Japan Travel Changes 2026: What Older Visitors Should Check

Dated list

Five rule changes took effect in 2026 for a visitor who stays a few weeks to three months. A sixth, an electronic pre-arrival check called JESTA, is planned for fiscal 2028 and does not exist yet.

Most of the changes are small for a healthy traveler. They matter more when the visitor is older, because time at the airport, a hospital stay that forces a longer visit, and a phone that must stay charged all become safety questions. The table gives the date, the status today and who is touched. The sections after it give the figures and the source for each row.

Visitors are the focus here. A person who holds a residence status and lives in Japan follows different rules, so the long-stay readers should start with our long stay in Japan guide.

Why this page exists

Rules for visitors change in small steps across several agencies. One page that lists them with dates saves a family from piecing them together from blog posts.

The tax office, Japan Customs, the Immigration Services Agency (ISA), the transport ministry (MLIT) and the foreign ministry each own a different rule. A visitor who reads one article sees one of them. This page puts the dated changes in a single list and adds the point that matters when the traveler is older: time, health, medication and who can act for you.

A rule appears here only after we find it in a government document. Facts on this page were read from those documents on 2 November 2026. When a source changes, we edit the row and the updated date of the page. Details that are not yet published, such as the JESTA fee, are left out, and the last section lists what we are watching.

Departure tax

The International Tourist Tax is ¥3,000 for each departure from Japan from 1 July 2026. It was ¥1,000 before.

A contract of carriage concluded before 1 July 2026 normally keeps the old ¥1,000. The tourism agency's leaflet describes this as certain tickets issued by 30 June. The National Tax Agency Q&A gives the exceptions: the new rate applies if the departure date was left open and set on or after 1 July, if the date was changed on or after 1 July, or if the carrier's terms collect the tax separately from the fare.

Children under 2 are exempt, and so are transit passengers who leave within 24 hours of entry. The airline or shipping company normally collects the tax by adding it to the ticket price, so there is usually nothing to pay at the airport. A couple flying home pays ¥6,000 in total at the new rate.

For an older traveler the practical step is small. A return flight moved for health reasons on or after 1 July falls under the new rate, even on an older ticket. Look for the tax line in the fare breakdown when a companion buys or changes a ticket, and ask the airline if it is missing.

Visa and extension fees

Two different fees changed in 2026. One applies only to people who need a visa, and the other applies to people who ask to extend a stay.

The visa fee is charged by an embassy or consulate when it issues a visa. A Cabinet Order amending the consular fee order took effect on 1 July 2026. It sets a single-entry visa at ¥14,900 to ¥15,100 and a multiple-entry visa at ¥29,900 to ¥30,100, a narrow range because the fee is converted into local currency. The order also allows a different fee, or none, where reciprocity with the country calls for it. A visitor whose passport allows entry without a visa for a short stay is not applying for one, so this fee does not reach them. Ask your embassy which group your passport belongs to.

The extension fee follows the length of the permission granted. The ISA table for extension of period of stay was revised from 1 October 2026, and an application accepted up to 30 September 2026 still pays the old ¥6,000. The table below shows the counter fee, which is paid with revenue stamps. Online applications have their own rates and are paid at a convenience store or by bank payment. The ISA notes that stamps are cash only and that the shops in immigration offices may run short.

Extension of Temporary Visitor status is allowed in principle only for a compelling humanitarian reason or a comparable special circumstance, and the ISA gives treatment of an illness as an example, with a medical certificate as a document. The rules for who may file and for how long you can stay while the application is pending are in our guide to the 90-day limit. The table below is the ISA's general table, so ask the bureau how it applies to a short stay.

Tax-free refund

Tax-free shopping changes from an exemption at the till to a refund after Customs confirms the goods at departure. The new method applies to purchases made on or after 1 November 2026.

The date that counts is the day of sale, not the day you leave, and no period lets the old and new methods run side by side. The National Tax Agency said so in question 8 of its overview Q&A, and the tourism agency's traveler page gives the same date. A visitor pays the price with tax included. Customs confirms the goods at departure, within 90 days counted from the day after purchase, and the shop then returns the tax. The law does not fix how the money reaches you, so ask the shop which method it uses.

Three points matter for older visitors. The check comes before you check in baggage, and everything you bought must still be with you. Anything mailed home by EMS cannot be confirmed. A consumable eaten or used in Japan cannot be confirmed either, and it can cost the refund on its whole receipt.

Eligibility is set by status. The Q&A's list for foreign nationals includes Temporary Visitor, the status of most readers of this page, and the tourism agency adds that such a visitor must be less than six months from entry. Designated Activities is not on that list, so a long-stay holder with that status should not plan on a refund. Step-by-step help, including who should stand in the queue, is in our guide to the tax-free refund for older travelers.

Visit Japan Web

Visit Japan Web is the Digital Agency's free online service for arrival procedures (immigration and customs) and for tax-free shopping. Japan Customs recommends it and still hands out paper declaration forms.

Customs says forms are available on the plane, on the ship or at the Customs area. In May 2026 it warned about fake sites that imitate Visit Japan Web, and about private sites that charge to create a QR code. It states that Japan Customs does not charge for electronic declaration. An older traveler who prefers paper can use the paper customs form, and a relative can help with the entries on the official site.

The National Tax Agency Q&A also lists a Visit Japan Web QR code that holds passport data among the items a Temporary Visitor can show a shop in place of the passport. Carry the passport as well.

JESTA timeline

JESTA is an electronic travel authorization that the government plans to start in fiscal 2028, which runs from April 2028 to March 2029. It does not affect a trip this winter.

The Cabinet Secretariat's progress table on safety measures, dated end of June 2026, lists the introduction of JESTA within fiscal 2028. It records that the amending bill was submitted to the 221st Diet session and passed in May 2026, and that the contract for designing and building the system was signed in April 2026. The same table lists the problems behind it: entries from visa-exempt countries cannot be checked beforehand, waiting times at immigration are long, and overstays may increase.

The start month, the fee, the list of countries and the application steps are not in the government documents this page relies on, so it gives no figure. A traveler who does not use email or a smartphone may want a companion to learn the steps once they are published.

Power banks on board

Since 24 April 2026, a passenger may carry up to two power banks into the cabin, each 160 Wh or less. Charging a power bank on the aircraft, or using it to charge another device, is not allowed.

MLIT announced the rule on 14 April 2026 after an emergency revision of the international standard. Power banks were already banned from checked baggage. Its sheet for passengers asks you to keep a power bank within reach, such as in the seat pocket, and not in the overhead bin. Check your airline's own instructions as well. A phone often carries the translation app, the boarding pass and calls to family, so the useful habit is to charge the phone and the power bank before leaving for the airport.

The notice is about power banks and does not mention medical devices. If a medical device has a battery, ask your airline before the flight and keep the answer in writing. Medication carried into Japan has its own limits, set out in our guide to bringing medication to Japan.

Practical checks

These checks turn the list above into actions for a traveler or a companion, and each one takes a few minutes.

For a stay of two or three months, our three months in Japan guide covers how to spread medication, rest and visits to a clinic across the weeks. If you want a bilingual person to help you get to a clinic or to keep in touch with the family during a stay, Japan Care Concierge, backed by a social welfare corporation, describes this work on its accessible travel support page. We are not a travel agency or insurer, and we do not give legal or tax advice.

• Photograph the landing stamp and write down the last permitted day. A companion can then count the days left.
• Check the fare breakdown for the departure tax line.
• If you plan to claim a refund, keep the goods in their original packaging and arrive early enough to use the kiosk before check-in.
• Use only the official Digital Agency site for Visit Japan Web, and do not pay anyone to create the code.
• Charge the phone and the power bank at home, and keep the power bank in the cabin.
• Read the medication rules before packing.

Items we are watching

This list shows what would change a row of the table. We edit this page when a government source changes.

First published 2 November 2026 with the six rows above.

• The JESTA start date, fee, country list and application steps.
• Any revision of the tax office Q&A on the refund method, including the treatment of long-stay statuses.
• Any change to the rules for extending Temporary Visitor status.
• The tourism agency's review of the departure tax rate, which its tax reform summary says it will consider so as to reach a conclusion early.