A growing number of minpaku private lodging services are finding business salvation in the new need for temporary accommodations due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
The minpaku operators, which have been suffering amid the drastic decline in tourism, are filling a vital niche by offering lodging to those told to self-isolate after returning from overseas and internet cafe stayers who have been displaced due business shutdowns.
"I was distressed because I couldn't find a place to stay. But I'm relieved now," said one 50-year-old woman who returned from Indonesia in mid-April. The woman, originally from Mie Prefecture, was interviewed in an apartment in Koto Ward, Tokyo, that is registered as minpaku lodging.
The government has asked all passengers who come or return to Japan from all countries and regions to isolate themselves at their home or other accommodations for 14 days. The woman had been in Indonesia since early March to take care of her husband, who works there. After returning to Japan, she planned to stay at her son's house in Aichi Prefecture while her son stayed at a nearby hotel.
However, shortly before her return to Japan, the Aichi prefectural government declared a state of emergency, and the hotel refused to let her son stay there. The woman's elderly in-laws are living in her home in Mie Prefecture, so she was reluctant to stay there.
She had heard a rumor that Tokyo hotels are refusing to accommodate returnees from overseas. Luckily, she ran into a minpaku service on the internet.
The service she found is provided by Tokyo-based Matsuri Technologies, which leases rooms for about 80,000 yen per month -- cheaper than usual -- for these returnees. Since March 26, the company has received about 1,500 inquiries. The occupancy rate by the beginning of this month was nearly 90%, it said.
After the guests check out, the company allows four days for the rooms to be thoroughly disinfected before checking in the next occupants.
"The number of travelers is decreasing, but the demand for accommodations has never disappeared," an employee in charge said. "It is necessary to listen to the voices of the users and respond flexibly to what kind of accommodations are required."
Some internet cafes have been forced to suspend operations due to the announcement of a state of emergency, and there are moves to accept so-called internet cafe refugees who have nowhere else to stay. The Osaka prefectural government posted on its website a list of accommodations that charge less than 2,500 yen per day, and more than 20% of the about 6,000 rooms are at minpaku.
An official of the Osaka-based Japan Association of Private Accommodations said, "Although the operators are in the red in terms of the room rate, many of them are being cooperative because they could reduce their vacancies and also contribute to society."
Tokyo-based minpaku operator Kasoku Co., Inc. has started a "divorce prevention service amid the coronavirus infection," for those who want to live apart from their spouses temporarily. The company received 135 inquiries by April 27, and 32 couples, including children, have stayed there so far. The company's official said the service has enjoyed "unexpected popularity."
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