Society

First case of unlicensed private lodging in Japan sent to prosecutors

Sep 15 (Japan Times) - Police in Kyoto referred to prosecutors Friday four officials of a hotel management firm for allegedly running an unlicensed private accommodation service, making it the first case of its kind since a private lodging law came into force in June.

The four are suspected of providing accommodation to a total of 15 tourists in Kyoto between June 14 and 23 without obtaining a permit from the local government, according to the police.

The Kyoto city government had previously warned the company, Capital Incubator, over the unauthorized lodging operation, but the Kyoto-based firm did not follow the authority's guidance. The four admitted to the allegation, telling police that it was too much work to renovate the property in order to comply with the law. The operator was recruiting guests via an online reservation site run by a major company.

Last month, the Japan Tourism Agency said that about 3,000 of 25,000 lodging facilities on online reservation sites were suspected of operating without permits.

The agency is strengthening its monitoring and urging the operators of reservation sites to immediately delete the details of unauthorized businesses.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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