Amid an influx of tourists from home and abroad in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, local governments are trying to persuade homeowners unwilling to put up with strangers to open their doors.

In August, the city of Tokushima in Shikoku, where the annual Awa Odori dance festival is held, hired Pasona Corp. to promote minpaku (private lodging) operations to local landlords. A supervisor from the recruiting services company appeared on local TV programs and used other methods to advertise the idea.

This year, 1.23 million people gathered to see the Awa Odori festival over four days. But there was only enough room to accommodate about 6,000 people at hotels, Japanese-style lodgings and other boarding facilities in the city.