Japan Tax-Free 2026: Which Passport Page Do You Show?

A purchase qualifies at ¥5,000 before tax at one shop on one day, and what is shown is the passport itself — Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026).

No page number is named: the shop takes your name, nationality, date of birth, status, landing date and passport number, and if the passport has no landing-permission stamp and the shop cannot confirm you are eligible, it cannot run the tax-free procedure — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 4 (checked November 2, 2026). The refund side changed on November 1, 2026.

Which passport page do you show at the till?

The published conditions name no page number. The shop does have to confirm from the passport that you are eligible, and the National Tax Agency lists the document for short-stay visitors and others as a passport with a landing-permission stamp — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 16 (checked November 2, 2026). So carry the original booklet when you shop, and check on arrival that it was stamped.

The shop needs your name, nationality, date of birth, status, landing date and passport number, and it checks status and landing date against the stamp or landing permit; a page number is not in the official texts. Whether there is a stamp is a different matter: if eligibility cannot be confirmed, the shop cannot proceed.

At departure the same document is read by a terminal. A Green result means passing through, and a Red result means the goods are shown — Japan Customs (checked November 2, 2026).

What does the system actually ask for?

Six things are published, and none of them is a page.

• The passport, shown at the time of purchase. The original document, not a description of it, with a landing-permission stamp.
• The same passport read by a terminal at departure, with Green meaning passing through and Red meaning the goods are shown.
• The buyer is a non-resident, such as a foreign visitor on a short-stay status, within six months of entry.
• The qualifying amount is counted per buyer, per shop, per day, and as a rule receipts from different shops do not combine.
• The refund is one eleventh of the tax-included price.
• The customs confirmation at departure happens within 90 days of the purchase date, with the goods.

Those are the conditions. The document is set by your status: short-stay visitors show a passport with a landing-permission stamp or the Visit Japan Web QR code holding its details, and a copy is named only for cruise landing permits. No official text names a photograph either way, which is the reason to keep the booklet with you rather than a copy of it.

The entry record bears directly on this. The buyer has to be a non-resident on a listed status such as short-stay, within six months of entry, and the shop confirms that from the passport. If there is no stamp and it cannot be confirmed, the shop cannot run the procedure — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 4 (checked November 2, 2026).

What happens at departure when the passport is read?

A terminal reads the passport, and the result is Green or Red. Green means passing through. Red means the goods are shown. The published text stops at that point, and this page stops there too.

What that leaves you with is plain enough to act on: the document has to be in your hand at two moments — at the shop and at departure — and both moments are about the same booklet.

Japan Customs published the locations on a map on October 23, 2026 — Japan Customs map (checked October 25, 2026). The screen shows Green or Red. Terminal hours are not in the official texts, so check with the airport for an early or late flight.

What changed 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 no longer required, but consumables consumed in Japan cannot get the customs confirmation or the refund — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for travellers (checked November 2, 2026).
• The tax comes back after the customs confirmation rather than at the register. The old system took the tax off at the register; from that date the tax-included price is what is handed over in the shop.
• The passport is still shown at the time of purchase, and the terminal at departure reads it.
• The former daily ceiling on consumables is abolished.

None of those changes adds a page number to what the published conditions ask for.

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.

What has not changed?

• The minimum is ¥5,000 before tax — ¥5,500 on a tax-included tag.
• It is counted per buyer, per shop, per day. What counts as one shop is worth asking in the shop.
• Receipts from different shops do not combine, as a rule.
• The passport is shown at the time of purchase.
• The goods leave Japan with the buyer.
• The system is for non-residents, foreign travellers on a listed status such as short-stay, within six months of entry.
• Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.
• An item of ¥1,000,000 or more before tax needs a serial number or something similar registered at the shop.

When does this come up?

You came through an automated gate and there is no stamp

A shop may have to turn you down. Without a landing-permission stamp, if it cannot confirm you are eligible, it cannot run the tax-free procedure. If you use an automated gate, ask immigration staff for the stamp after the gate and before customs inspection — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 4 (checked November 2, 2026). A Trusted Traveler Program user can be confirmed from the passport together with the specified registered user card. How to get the stamp after leaving the airport is not in the official texts.

Your passport is in the hotel safe

Then the condition that the passport is shown at the time of purchase is not met at that moment. The shop takes the passport from the buyer when the goods are handed over, so on a day with shopping planned, the original is the thing to carry out of the room.

You only have a photo of it on your phone

The official list names the passport with a landing-permission stamp or the Visit Japan Web QR code, and names a copy only for cruise landing permits. No official text names a phone photo as allowed or refused, and that is the accurate way to hold it. Carrying the original is the only form the published conditions describe.

You are carrying your family's passports as well

The counting is per buyer. Whose passport a purchase is registered against is what makes that person the buyer, so carrying several booklets does not change how a total is counted.

You hold two passports

Which one to use is not in the official texts. What is published is that the system is for non-residents on a listed status such as short-stay, within six months of entry, and that a passport is read at departure.

Your passport is close to its expiry date

The only deadline in the published conditions is the customs confirmation at departure within 90 days of the purchase date.

You renewed your passport during the trip

For a passport lost and reissued, the official answer is to present the new one at the terminal and tell a customs officer at the counter that you also bought under the old one — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 35 (checked November 2, 2026). How a renewed passport is treated is not in the official texts; ask a customs officer at the airport, and keep every booklet you were issued during the trip with you.

The till asks for an image of your passport

That is the shop's own operation. The shop has to receive the passport details and does not have to store them separately from the purchase record, and how a shop's own copying is treated is not in the official texts. If the reason is unclear, the fastest route is to ask at the counter.

The terminal does not read the passport at departure

Neither the reading method nor the procedure for a failed read has been published. What is published is the result side: Green means passing through, Red means the goods are shown. Having the original document with you is the preparation the published conditions actually describe.

You are told to open the page with the entry record

Open it. No page number is named, but the shop has to confirm from the passport that you are eligible, and the document is listed as a passport with a landing-permission stamp — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 16 (checked November 2, 2026).

Someone tells you only the photo page counts

That does not match the official text. The passport shown is listed as one with a landing-permission stamp, and a terminal reads it at departure.

You are asked whether you have been in Japan for six months or more

That question sits on a published condition. The system is for non-residents, such as foreign visitors on a short-stay status, within six months of entry, and that is the condition your document is being read against rather than a page number.

You are shopping at several shops in one day

The count is per buyer, per shop, per day and as a rule receipts from different shops do not combine, so the passport comes out at each shop. The booklet stays with you for the whole day rather than for one purchase, and what counts as one shop is worth asking in the shop.

What is left to shops?

Terminal hours are not in the official texts (as of November 2, 2026), and Japan Customs mapped the locations on October 23, 2026. 8% goods qualify, and the official texts give no formula for their refund. Others are not national rules: the government takes no handling fee and no rule says whether the traveller or the shop bears an operator's fee — Japan Tourism Agency FAQ for shops, question 17 (checked November 2, 2026). Cash, how many days a refund takes and a card name that differs from the passport vary by shop and refund operator — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 57 (checked November 2, 2026).

The official text is on the Japan Tourism Agency (checked November 2, 2026), Japan Customs (checked November 2, 2026) or the Japan Tax-free Shop Association (checked November 2, 2026). None of these is answered by choosing a page, because none of them is a question about the document you hold.

Questions people ask

Which passport page do you show at the till?

No page number is named. The passport shown is listed as one with a landing-permission stamp.

Is a photocopy or a phone photo enough?

Nothing published says either can stand in for the passport itself.

Does the entry stamp page have to be shown?

No page number is named, but the shop has to be able to confirm you are eligible, and without a stamp that confirms it the shop cannot proceed — National Tax Agency Q&A, question 4 (checked November 2, 2026).

What if there is no stamp because of an automated gate?

The shop may be unable to confirm you are eligible and may be unable to proceed. After an automated gate and before customs inspection, immigration staff can give you the stamp if you ask.

What is read at departure?

The passport, by a terminal. Green means passing through and Red means the goods are shown.

What if the terminal cannot read it?

The official texts cover the reading and the Green and Red results, so ask a customs officer on the spot.

What is the minimum?

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

How much comes back?

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

When is the money returned?

After the customs confirmation. How many days that takes has no national rule and differs by store and refund operator.

Is the passport needed at every shop?

Yes. It is shown at the time of purchase, and the count runs per buyer, per shop, per day.

Can someone else carry my passport for me?

The buyer presents the passport in person at the shop and at the terminal. A purchase belongs to the person whose passport was registered.

Which passport should I use if I hold two?

That is not in the official texts.

Does it matter that my passport is close to its expiry date?

The official deadline is 90 days from the day after purchase, and keeping the passport valid until you leave is the plan that avoids the question.

Can the goods be posted from Japan instead?

No. Separate shipment was abolished at the end of March 2025.

Where are the rules published?

The Japan Tourism Agency, Japan Customs, the National Tax Agency and the Japan Tax-free Shop Association.