On September 18, 2026, Japan’s Immigration Services Agency announced that Narita Airport Terminals 1 and 2 began operating a joint self-service kiosk (kyodo kiosk) on September 24. Travelers can give the data needed for both immigration and customs at one machine. The QR code that machine reads has to be created first in Visit Japan Web. This guide explains how to fill in Visit Japan Web, the official Japanese online service, what to do if you have not filled it in, and where to show the QR code at the airport.
The short answer: Visit Japan Web is free and has no official app. Fill it in on a phone or computer before you leave, and show the QR code on a phone or tablet when you arrive. If you have not filled it in, paper versions of the arrival record and the customs declaration are available. Completing it is not a visa or permission to enter, and you still go through immigration inspection.
This guide answers:
- Who has to submit arrival and customs data, and does the passport you hold make a difference?
- When should you fill it in, and how do you answer the flight, accommodation and customs questions?
- Where do you show the QR code at the airport, and how does the joint kiosk differ from the customs e-gate?
- Can a family share one QR code, and what do you do after a mistake or a hotel change?
Key Points
- Who this is for: Travelers visiting Japan for tourism, family visits or property viewing, including holders of Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia passports, as well as overseas owners and long-term residents who travel to Japan often.
- What Visit Japan Web is: An online service run by Japan’s Digital Agency for immigration inspection and customs declaration. It is not a visa and does not replace your passport.
- What you must submit is the data, not the website: Foreign nationals newly entering Japan must submit a foreign national arrival record, and everyone entering must submit a customs declaration. Both have paper routes.
- One person, one code: Each family member fills in, creates and shows their own QR code. A family cannot share one.
- One QR code, two procedures: Since January 25, 2024, immigration inspection and customs declaration share the same QR code. Older QR codes no longer work.
- What to watch in 2026: Narita Terminals 1 and 2 have started operating the joint kiosk. Under National Tax Agency documents, duty-free shopping changes to a refund method from November 1, 2026. A proposed addition to the arrival record is still a draft.
Do You Need to Do It?
Foreign nationals newly entering Japan must submit a foreign national arrival record and a customs declaration, and both can be done through Visit Japan Web or on paper. What differs is which items apply to your status.
| Your status | Foreign national arrival record (ED card) | Customs declaration |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign national newly entering Japan | Required | Required |
| Foreign national covered by re-entry or treated as re-entering | No registration needed | Required |
| Japanese national | No registration needed | Required |
The foreign national arrival record (ED card) is the data card a foreign national hands to immigration on arrival. The customs declaration, officially the “Declaration of Baggage and Unaccompanied Articles”, is where you declare what you are bringing in.
Does the Passport You Hold Make a Difference?
No. If you hold a Hong Kong SAR, BN(O), Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore or Malaysia passport and are newly entering Japan, you submit the same two items shown above. Visit Japan Web does not judge your visa position. Visa-free eligibility is as stated by the official sources: see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan visa exemption list. Mainland China passport holders can also see the Japanese consulate’s visa guidance for applicants in China.
A few points travelers from different places often run into:
- If you hold a Hong Kong SAR passport or a BN(O): The system shows a validity warning, covered below under “Passport With Less Than 6 Months’ Validity.” Check the nationality or region option against your passport data. If you are unsure, ask Visit Japan Web’s help chat (a chatbot) instead of choosing from memory.
- If you already hold a Japanese visa: When you register your trip you can choose to reuse the data from your visa application. Enter the VISA issuance number and select “Get VISA data” to bring it in.
- If you want to use the customs e-gate: Any nationality can, but you must hold a chip passport that meets ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards.
When to Fill It In and What to Prepare
Complete the entry before you reach the immigration inspection area, as the Immigration Services Agency asks. Zagdim recommends filling it in before departure, once your itinerary and accommodation are fixed. How early you can start is whatever the Visit Japan Web screen shows. If you see a claim that you must do it a set number of hours ahead, compare it with the screen and the Agency’s announcement before treating it as a rule.
Have these ready before you start:
- Passport
- Flight ticket (arrival date, airline, flight number)
- Email address
- Address and phone number of your first place of stay
- The phone or tablet you will use on arrival
You can register data on a computer, but the official guidance for entry procedures says to show the QR code on a phone or tablet you carry. The input fields accept Japanese or English letters and numbers, so Zagdim recommends having hotel addresses ready in Japanese or English.
How to Fill It In: Five Steps
Filling in Visit Japan Web takes five steps, from creating an account to showing the QR code on arrival.
- From the Digital Agency’s official introduction page, choose “Start” and create a new account with an email address.
- Register the user: choose the type of entry procedure, then read the passport data with the camera or type it in.
- Register the planned entry: enter the arrival date, flight, and your contact point in Japan.
- Open the trip, answer the quarantine (health status) questions, then go to “Immigration inspection and customs declaration” and complete it.
- On arrival, display the QR code on the procedure screen and show it as directed on site.
Family members traveling with you each enter their own data and create their own QR codes. On your next trip to Japan you can reuse basic data such as name, passport number and occupation. If you reuse an earlier trip, what carries over is your contact point in Japan; you must re-enter the flight.
How to Fill In Flight, Accommodation and Length of Stay
Enter the airline that actually operates the flight, your first place of stay and a length of stay up to 90 days for short visits, as the table shows.
| Field | How to fill it in |
|---|---|
| Airline name | For a codeshare flight, enter the airline that actually operates it |
| Flight number | Numbers only; for a codeshare, enter the main flight number |
| Contact point in Japan | Your first place of stay; if you are not staying at a hotel, enter the details of where you plan to go |
| Phone number reachable in Japan | Shown as required on the official screen; do not enter an invented number, and ask the help chat if you have no suitable number |
| Length of stay | For short stays such as tourism, business or family visits, enter a number of days up to 90 |
The Agency stresses entering the length of stay correctly. This field is a filling-in rule; it does not mean everyone will be given 90 days.
How to fill in the form for no accommodation, a same-day round trip, an airport overnight or a multi-leg flight needs to be confirmed first. Ask Visit Japan Web’s help chat or the airline you are flying.
What Does Immigration Inspection Ask?
The current foreign national arrival record has three questions, which must be answered truthfully:
- Have you ever been forcibly deported from Japan, left under a departure order, or been refused entry?
- Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense in Japan or another country?
- Are you now carrying controlled drugs, firearms, crossbows, swords or knives, or gunpowder-type items?
This list follows the current statutory form. The order and wording on your phone screen are as you see them.
What Does Customs Ask?
The customs questions cover carry-on baggage, checked baggage and unaccompanied articles. You answer whether you are bringing any of these:
- Prohibited items such as narcotics, firearms and explosives
- Restricted items such as meat products, vegetables, fruit, and animals or plants
- Gold bars or gold products
- Purchases, local specialties or gifts above the duty-free allowance
- Commercial goods and commercial samples
- Items carried for someone else, including a suitcase carried for another person, and anything handed to you without being told what it is
There are also questions on cash and unaccompanied articles:
- Cash and other payment instruments: If you bring in more than the equivalent of 1 million yen, you must separately submit a Declaration of Carrying Payment Instruments to customs.
- Gold bars: Gold of 90% purity or higher and weighing more than 1 kilogram is also subject to that separate declaration. This is the threshold of a different form and cannot be used to skip the “gold bars or gold products” question above.
- Unaccompanied articles: Baggage you did not carry on arrival and that is sent separately to Japan, for example by mail, including household goods for a move.
If you are bringing food, medicine, animals or plants, answer truthfully first, then check with the animal quarantine station, plant protection station or other competent authority whether they can be brought in. Answering “no” to a question does not mean an item is automatically admitted. Failing to declare or declaring falsely can be penalized, so do not answer “no” to everything to move faster.
Where Do You Show the QR Code at the Airport?
The same QR code is used in two places: the immigration inspection counter, and the customs electronic declaration device or inspection counter. Equipment differs by airport, so follow the signs on site.
| Location or equipment | What you do | What to note |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration inspection counter | Show the QR code and go through inspection by an immigration officer | You still go through inspection even after electronic submission |
| Customs electronic declaration device and e-gate | Declare at the device, then go through the e-gate without handing in a paper declaration | Available at Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha; chip passport required |
| Customs inspection counter | At airports without an e-gate, you can also declare using the QR code reader at the counter | Check the actual equipment at the airport |
| Joint kiosk | Provides passport, facial photo and declaration data together, plus fingerprints for foreign nationals | For the airports, terminals and hours where it operates, see Customs’ joint kiosk page |
Does the Joint Kiosk Complete Everything at Once?
No. After a foreign traveler finishes at the kiosk, they still go to the dedicated counter for joint kiosk users to complete entry procedures, and customs may also inspect. People whose baggage exceeds the duty-free allowance or who have unaccompanied articles are guided to a staffed inspection counter for additional procedures.
There are two limits on use. People under 135 cm in height cannot use it. A non-chip passport can be used at the kiosk but cannot be used at the customs e-gate. The machine takes a photo to check identity, so remove your mask and sunglasses first.
Cost and Validity
Visit Japan Web is free. The Digital Agency states clearly that the service never asks for fees such as processing charges.
How long a QR code can be used is whatever the screen shows. If you change data, correct it and generate the QR code again. Older QR codes from before the system was merged on January 25, 2024 no longer work. If an old tutorial still tells you to generate separate immigration and customs QR codes, do not follow it.
Common Situations: Families, Children and Transit
Each person needs their own QR code, even when a family shares one phone.
- A family traveling together: Each person fills in their own data and has their own QR code. A family cannot share one code.
- A family member without a phone: You can create several QR codes on one family member’s phone or tablet, then operate the customs electronic declaration device person by person.
- Older relatives unfamiliar with phones: The Immigration Services Agency says a paper arrival record can be submitted.
- Children using the machines: For the customs electronic declaration device, children under 100 cm use it together with their family. For the joint kiosk, people under 135 cm cannot use it. The two figures are different, so do not mix them up.
- Paper customs declaration: When a family goes through customs together, one representative can fill in one form. This applies to paper only. At the e-gate, each person goes through individually.
- Transfer or transit: Whether you must fill it in, and for which flight leg, depends on where you actually enter Japan. If your trip has several flight legs, ask the airline or the help chat first.
For example, a couple enters Japan with two children, one under 135 cm and one under 100 cm. All four can use the father’s phone, but there must be four QR codes. Neither child can use the joint kiosk, and the younger child must use the customs electronic declaration device together with family.
What If You Make a Mistake or Have Not Done It?
Most mistakes are fixed by correcting the data and generating the QR code again, and paper is the fallback.
You did not fill it in or ran out of time: People eligible for electronic submission can switch to paper. The paper foreign national arrival record must be filled in in English or Japanese. Paper customs declaration forms are available from customs at airports and ports, and you can also print the official Traditional Chinese edition of the form yourself.
Wrong data, a changed hotel or a changed flight: Correct the data and generate the QR code again. Stop using any screenshot you saved earlier and replace it with the new one.
Passport scan fails: If rescanning still fails, return to the registration method screen and choose manual entry.
Passport With Less Than 6 Months’ Validity: When validity is under 6 months, the system shows a warning based on the validity period. This does not mean you are always refused entry. The Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong explains that ordinary passports eligible for visa-free entry, such as the Hong Kong SAR passport and the BN(O) held by Hong Kong permanent residents, must be valid, but there is no blanket requirement of 6 months remaining. This explanation cannot be applied to other passports, airlines or transit points. Hong Kong DI and Macao travel documents have separate validity conditions when applying for a visa, so confirm with the consulate and the airline before you leave.
Phone dead or will not open: Explain to staff on site and ask whether you can submit paper instead. Official materials do not list a single standard handling for this situation. Zagdim recommends saving a screenshot of the QR code in advance to lower this risk; see the last section below.
Wanting to use a printed QR code: The official guidance says to show it on a phone or tablet. Whether a paper printout works on every reader is something to ask the help chat. Do not assume you can use it at the e-gate.
Can You Screenshot the QR Code or Use It Offline?
The Immigration Services Agency allows the entry QR code to be a screenshot. Japan Customs’ FAQ explains that logging in, registering users and registering trips require an internet connection, while entering declaration data and creating the QR code can be done offline, provided you logged in beforehand and stay logged in. Do not assume it works offline after logging out or changing phones; Zagdim recommends saving a screenshot of the QR code before you land.
How to Spot Fake Sites and Paid Agents
Visit Japan Web is free and has no app, so a site that charges for a QR code is not the official service. On June 5, 2025, the Digital Agency announced that it had found websites charging application or processing fees on the pretext of generating a QR code. Ways to tell:
- Check the entry point: Zagdim recommends entering from the Digital Agency’s introduction page. Do not enter passport data directly from a search ad or a social media link.
- Check the fee: Visit Japan Web is free. If a page asks for an application or processing fee before giving you a QR code, stop.
- Check for an app: This service does not offer an app. The Digital Agency has named suspicious apps such as “Visit Japan Web info.” If you have installed a similar app, remove it.
- Check the claims: Anything claiming it can get you a visa or entry permission, or guarantee fast clearance, goes beyond what this service does.
Is the Duty-Free Shopping QR the Same as the Entry QR?
No. The two serve different purposes:
| Entry QR code | Duty-free shopping QR code | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is used | Immigration inspection and customs declaration | Shops that accept this QR code |
| Who can use it | As per the entry procedures above | Duty-free buyers of foreign nationality whose status of residence is temporary visitor, diplomatic or official |
| What to prepare | Passport data (can be typed in) | The passport must be scanned, and the landing permission stamp in the passport is read |
| Can it be a screenshot? | Allowed by the Immigration Services Agency | No |
The landing permission stamp is the permission label attached to your passport on entry, so this QR code can only be created after you arrive in Japan.
What Does the November Tax Refund Change Add?
Under documents the National Tax Agency has published, duty-free shopping in Japan changes to a refund method from November 1, 2026. The information in this guide was checked on October 31, so how shops and airports actually operate after the change could not be confirmed one by one; follow on-site explanations and the latest official announcements. The main rules of the new system:
- At purchase: Duty-free shops first sell at a price that includes consumption tax.
- On departure: You must leave Japan within 90 days of the purchase date and have the goods confirmed as carried out at the departure airport or seaport. The 90 days count from the day after the purchase date through the 90th day.
- Before checking baggage: Once baggage is handed to the airline for checking, you can no longer use the duty-free procedure equipment, so complete the confirmation before checking in baggage.
- Domestic to international connections: Do it at the airport you actually depart from.
- Confirmation by phone: At designated airports, mostly larger ones, you can use Visit Japan Web on your phone in the international departure hall, in an area before security where you can connect to the dedicated procedure wireless network. Registration must be completed before the customs confirmation.
- Refund: The operator running the duty-free shop refunds the tax after confirmation, or you can authorize the operator to handle it. The law does not set one uniform refund procedure, so ask each shop how it works.
A successful display of the duty-free shopping QR code does not mean customs confirmation is complete or that a refund has been received. No transitional rule was found for cases that span the start date, such as buying in October and leaving in November. In that situation, Zagdim recommends asking the shop where you bought which set of rules applies, rather than deciding it yourself. For currency exchange and shopping budgets, see the currency exchange guide.
Two Things That May Change Next
A proposed new arrival-record question and the planned JESTA system may change entry procedures later.
A Proposed “Intent to Comply With Japanese Law” Question
On October 29, 2026, the Immigration Services Agency published a draft amendment that would add a question on whether the person intends to comply with Japanese law to the foreign national arrival record. Public comments are open until November 27. The summary document lists promulgation as planned for December 2026 and enforcement as planned for January 2027; both are not final. This question is not on the current form. When the new question will appear on the Visit Japan Web screen is a matter for an official announcement.
JESTA Is Not the Same as Visit Japan Web
JESTA is Japan’s planned electronic travel authorization system. The amending law that creates it was passed on May 29, 2026 and promulgated on June 5, with the enforcement date to be set by cabinet order on or before March 31, 2029. The Agency’s policy document aims for introduction within fiscal year 2028, bringing forward the earlier plan of 2030.
This is a future system and a separate matter from the Visit Japan Web you fill in today. Who it applies to, where to apply, the fee and validity are as the Agency announces later.
FAQ
Can I use paper if I have not filled in Visit Japan Web?
Yes. The Immigration Services Agency provides a paper foreign national arrival record, and customs keeps paper declaration forms. What you must submit is the data itself; do it either online or on paper.
Does Visit Japan Web cost money or need an app?
Neither. The Digital Agency says the service charges no fee and offers no app. Avoid sites that charge before giving you a QR code, and suspicious apps.
How early should I fill it in?
Before you reach the immigration inspection area, as the Immigration Services Agency asks. Zagdim recommends filling it in before departure and screenshotting the QR code before you land.
Can a family share one QR code or one phone?
QR codes cannot be shared: each person has one. A phone can be shared: a family member without a device can have several QR codes created on another family member’s phone or tablet.
Do I have to redo it if I change hotels or flights?
When registered data changes, correct it and generate the QR code again. Stop using the old screenshot.
Are the immigration QR and customs QR the same now?
Yes. Since the merge on January 25, 2024, one QR code covers both the arrival record and the customs declaration.
Does completing Visit Japan Web mean visa-free status or permission to enter?
No. It only submits data. Visa-free eligibility is as the official sources state, and you still go through immigration inspection on arrival.
Important Notice
This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. It is based on public information from Japan’s Digital Agency, Immigration Services Agency, Ministry of Finance (Customs), National Tax Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japanese diplomatic missions and e-Gov, checked on October 31, 2026. Entry procedures, system screens, airport equipment, the new tax refund system and the draft proposals may change, so follow each agency’s latest announcements. Visa-free eligibility is as the official sources state.
Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.
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Sources
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