Japan Tax-Free 2026: What Is Confirmed About Your Departure Airport?

From November 1, 2026 the refund on a qualifying purchase of ¥5,000 before tax is released by a check made at the place you leave Japan — Japan Tourism Agency (checked August 19, 2026).

What that check consists of is published. Which building or floor of an airport it sits in is unannounced as of August 19, 2026, and this page does not fill that gap with a guess — Japan Customs (checked August 19, 2026).

What is confirmed about every departure airport?

The confirmed part is the same wherever you leave Japan from, and it is short enough to carry in your head.

• The check happens where you leave Japan, not at the shop and not after you land somewhere else.
• Your passport is read at a terminal, and the purchases registered to it are what the check looks at.
• A green result means you pass. A red result means you are asked to present the goods themselves.
• The registered goods have to be with you at that moment.
• You have to leave Japan within 90 days of the purchase date.

None of that changes with the departure point. It is the same procedure described in the same terms for anyone leaving the country.

Why can nobody tell you where the terminals are?

Because it has not been published. Where the terminals are placed, how many there are and what the screens show are unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

That is worth saying plainly, because pages that name a specific building, floor or gate are describing something no authority has set out. A confident answer here is not a better answer; it is an invented one, and a traveller who plans around it arrives expecting a place that may not be there.

This site states the procedure, which is published, and refuses the map, which is not.

Which airport does the check belong to?

The one you actually leave Japan from. That sounds obvious until a trip has more than one flight in it.

If you take a domestic flight before your international one, the check belongs to the later departure — the point at which you leave the country. If you fly home through a third country, the same is true: leaving Japan is the event, and everything after it belongs to the countries you enter.

The practical consequence is that the registered goods travel with you to that final Japanese departure point, whatever route you took to reach it.

What changes at the airport on November 1, 2026?

• The refund follows the check rather than arriving at the register, which is why the departure point matters at all.
• The general goods and consumables split is abolished, so one shop on one day is one total.
• The sealed bag is gone, so purchases can be used during the trip and may be presented opened.
• The former daily ceiling on consumables is abolished.

What the airport step itself asks of you is unchanged in shape by any of that: a passport, and the goods within reach.

What do you need to have with you at the airport?

1. The passport you bought with. That is what the terminal reads, and the purchases are registered to it.
2. The registered goods, reachable. A red result cannot be answered from a suitcase already checked in.
3. The packaging of anything you opened during the trip, kept with the item.
4. Time in hand, because you cannot know in advance which of the two results you will get.

That list does not vary by departure point either. It is the part of the preparation you can complete before you know anything about the layout of the place.

How should you plan the day you fly out?

Plan by time rather than by location. You cannot look up where to stand, but you can arrive with enough margin that a red result is an inconvenience rather than a missed flight.

If the registered goods are bulky, do the check while they are still with you rather than after they have gone into checked baggage. If several people are travelling together, remember that a terminal reads one passport and each passport carries its own purchases.

What has not changed?

• The minimum is ¥5,000 before tax, per buyer, per shop, per day — ¥5,500 on a tax-included tag.
• Receipts from different shops never combine.
• The passport has to be presented before payment is finalised.
• The goods have to leave Japan with the buyer.
• The refund is one eleventh of the tax-included price.
• A purchase of ¥1,000,000 or more requires registration of a serial number or similar identifying information at the shop.
• Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025, so the goods are with you at the departure point.

When does this come up?

You are choosing which airport to fly home from

The procedure does not differ by choice of departure point. Choose on flights and price, and prepare the same way regardless.

You have a domestic flight before your international one

Keep the registered goods with you all the way to the airport where you leave Japan, because that is where the check happens.

You are leaving from a different airport than the one you arrived at

Nothing about the check follows your arrival. It attaches to your departure from Japan.

You found a page giving a floor and a gate number

Placement is unannounced as of August 19, 2026, so a page that gives one is stating something no authority has published.

Your flight leaves very early

A green result is a single step and a red result adds an inspection. Since you cannot know which you will get, plan for the slower one.

You are about to check a large suitcase

If the registered purchases are inside it, do the check first. After it is checked in, you cannot present the goods.

You bought in several cities

Everything registered along the route is checked at the one place you leave Japan, so it all has to be with you there.

You are travelling as a family

Each passport is read on its own and carries its own purchases. Going through together does not merge them.

You are building your last day's schedule

Put the departure point earlier in the day than a trip with no registered purchases would need, and let shopping finish before that margin is spent.

You want to look up your airport in advance

You will find the procedure and not the placement, because the placement is unannounced as of August 19, 2026. Preparing for the procedure is the part you can actually do.

Your 90 days are close to running out

The deadline is measured against leaving Japan, wherever you leave from. The date matters and the airport does not.

You asked a shop where to go at the airport

Shops handle the registration at the register. What the airport looks like is not something a shop has been told either.

You changed your departure airport after buying

The purchases stay registered to your passport. The check moves with you to wherever you now leave Japan.

What is unannounced as of August 19, 2026?

Where the terminals are placed at each airport, how many there are and what the screens show are unannounced as of August 19, 2026. Nothing on the Japan Customs (checked August 19, 2026) site sets this out.

Whether a handling fee is deducted, how many days the refund takes, whether cash remains available, how a name mismatch between the passport and a payment method is treated and how the reduced rate is handled are unannounced as of August 19, 2026 as well. Answers would appear via the Japan Tax-free Shop Association (checked August 19, 2026) or the Japan Tourism Agency (checked August 19, 2026), and this page will not guess ahead of them.

Questions people ask

Where in the airport do I do this?

The placement is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

Which airport does it have to be?

The one you leave Japan from.

Does it matter which city I bought in?

No. Registration happens at the shop and the check happens at your departure from Japan.

Do I do this before or after I check my bags?

A red result asks for the goods, so do it while the registered purchases are still with you.

Do I need my passport at the airport?

Yes. The terminal reads the passport the purchases were registered to.

How many terminals will there be?

The number is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

What will the screen show?

The screen specification is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

How much time should I allow?

Enough for the slower of the two results, since you cannot know in advance which one you get.

What if I have a connecting flight inside Japan?

The check happens at the airport where you leave the country, so keep the goods with you until then.

Is there a deadline?

Yes. You have to leave Japan within 90 days of the purchase date.

How much comes back?

One eleventh of the tax-included price, before any deduction that may exist.

What is the minimum purchase?

¥5,000 before tax, per buyer, per shop, per day.

Can I do this after I get home?

No. The check happens as you leave Japan.