I assume parking situation in Japan is much better than in Europe. Mostly it is prohibited to park on the streets of Japan but there are parking lots everywhere. Then, parking lots can be divided into 3 types. The first type is long term contracted one. The owner of the car pays monthly fee to the parking lot owner/company and he/she has to park at the designated spot. The second type is short term parking. The car owner pays according to the duration of the parking. It can be 15 minutes to several days. Then, he/she has to park at any vacant spot. The third type is a free parking. The car owner can park for free of charge if he/she is a customer/client/patient of a store/bank/agency/clinic. The store/bank/agency/clinic has a long term contract with the parking lot owner/company.
In Japan, if you want to buy a automobile, most of the municipalities require the certification of parking space to buy the automobile. If you are living in a house where is a place to park inside your property or an apartment where is a garage for the residents, it is easy to obtain the certificate. However if you live in an apartment which does not have a parking space, you have to rent a parking lot outside of your apartment. Also in Japan, even you own the flat, usually the garage is not your property but you have to pay monthly to use the garage.
Shopping centers and shopping malls are equipped with a huge parking lot but other small stores might not have their own parking lot. Therefore it is very normal that the shop rents several spaces at the parking lot for it customers. This applies to small diners and restaurants, barber shops, banks and clinics. Of course these parking lots are free for charge if you use these places.