Japan’s Family Room Problem, Solved

Rooming a family of five in Tokyo or Osaka is one of the hard parts of selling Japan. Standard city-hotel rooms are small, and connecting rooms are rare. That usually leaves two options: several separate rooms, often on different floors, or a private rental with no one on site. Apartment hotels sit between the two, and the category is growing. MIMARU, which focuses on families and groups, has opened two Osaka properties since 1 September.

Demand is there, and the mix is changing

Japan received a record 42,683,600 international visitors in 2025, up 15.8%, according to Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) figures reported by Travel Voice. US arrivals rose 21.4% to 3,306,800. This year the total has slipped. January to August arrivals were 27,626,300, down 2.7%, and August fell 9.6% to 3,098,900. The decline is mostly China, down 59.0% in August after Beijing issued a travel warning against Japan. Fourteen other source markets hit August records, and US arrivals rose 1.5% to 197,400.

For advisors, that means a bit more room in the big cities, with long-haul markets still growing. Long-haul guests also stay longer, and they’re more likely to travel as multigenerational groups.

What the product looks like

MIMARU is operated by Cosmos Hotel Management. It says it now has 29 properties and more than 1,500 rooms across Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. The two newest:

• MIMARU Osaka Shinsaibashi Central opened 1 September 2026, two minutes on foot from Shinsaibashi Station. It has 66 rooms of at least 40 square metres, and half of them sleep up to six. The company says it designed the rooms so guests can choose how much privacy they get, using circular openings, curtains and a variety of seating.
• MIMARU Osaka Namba Station Annex opened 1 October 2026, about five minutes on foot from Nankai Namba Station. MIMARU’s March release lists 68 rooms. Layouts run from 39-square-metre one-bedroom family apartments to 60-square-metre two-bedrooms. The top-floor Sky Garden Three-Bedroom Suite is 100 square metres, with a private terrace, two toilets, a bath and a separate shower room. It sleeps six adults plus two children aged six and under.

Every unit has a full kitchen, a dining table and a washer-dryer. That last point matters more than it sounds on a two-week Japan trip with children.

Why the category works

Japan’s private-lodging law, in force since 2018, caps registered home-sharing rentals at 180 nights a year. That has kept the supply of legal whole-home rentals in central city districts limited. Apartment hotels are licensed as hotels and have staff on site: someone at the front desk to handle a sick child, a lost rail pass or luggage forwarding. MIMARU says its staff come from 39 countries.

Guests are also staying longer. MIMARU’s internal data, reported by Serviced Apartment News, shows the average stay across its Osaka properties rose 5.3% between 2024 and 2025, to 3.09 nights. European guests increased 10.4%.

What these properties don’t offer is a full-service hotel experience: no spa, no club lounge and limited dining. For luxury families, the usual approach is a split stay. Use an apartment hotel for the long city stretch, then a ryokan or luxury resort for a few nights of full service.

For advisors

• Who to pitch: families of four to six, multigenerational groups and friends travelling together who would otherwise need three hotel rooms.
• How to package: an apartment hotel for four or five nights in Osaka, Kyoto or Tokyo, combined with a ryokan stay and a top-tier hotel for the last nights.
• What to book: the Sky Garden suite at Namba Station Annex for groups of six. Book early for cherry-blossom season and autumn leaves.
• What to check: MIMARU did not publish rates in its pitch materials. Confirm trade terms, cancellation rules and whether rates include cleaning during longer stays.

Sources

• MIMARU / Cosmos Hotel Management pitch email (Mao Mochizuki), 7 Oct 2026
• GlobeNewswire, 30 Sept 2026; not fetched
• PR Newswire, 24 Mar 2026
• MIMARU Osaka Namba Station Annex
• Serviced Apartment News, 26 Aug 2026
• Travel Voice, JNTO August 2026
• Travel Voice, JNTO 2025