Jun 26 (Japan Times) - Police and officials from the city of Kyoto on Monday agreed to increase the crackdown on illegal private lodging facilities just 10 days after a new national law restricting their operation took effect.
“We want to cooperate closely with the police to close illegal facilities right away,†Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa said at meeting of police and municipal officials on Monday morning.
The city estimates that there were likely 435 minpaku (short-term lodging facilities) operating illegally at of the end of May. It has warned that those who do not quickly bring their establishments in line with the June 15 law, as well as municipal rules on minpaku, face prosecution.
The push to close illegal facilities is part of a series of legal and bureaucratic efforts the city has made over the past year to curb their use. Following years of complaints by Kyoto residents that the owners or supervisors of such lodgings did not live nearby, that they were unsure who to contact in an emergency or when troubles arise over issues like garbage disposal, the city passed an ordinance requiring operators of such facilities to be able to get to them within 10 minutes of being called by the authorities.
The city also advises, in formal guidelines, that a minpaku operator or manager reside within 800 meters of the facility, one of the strictest local conditions applied to minpaku operations in Japan.
