By Jurin Yamada / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Seiichiro Murakami on Friday accepted a proposal by Kyoto City to raise its maximum lodging tax per person per night from the current 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.

It will be Japan's highest flat-rate lodging tax when it goes into effect on March 1 next year.

The current three tax brackets will be expanded to five, with the maximum tax being levied on stays costing 100,000 yen or more per night. Meanwhile, the minimum tax amount will remain unchanged at 200 yen, but its threshold will change from less than 20,000 yen per night to less than 6,000 yen per night. Exemptions will remain in place for students and their chaperones on school excursion.

Tax revenue is projected to more than double to 12.6 billion yen after the change goes into effect.

"This will become a valuable source of funding to promote Kyoto's appeal," Mayor Koji Matsui stated. "We intend to use the funds collected to balance tourism with the lives of our citizens."

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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October 06, 2025 07:07 ET (11:07 GMT)

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