Japan arrival checklist

Step 1

Carry the valid passport you will use for the trip. Japan's Immigration Services Agency states that a foreign national needs a valid passport and landing permission.

Travelling on a British, French or German passport? See entering Japan on a UK, French or German passport for stay length, extensions and the departure tax.

Visa exemption and application routes depend on conditions such as nationality, passport type, residence, purpose and length of stay. Verify:

Japan has no electronic travel authorisation to apply for yet; see JESTA: what is confirmed in entering Japan on a UK, French or German passport.

• passport nationality and validity;
• whether that specific passport qualifies for an exemption;
• the permitted purpose and length of stay;
• whether you need a standard visa or eVISA prior to departure; and
• Instructions from the responsible embassy or consulate.

Step 2

Visit Japan Web is optional and free. It covers both the immigration and Customs entries, with one QR code for both since 25 January 2024, but it doesn't replace your passport or visa.

All passengers entering Japan must submit a Customs declaration for their accompanied and unaccompanied articles. Japan Customs recommends submitting the declaration electronically through Visit Japan Web. The paper Declaration of Accompanied Articles and Unaccompanied Articles remains an official route, with forms available on the plane, ship or at Customs.

Read the Japan Customs passenger-clearance guide before packing. It separates the normal passenger declaration from declarations triggered by particular belongings:

• Unaccompanied baggage: submit two written declaration form copies at the time of entry. Customs returns one copy with its seal.
• Cash and payment methods: if the total is more than JPY 1,000,000 or its equivalent, submit a separate declaration.
• Gold bullion or gold products: answer "Yes" regardless of quantity, weight, value or whether the item is new. Gold bullion with 90% or more purity and weighing over 1 kg also requires an additional declaration of means of payment.

Visit Japan Web is free, and the Customs arrival declaration procedure charges no fee. Japan Customs distinguishes fake impersonation sites from private services that may charge for assistance. A fee request alone does not prove that every paid private service is fake. A fee request or a lookalike domain is a stop signal: pause, leave the page and reopen the official route from the Digital Agency or Japan Customs. Read the Japan Customs warning before entering personal information. Duties and taxes on carried goods are separate from any service fee.

For a fuller explanation of the official start point, read Is Visit Japan Web free?.

Step 3

For quantity limits, permits and banned medicines, see bringing medication into Japan: which route your medicine needs.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare applies different rules by medicine, ingredient, quantity and form. Some personal-use quantities do not need Import Confirmation, while other medicines or controlled substances need advance permission or cannot be imported.

For your own use, the Ministry requires no Import Confirmation (Yunyu Kakunin-sho) up to these amounts:

• Prescription medicines, and any medicine Japan classes as a poison or deadly poison: up to a 1-month supply.
• External-use medicines outside those three classes: up to 24 standard-size units of one item.
• Injectable medicine with its syringes: the Ministry's English guidance allows up to a 1-month supply, only as pre-filled syringes or self-injection kits. Its Japanese page has no separate line for injectables.
• Other medicines and quasi-drugs: up to a 2-month supply.

Above those amounts you have to apply for the Import Confirmation, receive it before you leave home and show it to the Customs officer. Regardless of those amounts, the Ministry says you cannot bring prohibited drugs and controlled drugs into Japan. Its rules for them:

• Stimulants (methamphetamine, amphetamine): import is prohibited.
• Narcotics (for example morphine or fentanyl) and stimulants' raw materials (for example lisdexamfetamine): prohibited unless they are prescribed for you, you carry them in yourself, and you hold permission from a Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare, received before you leave home. They cannot be posted or brought in by someone else.
• Prescription psychotropics (for example diazepam or triazolam): only if prescribed for you and carried by you; more than a 1-month supply, or any injectable form, needs an Import Confirmation in advance.
• Medicines the Ministry lists as needing its confirmation regardless of quantity: an individual cannot import them unless a doctor's prescription or instruction can be shown.

Step 4

Fruit, vegetables, plants, soil, meat and animal products can be prohibited or subject to certificates and inspection. Small quantity, gift packaging or duty-free purchase does not automatically remove the rule.

• Check the specific item and country of origin.
• Remove an item when the official guidance says it is prohibited.
• Obtain any required certificate before departure.
• Use the correct quarantine counter before Customs when required.

Before you pack

If columns are cut off, scroll sideways. Keyboard: focus the table, then use Left/Right Arrow keys.

Customs decides duty and inspection at the airport; the allowances above tell you whether you're likely to owe anything. For prescription medicine the limit without paperwork is one month (MHLW), even though Japan Customs' passenger page mentions 2 months for pharmaceutical products in general.

Worked example

Two adults from the UK, 12 nights. They carry 4 bottles of whisky between them, 1 carton (200) of cigarettes, a 30-day supply of a prescription blood-pressure medicine, 60 days of an over-the-counter antihistamine, a vacuum-packed salami as a gift, and ¥250,000 in cash plus £600.

If columns are cut off, scroll sideways. Keyboard: focus the table, then use Left/Right Arrow keys.

Result: One item (the salami) has to go. Everything else passes on a "nothing to declare" answer in Visit Japan Web. If one of them carried 5 bottles, the 2 extra bottles of whisky would be charged at the simplified rate of ¥800 per litre: about 1.52 litres, so roughly ¥1,216.

Key facts

If columns are cut off, scroll sideways. Keyboard: focus the table, then use Left/Right Arrow keys.

Step 5

Keep these handy offline or write them down:

• arrival airport and terminal
• scheduled arrival time;
• accommodation name, address and contact route;
• the last practical connection you have actually confirmed;
• a backup plan in case of delays; and
• how you will stay connected or get help.

A planned train is not a guarantee after a delayed flight. Use the transport guides for the exact route and keep the time-specific decision separate from this general checklist.

If connectivity is unresolved, compare pocket WiFi and eSIM by trip fit. The checklist does not rank a product or provider.

Arriving in the daytime with bags? See airport to your hotel: Narita, Haneda and Kansai for trains, buses and fixed-fare taxis from Narita, Haneda and Kansai.

Step 6

• passport and any required visa documents;
• arrival address and essential booking references;
• required medicines and permits;
• phone, charging cable and airline-permitted backup power;
• payment fallback;
• essential accessibility details and communication needs; and
• pack one night of essentials in your carry-on, in case checked luggage is delayed.

Do not place irreplaceable documents or necessary medicine in luggage you will check or send ahead.

Use the luggage delivery, storage, or transport guide to choose a method only after the route, bag and handoff conditions are known.

Charging from a UK or European plug? See Japan plugs and voltage for adapters, 100 V and which chargers work as they are.

Step 7

Follow the airport's current sequence. The official Customs overview describes quarantine, immigration, plant and animal quarantine where applicable, and Customs inspection.

Present the passport and official code or paper form requested for your route. Submit the passenger declaration and any required separate declaration accurately. When carrying a controlled or restricted item, use the responsible counter rather than assuming the green-channel route applies.

Final recheck

This is a practical editorial reminder, not a fixed government deadline. Reopen the official sources and check:

• passport, visa conditions and flight status;
• current Visit Japan Web announcements;
• medicines and any required permissions;
• carried food, plants, and animal products;
• your arrival terminal and confirmed first-night transport;
• accommodation contact details and late check-in; and
• weather or disruption affecting the first transfer.

A change to the traveller, trip, carried item or arrival route can reopen a check. This guide does not invent a universal official countdown.

Next step

1. Lay out what you plan to pack and check it against "Before you pack". Take out any meat product now.
2. For each medicine, note the active ingredient and how many days' supply you're carrying.
3. Register on Visit Japan Web, or note that you'll pick up the paper form on board.
4. Save your hotel address and the last train or bus from your arrival airport offline (see late arrival).

• Choose connectivity that fits your actual route
• Check whether the trip needs travel insurance
• Confirm the first airport-to-accommodation route