Monthly mansion cost in Japan: a real Kyoto price sheet

A monthly mansion in Japan costs more than its listing card shows. On one real Kyoto 1K sheet, the card said ¥102,000 a month, but a 30-day stay came to ¥147,600 once the short-stay rent tier, ¥880 a day in utilities and a ¥13,200 cleaning fee were added. Your stay length sets the rate.

The real total comes from a price sheet with three or four duration tiers, a daily utilities line, a once-per-stay cleaning fee and a few conditional extras. This page walks through one real sheet line by line and works out the totals for 30, 60 and 90 days.

The sheets below are examples, not a city average. For what each fee means, see weekly and monthly mansion hidden fees in Japan. To decode the Japanese labels on a listing page first, see how to read a monthly mansion listing in Kyoto. This page is only about the arithmetic.

The sheet: a 1K in central-south Kyoto

Monthly KYOTO (マンスリー京都) runs furnished マンスリーマンション (monthly mansion) stock across Kyoto. This is the 料金表 (price table) for one of its 1K units (one room plus a kitchen), as seen on 23 Oct 2026:

The listing card for the same unit said 賃料 102,000円/月〜 (rent from ¥102,000 a month). That is the long-tier rate. On the operator's list page the price carries a small note, ※ロング料金適用時 (when the long-stay rate applies). A 30-day stay never pays it.

The headline rent is usually the cheapest tier. Your stay length decides which row you actually pay.

How a monthly mansion total is built

Monthly KYOTO publishes its formula in its FAQ: (daily rent for your tier + utilities) × contract days + cleaning. Four things follow from that.

1. Rent is charged per day, at your tier's rate

The monthly figure is the daily rate × 30. Monthly KYOTO defines a 月 (month) as 30 days, written 29泊30日 (29 nights, 30 days). So you pay for contract days, not nights, and the tier is set by the length of the whole contract.

2. Utilities are a daily line, prepaid

光熱費 (utilities: electricity, water, gas) is ¥880 per day per person here, tax included. It is paid up front for every contract day. The operator says it is a flat charge, not unlimited use: heavy overuse can be billed.

3. Cleaning is once per stay

清掃費/回 (cleaning per stay) is charged once at contract, ¥13,200 for this 1K. No cleaning charge is added at move-out. Damage, stains or lost items are billed separately at cost. On larger units from the same operator, the cleaning line was ¥26,400.

4. Extras only appear on certain rows

• Occupancy surcharge. The rent covers one person in this 1K. A second person adds ¥300/day rent plus ¥880/day utilities.
• Extra bedding. ¥7,700 per set.
• Change fee. Monthly KYOTO charges a ¥2,200 事務手数料 (admin fee) if you change the move-in date or the headcount after the application form is in.
• No deposit stack. Monthly KYOTO states 敷金 (deposit), 礼金 (key money) and 仲介手数料 (agent fee) are all ¥0.

Worked totals: 30, 60 and 90 days

Same unit, one person, no extras. Contract days are what the operator bills, so 30 days means 29 nights.

What this sheet shows:

• Card vs real month. The card said ¥102,000. A real 30-day stay comes to ¥147,600, which is ¥45,600 more.
• Two people for 30 days add ¥35,400 (¥1,180 × 30), for ¥183,000 in total.
• The 90-day edge is unclear. The middle tier starts at "3ヶ月以上 (3 months or more)", and a month here is 30 days. The sheet doesn't say whether exactly 90 days counts as middle. Ask before you fix your dates. On this unit the difference is ¥9,000.

Extending can cost more than booking long

Monthly KYOTO's FAQ says an extension is a new contract starting the day after the old one ends. It is priced at the tier for the new contract's own length, not your combined stay. The operator says this can come to more than booking the whole period at once. It also notes that a re-contract includes no cleaning or restocking of consumables.

If you think 30 days might turn into 60, ask for both totals before you pay. For a stay of about a month, see Kyoto one-month apartment rental. For the 90-day band, see Kyoto 3-month rentals for foreigners. For what a furnished monthly in Kyoto includes, see Kyoto monthly furnished apartments.

Photo: Jakub Hałun / CC BY 4.0

What a second operator's sheet added

Operator B, another Kyoto monthly operator, had two lines Monthly KYOTO's 1K sheet didn't. These come from its sheet as observed on 19 Oct 2026 and haven't been re-checked since:

• 事務手数料 (admin fee): ¥3,300 per contract, shown as charged on every booking, not only on changes.
• 宿泊税 (accommodation tax): a separate line. Monthly KYOTO adds this tax too, mostly on its under-30-day weekly tier, at ¥200 per person per night on the listings seen. That ¥200 is the listings' figure. Kyoto City revised its rates on 1 March 2026: ¥200 per person per night when the room charge is under ¥6,000 a night, and ¥400 from ¥6,000 to under ¥20,000. One lodging-licensed unit's notes added the tax with no stay-length limit. Confirm the tax line on your quote.

Operator B's tier lengths, cleaning amounts and rents aren't reproduced here. They weren't re-verified, so treat them as unknown until you have a quote.

Lines to confirm on your written quote

Before you transfer anything, the quote should state:

1. The tier applied to your exact dates, with the daily rate
2. Utilities per day × your contract days, and the number of people
3. Cleaning: the amount, and that it's charged once
4. Any 事務手数料 (admin fee), and when it applies
5. Any 宿泊税 (accommodation tax) line, or confirmation that none applies
6. Tax-included or tax-excluded presentation
7. Cancellation terms. Monthly KYOTO: free until 14 days before move-in, ¥20,000 after that. See cancellation rules to get in writing
8. Quote validity date

If a line is missing, ask for it. Don't assume it's zero.

Soft next step

Midstay is in private testing, and the public board is still coming soon. Midstay is not the landlord: you pay the operator directly for rent and keys.

When you're ready to get a total in writing, see the letter Pass sends operators: a Japanese request in your name for the tier, the daily lines and the all-in for your dates. Join the waitlist for updates, or write to hello@midstay.app.