23 October 2026
Weekly mansion in Japan: minimum stays and the 30-day switch
Weekly mansion Japan guide: what it is, how short you can book, why the price switches at 30 days, and when it beats a hotel or Airbnb. Real Kyoto prices.
In Japan, a ウィークリーマンション (weekly mansion) is a furnished apartment you rent for days or weeks instead of months. You get a kitchen and your own key, but pay apartment-style pricing: rent by stay-length tier, utilities per day and a cleaning fee per stay. The price logic often switches at 30 days, so check that boundary first.
What is a weekly mansion in Japan?
The label is used across Japan for short-stay furnished units, and each operator sets its own rules. The common shape:
- Furnished and equipped: bed, bedding and kitchen basics. Check the 設備 (facilities) list for a washer.
- Booked by the day, priced in tiers. The shorter the stay, the higher the daily rate.
- Fees on top of rent: 光熱費 (utilities), often per day, and 清掃費 (cleaning), usually once per stay
- Direct with the operator, sometimes under a fixed-term lease and sometimes as licensed lodging (see below)
At the Kyoto operator below, "weekly" is just the shortest tier of the same price sheet the monthly units use. For the monthly side, see monthly mansions in Japan for foreigners.
How short can you book?
There's no national standard minimum. Here's what one Kyoto operator publishes, seen on Monthly KYOTO (マンスリー京都) on 23 Oct 2026:
| Type | Minimum | Booking window |
|---|---|---|
| マンスリータイプ (monthly type) | 30日 (30 days = 29 nights) | Opens 2 months before move-in |
| ウィークリータイプ (weekly type) | 7日 (7 days = 6 nights) | Under a month: opens 1 month before |
The same operator says it has only a few weekly units. Its list filter for ウィークリー対応 (weekly-capable) returned 4 properties. One of those listed booked-out date ranges in its notes, and another capped stays at 60 days.
Count in days, not nights. "7日" means a 7-day contract, which is 6 nights.
The 30-day price switch
On a weekly-capable unit, the price sheet gets an extra row on top: スーパーショート (super short), for 7 to under 30 days. Here is one 1K in Nishijin, seen on Monthly KYOTO on 23 Oct 2026:
| Tier | Stay length | Rent per day | Utilities | Cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| スーパーショート (super short) | 7 to under 30 days | ¥5,400 | ¥880/day | ¥26,400 per stay |
| ショート (short) | 30 days to under 3 months | ¥4,500 | ¥880/day | ¥26,400 per stay |
The super-short tier also adds 宿泊税 (accommodation tax): ¥200 per person per night. The listing notes say it applies only to stays on that tier. Kyoto City's own rate depends on the nightly room charge: since 1 March 2026 it is ¥200 per person per night below ¥6,000 and ¥400 from ¥6,000 to under ¥20,000. Confirm the tax line on your quote.
Worked out for one person, using the listing's ¥200 tax figure (¥200 × nights). Confirm the tax line on your quote:
| Contract | Rent + utilities | Cleaning | Tax | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days (6 nights) | ¥43,960 | ¥26,400 | ¥1,200 | ¥71,560 |
| 14 days (13 nights) | ¥87,920 | ¥26,400 | ¥2,600 | ¥116,920 |
| 29 days (28 nights) | ¥182,120 | ¥26,400 | ¥5,600 | ¥214,120 |
| 30 days (29 nights) | ¥161,400 | ¥26,400 | ¥0 | ¥187,800 |
On this unit, 30 days cost ¥26,320 less than 29 days. If your stay is close to a month, price both lengths.
Near the 30-day line, staying one day longer can make the whole stay cheaper.
Cleaning weighs most on short stays. On the 7-day row above, ¥26,400 is more than a third of the total. For every fee line to expect, see weekly mansion hidden fees in Japan.
Photo: Kanchi1979 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Weekly mansion vs hotel vs Airbnb
The same operator's FAQ compares itself with a business hotel. A hotel can be booked same-day if there's a room, and from one night. A monthly or weekly unit gives you a kitchen and free coming and going without handing your key to a front desk.
| Weekly mansion | Hotel | Airbnb-style rental | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shortest stay | Operator's minimum (7 days at the operator above) | 1 night | Host's minimum |
| Same-day booking | No: the operator above needs at least 5 days from application | Yes, if there's a room | Depends on host |
| Kitchen | Yes, in the units seen | Rarely | Often |
| Fees beyond rent | Cleaning, utilities, sometimes tax | Room rate, plus any accommodation tax | Varies by host and platform |
| Contract | Lease or lodging contract with the operator | Hotel booking | Platform booking |
For a full comparison, see weekly mansion vs Airbnb in Japan. For a line-by-line monthly total, see monthly mansion cost in Japan.
When a weekly mansion fits
- You're staying 1 to 4 weeks and want to cook and do laundry
- You can book at least a few days ahead
- You'll stay long enough that one cleaning fee is a small share of the total
When it doesn't
- One to three nights: a hotel avoids the per-stay cleaning fee
- Close to 30 days: check whether a 30-day monthly contract is cheaper. See Kyoto one-month apartment rental
- You need a same-day key
Check the contract type
Weekly units aren't all the same legal product. On Monthly KYOTO, every listing checked showed 契約形態 定期借家 (contract type: fixed-term lease). Yet two weekly-capable units' notes said they operate as licensed 簡易宿所 (simple lodging) under the 旅館業法 (Inns and Hotels Act): one from 7 days, the other from one night through a separate booking page. The field and the notes point different ways. Ask which contract you'd sign, and who the contract holder must be. The operator above requires a contract holder who can read, write and speak Japanese for overseas applicants. Unknown for other operators: ask.
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.
See how Pass works: a Japanese inquiry in your name asks for your exact dates priced on both sides of the 30-day line. Join the waitlist for updates, or write to hello@midstay.app.