Kyoto to impose Japan’s highest accommodation tax from March 2026

The Japanese authorities just lately authorized Kyoto’s proposal to implement what’s, thus far, the nation’s highest-ever hospitality tax.

The previous capital which can also be thought of one among Japan’s cultural epicentres will start to cost as much as US$68 an individual per night time at luxurious resorts inside its jurisdiction starting March 2026.

This new tax is the newest in an extended line of measures proposed to curb overtourism within the nation.

Per a report from the South China Morning Publish, the Japanese Ministry of Inside Affairs and Communications green-lighted the proposal on third October.

How a lot?!?

In line with a report from Japanese broadsheet Asahi Shimbun, this new taxation scheme ranges from 200 yen for price range lodging to 10,000 yen for stays priced above 100,000 yen per night time.

That mentioned, it definitely goes well-above the nation’s present most levy of 1,000 yen.

Nonetheless, the cash earned from such taxes will go to an excellent trigger: the continued growth of Kyoto as one among Japan’s cultural hubs.

As Kyoto mayor Koji Matsui places it: “Vacationers additionally should bear the price of countermeasures towards overtourism. Kyoto goes to make use of income from the lodging tax to construct a sustainable tourism metropolis, which should be good for each vacationers and Kyoto residents.”

This doesn’t, nevertheless, imply that the tax has been universally accepted even by Japanese nationals; certainly, some critics see the tax as a deterrent that can drive travellers away from Kyoto and into neighbouring cities like Osaka, thus depriving town of income.

However, metropolis officers have been fast to say that the brand new tiers are proportionate, with the bottom fee unchanged for price range travellers and the steepest enhance reserved for luxurious lodging.

It has been projected that the taxes earned will come to double Kyoto’s annual revenues from 5.91 billion yen to a staggering 12.6 billion yen as soon as the measure is applied.

All proceeds will go into methods of mitigating the impression of overtourism on native infrastructure and to enhance the general vacationer expertise inside the metropolis.