Japan has just approved its highest-ever hotel tax and guests could be charged a hefty sum of up to £49 per person per night. Following a record-breaking 36.9 million international visitors in Japan in 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has now confirmed that a hotel tax will come into effect in Kyoto from March 2026. The tax has been agreed on to ensure tourists “bear the cost of countermeasures against overtourism.”
There is already a tax that has been in place since 2018 but currently the nightly rate is set at a maximum of £4.9 for everyone. From March 2026, however, the price you’ll pay per night will depend on what type of hotel you’re staying in and for those staying in luxury hotels the price will be steep.
Visitors staying in luxury hotels will be charged ¥10,000 per night, which comes to about £49.
A £19.7 tax per night will also be charged to those staying in rooms that cost between £246 and £492.6, and a £4.9 tax will be charged to those staying in rooms priced between rooms costing between £98.5 and £246.3.
The lowest hotel tax will be of £0.98 for hotels costing £29.5 and below. For those staying in rooms costing between £29.6 and £98.5, the levy will cost them £1.97 per night and per person.
Japan has surpassed its pre-Covid tourist numbers with a 15.6% increase in international tourists compared to the previous all-time record of 2019.
Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, has been particularly impacted by the rising numbers of tourists due to its popularity.
Some of its popular landmarks include the incredible Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine and temples like the Kinkakuji and the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
The city is also home to traditional wooden houses, breathtaking streets and the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a natural bamboo forest with bamboo trees that are 65-feet-high.
Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage site has also been impacted by a surge in recent years with an increase in reports of pollution, litter and illegal parking.
From July 2025, new rules have been implemented to limit the effects including a daily closure from 2pm to 3am and a £20 charge for all four of the trails.
