為等の処罰及び押収物に記録された性的な姿態の影像に係る電磁的記録の消去等に関する法律
13 July 2023
Act Partially Amending the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure
刑法及び刑事訴訟法の一部を改正する法律
14 June 2023
Act Partially Amending the Hotel Business Act, etc. to Develop an Environment Contributing to the Continuation of Business Activities in the Environmental Health Industry, etc. in Response to Changes in Circumstances Due to the Impact of Novel Coronavirus Disease, etc.
新型コロナウイルス感染症等の影響による情勢の変化に対応して生活衛生関係営業等の事業活動の継続に資する環境の整備を図るための旅館業法等の一部を改正する法律
17 June 2022
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律
14 December 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
14 September 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
14 June 2019
Act on the Development of Related Acts to Rationalize Measures concerning the Restriction of Rights of Adult Wards, etc.
成年被後見人等の権利の制限に係る措置の適正化等を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
15 June 2018
15 December 2017
1 April 2017
Act on the Development of Related Acts for the Promotion of Reform to Enhance Regional Autonomy and Independence
地域の自主性及び自立性を高めるための改革の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律
Who it applies to
It applies to
- Anyone who runs a hotel business (旅館業) — lodging people in a facility for a fee — or wants to; the inspections, orders and penalties also reach a person running one without a licence (許可).(Art. 2(1), Art. 3(1), Art. 7(2), Art. 7-2(3), Art. 10(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Licensed operators (営業者), including a transferee, a successor company or an heir who takes over a licensed business with the governor's approval (承認).(Art. 3-2(1), Art. 3-3(1), Art. 3-4(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
2 more
- People who stay or want to stay at a facility: they must give their register details when the operator asks, and cooperate with a request made during a specified infectious disease (特定感染症) unless they have a justifiable reason.(Art. 6(2), Art. 4-2(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The national and local governments, which are to try to support operators with funding, advice, information and other measures.(Art. 9-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
It does not apply to
- Under the Private Lodging Business Act (住宅宿泊事業法), a separate Act, a person who has notified the prefectural governor (都道府県知事) may run a private lodging business (住宅宿泊事業) — lodging people in a house for a fee on no more than the number of days a year that Act sets — without this licence (許可).(Art. 3(1), Private Lodging Business Act Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A business that lets foreign travellers stay in a national strategic special zone, once the prefectural governor has certified it under the National Strategic Special Zones Act (国家戦略特別区域法), which a separate Act governs, needs no licence (許可) under this Act.(Art. 3(1), National Strategic Special Zones Act Art. 13(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (3)
- An operator licensed for a hotel or inn, or for shared lodgings, needs no separate licence to run a boarding house in the same facility.(Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- When an operator dies and the heir applies for approval to continue, the operator's licence counts as the heir's from the death until the governor approves or gives notice of refusal.(Art. 3-4(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- For a guest whose stay began before 13 December 2023, including one who has stayed on in the same facility since, the earlier guest-register rule still applies: the register records name, address, occupation (職業) and other items a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Order names.(Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(3), Art. 6(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (9)
- The governor (都道府県知事) may refuse a licence if the facility's structure and equipment fall short of standards a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, if its site is unsuitable for public health, or if the applicant is disqualified — for instance undischarged from bankruptcy, within three years of finishing a sentence of imprisonment (拘禁刑) or heavier or a fine under this Act, within three years of having a licence revoked, or a member of an organised crime group (暴力団員) or within five years of leaving one; a company is disqualified through its officers. A refusal must be given in writing with reasons, and a licence may carry conditions needed for public health or public morals.(Art. 3(2), Art. 3(5), Art. 3(6)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where the site is within about 100 metres of a school (other than a university), a certified pre-school/daycare center (幼保連携型認定こども園), a child welfare facility, or a similar facility a local ordinance (条例) names, the governor may also refuse a licence if the hotel is likely to seriously harm that facility's wholesome surroundings, and must first ask the view of the authority in charge of it. That authority may later give the governor its view on an order or a revocation where such a hotel falls below standard or breaks the Cabinet Order rules on use and the surroundings are seriously harmed.(Art. 3(3), Art. 3(4), Art. 8-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A licensed business passes to a transferee (譲受人) only if the transferor and the transferee obtain the governor's approval (承認) of the transfer; likewise to the company that takes it over in a merger or company split (except where the licensed company survives a merger with a company holding no licence), and to an heir who wants to carry on the business, who must apply within 60 days of the operator's death (where there are several heirs, the one they all agree on). Approval can be refused if the person taking over is disqualified as a licence applicant would be, or on the school-surroundings ground; a refusal comes in writing with reasons, and an approval may carry conditions needed for public health or public morals. For the time being, the governor must look into the business of anyone who took it over by transfer at least once within six months of the transfer.(Art. 3-2(1), Art. 3-2(2), Art. 3-3(1), Art. 3-3(2), Art. 3-4(1), Art. 3-4(3), Art. 3(5), Art. 3(6), Suppl. Prov. Art. 3(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- As far as needed to enforce the Act, the governor may require reports from operators and others concerned, and send officials to enter a facility, inspect its structure, equipment and records, and question people; the same powers reach someone running a hotel business without being a licensed operator, where the governor needs to decide whether to order it stopped. Officials must carry identification and show it on request, and these inspections are not a power of criminal investigation.(Art. 7(1), Art. 7(2), Art. 7(3), Art. 7(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The governor may order an operator to bring a facility back up to the Cabinet Order standards within a reasonable period, or to take the measures needed to prevent harm to public health or the encouragement of acts harmful to public morals. Where a hotel business is run in breach of the Act and urgent action is needed against serious harm to public health or to public morals, the governor may order the person running it, if not a licensed operator, to stop the business or take other needed measures.(Art. 7-2(1), Art. 7-2(2), Art. 7-2(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The governor may revoke a licence, or suspend all or part of the business for up to one year, if the operator breaks the Act, the provisions of Orders made under it (命令) or a measure (処分) taken under it, or becomes disqualified on any ground other than an earlier revocation; or if the operator or its staff commit, in connection with the business, one of the offences Article 8 lists, among them some Penal Code (刑法) offences and offences under the Act on Control and Improvement of Amusement Business, etc. (風俗営業等の規制及び業務の適正化等に関する法律), the Anti-Prostitution Act (売春防止法) and the Acts on child prostitution and child pornography and on filming sexual poses. Notice of the hearing (聴聞) or of the chance to explain must come at least a week before it, and the hearing on a revocation is held in public.(Art. 8(1), Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Running a hotel business without a licence, or breaking an order under Article 8 to suspend it, is punishable by up to six months' imprisonment (拘禁刑), a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen, or both. Refusing lodging outside the grounds in Article 5(1); breaking the guest-register rule; failing to report or reporting falsely; refusing, obstructing or evading an inspection; failing to answer an official's questions or answering falsely; and breaking an order under Article 7-2(2) or (3) are each punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Where the offender acted in the business of a company or an individual employer, that company or employer is fined as well.(Art. 10(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 13(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A guest who gives false register details when the operator asks is punishable by penal detention (拘留) or a petty fine (科料). The penalty articles, Articles 10 to 13, set no penalty for a person who does not cooperate with a request under Article 4-2; the 2023 amending Act directs the Government to consider how to respond when a person asked for that cooperation does not comply without a justifiable reason — for anyone other than a person with symptoms or a patient, a request to confirm their health.(Art. 12(1), Art. 10(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 13(1), Art. 4-2(4), Suppl. Prov. Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働大臣) sets and publishes guidelines (指針) on how operators should handle the infectious-disease requests and refusals of lodging, after hearing experts on infectious diseases and on the hotel business, and people who use hotels.(Art. 5-2(1), Art. 5-2(2), Art. 5-2(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it connects to other laws
Cites this lawLawThis law cites it
It also names 25 laws not yet held here.
Where the translation comes from
- 52
- 129
- 77not translated
The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.
Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.
Sources
Everything this page rests on
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)旅館業法 — the text in force from 2025-06-01Original
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)旅館業法 — revision historyOriginal
- Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of JusticeHotel Business Act — Ministry of Justice translationOriginal
- Machine translation, not official
- Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
- Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
- Written for this site with AINotes that an Act outside this collection lets some lodging run without a Hotel Business Act licence, written for this site
- Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text