The central government has only just begun looking into the home-sharing situation in Japan, so it is unlikely regulations will be relaxed anytime soon.
But even government officials see home-sharing as a viable alternative to address the growing need for accommodations as concerns grow over a lack of hotels amid the explosive growth in inbound tourism. For their part, home-sharing services hope the rules will be changed to fit the new way of traveling.
“We ask our hosts to follow the laws and regulations if they want to register their homes, but it is unclear whether the existing rules apply to those who share their places only occasionally” rather than regularly, said Airbnb. “We’d like to communicate (with the authorities) to make rules that reflect the trend of home-sharing and is simple for the general public to understand.”
In some countries and cities, including France, Portugal, London, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, rules have already been changed to adapt to the growing trend of home-sharing.
The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and Paralympics Committee has chosen Airbnb as an Official Alternative Accommodation Service.