Kyoto lodging tax 2026: five tiers, up to 10,000 yen per person per night
by RuinMyTrip Editorial · Aug 26, 2026
From 1 March 2026 Kyoto charges a five-tier lodging tax per person per night, from 200 yen under 6,000 yen rooms to 10,000 yen at 100,000 yen and above. The top band is the steepest in Japan.
Kyoto restructured its lodging tax on 1 March 2026. It is charged per person, per night, not per room, and the top band is the steepest lodging tax in Japan. A couple in a 120,000 yen room is 20,000 yen of tax for that night, on top of the room.
The five tiers, from 1 March 2026
| Room rate band | Tax per person per night |
|---|---|
| Under 6,000 yen | 200 yen |
| 6,000 to 19,999 yen | 400 yen |
| 20,000 to 49,999 yen | 1,000 yen |
| 50,000 to 99,999 yen | 4,000 yen |
| 100,000 yen and above | 10,000 yen |
Golden Week 2026 already showed what the top of the market looks like: Kyoto had the highest average hotel rate among six major Japanese cities at 48,900 yen. That is the 1,000 yen band for most rooms, 4,000 yen once you cross 50,000.
The rest of the 2026 squeeze
Kyoto drew 10.88 million foreign visitors in 2024. The 700 yen bus-only day pass is gone. The city-bus central-zone flat fare is 230 yen; the sightseeing limited express buses (EX100/EX101) are 500 yen adult. A Subway and Bus 1-Day Pass is 1,100 yen. Resident-priority bus pricing (about 200 yen for residents versus 350-400 yen for visitors) is announced for fiscal 2027, not in force yet.
The sites themselves are still cheap: Kinkaku-ji and Kiyomizu-dera are 500 yen for adults, Fushimi Inari is free and always open. Gion is the opposite of cheap if you ignore the signs: private alleys off Hanamikoji Street carry a 10,000 yen trespass fine.
Full planning notes are on the Kyoto destination page and the Kyoto 2026 trip planner. City-by-city comparison: 2026 tourist taxes.
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