My Airbnb Experience in Japan

When airbnb first came to play in Japan, it wasn’t yet legit. I say this because while airbnbs existed, most weren’t legal. And if they somehow met the standards to be legal, most were looked down upon by Japanese natives.

It wasn’t unheard of for complexes to post signs expressing their hostility towards the concept of airbnb and airbnb guests. I’m thinking this hostility comes from two places:

1. Fear of strangers. While the average Japanese native is going to be more open to a Japanese guest from some other part of Japan, the average person might have some valid concerns of a guest(s) that is airbnb-ing. A question that might come to mind is if the guest is creepy in any way? Unlike the people they’ve come to see on a daily basis and maybe even know to an extent, this airbnb guest is a stranger with an uncertain background to him/her.
2. Fear of foreigners. Sure, not all foreigners are bad but if someone is going to have an issue with their own people, they’re going to have an even bigger problem with non-Japanese people staying in the same complex or neighborhood with them.

I believe airbnb has become more normalized and accepted in Japan now although I can’t really say since I’ve decided to never stay in an airbnb again.

You see, I had my first experience with airbnb not in America or some other Westernized country but here in Japan. Sounds all good and dandy, except it wasn’t. All of the places I had stayed at are no longer listed on airbnb. What does that mean?

It means that they no longer have a vacant space to rent out OR what’s more likely, one of the following reasons:

They couldn’t meet the standards of being an airbnb in Japan or weren’t willing to try to meet the standards.

I feel that the average airbnb host back then just wanted to make easy money. If they had the space and means to, why wouldn’t they want to open up their place to guests? Of course, there are some concerns around opening your home to a guest that’s a complete stranger so the average airbnb host would have to be a bit more open minded to an extent. Concerns are of course not limited to just the host, but to the guest(s) as well. Even if above average ratings and comments abound a listing, the reality is that you don’t know what you’re truly getting into until you’re at the airbnb.

Fortunately, all of the airbnbs I stayed at were decent enough, save for one specific airbnb. This airbnb looked normal on the surface, but was actually a very cringey place. If you haven’t read any horror stories of airbnb experiences, you should google them in order to learn of possible situations that can come about from staying at an airbnb. As I mentioned earlier, this place looked normal. As normal as it looked online, it wasn’t an airbnb I had wanted to stay at. Since our ideal airbnb had been booked, we were left with little options, with this option being the best one within the area. Although this listing was favorited as a back up, there were reasons why I didn’t want to stay at this place:

• The airbnb was not close to a JR station. (I wanted to be near a JR station so that we could easily get around.)
• I don’t think the listing had a lot of ratings/comments yet, which to me was a bit of a red flag. Not a biggie, but I figured there was a chance that these ratings/comments weren’t as accurate as they could be.
• The nightly rate was cheaper than the norm. As a rule, anything that sounds too good to be true is usually a red flag. Out of all the things listed, I think this was the biggest red flag of all. I wondered why the nightly rate was so much cheaper than other airbnbs within this city. Sure, I liked the idea of saving money but I’d rather pay more if it meant being “safer” as a whole. I put “safer” in quotes because safety is not just about an area; it’s also about the airbnb host. If guests can be creepy, hosts can be creepy, too. More on this in a moment. Since there weren’t really any other options, we ended up having to settle for this airbnb and I kind of told myself that the rate might have something to do with it being further away from transportation.

The average person that stays at an airbnb probably wants that local experience or certain conveniences that aren’t offered to you by traditional hotels. In an airbnb, you may get more space for your money, be able to cook, do laundry for free and so on. Unfortunately, even with regulations, an airbnb may not be well regulated. It depends on a host’s personal ethics. At two of the airbnbs I stayed at, I found hair on the mattress cover or blanket. That was cringey. While I know I’m not at a hotel, as a new guest, I expect my sheets to have at least been cleaned. It is quite gross to know that I am using the same sheets the previous guest had used.

Creepier than finding a hair strand or two from my airbnb’s bedding was the fact that this airbnb had hidden cameras. While I don’t have “proof” of this, I’m quite confident that the host (or someone affiliated with the host) was spying on us. First of all, there was a container placed in their kitchen. This container had a lock on it and had a small window on it. I found it strange. Was a hidden camera inside there? I think so. But I’ll never know for sure since I didn’t have access to unlock this container. The funny thing is that this container didn’t seem to have anything inside it which makes me think there was indeed a hidden camera placed inside there. (At the time, I didn’t realize how small and light cameras could be. These days, I know better, of course.)

I addressed this to my travel companion and she voiced how we could sue them if there was actually a hidden camera in there (or inside the airbnb in general). How would we sue them, though? Here’s the thing that some of you might need to know about Japan. You can’t really take action against someone once you’re outside of the country. This means that if we were to take action, at least one of us would need to remain in Japan to do so. And even then, there is no guarantee that something would come out of it since we didn’t have concrete proof that there was a hidden camera inside this creepy container.

Initially, I told myself that if there was indeed a hidden camera inside this container, it kind of made sense since your average airbnb host would be worried about their home and the type of guest(s) they might get. The issue with this is that there was no disclosure on there being a camera INSIDE the airbnb. I think it’s one thing for a camera to be on the outside of the airbnb and not be disclosed but even that can be a bit of a dilemma in itself.

So, if there was a hidden camera in there, it could easily have been facing the shower room where we’d undress to shower… Do you see the problem with this? This container was a red flag. It didn’t fit in with the environment. It was suspicious. And although I took a photo of it, I don’t intend on posting it here for safety reasons. (If this host/owner was a creepo, I don’t need him/her to receive validation that he/she got to watch me and my travel companion doing who knows what. I also don’t want to know what this creepo may have done with the footage. Was it live? Was it saved somewhere? Disgusting…)

Because I was wary of this container from the getgo, I decided to move the direction it was facing so that if there was a hidden camera, it hopefully wouldn’t have picked up much. Of course, if it’s a camera that had the capability to move under wireless command, I am clueless as to what it may have captured. Regardless, I think I did my best on the preventative side.

If you thought it ended there, think again. My first night there, I am about to fall asleep. It is a bit late in the night and I decide to do a bit of internet surfing on my phone before I finally go to sleep. The “funny” thing about this is that shortly after I had turned off the lights, I sensed a green light coming from somewhere in the room. I know it was late in the night and I was tired BUT I was not imagining this. I was alarmed by this. My travel companion was knocked out in the room adjacent to me and I didn’t want to create a commotion to wake her up despite how weirded out I was by it all. I would love to have been able to brush this off by saying that the light came from outside the window, but how would that even be possible in the first place when the window was completely covered up? This light had come from something inside the room. The best description of this light is some type of a green laser beam like light. It was creepy.

Fortunately, I never saw this light again but it made me wary of the place. At the time, I didn’t realize that creepos could and would put hidden cameras inside things like alarm clocks. There was an alarm clock inside the room I was staying in. I unfortunately didn’t think much of it since I’ve seen enough alarm clocks in my life. The reality is that in this day and age, most people have done away with alarm clocks with an exception to hotels. I don’t remember every single thing that was in this room, but I believe there were probably other things present in the room that could have possibly hid a camera in addition to that darn alarm clock. Creepy? Yes, very creepy.

I don’t know what happened that first night but I strongly feel that I was spied on in my room and that my travel companion, unbeknownst to her, was probably also spied on in her own room. Were there additional cameras hidden inside this airbnb? Probably. I learned after coming back to the states that creepos also like to hide cameras inside smoke detectors and other common everyday things you don’t pay much attention to. There was a smoke detector in this airbnb. There was some air conditioning or heater mount on the wall that basically faces the bathroom that could have easily hid a tiny camera inside. (Yes, the bathroom, again.)

If this creepo of a host/owner was going to install hidden cameras in order to get off of his/her guests somehow, how far would they go? I started to think that there could be a camera hidden inside the shower room AND excretion room. (Note: In Japan, if there’s enough space in the home or apartment, the bathrooms/shower room is separate from the toilet room.)

Talking about the shower room, I could see the silhouette of an assumed neighbor walking by as I was showering. That was creepy but not something I blame the airbnb host/owner for. I could “see” anyone that walked past the “frosted” window and couldn’t help but to wonder if they could “see” me, too. This seems to have been how the building was built, so I can’t blame the airbnb host/owner on this one.

All in all, this was a horrible experience for me. My travel companion liked this airbnb and even went so far as to say how she could get married and live in a home like this. I couldn’t help but to feel on edge about this place. I felt violated and was probably violated based on all of the weird things I saw while there. Like, what was that green light? Was it so that the creepy host/owner could see me better via some type of “night vision” they had turned on remotely after thinking I had fallen asleep? Ew. And why me? Were they doing this weird stuff to my travel companion, too? Or were they watching both of us simultaneously? Was it just the host/owner watching us? Who else was in on this party watching us? *shivers*

Can you imagine if a couple from the states was staying here and wanted to get intimate on Valentine’s Day or something? That might be what the host/owner was hoping to see.

Well, guess what? Guests aren’t supposed to be your entertainment, creepos. Like, even if I got to stay at your airbnb for free, this is not acceptable. Invading someone’s privacy is never ok, even if it’s your own home.

I write about this experience not to scare you from trying out airbnb or continuing with airbnb, but to warn you on the potential dark side of staying at an airbnb.

Please also note that this isn’t something that is limited to Japan. It’s any airbnb, in any country. Yes, there are stories of airbnbs in the states doing some messed up stuff, so be on your guard.

Because of this experience, I told myself that I’d never stay at an airbnb again. If I’m going to be recorded, I would like to at least be recorded by a legit company that has legit employees, along with a legit policy around the video recordings. (It’s one thing to be recorded in the lobby. It’s another thing to be recorded in the “privacy” of your room.) This is why I ended up telling myself that if I were to choose between an airbnb and a net cafe, I’d opt for the net cafe instead.

If you’ve stayed in an airbnb before, let me know what your experience was like.