Airbnb Tests Noise Sensors for Kyoto Hosts in One-Year Pilot

Airbnb is giving a group of Kyoto hosts free noise sensors for a year, as it tries to head off neighbour complaints in one of Japan's most crowded tourist cities.

Airbnb Japan announced the pilot on October 14 with Kyoto-based mui Lab, the authorized Japanese reseller of Minut, a Swedish-made IoT noise monitor. Selected hosts get a year of complimentary access to the devices. A sensor alerts the host when sound stays above roughly 75 decibels for five minutes or more. Short loud noises do not trigger it. The host can then contact the guest before a problem grows.

The device only measures decibel levels. It does not record or transmit anything else. Airbnb policy requires hosts to disclose sensors on the listing page, and they may only be placed in living rooms or entryways.

Over the year, Airbnb Japan and mui Lab will track how often noise events happen and how quickly hosts respond, to test whether early intervention stops escalation. Both companies plan to recruit more hosts in Kyoto and other regions and to share findings with local communities and stakeholders. Airbnb says this is the first structured pilot of its kind in Japan. It has partnered with Minut since 2022 and offers the device in 60 countries and regions, while Minut says its sensors are used in more than 100 countries and 3,000 cities.

Airbnb is also sending Good Guest Tips to every guest booking in Japan for the first time. They cover respecting the local community, waste sorting and following house rules. Neighbours with urgent concerns can reach Airbnb through a Japanese-language Neighborhood Support Line, and hosts can download a Guide to Responsible Hosting in Japan and a printable Good Guest Guide.

"What matters most to us at Airbnb is the trust of local communities," said Shintaro Nakagawa, Representative Director of Airbnb Japan K.K. Minut CEO Nils Mattisson called noise "one of the biggest sources of friction between short-term rentals and their neighbors."

For operators, the pilot is a signal of where host tooling is heading in markets with tight short-term rental rules. Airbnb has framed the sensors as a way to settle problems before they reach regulators, though the pilot is voluntary and limited to selected Kyoto hosts for now.