Renting an apartment in Tokyo: Japan's minpaku rules for Airbnb-style homes in plain English (the three legal routes, the 180-night cap, ward limits, how to check a listing), then eight apartment hotels with kitchens, from MIMARU for families to Oakwood Premier Tokyo for a long stay.
An apartment earns its place in Tokyo when there are four or more of you, when you're staying a week, or when you want a washing machine and a kitchen, and Tokyo hotel rooms are small enough that the extra space matters. My short answer: MIMARU for a family of four to six who want a full kitchen near the trains, Oakwood Premier Tokyo for a long stay right on top of Tokyo Station, and Tokyu Stay Shinjuku for a couple who mainly want a washer-dryer. All three are apartment hotels: licensed buildings with a desk and kitchens in the rooms, so the minpaku rules don't apply. For the city's areas, start with where to stay in Tokyo.
You can rent a private home through Airbnb and similar sites, but Japan regulates it closely. Since June 2018 a home rented to travellers needs one of three things: a hotel or simple-lodging licence under the Inns and Hotels Act; special-zone approval under the National Strategic Special Zones Act (Ota City, by Haneda Airport, is a special zone, with stays of at least two nights); or a notification under the Private Lodging Business Act, the 'minpaku' route most Airbnb homes use. A minpaku home can take guests for 180 nights a year at most, and each of Tokyo's 23 wards handles the notifications and can restrict them further, which can decide whether a listing is legal on a weekday. The host must post a sign with the notification number at the entrance and give that number to the booking site. How to check a listing, and the ward limits, are at the bottom of the page.
Nightly rates move daily, so check each apartment's own site for your dates. Apartments for four are the first to go, so book early for the cherry blossom (late March to early April), Golden Week (29 April to 5 May 2027) and New Year. If a hotel room is enough, see family hotels in Tokyo or cheap hotels in Tokyo.
Apartment hotels for families and groups: MIMARU and MONday Apart. These are the closest thing to a family Airbnb in a licensed building: apartments for four to six with real kitchens, a front desk, and no minpaku rules. MIMARU is the best-known brand, with apartments across Tokyo; our family hotels guide covers its Ueno and Asakusa buildings. MIMARU Tokyo Ginza East is my pick of them for a first visit: 3 minutes from Shintomicho Station on the Yurakucho line, a short walk from Ginza and Tsukiji, with apartments for four of 38 to 42 sq m and for six of 55 to 63 sq m. Every apartment has a full kitchen with an IH hob, pans and tableware, and the separate bath and washbasin a Japanese family would expect. Children who love Pokémon can have the Pokémon Room, decorated with 100 of them.
The trade-off is laundry: there's no washer-dryer in the rooms, only a coin laundry in the building. Most rooms are four single beds, or two singles with a bunk or loft beds, so it's built for families and friends, not couples. Children 6 and under can share the beds without counting towards the limit.
3 minutes on foot from exit 2 of Shintomicho Station (Yurakucho line), the exit with a lift. Ask about the Pokémon Room, a 39 sq m apartment for four decorated with 100 Pokémon.
MIMARU TOKYO SHINJUKU WEST is the Shinjuku option, on the west side among the skyscrapers, 8 minutes from exit A2 of Tochomae on the Oedo line. It has the same full kitchens, and the bigger rooms: 40 sq m apartments for four, apartments for six of 58 to 60 sq m (the Superior One-Bedroom has two washbasins), and a 42 sq m Japanese room with tatami and futons. It's also carded on our family hotels page; see our Shinjuku guide for the area.
Shinjuku Station itself is further than the name suggests, so budget a longer walk or the Oedo line. As at every MIMARU, laundry is a coin laundry in the building, not in the room.
8 minutes on foot from exit A2 of Tochomae Station on the Toei Oedo line; Shinjuku Station is a longer walk. Children 6 and under can share the beds on top of the adult count.
Serviced apartments for long stays: Oakwood, Ascott and Somerset. These are serviced apartments in the international sense, with bigger units, in-room laundry and staff around the clock, and they take short stays as well as months. Oakwood Premier Tokyo has the best address in the city for a trip built around trains: 120 apartments on floors 6 to 19 of the Tekko Building, next to Tokyo Station's Yaesu North Exit with underground access. Units run from studios of about 33 to 37 sq m to a 110 sq m three-bedroom, and each has a kitchen with a dishwasher, an oven and an IH hob, plus an in-unit laundry machine. There's no minimum stay. It's also on our family hotels page.
This is premium territory, so expect premium rates, and the area is quiet once the offices close. For day trips and the bullet train to Kyoto, though, nothing beats it, and the gym is a partner fitness centre in the same building.
On floors 6 to 19 of the Tekko Building, next to JR Tokyo Station's Yaesu North Exit with underground access to the station, so the shinkansen and the airport buses are minutes away.
Ascott Marunouchi Tokyo is the other Tokyo Station-area serviced apartment, in Otemachi with covered access to Otemachi Station and about a 10-minute walk to Tokyo Station's Marunouchi North exit. Units start at 38 sq m studios and go up to two-bedroom apartments of 91 to 113 sq m, one with a tatami room; most have a kitchenette and a washer-dryer. It has a 24-hour gym and a small indoor exercise pool, and there's no minimum stay.
Read the unit details: 'most units' have the kitchen and the washer-dryer, not all. The gym is for guests aged 16 and over; children can use the pool with a parent, and it's booked at check-in. It's in the business district, so evenings are quiet.
Covered access to Otemachi Station, and Tokyo Station's Marunouchi North exit is about 10 minutes on foot.
Somerset Ginza East Tokyo is a smaller-scale serviced apartment building in Tsukiji, about 5 minutes from Higashi-Ginza Station: 124 apartments, each with a fully equipped kitchen and its own washer and dryer, and weekly housekeeping. It suits a couple on a long stay who want to walk to Ginza and eat at the Tsukiji Outer Market; see our Ginza guide.
Every unit is for two (the bigger ones take a third for a fee), and studios are small at 24 to 30 sq m, so it's not one for families. It has only 88 Google reviews, far fewer than the others here, so there's less feedback to go on.
About 5 minutes on foot from Higashi-Ginza Station, with the Tsukiji Outer Market close by. Selected apartments take pets.
Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Azabu Tokyo is the neighbourhood choice, 3 minutes from Azabu-juban Station, with Roppongi a short ride away (see our Roppongi guide). It has 171 apartments, from 26 sq m studios to a 106 sq m three-bedroom, each with a kitchen and its own washer and dryer, and a fitness centre.
Azabu-juban is on the Namboku and Oedo lines, not the JR Yamanote line, so most trips start with a change. Parking is only for stays of 30 nights or more.
3 minutes on foot from Azabu-juban Station (Namboku and Toei Oedo lines). Parking is for stays of 30 nights or more, and selected rooms take pets.
A hotel with apartment comforts: Tokyu Stay. For a couple, a full apartment is often more than you need; what you want is a washer-dryer. Tokyu Stay Shinjuku has one in the rooms, plus a microwave, 1 minute from exit C3 of Shinjuku-sanchome Station and 8 from JR Shinjuku's East Exit. Shinjuku Gyoen is about 5 minutes away on foot. It's also on our best hotels and cheap hotels pages.
Rooms are hotel-sized, not apartment-sized, and breakfast is extra (¥2,530 at the buffet). Tokyu Stay has other branches around the city, including Ginza, if Shinjuku isn't your area.
1 minute on foot from exit C3 of Shinjuku-sanchome Station (Marunouchi, Fukutoshin and Toei Shinjuku lines) and 8 minutes from JR Shinjuku's East Exit. Shinjuku Gyoen is about 5 minutes' walk.
These come from the Japan Tourism Agency's minpaku portal and the wards' own pages, checked on 5 November 2026.
Three legal ways to rent a home to travellers (Japan Tourism Agency):
Who does what. In Tokyo's 23 wards, the ward takes the notifications and supervises the hosts. A host who isn't living in the home while guests stay, or who rents out more than five rooms, must hand the management to a registered private lodging manager. Hosts must keep a guest register and check identity: a foreign guest with no address in Japan gives their nationality and passport number, and the host keeps a copy of the passport. That's normal and legal, so expect to be asked.
How to check a listing (Japan Tourism Agency):
Ward limits worth knowing:
Tax. From 1 April 2027 Tokyo's accommodation tax extends to private rentals (minpaku) at 3% of the room-only rate, for stays of ¥13,000 or more per person per night (Tokyo Metropolitan Government); the full table is in our where to stay in Tokyo guide.
A family of four to six: MIMARU Tokyo Ginza East or MIMARU TOKYO SHINJUKU WEST, with full kitchens; MONday Apart Premium Ueno if you want a washer-dryer in the room.
A long stay built around the trains: Oakwood Premier Tokyo at Tokyo Station, or Ascott Marunouchi, which adds a pool.
A couple staying a week or more: Somerset Ginza East or Oakwood Azabu, each with a kitchen and its own washer and dryer.
A couple who mainly want laundry: Tokyu Stay Shinjuku.
A private home: a legal minpaku, after checking its notification number, and not in Chuo City on a weekday.
An apartment hotel has a desk, takes one-night stays, follows hotel rules and won't be cancelled by a ward limit, but it looks like a hotel, and the MIMARUs have no in-room laundry.
A minpaku home can give you a real neighbourhood and more space, but it's capped at 180 nights a year, wards like Chuo and Shinjuku cut that further, and a listing without a notification number or licence is illegal. Check the number before you pay.
Apartment facts on this page are from each building's own website on 5 November 2026; rates change daily, so price your own dates on the official sites. For the areas, see where to stay in Tokyo; for days out with children, Tokyo with kids.
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