Faced with a shortage of hotels, Tokyo's Ota district has approved renting out rooms and private homes to accommodate a growing number of tourists.
Japan received 19.7 million tourists in 2015, a 47 per cent jump from 2014, and a new record for the country.
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To cope with the tourism boom, districts such as Ota and Osaka Prefecture recently approved an ordinance to allow private homes to be used as prepaid accommodation.