How to get your Japan tax refund at the airport

Plan it for your flight: the free tax-free wallet & departure planner builds a timeline for your airport and terminal, with the customs step before bag drop, and lists every item you need to bring. It works offline.

Before you leave for the airport

• Pack so you can reach everything. All goods from each tax-free receipt must be with you at the kiosk. A checked bag cannot be taken back.
• Set up Visit Japan Web if you are leaving from Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose or Naha. Osaka Customs recommends the Wi-Fi method at Kansai because the kiosks may be busy.
• Check your deadlines. Each receipt must be confirmed within 90 days of its purchase date. The calculator lists them for you.
• Allow extra time. The Japan Tourism Agency says the kiosk takes “only a few seconds”, but a Red result means you have to show your goods to a customs officer. It asks travellers to arrive early. If you leave without finishing an inspection, it counts as not completed, and if you miss your flight because of the tax-free procedure, neither the airline nor Customs will compensate you.
• Put it in your calendar. The trip planner adds the kiosk step to your departure day, with a reminder to check your refunds afterwards.
• Used something up? If you ate, drank or used any of the items, don’t use the kiosk. Tell a customs officer at the counter instead.

Step by step at the airport

1. Arrive early and go to the departure lobby before check-in. Bring your passport and every tax-free item, including the ones packed in the suitcase you are about to check in. Kiosks and customs inspection areas are in the international departure lobby, before baggage check-in.
2. Scan your passport at a tax refund kiosk, or use Visit Japan Web. At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha you can instead connect to the dedicated tax-refund Wi-Fi in the departure lobby (before security) and complete the procedure in Visit Japan Web. Set Visit Japan Web up beforehand.
3. Read the result. Green means customs confirmation is complete. Red means you take your tax-free goods to the customs inspection area to be checked.
4. Check in your bags and go through security. Only after a Green result, or after the inspection is finished.
5. Receive the refund. The shop or its refund provider pays the tax back using the method you registered when you bought the goods (card, bank, app or cash). At some airports, self-service machines can pay eligible refunds in cash. See the airport notes below.

Airport notes

Customs publishes a kiosk-location search for every airport and seaport on its procedure page. Below is what the official and operator sources say so far.

The cash-machine details come from the 21 October 2026 announcement by Japan Airport Terminal and GLORY. Opening hours “may change due to flight schedules”. Whether your shop’s refund can be collected at these machines depends on how that shop handles refunds, so ask when you buy.

Special cases

• Domestic flight, then an international one: do the procedure at the airport where you actually leave Japan.
• Cruise starting and ending outside Japan: use the electronic terminal at the last Japanese port, before checking baggage.
• Fly & cruise (a cruise that starts and ends in Japan, then you fly home): do everything at the airport you fly out from. You don’t need to do it at overseas stops during the cruise.
• Items of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax: customs may ask for certificates of authenticity or warranties, so have them ready.
• Goods bought up to 31 October 2026: these follow the old system, where tax was already taken off at the till. Show your passport at customs when you leave, and keep the sealed consumables unopened.

Quick answers

Can I do the tax refund after security?

No. Customs confirmation, by kiosk or Visit Japan Web, happens in the departure lobby before baggage check-in and before security. At Haneda, Narita and Naha some cash-refund machines are after immigration, but the eligibility check still has to happen first.

Can I put tax-free items in my checked luggage?

Yes, but only after the kiosk shows Green (or the inspection is finished). Do the procedure with the bag still in your hands.

What happens if I miss it?

Without customs confirmation the shop cannot refund the tax. If you leave with goods that passed confirmation but don’t actually export them, the tax is collected and penalties can apply.

Not sure which of your receipts qualify? Check them in the tax refund calculator, and read what changed in November 2026.

Sources

Checked against these pages on 23 October 2026. Official pages take precedence over this summary.

1. Japan Customs: Tax Exemption (Refund) Program for Foreign Visitors
2. Japan Customs: Customs Procedure Details (Tax Exemption (Refund) Program), including the kiosk-location search
3. Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT): Special page for travellers: the Refund Method
4. Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT): Frequently Asked Questions for Travelers (Refund Method)
5. Osaka Customs: Guide to Tax Exemption (Refund) Procedure at Kansai International Airport (PDF)
6. Japan Airport Terminal Co. & GLORY Ltd.: Self Tax Refund Service to launch on 1 Nov 2026 (press release, 21 Oct 2026, PDF)
   Company announcement (airport terminal operator), not a government source.
7. National Tax Agency: Tax-Free Shopping System will be shifted to the Refund Method (PDF, Apr 2025)

General information, not tax advice. JapanBenri is not affiliated with Japan Customs, any airport, or any refund provider.