I'm not sure that argument really holds up. AirBnB is very popular in Japan (hosting not renting), tons of listings, all of them are breaking the law. (most of them are lying about their listings as well with AirBnB's blessings)
Legal short-term apartment rentals in Japan are kind of broken due to one month plus minimum stay requirements. Airbnb fixes an actual problem here.
I use Uber pretty much exclusively these days, but in Japan it doesn't make sense: in central Tokyo, you can hail a cab in seconds on any major street, and outside it, the nearest train station will have a taxi rank. And if you go out far enough that you need to call a cab, then Uber's unlikely to serve the area either.
