A master lease (サブリース, 'sublease' in Japanese usage) fixes an owner's income at a monthly rent: the operating company takes the loss in an empty month and the gain in a full one. Under management (運営代行) the property and the permit stay with the owner, the company does the running, and it is paid a share of revenue. The difference is not the rate. It is who carries an empty month, whose name the permit and the listing account are in, and what is left in the owner's hands on the day the contract ends.
We offer management only and do not take master leases. Even so, some owners are better served by one, and we say which below. Every figure is our own: three buildings and six rooms in Tokyo and Sapporo, measured in August 2026 over the twelve months from August 2025 to July 2026, method published at operating data.
What is the difference between a master lease and management, as contracts?
The counterparty is either a company that rents your property or a company that works for you. Under a master lease the company leases the property from you, runs the accommodation as its own business, and keeps the gap between revenue and rent. Under management you remain the business, and the company sets prices, fills the calendar, handles guests and books the cleaning on your behalf for a fee.
| Item | Master lease | Management |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly income | A fixed rent | Revenue less fee and costs |
| An empty month | Rent is paid (check the contract for a revision clause) | Zero income; under a performance fee, zero fee too |
| A strong month | The company's | Yours |
| Who runs the business | The leasing company; check whose name the permit is in | You, or your company |
| Listing account and reviews | The company's | Set by the contract; with us, yours |
| Monthly figures | Often not shown | Delivered every month |
| When the contract ends | An empty property comes back | Listings, reviews, permit and figures stay with you |
Who carries the loss in an empty month?
The operating company under a master lease, the owner under management. This is the real dividing line between the two contracts, and the difference in rate is the price of it.
Our six rooms averaged 83.6% occupancy, but single months ran from 76.3% (August 2025) to 90.3% (October 2025). Taken city by city the swing is wider: Sapporo from 68.3% (November 2025) to 94.0% (February 2026), Tokyo from 72.6% (August 2025) to 95.2% (October 2025). Held in one city, the best month is 1.3 to 1.4 times the worst (seasonality).
A master-lease rent is set with the bottom of that swing in view. The company puts the rent at a level it can still pay in the weakest month, so the owner is handing over the strong months in exchange for the flat line. Under management the swing is your income, and with a performance fee there is no fixed payment in an empty month. Our own fee starts at 20% of revenue and is zero in a month without bookings.
Whose name are the permit and the listing account in?
Under a master lease the leasing company runs the business, so the permit, the listing account and the reviews normally accumulate as the company's. Under management the permit stays with you or your company, and the name on the listing account depends on the contract.
This matters on the day the contract ends. When a master lease finishes, what comes back is the property. The reviews and the booking calendar stay on the company's side, and whether you run it yourself next or hire someone else, the listing starts from zero. The same thing happens under management if the listing sits in the manager's account, so if you go the management route, check the name first (switching management companies).
The permit name carries a second meaning. The permit holder is the party the health centre and the fire department deal with, and the one who owns the inspection calendar that follows the permit (fire inspections after opening). If you do not want to be that party, that is one honest reason to prefer a master lease.
How different is the share you keep?
Under management, about 52% of revenue on our own numbers. Under a master lease, whatever the offered rent comes to when divided by the company's own revenue projection.
The 52% is arithmetic on our figures. Our operating cost is 27.9% of revenue, cleaning at 17.5% being the largest line (operating costs, broken out). At a 20% fee, 100 minus 47.9 leaves about 52%. The 27.9% excludes water and platform commission, so the real figure sits a little lower. It is the record of our six rooms, not a level offered for a property we have not seen.
A master lease publishes no share. The rent is worked backwards from the company's revenue projection: projection, minus the company's costs, its margin and the price of carrying the empty months, equals the rent. Ask for the projection and the share falls out. If it is not forthcoming, you are signing without knowing what the rent was calculated from.
Which owners are better served by a master lease?
Owners who want their income to be one fixed number, and owners who do not want to be the business. If two or more of the following apply, the fixed rent is a fair insurance premium.
- You have loan repayments and cannot absorb the gap between a 68% month and a 94% month in the household budget.
- You do not want to be the permit holder dealing with the health centre and the fire department, or to own the inspection calendar.
- You live abroad and do not intend to read monthly figures (if you do, see owning a Japan rental from abroad).
- You plan to sell or move back in within a few years, so reviews and listings have no value to you as an asset.
- You would rather give up the freedom to change operators than chase the strong months.
Which owners are better served by management?
Owners who want the strong months for themselves, and owners who want something left on the property when the contract ends. In our six rooms the best month is 1.3 to 1.4 times the worst; under management that gap is yours, under a master lease it is the company's.
Under management, the listings, reviews, permit and monthly figures you build up are yours to carry into self-managing or into another company. If you want to know every month how pricing, cleaning and guest response are moving, management is the only route that shows you. With one property near home, though, self-managing usually beats management on the numbers (self-managing or hiring an operator).
Whichever offer it is, check the same seven things before signing
Before the money, check what is left on the day the contract ends. The fee models and the questions to put to a management company are in what management costs; when a master lease and a management offer sit side by side, these are the seven.
- Whose name is the permit in, and what happens to it when the contract ends.
- Whose name are the listing account and the reviews in, and can they be handed over at the end.
- Who owns the furniture, the fittings and the smart lock, and whether they leave with the company.
- Term, notice period, and the conditions for ending early.
- For a master lease, the rent-revision clause and its notice period. For management, whether any fixed fee applies in a month without bookings.
- Whether they will show you a real monthly report (reading the monthly P/L).
- Who takes the first call from a neighbour, and the first call from the health centre.
Where we stand, and when not to hire us
We offer management only; we do not take master leases. The permit stays in your name, the listing account and the reviews stay yours, the fee starts at 20% of revenue and is zero in a month without bookings. When the contract ends, the listings and the figures stay with you.
If you want your income to be one fixed number, we are the wrong choice. Our own months ran from 76.3% to 90.3% occupancy, and a property we manage will not lose that swing. We make sense only for an owner who takes the swing in order to own the strong months. Every figure in this article is our own record, not a level promised for a property we have not seen.
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