Japan Tax-Free 2026: In Through Osaka and Out Through Tokyo, Where Is the Check?

The customs confirmation for a Japanese tax-free purchase is taken when you leave Japan, and a purchase qualifies at ¥5,000 before tax at one shop on one day — Japan Tourism Agency (checked August 19, 2026).

A trip that arrives in Kansai and flies home from Tokyo does not split that confirmation between two cities, and the refund side changes on November 1, 2026.

Where is the check if you arrive in Osaka and leave from Tokyo?

At departure. The confirmation is taken as you leave Japan, so it sits with the flight out rather than with the city where the shopping happened. Goods bought in Osaka and goods bought in Tokyo are read from the same passport at that departure, because the passport is what the record was made against in every shop.

Which city sold an item is not among the published conditions. What the conditions describe is a non-resident buyer, a passport registered at the till, and goods leaving Japan with that buyer within 90 days of the purchase date.

That is why an itinerary with two airports is not two procedures. There is one arrival, a stretch of shopping in between, and one departure where the confirmation happens.

What does the system read on a trip through two cities?

Three things, and none of them is a place name.

• The passport registered at the till, in each shop, when the purchase is recorded. That passport is the buyer everywhere in Japan.
• Whether the goods leave Japan with that buyer, which is confirmed at departure.
• The qualifying line, counted for each buyer, at each shop, on each day.

Around those sit the rest of the published conditions. The buyer is a non-resident, a foreign traveller staying under six months. The amount that comes back is one eleventh of the tax-included price. Departure has to happen within 90 days of the purchase date, and a purchase of ¥1,000,000 or more needs a serial number or something similar registered at the shop.

None of that asks whether the shop was in Osaka, Kyoto or Tokyo. A shop in one city and a shop in another are both simply one shop on one day.

What happens at departure when the receipts come from two cities?

A terminal reads the passport, and a Green result means passing through while a Red result means the goods are shown — Japan Customs (checked August 19, 2026). The reading is of the passport, so everything registered against it during the trip arrives at that step together.

The order of the trip does not reshape it. A purchase made in Osaka on the first day and a purchase made in Tokyo on the last day were both registered against the same passport, and the same passport is read once the trip ends.

What the traveller carries into that step is the goods themselves, because the second condition is that the goods leave Japan with the buyer. That condition is about the person and the goods, not about the route between them.

What changes on November 1, 2026?

• The general goods and consumables split is abolished, so one shop on one day becomes one total for each buyer.
• The sealed bag is gone, so a purchase made in one city can be opened before the trip reaches the next one.
• The tax-included price is paid in the shop, and the tax comes back after the customs confirmation instead of at the register.
• The confirmation is taken at departure, which is the step that ends the trip rather than a step attached to any one city.
• The former daily ceiling on consumables is abolished.

None of those changes asks which city the shopping happened in.

Purchases up to October 31, 2026 stay under the old system and purchases from November 1, 2026 fall under the new one. There is no transition period between them, so a trip that crosses that line carries both.

What has not changed?

• The minimum is ¥5,000 before tax — ¥5,500 on a tax-included tag.
• It is counted for each buyer, at each shop, on each day, and receipts from different shops never combine.
• The passport is shown at the till, when the purchase is recorded.
• The goods leave Japan with the buyer.
• The system is for non-residents, foreign travellers staying under six months.
• Departure happens within 90 days of the purchase date.
• Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.
• A purchase of ¥1,000,000 or more needs a serial number or something similar registered at the shop.

When does this come up on a two-city trip?

You shop in Osaka and fly home from Narita

The shopping made a record against your passport in Osaka, and the confirmation belongs to the departure. Between those two points there is nothing the published conditions ask you to do about the Osaka purchase.

You shop in Tokyo and fly home from Kansai

The same shape, reversed. The confirmation is taken as you leave Japan, so it is the departure that matters and not which city the goods were bought in.

You take a domestic flight between the two cities

A domestic leg is not a departure from Japan, so it is not where the confirmation happens. The conditions describe the passport at the till and the goods leaving Japan with the buyer, and a flight inside the country is neither of those.

You travel from Kyoto to Tokyo by train

The route between cities is not part of what is registered. The record was made in the shop and the confirmation waits at the departure, whatever carried you between them.

You buy in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo on the same trip

Each shop on each day is counted on its own, so three cities means several separate counts against one passport. They meet again only at the departure, where the passport is read.

You land at Kansai and wonder what to do on arrival

The published conditions place two points: the passport registered at the till when you buy, and the confirmation when you leave. Arrival is not one of them.

Your outbound and return flights use different airports

The confirmation is taken at departure from Japan, so the airport you arrived through does not carry any part of it. One trip has one departure, and that is where the passport is read.

You want to send the shopping ahead to your Tokyo hotel

The condition the refund rests on is that the goods leave Japan with the buyer, and separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025. Anything that moves the goods inside Japan has to end with them in your hands at the departure.

One purchase in one city is ¥1,000,000 or more

A serial number or something similar is registered at the shop that sold it. That registration sits on the same passport as every other purchase of the trip, and it is read at the same departure.

You bought ¥11,000 in Osaka and ¥110,000 in Tokyo

They are counted separately, because counting happens for each shop and each day. Two cities do not merge into one figure, and two shops in the same city would not merge either.

You buy on the first day and leave on the last

The 90 days run from the purchase date, so a purchase made at the start of a normal holiday is a long way inside that window when the departure comes.

You buy in Osaka on October 31, 2026 and in Tokyo on November 1, 2026

The Osaka purchase stays under the old system and the Tokyo purchase falls under the new one, because the date of each purchase decides which applies. There is no transition period between them.

Someone tells you to get the check done before leaving Osaka

The confirmation is taken at departure from Japan. A move between cities inside the country is not a departure, so nothing in the published conditions places the confirmation there.

You want to know where the terminals stand in each airport

Terminal locations, how many machines each airport has and what the screens show are unannounced as of August 19, 2026, so this page does not describe them for either airport.

What is unannounced as of August 19, 2026?

Six points are unannounced as of August 19, 2026: whether a handling fee is deducted, how many days the refund takes, where the terminals are placed and how many there are, whether cash remains available, how a mismatch between a card name and a passport is treated, and how the reduced rate is handled. Answers would appear via the Japan Tax-free Shop Association (checked August 19, 2026) or the Japan Tourism Agency (checked August 19, 2026).

Two of those matter more than usual on a trip with two airports. The placement of the machines is the one thing a traveller would most like to plan around, and it is exactly the point that has no published answer as of August 19, 2026.

What do travellers ask about two-city trips?

Which airport is the check at if I arrive in Osaka and leave from Tokyo?

The one you leave Japan from. The confirmation is taken at departure.

Is there anything to do at the airport where I arrive?

The published conditions describe the passport at the till and the confirmation at departure. Arrival is not among them.

Do Osaka receipts and Tokyo receipts add up?

No. Counting happens for each shop and each day, and receipts from different shops never combine.

Does a domestic flight between the cities change anything?

A domestic leg is not a departure from Japan, so the confirmation does not happen there.

Does travelling by train instead change anything?

No. The route inside Japan is not part of what is registered or confirmed.

What is the minimum for one purchase?

¥5,000 before tax, which is ¥5,500 on a tax-included tag.

How much comes back?

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

When does the refund happen?

After the customs confirmation, from November 1, 2026, rather than at the register.

How is the refund paid?

Cash, credit card, payment apps and approved operators are the published methods, and whether cash remains available is unannounced as of August 19, 2026.

How long do I have to leave Japan?

90 days from the purchase date.

Can I send the goods ahead to another city?

The goods have to leave Japan with the buyer, and separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.

What if one purchase is ¥1,000,000 or more?

A serial number or something similar is registered at the shop that sold it.

What happens at the terminal?

The passport is read. A Green result means passing through and a Red result means the goods are shown.

Where are the terminals in each airport?

That is unannounced as of August 19, 2026, for every airport.

What if I buy in Osaka on October 31, 2026 and in Tokyo the next day?

The old system applies to the first purchase and the new one to the second.

Where are the rules published?

The Japan Tourism Agency and Japan Customs.