Starting Hotel business with a residential house in Japan
Assumed that you purchase a detached house and obtain hotel license and operate hotel business there.
(If you obtain hotel license, limitation of 180 days is not applicable. You can operate hole business everyday)
“Wooden house can be converted into Hotel 【Change of building standard law】➡”
When you accommodate guests, a group (they may be family or friend) use whole house.
So, they do not share the house with a person of different group.
If you have decided to start hotel business with hotel license, you will look for suitable real estate.
The house should not be located in exclusive residential area (住居専用地域) or industrial area (工業地域).
The real estate should be legal one. When a person built a house, he needed to satisfy several requirements.
If he built the house without verification from authority, it was illegal.
If the house is legal one, authority issued Kakunin zumishou, kensazumishou.
Before he builds the house, he should obtain verification from authority. He provide architectural floor plan and authority confirms if the structure of the house satisfy building standard act.
Then authority issues Kenchiku kakunin.
After completion of building, he requests authority to inspect his house if actual situation of house can satisfy the law. Then authority can issues Kensazumishou certificate.
You can not obtain hotel license with illegal building.
So, when you request real estate broker to find suitable real estate, you can ask her to introduce a real estate that received Kakunin zumishou(確認済証), kensazumishou（検査済証）.
The house should be 2 stories house or less. Otherwise, you need to conduct large scaled construction.
You need to install emergency light (非常用照明) and other necessary fire prevention facilities.
If a house is more than 2 stories or more than 200 sqm floor space, necessary cost will be 2 million yen or more.
If a house is 2 stories or less and less than 200 sqm floor space, necessary cost will be 400,000 million yen or more.
Room area of 200 sqm or less is better. Otherwise, you need to hire architect and it costs more than 500,000 yen.
However even if it is less than 200 sqm, you need to hire architect basically. Because in order to find if your conversion of house into hotel is illegal or not, knowledge of architect should be important.
You generally need to prepare front desk.
(depending on ward, necessary size is stipulated. In the case of arakawa-ward, it is not stipulated. So, you can prepare small desk)
Then, your employee needs to stay in this hotel always !
(in the case of Arakawa-ku)
It is better that your real estate is not close to school, kindergarten.
If room area is 150 sqm or more, you need to prepare fire extinguisher.
Assumed that you convert Ａ PART of residential building.
If room area for hotel is 51 sqm or more and total room area of whole building is 300 sqm or more, you need to install automatic fire alarm and emergency exit light for whole building.
Assumed that you convert Ａ PART of residential building.
If room area for hotel is 50 sqm or less and room area for residence is 70 sqm (it means more than half of whole building is residential purpose), you do not need to install automatic fire alarm and emergency exit light for whole building.
Because it is deemed as residence.
“Necessary documents to obtain hotel license in Japan ➡”
As for lavatory to operate Hotel business in Japan
At least 2 lavatories are necesaary (in the case of arakawa-ku).
If it is 2 stories house, you can prepare one lavatory for each floor.
Depending on ward, one lavatory for whole house is sufficient.
