英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Safe management, local understanding needed for running ‘minpaku’ facilities
「民泊」のルール　安全管理と地域の理解が要る

The so-called “minpaku” business of using rooms in private homes or at condominiums to accommodate tourists, in place of hotels, is growing.
　個人宅の一角やマンションの空き室をホテル代わりに使う「民泊」が広がりを見せている。

Such services may be convenient as inexpensive lodging for foreign tourists, whose number has soared recently. But they are also causing problems between service users and local residents. It is necessary to expedite efforts to draw up relevant rules.
　安価な宿として、急増する外国人旅行者らにとっては便利なサービスだろうが、近隣住民とのトラブルも起きている。ルールの整備を急ぐ必要がある。

The Inns and Hotels Law stipulates that it is mandatory for operators of accommodations to obtain permission from local governments when accepting paying guests repetitively. An enforcement ordinance also sets standards for the size and structure of facilities to ensure hygiene and safety of accommodations. Rooms used as minpaku facilities are, in theory, subject to the law.
　旅館業法は、客を有料で繰り返し泊めるには、自治体の許可を得るよう定めている。施行令で宿泊施設の面積や構造、衛生や安全の面での基準も示している。民泊として使用する部屋も、本来なら旅館業法の適用を受ける。

Yet the number of rooms rented as minpaku facilities that have not obtained official licenses is rising sharply, particularly in urban areas, due to the shortage of hotels.
　だが、都市部を中心に、無許可の民泊用の部屋が急速に増えている。ホテル不足が背景にある。

Some business operators act as online go-betweens for people who want to rent empty rooms and tourists seeking places to stay. The number of registered properties using these services exceeds 20,000 in Japan. Yet most of these properties are believed to be operating without licenses.
　空き室を貸したい人と旅行者をインターネットを通じて仲介する業者もある。国内の登録物件は、２万件を超える。その多くが、無許可営業とみられる。

The current state of affairs should be improved as local governments cannot keep up with overseeing the growing number of such business operations.
　自治体の監視が追いつかない現状は、改善すべきだ。

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for 2020, the central government − which aims to make Japan a tourism-oriented nation − has established a panel of experts, tasked with studying how minpaku services should be offered. While reviewing the Inns and Hotels Law, the panel will also consider the possibility of establishing new provisions.
　２０２０年東京五輪を控え、観光立国を掲げる政府は、民泊の在り方を検討する有識者会議を設置した。旅館業法を見直し、新たな規定を設けることも検討する。

It is important to make minpaku facilities places where tourists can stay with a sense of security.
　旅行者が安心して泊まれる受け皿とすることが大切だ。

Ward offers good example

In creating rules for minpaku facilities, efforts made by Tokyo’s Ota Ward, where Haneda Airport is located, serve as a useful example.
　民泊のルール作りを進める上で、羽田空港を抱える東京都大田区の取り組みは参考になろう。

Utilizing the government-designated national strategic special zone system, which exempts certain types of accommodation facilities for foreign tourists from adhering to the Inns and Hotels Law, the Ota Ward government has put into effect an ordinance to permit the operation of minpaku facilities. The ward will become the first special zone of this kind in Japan next year.
　外国人向けの一部の宿泊施設を旅館業法の適用外とする国家戦略特区制度を活用し、民泊を認める条例を成立させた。来年には全国初の特区としてスタートする。

In the special zone, individuals can rent rooms to tourists who plan to stay long term for seven days or more at their minpaku facilities. Such restrictions are designed so that minpaku facilities will not adversely affect the operations of hotels and ryokan inns.
　特区では、７日間以上の長期滞在者を民泊の対象としている。ホテルや旅館の業務を圧迫しないようにするための配慮だ。

The Ota Ward government plans to limit the area where minpaku facilities can operate to one where the construction of hotels and ryokan inns is permitted, in accordance with the Building Standards Law. The ward will also ask minpaku facilities operators to keep a copy of their guests’ passports to prevent such facilities from becoming hotbeds of crimes or terrorism.
　大田区は、民泊の対象エリアを建築基準法上、ホテルや旅館の建築が可能な地域に限定する方針だ。犯罪やテロの温床とならぬよう、受け入れ側にパスポートの写しの保管を求める。

All these measures are deemed necessary in operating such facilities in the area. Yet a number of challenges remain.
　地域で民泊を運用していくためには、いずれも必要な措置だろう。ただし、課題も少なくない。

Local residents may feel uneasy about seeing foreign strangers come and go from condominiums or private houses in their neighborhood.
　見知らぬ外国人がマンションなどに出入りすることに、不安を感じる住民もいるだろう。

The ordinance makes it mandatory for operators of minpaku facilities to inform nearby residents of their business plans in advance and enables ward government officials to make on-site inspections. We wonder how effective such measures would be.
　条例は、民泊の事業者に近隣住民への周知を義務づけ、区の立ち入り調査も可能にしたが、どこまで実効性があるだろうか。

Some grievances have been voiced by residents living near currently operating minpaku facilities over the ways tourists take out their garbage and the noise they make.
　既存の民泊施設では、宿泊者のゴミの出し方や騒音などに対し、住民から苦情が出ている。

To prevent friction from occurring in neighborhoods, minpaku operators should ensure their facilities are managed safely.
　地域であつれきが生じないよう、民泊施設の安全管理などに留意する必要がある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 9, 2015)