JTA drafts rules for setting minpaku business holidays

Japan Times -- Sep 10

The Japan Tourism Agency is considering asking municipalities to designate periods during which minpaku (private lodging services) must be shut in their regions.

Municipalities would be free to set their own minpaku business holidays, according to the agency's draft guidelines on the new type of lodging.

The agency plans to finalize the guidelines, seen Friday, by the end of March. The guidelines will encourage municipalities to set their own rules under ordinances designed to localize the suitability of minpaku services.

The draft guidelines gave examples of places and periods suitable for closure, such as areas near schools and nurseries on weekdays, and mountain settlements during the viewing season for autumn leaves and other periods of heavy traffic.