Japan is cracking down hard on AirBnB. It just passed a new law to address minpaku (home shares) and 80% of Japan’s listed AirBnB’s have disappeared. As of next week, Japanese hosts have to register for permission to share their home with the federal government under the hotel and ryokan laws that promote fire and emergency safety. Hosts also won’t be able to rent out their homes for more than 180 days a year.

Japan now joins a growing trend from big cities limiting AirBnB as Parisian courts are also about to rule on the legality of more than 40,000 listings later this month.

I think this is a wonderful idea – and I hope it catches on here in the states. The sharing economy is a race to the bottom for workers and AirBnB contributes to already difficult and tight housing situations in major cities.