The government of Hokkaido, a northern island popular with tourists, will introduce a lodging tax of up to 500 yen ($3) per night from April 2026, joining a growing number of prefectures and municipalities around Japan using such revenues to improve infrastructure and transportation amid a tourism boom.
With around 20 local governments in Hokkaido, including the prefectural capital Sapporo, preparing to implement their own accommodation taxes, lodgers at hotels and inns will face double taxation.
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