Two arrested under suspicion of illegally leasing apartments to foreign tourists

Kyoto hotel
A tourist bus stopped outside the illegal hotel in Kyoto.

On November 5, the Kyoto Prefectural Police began interviewing two people who are suspected of allegedly leasing out apartments to foreign tourists for short stays without obtaining the appropriate hotel license.

The two suspects are are 52-year old advisor from a travel company in Tokyo and a 48-year old from a hotel proxy company in Yamagata City.

Both companies have been accused of renting out apartments in Kyoto’s Ukyo-ku to tourists on a short-term basis without a license which  is in violation of the Hotel Business Law. As many as 300 guests used the accommodation between July and early October.Read more