Buying a ¥1,000,000 Bag Tax-Free in Japan: What Changes?

A bag bought tax-free in Japan at a unit price of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax needs one record that a cheaper purchase does not: the shop has to register details that identify the item, plus its serial number if it has one, alongside the passport the purchase is recorded against — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 95 (checked November 2, 2026).

From November 1, 2026 you also pay the full tax-included price in the shop and receive the tax only after the customs confirmation as you leave Japan, so the whole price of the bag stays spent until then.

Japan's consumption tax is 10%, and it is already inside the price on the tag — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026). The most that can come back is one-eleventh of the tax-included price, counted before any deduction, and whether a deduction is taken depends on the store and its refund operator — why the tax share is one-eleventh.

The line is measured on the unit price of one item, before tax, not across a whole receipt. For a bag the details are things like the brand, model name, colour and material. Customs may also ask for an appraisal or a guarantee on an item at this price — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for travellers (checked November 2, 2026).

How does the ¥1,000,000 registration fit into a tax-free bag purchase?

The registration is one extra record inside the same 5-step route that every tax-free purchase follows from November 1, 2026.

1. The passport comes out at the counter. The original passport is presented when you buy, and the purchase is recorded against that traveller — the original passport at the till.
2. An item of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax adds a registration. The shop sets identifying details for it in the purchase record, and the serial number if the bag has one — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026).
3. You pay the tax-included price. The amount on the tag is what leaves your card, and nothing is taken off at the till — reading a tax-included tag.
4. The bag leaves Japan with you within 90 days of the purchase date. At departure a customs terminal reads your passport: Green means you continue, Red means the goods themselves are shown — what Green and Red mean.
5. The refund follows the customs confirmation. The published routes for the money are set out in the refund routes.

"Tax-free" on this page means the consumption tax refund on goods bought in town, not the duty-free shops past airport security — the two terms side by side.

What changed for a luxury bag on November 1, 2026?

• The full price is paid in the shop. From November 1, 2026 the tax-included price is charged at the counter and the tax comes back after the customs confirmation at departure, which weighs most on the largest purchase of a trip — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026).
• A bag and anything else from the same shop on the same day form one figure. The former split between general goods and consumables ended, and purchases are no longer sealed into special packaging.
• The purchase date decides which system applies. A purchase dated October 31, 2026 or earlier follows the earlier system, where the tax is taken off at the register; a purchase dated November 1, 2026 or later follows the new one, with no transition period — a purchase dated October 31, 2026.

The rest of the switch is listed in the November 2026 changes.

What does a ¥1,000,000 price tag leave unchanged?

• The passport shown at purchase decides whose purchase it is. A higher price does not move the bag into anyone else's name — paying for a bag meant for another person.
• The 90 days are counted the same way. A bag of ¥1,000,000 or more has the same deadline for the customs confirmation as any other purchase: day 1 is the day after you buy, and a November 1 purchase can be confirmed until January 30 — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026).
• The departure step reads the passport. Green or Red appears at the terminal, and a Red result asks for the bag itself — Japan Customs (checked November 2, 2026).

When does the extra step for a bag over ¥1,000,000 show up on a trip?

The tag on a single bag already reads ¥1,000,000 or more

One bag at one price is the easiest case to raise, because there is a single item to point at when you ask. A unit price of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax means identifying details are registered, so this bag's record carries them. Keep the passport out until the sale is finished and there is no pause while it is found again.

A bag just under the line and a wallet at the same counter

Two items that each sit below ¥1,000,000 can add up past it on one receipt, but the line is written for the unit price before tax, so the total alone does not set off this registration — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026).

The bag floor and the cosmetics floor of a department store on one afternoon

A department store can hold a leather goods floor and a cosmetics floor under one roof, and a bag and a skincare haul often land on the same day. Whether the 2 floors count as one shop is a question for that store's staff, while the ¥1,000,000 line itself looks at the unit price of each item — what counts as one shop and cosmetics near the ¥1,000,000 line.

No serial number is visible anywhere on the bag

Identifying codes on bags sit in different places — an inner tag, a stamped leather label, a card in the box — and some bags show none a buyer can find. The National Tax Agency's example for a bag lists the brand, model name, colour and material, with the serial number and where it sits if there is one — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026). Ask the sales assistant which details they are recording, and keep the box, card and tags together with the bag until you leave Japan.

A matching pouch or strap is sold with the bag as one set

A set rung up as one line raises the per-item question in a different shape. How such a set is read against the ¥1,000,000 line is not something we could confirm in the official text (November 2, 2026). If the pouch is optional, asking before the set is scanned is less work than changing the sale afterwards.

The bag is pre-owned and bought at a resale shop

The official line is written as an amount, ¥1,000,000 or more, and the official texts have no separate wording on used goods (as of November 2, 2026). Whether the resale shop takes part in tax-free sales at all belongs to that shop, and a shop outside the arrangement cannot record a purchase afterwards — a shop that is not tax-free. Pre-owned bags sometimes come without their original cards or boxes. The serial number question above then becomes more likely.

The card has to carry the whole price on the day

From November 1, 2026 the counter charges the tax-included price, so a bag of ¥1,000,000 or more puts its full amount on the card at once, and the tax share comes back only after departure. A limit set for everyday travel spending can fall short of one bag. Checking the limit with the card issuer before the trip avoids a stop at the counter — paying by card or another method and budgeting for the full price first.

Your partner pays for the bag with their own passport

The purchase is recorded against the passport presented at the counter, so a bag your partner pays for is your partner's purchase. Your partner is also the one who leaves Japan with it within 90 days and goes through the customs terminal. How purchases inside a family are treated is covered in combining purchases within a family and paying for someone else's bag.

The bag is a present for someone who lives in Japan

A tax-free bag is bought on the condition that it leaves Japan with the buyer within 90 days of the purchase date. Handing it to a relative or friend who stays in Japan does not fit that condition. The arrangement itself is for non-residents on a listed status such as short-stay, within six months of entry — giving a tax-free item away in Japan and the six-month stay rule.

A bag bought on October 31, 2026 and one bought on November 1, 2026

A bag bought on October 31, 2026 follows the earlier system, in which the tax is taken off at the register. A bag bought on November 1, 2026 follows the new one: the full price at the counter and the tax back after the customs confirmation. No transition period sits between them. A trip that straddles the date can hold purchases under both — a trip across the switch.

The bag is bought in the first days of a long trip

The 90 days count from the day after the purchase, not from the day you landed. A bag bought early in a long stay can sit close to that edge by the time the return flight leaves — counting the 90 days. If plans change and the stay grows, the date to watch is still the purchase date — when a stay gets longer.

Deciding whether the bag rides in the cabin or in the hold

A Red result at the customs terminal asks for the goods themselves, and a bag checked in before that step is out of reach. Japan Customs published the locations on a map on October 23, 2026, and the Japan Tourism Agency places the terminals before baggage check-in, in the international departure lobby or similar — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for travellers (checked November 2, 2026). Keep the bag with you until the confirmation is finished — a checked bag before the terminal and cabin and hold baggage.

The box, dust bag and shopping bag take up half a suitcase

From November 1, 2026 purchases are not sealed into special packaging, and a bag can be used before you leave and still be confirmed if it leaves with you in the end. The National Tax Agency warns that if a box or bag that forms part of the goods is separated or thrown away, customs may be unable to identify the item, so it advises keeping things as bought until you leave — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026), question 39 — packing for a Red result and opening packaging before departure. Keeping the card or tag that carries the recorded detail with the bag costs nothing.

The name on your card is spelled differently from your passport

A large refund makes the account it lands in matter more. How a card name that differs from the passport is treated is not in the official texts, so ask the shop. Paying with a card in the same spelling as the passport removes one open question from the trip — a name that does not match and the account the refund reaches.

What is left to shops about bags over ¥1,000,000?

Three points are worth asking about at a purchase of this size.

• Which details the shop records. The line is the unit price before tax, and the details depend on the item, so ask at the sales counter which ones it is recording — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026).
• Whether anything is deducted from the refund. The government takes no fee and does not say whether a traveller or a shop bears one — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for shops (checked November 2, 2026). That leaves one-eleventh as an upper figure rather than a promise — a possible deduction.
• How many days the money takes. The refund comes from the shop or its agent after the customs confirmation, and no rule sets the number of days — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for travellers (checked November 2, 2026) and days until the refund.

How a name difference is treated is not in the official texts. Changes are in the announcement tracker.

Which questions follow from buying a bag over ¥1,000,000?

Is the ¥1,000,000 counted per bag or across the whole receipt?

Per item. The line is written for the unit price before tax — National Tax Agency Q&A (checked November 2, 2026).

Is the ¥1,000,000 measured before tax or with tax included?

Before tax. The official text says unit price before tax — reading a tax-included tag.

What gets registered for a bag with no serial number?

Details that identify the item, such as the brand, model name, colour and material. The serial number is added when the bag has one. Ask the sales assistant which details they are recording.

Do I have to register anything myself?

Your part is presenting the original passport at purchase. The shop sets the identifying details in the purchase record.

Is a bag over ¥1,000,000 more likely to get a Red result?

The criteria behind the result are not in the official texts. If Red appears, the bag itself is shown — the customs terminal step.

Can the shop ship the bag to my home country instead?

Posting tax-free goods yourself was abolished at the end of March 2025. Whether a shop can ship overseas differs by shop, so ask before you buy.

Can a travel companion pay for the bag on my behalf?

The purchase is recorded against the passport presented at the counter, so it becomes the purchase of whoever pays with their passport. That person is also the one who leaves Japan with the bag within 90 days.

Is anything deducted from a refund this large?

Whether a deduction applies depends on the store and its refund operator — a possible deduction.

How many days until the refund reaches me?

No rule sets the number of days. The refund comes from the shop or its agent after the customs confirmation, so ask the shop.

Will the refund go through if my card spelling differs from my passport?

How a spelling difference is treated is not in the official texts; ask the shop before you pay. Paying with a card in the same spelling as the passport keeps the question out of play.

Does the ¥5,000 minimum still apply to a bag?

Yes. The minimum is ¥5,000 before tax at one store on one day, which shows as 5,500 yen on a tax-included tag — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026). How that line is applied is covered in the ¥5,000 minimum.

How much of the bag's price can come back?

At most one-eleventh of the tax-included price, which is the 10% consumption tax inside it. Whether a deduction applies depends on the store and its refund operator, so the actual amount may land below that upper figure — the one-eleventh calculation.

Does a bag bought on October 31, 2026 go through the same steps?

A purchase dated October 31, 2026 or earlier follows the earlier system, where the tax is taken off at the register. This page covers purchases from November 1, 2026 — a purchase dated October 31, 2026.

Should the bag go in checked baggage?

Not until the customs confirmation is finished: the procedure cannot be done after check-in, and a checked bag cannot be pulled back for it. The locations are on the Japan Customs map published on October 23, 2026 — Japan Customs map (checked October 25, 2026).

Does a pre-owned bag need the registration too?

The line is written as an amount of ¥1,000,000 or more, and the official texts have no separate wording on used goods. Confirm with the shop, including whether it handles tax-free sales at all.

Do watches and other items over ¥1,000,000 follow the same line?

The registration is written for a unit price of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax, not for bags alone — watches bought in Japan and cameras and lenses.