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This page is general information from official sources. It is not legal advice. For your own case, ask the ward office where you will live, or the Kumamoto City or Fukuoka City consultation desk for foreign residents.
You have just arrived in Kumamoto or Fukuoka, and your apartment is not ready yet. You may need a place to sleep for a week, or for a few months. This guide compares business hotels and weekly or monthly apartments in Kumamoto City and Fukuoka City, and explains what each choice means for registering your address.
In short
- Register your address within 14 days of moving in. Kumamoto City and Fukuoka City both say you cannot file before you start living at the new address (section 2).
- Neither city’s page says whether a hotel or monthly apartment can be your registered address. Ask the ward office before you book a long stay (section 2).
- For stays of 7 to 29 nights, Tokyu Stay in Fukuoka sells a Weekly Plan. Monthly apartments start from 30 days at Leopalace21 (sections 4 and 5).
- Hotels in both cities add an accommodation tax of ¥200 or more per person per night (section 1).
Checked with official pages on September 28, 2026.
| Place | Type | Long stays |
|---|---|---|
| ONE STATION HOTEL Kumamoto | Hotel | Not stated |
| Daiwa Roynet Kumamoto | Hotel | Not stated |
| GR Hotel Suidocho Kumamoto | Hotel | 3+ night plans |
| Tokyu Stay Hakata Fukuoka | Hotel | Weekly Plan, 7–29 nights |
| Tokyu Stay Tenjin Fukuoka | Hotel | Weekly Plan, 7–29 nights |
| Access Tenjin Fukuoka | Weekly / monthly | Weekly and monthly rates |
| LiVEMAX Both cities | Monthly apartment | Daily rates |
| Leopalace21 Both cities | Monthly apartment | 30–365 days |
1. Hotel or monthly apartment: what is the difference?
Depends on the provider
A hotel is booked by the night. A weekly or monthly apartment is a furnished room rented for a fixed period. A monthly apartment is a contract, not a booking: LiVEMAX checks your application and sends a fixed-term lease agreement, and Leopalace21 asks you to pay for the whole period in advance.
Hotels in both cities charge an accommodation tax (宿泊税, shukuhakuzei) on top of the room rate:
- Kumamoto City: ¥200 per person per night, for check-ins from July 1, 2026. The city has no exemption for long stays or low room rates.
- Fukuoka City: ¥200 per person per night when the room rate is under ¥20,000, and ¥500 when it is ¥20,000 or more.
Check laundry and cooking before you choose. Some hotels below have a washer-dryer in the room or a coin laundry in the building, and monthly apartments come with furniture and appliances. Each section says what the official page lists.
2. Can I register my address at a hotel or monthly apartment?
Official rule (Japan)
If you have a residence card (在留カード, zairyu kado), you must report your place of residence (住居地, jukyochi) to the city office where you live. According to the Immigration Services Agency, a new arrival must report within 14 days of deciding on a place of residence, and anyone who moves must report within 14 days of moving in. The agency says failing to report without a good reason can be grounds for revoking your status of residence. When you file your moving-in notice at the city office with your residence card, this counts as the same report.
2.1 What Kumamoto City and Fukuoka City say
Kumamoto City / Fukuoka City
Both cities set the same limit: file your moving-in notice within 14 days of the day you start living at the new address. Both say you cannot file before you move in. Fukuoka City adds that people with a “Temporary Visitor” status, or a period of stay of 3 months or less, cannot register even if they want to.
Neither city’s page says whether a hotel, a weekly apartment or a monthly apartment can be your registered address. Before you book a long stay, ask the ward office which address you should report, and ask the hotel or apartment company whether its contract allows registration.
2.2 A typical order of steps
- Ask the ward office about your temporary address. Tell them where you are staying and for how long. In Kumamoto City, the SOUDAN-Plaza can also help in English.
- Book the hotel or apartment. For a monthly apartment, ask the company whether you may register the address before you sign.
- Move into your apartment. The 14 days start from the day you begin living there.
- File your moving-in notice with your residence card. The office writes the new address on your card. See Where to register your address (Kumamoto) or Registering your address in Fukuoka City.
3. Kumamoto City: hotels
3.1 ONE STATION HOTEL KUMAMOTO
Near Kumamoto Station
ONE STATION HOTEL KUMAMOTO is a 2-minute walk from JR Kumamoto Station (Shirakawa exit) and from the Kumamoto-ekimae tram stop. It was called The New Hotel Kumamoto until it was renamed and renovated on December 1, 2024.
Photo source: Press release on the grand opening of ONE STATION HOTEL KUMAMOTO by Delight Co., Ltd. (in Japanese, November 12, 2024)
A laundry room for hotel guests is on basement floor 1, open 24 hours, with three coin-operated washer-dryers. A full wash and dry costs ¥600 and takes 120 minutes. The machines take ¥100 coins only. The hotel has an English website and an English booking page. It does not state a long-stay plan or a kitchen in the room.
1-13-1 Kasuga, Nishi Ward, Kumamoto City · Google Maps · 096-326-1111 · Official website
3.2 Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kumamoto
Downtown (Hanabatacho)
Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kumamoto (ダイワロイネットホテル熊本) is about a 1-minute walk from the Hanabatacho tram stop, and about 5 minutes from Kumamoto Sakuramachi Bus Terminal, where airport buses stop. The hotel has a self-service coin laundry corner, and its English page suggests it for long stays.
During a stay of several nights, rooms are cleaned only if you put a magnet on your door by 10:00. Without a request, the hotel still cleans every third day. A long-stay rate and a kitchen are not stated. Reservations and questions go to the brand’s phone line.
10-22 Hanabatacho, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City · Google Maps · 0570-08-1050 · Official website (English)
3.3 GR Hotel Suidocho
Downtown (Torichosuji)
GR Hotel Suidocho (ジーアールホテル水道町) is a 2 to 3-minute walk from Tsuruya department store and the Torichosuji stop, where airport limousine buses stop. In an August 2025 post on its website, the hotel says it has lower-priced plans for stays of 3 nights or more and 5 nights or more. Check the current plans when you book.
The hotel lists laundry as a paid service. Rooms have a refrigerator and a kettle; a microwave or kitchen is not listed. The website is in Japanese, and its “English” link opens an English booking site.
2-22 Chuogai, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City · Google Maps · 096-211-2222 · Official website (Japanese)
4. Fukuoka City: hotels and a weekly apartment
4.1 Tokyu Stay Hakata
Near Hakata Station
Tokyu Stay Hakata (東急ステイ博多) is a 7-minute walk from Hakata Station on the subway (East Exit 5) and 8 minutes from JR Hakata Station (Chikushi exit). Rooms have a washer-dryer, and some rooms have a mini kitchen. The lobby was fully renovated and reopened on December 1, 2025, according to the operator.
Tokyu Stay sells a Weekly Plan at this hotel for stays of 7 to 29 nights. To find it, enter the number of nights when you search on the official booking page. For 32 nights or more, Tokyu Stay asks you to use an inquiry form. The website is in English.
1-11-11 Hakata-eki-minami, Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City · Google Maps · 092-431-1091 · Official website (English)
4.2 Tokyu Stay Fukuoka Tenjin
Near Tenjin
Tokyu Stay Fukuoka Tenjin (東急ステイ福岡天神) is a 3-minute walk from Tenjin-minami Station (Nanakuma Line, Exit 6) and 7 minutes from Tenjin Station (Airport Line, Exit 16). Like Tokyu Stay Hakata, it sells the Weekly Plan for 7 to 29 nights. Tokyu Stay says its rooms have a washer-dryer, and some have a mini kitchen with cooking tools.
3-21-24 Haruyoshi, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City · Google Maps · 092-762-0109 · Official website (English)
4.3 Weekly Monthly Access Tenjin
Near Tenjin (Watanabe-dori)
Access Tenjin (ウィークリーマンスリー アクセス天神) is a single building of weekly and monthly rooms, about 3 minutes from Watanabe-dori Station (Nanakuma Line). All rooms are singles of 17 m², with a bath, toilet and a mini kitchen. There is a laundry room.
The Japanese price page lists a monthly rate (31 days or more) from ¥4,900 a day and a weekly rate (7 days or more) from ¥6,400 a day, including ¥600 a day for utilities. Prices change by season. The operator also has an English page, but its prices differ from the Japanese page, so ask before you book. Stays of 11 days or more can be booked up to one year ahead. Registering your address there is not mentioned.
3-10-7 Watanabe-dori, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City · Google Maps · 092-781-0080 · Official website (English)
5. Monthly apartment companies in both cities
5.1 LiVEMAX
Kumamoto City and Fukuoka City
LiVEMAX (リブマックス) rents furnished weekly and monthly apartments and lists rooms in Kumamoto and Fukuoka on its English website. Prices are shown per day for each room. Its “Monthly Basic Pack” includes utilities, management fees, contract fees and bedding. Standard rooms have a bed, microwave and refrigerator; other items, such as a washer, depend on the room.
To book, you ask about a room by phone or form, then return an application with photo ID, pass a simple screening and sign a fixed-term lease agreement, usually online. You can pay by bank transfer, credit card, convenience store or cash at the office. The contract holder must be an adult. The booking line (0120-713-860) takes calls in English, Chinese and Korean. Whether you can register your address in a LiVEMAX room is not stated.
LiVEMAX Kumamoto (English) · LiVEMAX Fukuoka (English)
5.2 Leopalace21
Kumamoto City and Fukuoka City
Leopalace21 (レオパレス21) offers a monthly contract for 30 to 365 days, chosen by the day. Rooms come with furniture and appliances; the sample list includes a washing machine, but items vary by room. You pay for the whole period in advance. Stays of more than one year need a regular rental contract.
Leopalace21’s own example for 30 days in one room class comes to ¥200,970, including one-time fees such as a ¥16,500 key replacement fee. Prices vary by room class. The website is in English. A paper contract costs ¥1,650 extra. On its page for companies, Leopalace21 says its service center for tenants answers in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Portuguese, 24 hours a day. Whether you can register your address on a monthly contract is not stated on the English pages, so ask before you sign.
Monthly rooms in Kumamoto · Monthly rooms in Fukuoka · About the monthly contract
Common questions
Can I file my moving-in notice before my apartment is ready?
No. Kumamoto City and Fukuoka City both say you cannot file before you start living at the new address.
I am on a “Temporary Visitor” status. Can I register a hotel address?
Fukuoka City says people with “Temporary Visitor” status, or a period of stay of 3 months or less, cannot register as residents even if they want to. Kumamoto City lists the same groups as outside resident registration.
Do I pay the accommodation tax for every night of a long hotel stay?
In Kumamoto City, yes: the tax is ¥200 per person per night, and the city has no exemption based on the number of nights or the room rate.
Do monthly apartments charge for electricity and water?
LiVEMAX includes utilities in its Monthly Basic Pack. Leopalace21’s 30-day example shows ¥0 for utilities. Check the room page, as terms differ.
Next steps
Sources (checked September 2026)
- Immigration Services Agency: reporting your place of residence after arrival (in Japanese)
- Immigration Services Agency: when you decide or change the place of residence (PDF, English)
- Kumamoto City: moving-in notice (in Japanese)
- Kumamoto City: moving procedures for foreign residents (in Japanese)
- Fukuoka City: moving-in notice (in Japanese)
- Fukuoka City: notices for foreign residents (in Japanese)
- Kumamoto City: accommodation tax (in Japanese)
- Fukuoka City: accommodation tax (in Japanese)
- ONE STATION HOTEL KUMAMOTO: laundry room (in Japanese)
- Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kumamoto (English)
- GR Hotel Suidocho (in Japanese)
- Tokyu Stay: Weekly Plan (in Japanese)
- Access Tenjin: prices (in Japanese)
- LiVEMAX: FAQ (English)
- Leopalace21: monthly contract (English)
