[Nyororin]

Japan has surprisingly lenient zoning laws. They`re more focused on the type of building to be built, and not as much on the use of the building after it has been constructed. There are tons of people who live above/behind/in a room inside a factory. As you have no interest in actually building a warehouse you shouldn`t have any trouble. There are pollution and noise laws, but if it`s a warehouse to begin with you should have no difficulties.

However, renting that type of space isn`t cheap. I think that is where you will have the biggest problem. Warehouses are large. There is a small warehouse up for rent within walking distance of my house - outside of a major city, not all that close to a train station, etc... And it`s still 400,000yen a month.

But if you can go beyond that and actually rent, there will be limits on what you can do and the number of people you can bring in, etc. If you`ll have people coming in - even if you won`t be profiting - I am fairly sure you`ll need permits.