Refund JapanThis page is written for English-speaking travellers going to Japan.
Leaving Japan
The customs step on the way out: what the terminal does, what you may be asked to show, and how to pack so that it is quick.
Covers: The customs terminal · Green and Red · carry-on or checked luggage · how much time to allow · connecting flights and leaving from a different airport
Start here
What happens at the terminal
When you leave Japan, a customs terminal reads your passport and checks it against the purchase records the shops sent. One of two things then happens. A Green result means you go through without showing anything. A Red result means you are asked to present the actual goods.
This is the step the whole refund hangs on. Nothing comes back until it is done.
Pack so that you can show it
You cannot know in advance whether you will get Green or Red, so the safe assumption is that you may have to produce what you bought. That is an argument for keeping tax-free purchases where you can reach them rather than at the bottom of a hold bag you have already checked in.
Carry-on or checked: where to put what you bought
How much time to allow
We cannot give you a number, and neither can anyone else honestly. The locations, the number of terminals and the screen languages at each airport have not been published. Any figure you read today for how long the customs step takes is somebody's estimate.
Refund Japan will be at Narita, Haneda and Kansai on the first day the system runs, and the times we record will be published on this site rather than modelled in advance.
Where the check happens on a multi-stop trip
The confirmation belongs to your departure from Japan, so it happens at the airport you actually fly out of — which need not be the one you arrived at. The 90-day clock runs from each purchase date, not from your arrival.
Common questions at this stage
Will they open my checked luggage?
A Red result asks you to present the goods. If they are already checked in, that is a problem you have made for yourself, which is why the practical advice is to keep tax-free purchases accessible until the customs step is done.
How early should I get to the airport?
There is no published answer. The terminal locations and numbers have not been announced, so nobody can responsibly convert them into minutes. We will measure it from November 1, 2026.
I fly Osaka to Tokyo and then home. Where does this happen?
At the point you leave Japan. A domestic leg inside Japan is not your departure from the country.
What if I am past the 90 days?
The deadline is 90 days from each purchase date. A purchase older than that has lapsed.
Articles in this stage
Airports 0
Step by step 2
Step by stepThe Four Steps at a Japanese Register in 2026, in OrderFrom November 1, 2026 four things happen at the till, and the order matters. Hand over the passport too late and the purchase is never registered. Here is the sequence and where it goes wrong.- Step by stepThe Night Before You Fly: Six Things in One Bag for 2026From November 1, 2026 the refund depends on a step at the airport. Thirty minutes the night before removes most of the ways it goes wrong. Here are the six things that belong in one bag.
