Hakone, a famous hot spring and resort town southwest of Tokyo, said Friday it is considering introducing a new lodging tax for people staying in hotels and other accommodations, possibly from April 2028.
The Hakone resort area in Kanagawa Prefecture is looking to introduce the accommodation tax as a local discretionary tax, with revenue not earmarked for any specific purpose, a first in the country.
Visitors will be taxed 350 yen per night except for elementary school children and younger children, and students on school trips, with the aim of raising about 1.4 billion yen in annual revenue. The municipality will hold deliberations on the ordinance and consult with the internal affairs ministry.
Approximately 20 million people visit the region annually, with the town struggling to cover the costs of collecting trash and emergency services.
"The burden on locals is increasing, and we hope to create a town that positively impacts both tourism and daily lives," according to the town.
© KYODO
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DanteKH
So on top of the onsen tax, you have this lodging tax now. Taxes over taxes over taxes, while you, as a resident or citizen, also pay callous taxes such as City tax, Resident Tax, etc, etc, etc.
If this trend continues, only the rich and foreigners from rich countries will ever enjoy going to trips in Japan.
ShinyAndChrome
This may be true but in this Kyodo article are no figures in the article to show this to be the case or if there is a shortfall from existing taxes. Just handwaving.
Asahi, Mainichi, even NHK have better write ups of this story. NHK says it's a first for a local government to impose an "extra-legal ordinary tax" and there's no restriction on what they do with the money. Other local governments might follow.
Not enough to build a secret helicopter rocketbase in Fuji's crater. Now that would be a tourist attraction.
A garlic eater_
How will they know? Any small scale B&B operator could keep their mouth shut.