Japan has more hotels but fewer barbershops

On October 21, 2025, the Ministry^*1 of Health, Labour and Welfare, the part of Japan's government that works on health, published a report. The report counts places across Japan at the end of March 2025 and compares the numbers with a year before. It looks at hotels and inns^*2, public baths^*3, barbershops^*4, beauty salons^*5, laundry shops^*6, and theaters^*7.

The biggest change was in places to stay. At the end of March 2025, Japan had 98,338 hotels and inns. That was 4,863 more than a year before, or 5.2% more.

The number of public baths was almost the same as the year before. There were 23,668 public baths, only 5 fewer than in the year before. But there was a big change inside that number. Japan had 2,730 general public baths, which was 117 fewer than a year before, or 4.1% fewer. Other kinds of public baths rose to 20,938. That was 112 more, or 0.5% more.

Barbershops went down, but beauty salons went up. There were 107,995 barbershops, which was 2,302 fewer than a year before, or 2.1% fewer. There were 277,752 beauty salons, which was 3,682 more, or 1.3% more.

Laundry shops also went down. Japan had 69,855 laundry shops at the end of March 2025. That was 3,081 fewer than a year before, or 4.2% fewer.

1. *1 Ministry: a big office of the government that works on one area, like health
2. *2 inns: small hotels, often old and simple, where people pay to sleep
3. *3 public baths: places where many people pay to wash and sit in hot water together
4. *4 barbershops: shops where people, mostly men, pay to have their hair cut
5. *5 beauty salons: shops where people pay to have their hair cut, colored, or styled
6. *6 laundry shops: shops that wash and clean clothes for people
7. *7 theaters: buildings where people watch movies or shows