Visit Japan Web, the Japanese government’s website for visitors, can show a tax-free QR code that carries your passport details. Shops that accept it scan the code instead of your passport. It is not the same thing as the online customs check you can do at seven airports when you leave.
By Mikako Yoshida ·Published 18 October 2026 · Updated 20 October 2026
Quick answers
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is it? | A QR code in Visit Japan Web that carries your passport details. The shop scans it instead of your passport. |
| Visit Japan Web asks if you will use the tax-free QR code. Say yes? | Yes, if you plan to shop tax-free. It is free, and where a shop does not accept it you simply show your passport. |
| Does it still work from 1 November 2026? | Yes. Under the refund method shops may still take your passport details from Visit Japan Web, but each shop decides whether to accept it. |
| Does it get me the refund? | No. It only replaces showing your passport. The refund is paid by the shop or its refund company after customs confirms your goods when you leave. |
What the QR code is
To sell tax-free, a shop must record your name, nationality, date of birth, status of residence, date of landing and passport number. The tax-free QR code in Visit Japan Web carries this passport information, and the National Tax Agency counts showing it as showing your passport.
Shops do not have to accept the code. Where a shop does not read it, show your passport as usual.
Who can use it
- Foreign nationals whose status of residence is Temporary Visitor, Diplomat or Official.
- You must first read your passport into Visit Japan Web, then the landing permission sticker in your passport.
- Japanese citizens, including those living abroad, cannot use it.
How to set it up
Register and read your passport
Create a Visit Japan Web account and scan your passport into it.
Read your landing sticker
After you arrive, scan the landing permission sticker that immigration put in your passport.
Show the code in the shop
At a shop that accepts it, open the tax-free QR code and let the staff scan it. Screenshots are not accepted.
Useful before you fly
Airport transfer when you have a lot of shopping bags
Luggage storage in Tokyo for the hours before an evening flight
QR code in the shop vs online check at the airport
| Tax-free QR code | Online customs check | |
|---|---|---|
| When | In the shop, when you pay | At the airport, before you check in bags |
| What it does | Gives the shop your passport details | Customs confirms that the goods leave Japan with you (instead of the kiosk) |
| Where | Shops that choose to accept it | Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, New Chitose, Fukuoka and Naha, on the dedicated Wi-Fi in the departure lobby |
| Can you do without it? | Yes: show your passport instead | Yes: use the kiosk instead |
Keep your passport with you
The QR code only replaces showing the passport in the shop. The kiosk at the airport reads your physical passport, so you need it when you leave Japan.
The online customs check
At seven airports you can do the customs check on your phone instead of at a kiosk. Connect to the dedicated Wi-Fi in the international departure lobby, which reaches as far as the security check, and register with Visit Japan Web before you start.
The online check also shows your purchase records and which receipts are cleared for a refund, something the kiosk does not show. Osaka Customs recommends it at Kansai Airport because the kiosks can have queues.
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