What effect will the new hotel tax have on hostel dormitory prices in Kyoto?

Question

Apparently from March 2026 accommodation taxes are going to rise substantially in Kyoto.

Here are some details for individual rooms that I found:

• The tax for rooms costing between 20,000 to 50,000 yen will double to 1,000 yen per person per night.
• For accommodations over 100,000 yen, the tax will increase tenfold to 10,000 yen.

Does anybody know what will be the cast for shared accommodation such as hostel dorms? They've always been pretty reasonable in Kyoto. I don't know what the current tax is either so that would also be nice to know.

Answer 1

According to Timeout, the number of tiers will actually change from 3 (less than 20K, 20-50, 50+) to 5 (less than 6K, 6-20, 20-50, 50-100, 100+).

Price per night	Old tax	New tax	Change
0 - 5 999	200	200	No change
6 000 - 19 999	200	400	x2
20 000 - 49 999	500	1 000	x2
50 000 - 99 999	1 000	4 000	x4
100 000+	1 000	10 000	x10

The cheapest places (less than 6000 yen/night, which should include most hostels, but possibly not all) will see no change, but others will see increases.

Answer 2

No, it should not have a direct effect on hostel/dormitory prices, and the indirect effect should be minimal too. Hostels and dormitories are not really in competition with high-end hotels, so a potential decrease in demand of high-end hotels won't have a substantial effect on hostel dorms.

• The accommodation tax is taxed on every person who resides in a commercially-operated temporary residence within the vicinity of Kyoto City: that includes hotels, ryokan, minshuku, hostels, shared dormitories, Airbnbs, and even unlicensed operations, but excludes e.g. you staying in your friend's house and paying them a small amount of money as a gift. So if you stay in a hostel dormitory, you are subject to the tax.

• The current tax rate is: 200 yen (/person, /night) for residences less than 20,000 yen a night; 500 yen for residences that are at least 20,000 but less than 50,000 yen a night, and 1000 yen for residences costing more than 50,000 yen per night.

• The tax is not part of your hotel bill. You must pay it upon check in, even if you have prepaid your accomodation.

I cannot imagine that any shared hostel dormitory will cost more than 20,000 yen per person per night, so I believe that it would have no impact on you. You still pay the 200 yen per night tax at check in, as usual.