Methodology

Sources & methodology

Where every rule on JapanBenri comes from, when we last checked it, and exactly how the tools turn those rules into numbers and readings.

Tax-free rules last checked: 23 October 2026. We checked them against 10 pages from Japan Customs, the Japan Tourism Agency and the National Tax Agency. If an official page and our summary ever disagree, the official page is right.

How we check

We read the official page itself, not news coverage or other summaries. Each rule in the calculator is tied to the page it comes from (listed below).
The “last checked” date means something. It changes only after we have re-read the sources behind a page, not when we fix a typo.
Unsettled things are labelled. Refund fees, payout timing and the proposed food tax cut are not fixed by any official page, so the tools say “unknown” or “proposed” rather than guess.
Non-government sources are marked. A few details come from JNTO or an airport terminal operator. They are labelled below and in the guides.
Automated tests check the calculations, the 90-day deadlines and the furigana readings before every release.

Official sources behind the tax-free calculator

Source	What we use it for
Tax Exemption (Refund) Program for Foreign Visitors Japan Customs	¥5,000 minimum, excluded items, 90-day window, Green/Red result, Visit Japan Web airports
Special page for travellers: the Refund Method Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT)	Kiosk before check-in, per-receipt rule, consumed goods, domestic connections, cruises
Frequently Asked Questions for Travelers (Refund Method) Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT)	Quantity limits, refund channels, ¥1 million items, shipping, Japanese nationals abroad
Changes to Tax-Free Goods (PDF) Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT)	Abolition of categories, the ¥500,000 cap and special packaging
List of Eligible Tax-Free Goods Purchasers, Refund Method (PDF) Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT)	Under six months since entry; Japanese nationals abroad for 2+ years and their documents
Consumption tax exemption system (rules up to 31 Oct 2026) Japan Tourism Agency (MLIT)	Old rules: general vs consumable items, ¥5,000–¥500,000, packaging
Tax-Free Shopping System will be shifted to the Refund Method (PDF, Apr 2025) National Tax Agency	Start date by purchase date, 90-day counting example (1 Nov → 30 Jan), no overlap period
Q&A on the export goods sales site system, May 2023 (Japanese, PDF) National Tax Agency	Old rules: Q14 (packing general goods as consumables), Q15 (¥500,000 cap)
Consumption Tax: basic knowledge (tax rates) National Tax Agency	10% standard rate, 8% for food and non-alcoholic drinks
Special site on the temporary food tax-rate cut (Japanese) National Tax Agency	Proposed 1% food rate, 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2029, pending legislation

Sources cited in our guides

How the tax-free calculator works

Which rules apply depends only on each receipt’s purchase date: up to 31 October 2026 the old exemption rules, from 1 November 2026 the Refund Method. There is no overlap period.
Tax inside a price. Japanese shelf prices include tax. We take the before-tax price as the price × 100 / 110 for most goods and × 100 / 108 for food and non-alcoholic drinks, rounded down to the yen, and the tax as the difference. A shop’s own rounding can differ by ¥1.
The ¥5,000 minimum is tested on the before-tax total of one receipt (one store, one day). Under the old rules, general goods and consumables are tested separately and consumables are capped at ¥500,000 before tax; the calculator applies that cap as an estimate.
The 90-day deadline counts from the day after purchase, so goods bought on 1 November 2026 must be confirmed at customs by 30 January 2027, matching the National Tax Agency’s example.
Eligibility. A purchase must fall less than six months after your arrival date. Japanese nationals qualify only after living abroad for two years or more, with documents to prove it. People living in Japan are not eligible.
Refund fees start as “unknown” on every receipt and are never deducted until you enter what the shop or refund company told you.
Proposed food rate. For purchase dates from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2029 the calculator uses the proposed 1% food rate and flags it, because it is not yet law.
The departure planner uses minute values (arrival time, check-in cut-off, kiosk queue) that are planning assumptions you can change, not official figures. Airport facts appear only when a cited source states them.

How the furigana converter works

Your text is split into words by kuromoji, an open-source morphological analyser, with the IPADIC dictionary. Each word gets the reading for the whole word in context, which is why 生 comes out differently in 学生, 生ビール and 生まれる. Romaji follows modified Hepburn: particles は, へ and を are written wa, e and o, and long vowels get macrons unless you choose another style. Names, rare words and some number-and-counter combinations are the usual errors, so every reading can be corrected. The dictionary downloads once and everything runs in your browser.

How the trip planner works

Ticket release rules were checked on 23 October 2026 on each venue’s or operator’s own site. Japan has no daylight saving, so every release is a fixed Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) moment; your browser’s time-zone database converts it to your zone, including your own daylight-saving changes. Where a venue publishes no rule (teamLab) or only announces month by month (Pokémon Cafe), the planner says so and gives a reminder to check, never a guessed time. eSIM timing is labelled as our suggestion.

Source	What we use it for
Tickets Ghibli Museum, Mitaka	Tickets for a month go on sale at 10:00 JST on the 10th of the month before (Lawson Ticket); advance reservation only, nothing sold at the museum
Park Tickets: sales schedule Tokyo Disney Resort	Sold daily from 14:00 JST for the same date two months later; if that date does not exist, from 14:00 on the 1st of the next month
FAQ: When and where can I purchase park tickets? Tokyo Disney Resort	Online and app only; sales can pause without notice when the daily limit is reached
SHIBUYA SKY admission ticket revision (press release, 27 Feb 2025, Japanese PDF) Shibuya Scramble Square	Web tickets go on sale at 00:00 JST two weeks before the admission date
Reservations from 1 Nov 2026 (news, 18 Sep 2026, Japanese) Pokémon Cafe	November 2026 seats opened 1 Oct 2026 at 18:00 JST; December 2026 onwards to be announced; times may change without notice
Reservations from 1 Oct 2026 (news, 21 Aug 2026, Japanese) Pokémon Cafe	October 2026 seats opened 1 Sep 2026 at 18:00 JST
teamLab Planets TOKYO: FAQ teamLab	Tickets are not sold on site; no fixed release date is published
Grand Tournament Schedule Japan Sumo Association	Advance ticket sale dates for each tournament
Official Sumo tickets Ticket Oosumo (official ticket site)	Same sale dates; the January 2026 general sale opened at 10:00 JST
JR-EAST Train Reservation: when you can book (Japanese) JR East	Reserved seats go on sale one month before the travel date at 10:00 JST; if that date does not exist, from the 1st of the travel month
How to book a reserved seat Japan Rail Pass (JR Group)	Pass bought on the official site: reserve seats there; otherwise at station ticket machines or ticket offices
Visit Japan Web: how to use Digital Agency	Register before you travel: account, passport, arrival schedule, immigration and customs declaration; tax-free QR code
In which countries can a Suica be issued? JR East (Welcome Suica Mobile FAQ)	Issuing before entry only from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Vietnam (as of 6 Mar 2025); otherwise after you arrive
System requirements JR East (Welcome Suica Mobile FAQ)	iPhone XR/XS or later on iOS 17.2+, Apple Watch Series 3+; the card expires 180 days after issue
Use transit cards on your iPhone or Apple Watch in Japan Apple Support	Suica, PASMO and ICOCA in Apple Wallet; Express Mode
Add e-Money to Google Wallet (Japan only) Google Wallet Help	Suica in Google Wallet needs an Osaifu-Keitai compatible Android phone
International Tourist Tax: basic knowledge National Tax Agency	¥3,000 per departure, collected by airlines and cruise lines with the fare
How many days before do I need to send luggage to the airport? Yamato Transport	Ship so bags reach the airport counter the day before your flight (e.g. Tokyo → Haneda: two days before)
Is it possible to send luggage from one hotel to another? Yamato Transport	Both hotels must accept it; it should arrive at least one day before your stay

How the show-to-staff cards are made

The allergen cards follow the Consumer Affairs Agency list as of April 2026 (checked 23 October 2026): 9 mandatory allergens, including cashew nuts from 1 April 2026, and 20 recommended ones, including pistachio. Furigana and romaji are produced at build time with the same kuromoji analyser as the furigana converter, and every reading is compared in our tests against a reading written by hand, so the cards need no dictionary download and work offline.

Food allergy labelling (食物アレルギー表示に関する情報) (Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁))
アレルギー表示について (allergen list figure, April 2026, PDF) (Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁))
Notice of 1 April 2026: cashew nuts added as mandatory, pistachio added as recommended (PDF) (Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁))

Corrections and independence

JapanBenri is independent and is not affiliated with Japan Customs, the Japan Tourism Agency, the National Tax Agency, any venue or ticket seller, or any shop or refund company. If you spot an error or a rule change, see our contact page. We fix mistakes promptly and update the “last checked” date when the rules behind a page change. This site is general information, not tax advice.