Japan latest battleground in Airbnb home-sharing war

This photo taken on April 25, 2016 guidebooks on Japan and Tokyo subway maps being put at the entrance of an Airbnb host's house in central Tokyo. Airbnb hosts in Japan are learning the hard way that the home-sharing site's fastest-growing market is also becoming the next flashpoint in a global battle over the sharing economy. Calls for change have reached the highest levels of government, which is mulling a revision to the rules, as Japan's tourist numbers hit fresh records and Tokyo scrambles to build enough accommodation to host the 2020 Olympics. / AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / TO GO WITH AFP STORY JAPAN-US-ECONOMY-INTERNET-TOURISM-HOTELS-AIRBNB,FOCUS BY DANIEL LEUSSINK

TOKYO: Sarah Takeda thought she had a good little business renting a traditional tatami-mat room in her house on Airbnb. 

But she and other hosts in Japan are learning the hard way that the home-sharing site’s fastest-growing market is also becoming the next flashpoint in a global battle over the sharing economy. Hoteliers are up in arms, local residents complain that outsiders are invading their neighbourhoods, and Japanese officials say renting out private homes is illegal.