Abstract: In Japan, the 'farm stay' refers to the form of tourism in which travelers stay in traditional folk houses in rural areas, experience rural lifestyle and enjoy the pleasure of communication with local people. It aims to stimulate the development of rural areas through the flexible use of regional resources, which has become a popular avenue for rural economic development and industrial revitalization. After exploring the social background and development process of farm stay in Japan, this paper analysis the promotion policies in six aspects: legal system, mechanism construction, subsidies, brand building, advertisement, and talent-training. Then it concludes the achievements of farm stay in rural revitalization based on some successful cases. Compared with current situation in China, this paper suggests that for developing rural lodging and rural tourism in China, the legal system and mechanism construction need to be perfected, the financial support policies need to be improved and target market needs to be expanded. Especially, more attention should be paid to conserving folk houses and exploring traditional culture, so as to realize the standardized, characteristic, and in-depth integration of culture and tourism.