By Teppei Kasai TOKYO (Reuters) - Rakuten Inc, Japan's largest e-commerce company, has been actively considering launching a service like website Airbnb that would provide a hub to rent apartments and homes in Japan to short-term guests, two people with knowledge of the developing plans told Reuters.
Rakuten has commissioned a detailed study in Japan of whether it could launch a short-term rental service that would be easier to use than Airbnb, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the project was confidential.
If Rakuten decides to go ahead with the service, it could do so early next year, the people said. They did not have further details and a Rakuten spokesperson had no immediate comment.
An online home rental marketplace would help Rakuten profit from a surge in the number of people visiting Japan, attracted by a weaker yen and an aggressive promotional campaign by the tourism authority.
It would also represent a bet by Rakuten's billionaire founder and Chief Executive Hiroshi Mikitani that the government will soon ease laws that have stymied the spread into Japan of a global phenomenon that has turned San Francisco-based, privately owned Airbnb into a company with a $10 billion market capitalisation, equivalent to about 60 percent of the market value of Rakuten.
Rakuten already has a hotel and flight booking business, Rakuten Travel. It also operates an online marketplace, Rakuten Ichiba, and owns assets ranging from a Japanese professional baseball team to the e-book reader, Kobo.
Around 13 percent of residential properties in Japan remain vacant, government data shows, providing a potential pool of accommodation that can be rented out for short-term use.
OPERATING IN A GRAY ZONE
In Japan, short-term home and apartment rental services like Airbnb operate in a nascent market where regulations are in flux and enforcement of existing laws is spotty.
The lodging industry is protected by a welter of regulations that date back to the period just after World War Two. Laws governing hotels set strict limits on rooms offered for paid accomodation and requires operators to get permission from local regulators before renting rooms.
As part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic growth strategy, the government has designated special zones, including areas of Tokyo and Osaka, where a range of regulations are set to be eased, including laws related to short-term lodging.
Supporting legislation is scheduled to be introduced to parliament in a special session later this year.
"Regulators just aren't enforcing the law in every single case because it's a new business model, and the law may be outdated," said Hirohito Kaneko, a Tokyo lawyer who specializes in business law.
Yahoo Japan, the country's biggest Internet portal which is partly owned by telecoms giant SoftBank, stopped offering short-term rentals after local officials in Nagano prefecture raised legal concerns.
In May, a British national was also arrested in Tokyo for renting a private apartment to short-term visitors without getting permission from local authorities, police say.
So far, Airbnb, which has almost 3,600 listings, is the only short-term rental online service operating in Japan. Internet company Hyakusenrenma is planning to set up its own short-term rental website, called Tomareru, later this year in partnership with real estate agency Able Inc [ACPRTB.UL].
(Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Miral Fahmy)