Visit Japan Web Guide: Immigration, Customs and Tax-Free in One QR Code

Visit Japan Web is the Japanese government's website for arrival procedures. You enter your details before you fly, and at the airport you show a 2D (QR) code instead of filling in paper forms. Foreign visitors can use the same account for tax-free shopping and, at some airports, the tax refund on departure.

This guide follows the official pages from Japan's Digital Agency and Japan Customs.

The four steps

Before you travel, you need an email address to create an account. Then:

1. Register your user information, such as your passport details.
2. Register your entry plan (your arrival in Japan).
3. Fill in the procedure information. Click the plan you registered, then:

• Answer the quarantine health questions and check the guidance for your condition.
• Register your immigration clearance and customs declaration details.

1. Show the 2D code when you arrive. One code covers immigration and customs.

At the airport, the 2D code works at:

• the immigration counter,
• the electronic declaration terminal or the inspection table for customs.

After you finish at the electronic declaration terminal, you can use the electronic declaration gate (e-gate), which exists at seven international airports according to Japan Customs.

What you must declare at customs

All passengers entering Japan must declare their belongings, whether on paper or through Visit Japan Web. Customs then asks you to choose a channel:

• Green channel: you have nothing subject to duty or tax and nothing prohibited or restricted.
• Red channel: everyone else. Duties and taxes are paid at the bank inside the customs zone.

Duty-free allowance (per adult)

For "everything else", any single item worth under ¥10,000 is not counted. There is no allowance for an item (or set) worth more than ¥200,000. Goods and commercial samples are not treated as personal use and are taxed.

Above the allowance, Customs applies simplified rates, for example 15% on most other goods.

Other rules

• Cash: if you carry more than ¥1 million (or the equivalent) in cash or other payment means, you must declare it.
• Medicine and cosmetics: quantities are limited. Customs gives examples of a 2-month supply for medicines and 24 applications for cosmetics.
• Plants and animals must go through quarantine inspection before customs.
• Prohibited: narcotics, firearms and ammunition, counterfeit money and cards, and goods that infringe intellectual property rights, among others.

Using it for tax-free shopping

Visit Japan Web can create a Tax-Free 2D code for shops that support it.

• Eligible users are foreign nationals with Temporary Visitor (and a few other) status of residence.
• To create the code you must register your passport facial image and your landing permission seal details.
• Show the code at the register. Screenshots do not work.
• On departure, you can complete the online customs confirmation for tax-free goods from the same account.

New at some airports: a notice from the Digital Agency dated November 2, 2026 says that at New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha, you can complete the refund procedure online with Visit Japan Web instead of using the tax refund kiosk. Check Japan Customs' website for details before you fly.

The goods themselves have rules too. Japan Customs says you must export tax-free goods and not consume or transfer them in Japan. If you do not export them, you pay the consumption tax at customs. Transferring them before you leave can lead to a penalty of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to ¥500,000.

For the full tax-free rules and prices, see our guide to Japan's tax-free refund in 2026.

Before you fly: a checklist

• Create your account with an email address you can open on your phone
• Register your passport details and your entry plan
• Fill in the immigration and customs details, and save the 2D code
• Keep your phone charged for the airport, or have a paper form ready
• Check your medicine quantities and cash against the limits above
• Plan your way into town, for example with our guides to Haneda and Narita

Sources

• Digital Agency: Visit Japan Web (service page)
• Digital Agency: How to use
• Digital Agency: Announcement on the Tax Refund procedure (Nov 2, 2026)
• Digital Agency: Notice about fee-charging sites (Jun 5, 2025)
• Digital Agency: Notice about suspicious apps (Dec 14, 2023)
• Japan Customs: Procedures of Passenger Clearance