Japan’s accommodation sector faces widespread labour shortages
Japan’s tourism agency calls for better pay, more days off and flexible worker-sharing after a nationwide survey found widespread understaffing.
- A Japan Tourism Agency survey found that over 72% of accommodation facilities are experiencing staff shortages.
- The shortages are attributed to factors such as relatively low wages and fewer days off, which make recruitment difficult.
- In response, some businesses are improving conditions by closing on quiet days or sharing employees with other facilities during different peak seasons.
Japan’s accommodation industry is facing a broad labour shortage, with more than seven in 10 facilities reporting insufficient staffing, according to the Japan Tourism Agency’s 2026 tourism white paper released on Friday (July 10).
A nationwide survey conducted from December to January found that 72.2 per cent of the 522 accommodation facilities that responded were experiencing staff shortages.
With foreign visitor numbers increasing, the agency emphasised that operators needed to improve wages and working conditions to secure enough employees.
The white paper identified relatively low pay and fewer days off as factors contributing to recruitment difficulties.
It highlighted businesses that had improved profitability and employee conditions by closing on days when occupancy was generally low.
Some operators have also responded to seasonal staffing pressures by exchanging employees.
Workers from facilities in their quieter periods are temporarily assigned to properties experiencing peak demand, with the arrangement reversed when their respective busy seasons change.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
