NEWSONJAPAN

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% 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% 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.