Guide · Arriving

Visit Japan Web and arriving in Japan, step by step

Updated 24 October 2026
17 sources cited
By the JapanBenri team

Visit Japan Web is the government’s free website for your arrival paperwork. Fill it in before you fly and you get one QR code for both immigration and customs. Show it at the immigration counter, then scan it with your passport at a customs terminal; at seven airports you then walk through an e-Gate. Customs recommends it rather than requiring it, it is not a visa, and you still give fingerprints and a face photo at immigration. From 1 November 2026 it can also replace the tax-refund kiosk when you leave, at seven airports.

Sources: Digital Agency, Japan Customs, Japan Tourism Agency and the Immigration Services Agency, listed at the end · checked 24 October 2026

What it does, and what it doesn’t

Visit Japan Web does	It does not
Hold your foreigner entry record (the old disembarkation card) and your customs declaration in one QR code, since 25 January 2024	Replace your passport, a visa, or the fingerprints and face photo that foreign visitors give at immigration
Let you use the customs e-Gates at New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha	Guarantee you skip a customs inspection: bags may still be checked
Show a tax-free QR code in shops that accept it, instead of handing over your passport details	Replace carrying your passport: the Digital Agency says you must still have it
From 1 November 2026, the customs step for tax refunds at departure from seven airports, on dedicated Wi-Fi	Pay your refund: the shop or its refund provider does that after customs confirms the export
Work as a website (vjw.digital.go.jp) in Safari or Chrome	Come as an app, or cost anything. The Digital Agency has warned about fake apps and sites that charge fees

Need a visa? Visit Japan Web links to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ visa pages; check there before you book.

Before you fly: four steps

Create an account at vjw.digital.go.jp with an email address. In principle each traveller has their own account, but family members going through immigration at the same time can be added to one account (up to 10).
Register yourself: scan your passport with the camera or type it in. You get a warning if it expires in less than six months. Passport details are also what the tax-free QR code uses.
Register your arrival: flight and where you are staying in Japan.
Fill in “Immigration clearance and Customs declaration” for that arrival. Your QR code appears on the procedure page. Stay logged in on your phone so it opens offline.

You can fill it in on a computer, but the QR code has to be shown on a phone or tablet. Screenshots are not accepted for the tax-free QR code.

Visit Japan Web does not cover health. Visitors pay the full cost of medical treatment in Japan, so sort out insurance before you fly: travel insurance for Japan.

At the airport, step by step

Immigration. Show your passport and the QR code at the immigration counter. Foreign nationals give fingerprints and a face photo unless exempt by law, and get a landing permission in the passport. Keep it: the tax-free QR code reads it.
Baggage claim. At Haneda, Fukuoka and Naha you can use the customs electronic declaration terminal while you wait for your bags.
Customs terminal. Hold your IC passport and the QR code over the scanner. It takes a face photo to match your passport, so remove masks and sunglasses. Every traveller, children included, does this one by one; a child under 100 cm can pass the gate with a parent.
e-Gate or desk. The terminal sends you to the e-Gate, where you walk through slowly (carts and wheelchairs fit), or to a customs desk, for example if you are over the allowances or have unaccompanied baggage. Photos are deleted once you pass.
No Visit Japan Web? Fill in the paper declaration (on the plane or at customs) and use the green channel if you have nothing to declare, the red one if you do.

Duty-free allowances

Item	Allowance per adult	Note
Alcohol	3 bottles	About 760 ml each
Cigarettes	200	Or 50 cigars, or 10 packs of heat-not-burn tobacco; 250 g in total across kinds
Perfume	2 ounces	About 56 ml
Everything else	¥200,000	Total overseas market value; single items under ¥10,000 don’t count, and no allowance applies to one item over ¥200,000

From Japan Customs’ passenger page, checked 24 October 2026. Personal clothes and toiletries are free of duty in reasonable quantities. Medicine has its own limits, and meat products can’t be brought in at all: what to pack for Japan.

Visit Japan Web and tax-free

From purchases on 1 November 2026, Japan’s tax-free shopping works as a refund. You pay the price including tax, then within 90 days of the purchase you show your passport, and have every item with you, at a customs tax-free terminal in the departure lobby before you check in any bags. Green means done; Red means a customs officer checks the goods. The refund comes from the shop or its refund provider afterwards.

At seven airports, Visit Japan Web can replace the kiosk. At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, connect to the customs Wi-Fi in the international departure lobby (SSID Customs_WiFi_For_TaxRefund, password jcustoms, as published by Japan Customs) before security, and do the step online. Japan Customs says you must have Visit Japan Web set up first; if it fails, use the kiosk.
In shops, Visit Japan Web’s tax-free QR code can stand in for your passport details where the shop accepts it. It is for foreign nationals with Temporary Visitor status, and needs your passport and its landing permission scanned in advance. Carry your passport anyway.
You don’t need it for the refund. The kiosk works with your passport alone.

How the refund works, worked examples and the airport steps: Japan’s tax-free changes from 1 November 2026 and the tax refund at the airport. Log receipts and see your 90-day deadlines in the tax refund wallet.

Your first hour in Japan

Data. Switch on the eSIM you installed at home, or use the airport Wi-Fi. Which plan: best eSIM for Japan.
An IC card for fares. Welcome Suica (no deposit, valid 28 days) is sold by machines at Narita Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2·3 stations and at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 (Tokyo Monorail) station. On an iPhone, Welcome Suica Mobile can be issued before you arrive only from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Vietnam (as of 6 March 2025); elsewhere, issue it after landing. See Suica, PASMO and ICOCA.
Some cash. Seven Bank ATMs (in 7-Eleven stores) take overseas cards, up to ¥100,000 per withdrawal; Welcome Suica tops up with cash only. Fees and the conversion choice: cash, ATMs and cards.
Into the city. Trains, buses and taxis from Narita, Haneda and Kansai, with fares: airport to city. Heavy bags or a late landing in Tokyo? A pre-booked driver meets you in arrivals.

Still planning? What to book before your trip, and when, and the trip planner puts Visit Japan Web, your eSIM and ticket release times on a dated list.

Quick answers

Is Visit Japan Web mandatory?

Not for customs: Japan Customs recommends it, but the paper declaration form can still be used, and it is handed out on the plane or ship and at customs. Visit Japan Web mainly saves time: one QR code for immigration and customs, and the customs e-Gates at seven airports.

Does Visit Japan Web cost anything?

No. The Digital Agency says it never asks users to pay a fee, and it has warned about sites that ask for an “application fee” and about fake apps such as “Visit Japan Web Info”. The real service is a website at vjw.digital.go.jp; there is no app.

Do I need a separate QR code for immigration and customs?

No. Since 25 January 2024, one QR code covers both immigration clearance (the foreigner entry record) and the customs declaration. Codes made before that date, or in the old customs app, no longer work.

Does Visit Japan Web work without internet?

The entry QR code does, if you logged in beforehand and stay logged in. Creating or editing anything, including family members’ details, needs a connection; the Digital Agency suggests the airport’s free Wi-Fi.

Can one person register the whole family?

Yes, for family members going through immigration at the same time: they can be added as accompanying family members (up to 10) in one account, which then shows a QR code for each. Otherwise each person needs their own account and email address.

Do I need Visit Japan Web for the tax refund from 1 November 2026?

No. The customs tax-free kiosk in the departure lobby works with your passport. At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha you can instead do the customs step in Visit Japan Web on the dedicated Wi-Fi before security, if you set it up beforehand.

Sources

Checked against these pages on 24 October 2026. Official pages take precedence over this summary.

General information, not legal advice. Entry rules can change; the Digital Agency, Japan Customs and the Immigration Services Agency are always right. JapanBenri is not affiliated with any government agency.