Tokyo's registered minpaku (short-term rental) properties grew from 7,527 (April 2024) to 12,576 (August 2025) — up 67.1% in 16 months. More striking: foreign guests now account for 86.8% of all Tokyo minpaku guests, up from 73.2% in April 2024. Japan's STR market is not serving domestic travelers — it is competing directly with hotels for international visitors. What does 25,000 effective room-equivalents operating outside the hotel yield management system mean for Tokyo's competitive landscape?
Japan recorded 92.4 million foreign overnight stays in Tokyo alone in 2024 — up 37.4% year-on-year. This investment report analyses JNTO prefecture-level overnight stay data across all 47 prefectures, full 12 months of 2024, to rank hotel investment opportunities by demand volume, growth momentum, seasonality stability, and nationality mix. Tokyo and Fukuoka lead the risk-adjusted ranking. Gifu (+116%) and Ishikawa (+92%) represent the highest-growth emerging overflow markets.
Kyoto recorded 1.37M foreign overnight stays in November 2025 (+4.2% YoY), growing while Osaka declined. USA ranked #2 (15.4%), nearly matching China (#1, 14.5%) — driven by koyo season Western demand.
