Boarding, Day-Care, and Pet-Related Services
Dog boarding in Japan covers overnight stays, daytime daycare, and home-visit sitting for residents who travel or work long hours.12 Prices and quality vary by facility, so this guide maps the options, typical rate bands, and booking checks before you hand over your pet.
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Ministry of the Environment and with each facility directly.
Overview
This guide is for resident dog and cat owners who need short-term care while traveling or working. It covers dedicated boarding and daycare facilities, in-clinic boarding at veterinary hospitals, sitting and home visits, resort hotels including Karuizawa, and related services such as trainers, dog cafes, grooming, and photography.12
Supply is densest in urban Tokyo and thinner elsewhere. In very rural areas the local vet clinic may be the only boarding option, so confirm availability locally rather than assuming Tokyo choice exists everywhere (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with each facility).1 The ペットホテル (petto hoteru, "pet hotel") is the standalone boarding business, the 動物病院 (dōbutsu byōin, "animal hospital") is the veterinary clinic that may offer attached boarding, and the ペットシッター (petto shittā, "pet sitter") visits your home or hosts your pet.12
Dedicated Boarding and Daycare Facilities
Dedicated facilities are standalone businesses whose primary service is pet boarding. A standard stay includes an individual kennel or room, scheduled feeding with your pet's own food, daily exercise or play time, and basic grooming on request (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with each facility).1
Staff are on site during business hours but not always overnight. Ask directly whether anyone stays overnight, since some budget facilities lock up until morning.1
Overnight Boarding
An overnight stay means your dog or cat sleeps at the facility with scheduled feeding and exercise. Standard dedicated boarding runs about 3,000–6,000 yen per night for dogs and 2,500–4,500 yen per night for cats, with Tokyo about 20–30 percent higher than other regions (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with each facility).1 A second resident-focused survey gives 2,000–5,000 yen per night across locations and sizes (as of 2026-08).2
Cat boarding is consistently cheaper than dog boarding, typically 500–1,500 yen less per night (as of 2026-03).1 A Tokyo cage-free home-boarding provider at a vet's house charges by weight from 7,000 yen per night up to 10 kg to 15,000 yen per night over 40 kg, plus seasonal and puppy or unneutered surcharges (as of 2026).3
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated boarding, dog, standard | 3,000–6,000 yen/night | 2026-031 | Tokyo 20–30 percent higher |
| Dedicated boarding, cat, standard | 2,500–4,500 yen/night | 2026-031 | Smaller space, less handling |
| Survey band, overnight | 2,000–5,000 yen/night | 2026-082 | Varies by size and service level |
| Cage-free vet-house, up to 10 kg | 7,000 yen/night | 20263 | Weight-tiered to 15,000 yen over 40 kg |
Overnight staffing is the sharpest quality split between facilities. Ask whether staff remain on site overnight and how many minutes of out-of-kennel time your pet gets each day.1
Daytime Daycare
Daytime daycare is care without the overnight stay, useful for workdays or trial visits before a longer booking. One resident-focused survey gives daycare at about 2,000–7,000 yen per session (as of 2026-08; confirm current figures with each facility).2
Larger Tokyo facilities combine daycare with grooming and training and offer indoor plus outdoor play areas, which suits dogs that need socialization and activity.4
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daycare per session | 2,000–7,000 yen | 2026-082 | Facility and size dependent |
In-Clinic Boarding at Veterinary Hospitals
Many veterinary clinics in Japan offer boarding in a kennel area with veterinary staff available. This 動物病院併設 (dōbutsu byōin heisetsu, "attached to a veterinary hospital") pattern suits pets with medical conditions, elderly pets, and pets taking medication, since vet staff can administer it properly (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with the clinic).1
The price band is about 3,500–7,000 yen per night, a premium attributed to medical supervision and sometimes including a health check (as of 2026-03).1 The tradeoff is a clinical environment with less play time and smaller spaces than a resort.1 Grooming inside a clinical setting with veterinarian support also suits seniors or pets with sensitive skin.4
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vet-clinic boarding | 3,500–7,000 yen/night | 2026-031 | Medical supervision premium |
Pet Sitting and Home-Visit Services
Home-based sitting means a sitter visits your accommodation or hosts your pet in the sitter's home. It suits pets that do not handle kennels well and cats that prefer familiar surroundings (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with each sitter).1
Major platforms in Japan include HappyWanNyan, PetBacker, TrustedHousesitters, Sewakl, and Nyatching for cats.2 HappyWanNyan is bilingual and postcode-searchable across Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Tochigi, Kyoto, Osaka, Okinawa, Kanagawa, Hyogo, and Fukuoka, offering daycare, overnight homestay, walking, bathing, grooming, feeding, and house sitting.2 PetBacker lists over 100 sitters in Japan with boarding, daycare, walking, feeding, grooming, and pet-taxi services (as of 2026-08).25
Drop-in sitting runs about 3,000–5,000 yen per visit and overnight home boarding about 4,000–8,000 yen per night (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with each sitter).1 A second survey gives house sitting at 5,000–10,000 yen and dog walking at about 1,500 yen (as of 2026-08).2 TrustedHousesitters uses an annual membership of about 13,999–27,999 yen per year with care in exchange for accommodation, which suits longer trips (as of 2026-08).26
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drop-in sitting per visit | 3,000–5,000 yen | 2026-031 | Sitter dependent |
| Overnight home boarding | 4,000–8,000 yen/night | 2026-031 | Sitter dependent |
| House sitting, survey band | 5,000–10,000 yen | 2026-082 | Varies by duties |
| Dog walking | about 1,500 yen | 2026-082 | Per walk pattern |
| TrustedHousesitters membership | 13,999–27,999 yen/year | 2026-0826 | Annual, not per night |
Sitter supply concentrates in Tokyo and Osaka, so matching outside major cities is thinner.12 A Tokyo vet-house sitter illustrates the home model with cage-free boarding, two walks per day, owner-instruction feeding, photo updates, and optional pickup, grooming, and veterinary add-ons.73 Quality signals are reviews plus a pre-booking video call or meet-and-greet, since secondary sources describe no centralized sitter licensing to rely on.12
Pet Hotels and Resort Stays
Luxury pet hotels offer private suites, webcam access, extended play sessions, premium food options, grooming and spa services, and daily photo updates.1 The luxury band is about 6,000–15,000+ yen per night for dogs and 5,000–10,000 yen per night for cats, with Minato, Shibuya, and Meguro area facilities charging the most (as of 2026-03; confirm current figures with each facility).1 A second survey gives 8,000–20,000+ yen per night at the top end (as of 2026-08).2
Pet-friendly human hotels are a separate pattern. They add a pet surcharge of about 1,000–5,000 yen to the room rate and usually mean small pets only with advance booking and carrier rules in common areas (as of 2026-03).1
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luxury boarding, dog | 6,000–15,000+ yen/night | 2026-031 | Highest in central Tokyo |
| Luxury boarding, cat | 5,000–10,000 yen/night | 2026-031 | Suite and webcam tier |
| Luxury survey band | 8,000–20,000+ yen/night | 2026-082 | Premium facilities |
| Human-hotel pet surcharge | 1,000–5,000 yen | 2026-031 | Added to room rate |
Karuizawa and Vacation-Destination Resorts
Karuizawa in Nagano is documented as a pet-welcoming highland resort town with dog-friendly shops, restaurants, hotels, and outdoor activity.8 About 30–40 percent of local accommodation welcomes pets on one publisher estimate (as of 2026-02).8
A Karuizawa resort hotel documents a dog-friendly cottage with private dog run for up to three dogs per room at 3,000 yen per animal, an on-site dog hotel at 3,300–5,500 yen by cage or room size, and a dog run free for guests (as of 2026-04; confirm current figures with the hotel).9 Trip guides describe Karuizawa pet fees of 2,000–5,000 yen per night as a typical add-on (as of 2026-02).8
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottage dog fee per animal | 3,000 yen | 2026-049 | Up to three dogs per room |
| On-site dog hotel S/M/L | 3,300 / 4,400 / 5,500 yen | 2026-049 | By cage or room size |
| Trip pet-fee band | 2,000–5,000 yen/night | 2026-028 | Single-publisher estimate |
Related Services Around Boarding
Boarding facilities often bundle grooming, training, walking, and pet-taxi services, so a boarder can book several needs in one place.210 Directory listings pair daycare, boarding, sitting, walking, and training together.10
Dog Trainers
Tokyo-area facilities bundle boarding with training and daycare for dogs that need structure alongside care.2 Training is also a registrable handling type under the animal-handling statute, which is why established schools display a registration number.11
Dog Cafes
The 犬カフェ (inu kafe, "dog cafe") is a time-based social venue with resident dogs, not care boarding.12 Animal-cafe culture began with a cat cafe in Osaka in 2004, with dedicated dog cafes from around 2008 and 200-plus locations nationally on one publisher count.12
Tokyo dog-cafe sessions run about 1,000–3,000 yen, usually including one drink (as of 2026-04; confirm current figures with each venue).13 They suit apartment residents who cannot keep a pet and travelers missing their own dog, not owners seeking overnight care.
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dog-cafe session | about 1,000–3,000 yen | 2026-0413 | Usually includes one drink |
Grooming Salons and Pet Photography Studios
Grooming salons, called トリミング (torimingu, "trimming") shops, are widespread. Tokyo small-dog shampoo courses start around 4,400–5,500 yen with full cuts from about 7,000 yen, rising with size and styling (as of 2026-05; confirm current figures with each salon).4 Boutique styling with photo shoots runs higher in documented examples (as of 2026-05).4
Boarding facilities commonly offer grooming add-ons such as nail trimming, ear cleaning, and shampooing for extra fees.3 Post-grooming photo shoots are a documented salon feature for owners who want a keepsake from the cut.4
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small-dog shampoo course | from 4,400–5,500 yen | 2026-054 | Salon dependent |
| Small-dog full cut | from about 7,040 yen | 2026-054 | Size and style dependent |
Choosing and Booking a Facility
Facilities generally expect a vaccination certificate, your pet's regular food, labeled medication, comfort items, and an emergency contact.1 Almost all require proof of rabies vaccination plus core vaccines, distemper and parvovirus for dogs and FVRCP for cats.1
Settle these questions before confirming: overnight staffing, daily exercise minutes, food policy, emergency vet partnership and who pays, facility tour, cancellation terms, and webcam or photo updates.1 Standard cancellation runs free 2–3 days before, 50 percent one day before, and 100 percent same-day on one publisher pattern, so confirm per facility (as of 2026-03).1
The booking flow looks like this:
Golden Week, Obon, and New Year fill boarding first. Aim for 4–6 weeks ahead for Golden Week and Obon and 6–8 weeks for New Year, and join a waitlist if your first choice is full.1
Commercial handlers operate under 第一種動物取扱業 (dai-isshu dōbutsu toriatsukai-gyō, "Type I Animal Handling Business") registration with the prefectural governor, with name and registration number posted at each site.1114 A Tokyo boarding provider displays registration 23東京都保第007766号.73 The Ministry of the Environment publishes the regulatory page for Type I handlers.14
Good to know
Quality Varies by Facility So Visit Before a Long Stay
Quality varies enormously across pet hotels, so treat word-of-mouth plus a tour as the selection method. Reputable facilities welcome tours and answer overnight-staffing and exercise questions clearly.1 If a facility refuses a tour or answers vaguely about overnight staffing, look elsewhere.
Red flags include refusal of a facility tour, vague overnight-staffing answers, no vaccination requirement, below-market pricing, and apparent overcrowding in peak season.1 A hotel that does not ask for vaccination records is cutting corners on health safety for all boarded animals.
Peak Travel Weeks Fill Boarding First
Golden Week (April 29–May 5), Obon (August 13–16), New Year (December 28–January 3), and three-day weekends are the tightest booking periods.1 Book 4–6 weeks ahead for Golden Week and Obon and 6–8 weeks for New Year, since New Year is the tightest of all.1 If your first choice is full, ask for a waitlist spot because cancellations cluster 1–2 weeks before peak periods.1
Vaccination Proof Is the Usual Gate
Bring the vaccination certificate as the original or a clear copy. International records may need a brief explanation, so keep the schedule simple and legible.1 Confirm emergency-treatment payment responsibility in writing and bring food plus two extra days with labeled medication to avoid surcharges or diet disruption.1
See also
- Finding a Vet in Japan
- Dog Registration and the Annual Rabies-Vaccination Cycle
- Pet Ownership Cost Realities
- The Pet-Friendly Housing Reality
- Importing a Pet to Japan