Today, the registration deadline for Japan’s new rule on private lodging services like Airbnb comes into effect. I’m going to try to be as diplomatic as I can here: the implementation of this new legislation is a head-scratcher.

Two prominent requirements of the new law are: i) a restriction on the number of rental nights to 180 per year, and ii) a requirement that all hosts register with the land ministry. Each local municipality may levy additional restrictions. The restriction on the number of nights destroys the economics of short-term lodging services for many owners. The registration requirement, likely well-intentioned, has resulted in a bureaucratic logjam of applicants leading over the past two months since the law was announced.

Apparently Airbnb was forced to remove nearly 80% of its more 60,000 listings when the Japan Tourism Agency, which oversees accommodation platforms like Airbnb, announced earlier this month that private websites offering such lodging would have to de-list unlicensed properties.

The direct losers of this law are market leader Airbnb and the vast majority of Airbnb hosts in Japan. Indirectly, Japan’s image is also a loser. In fact, it’s difficult to see who really wins from this new law with one clear exception: local Airbnb copycats like the Hyakusenrenma who allegedly lobbied behind the scenes for this new restrictive legislation.

I’ve written before about how Airbnb’s hosts in Japan should be celebrated, not punished (see: Italy on the Pacific: How Airbnb can alter Japan’s trajectory).

With foreign tourists facing unexpected last-minute cancellations of their lodging for upcoming visits to Japan, this mishap undermines Japan’s otherwise admirable efforts to boost tourism as the country ramps up for the 2020 Olympic Games.