Refund JapanThis page is written for English-speaking travellers going to Japan.
In the shop
The threshold, what you have to show at the till, what counts, and what you may and may not do with the goods afterwards.
Covers: The ¥5,000 threshold · what to show at the till · which shops are registered · what counts as eligible goods · opening and using what you bought
Start here
The threshold, and what it actually means
The minimum is ¥5,000 excluding tax at one shop on one day. Because Japanese price tags usually show the tax-included price, the number you are looking for on the tag is ¥5,500.
Two rules do most of the damage in practice. Receipts from different shops cannot be added together. And it is one calendar day, so a purchase late at night and another the next morning are two separate days even if they are four hours apart.
What you do at the till
Say that you want the purchase handled as tax-free before you pay, and hand over your passport. The shop is the party that records the purchase and passes it into the customs system, so it has to happen at the point of sale, not afterwards.
From November 1, 2026 you will hand over the full tax-included amount. That is the change: the paperwork happens in the same place it always did, but the money does not come off there any more.
What counts, and what gets registered
The old split between general goods and consumables goes away on November 1, 2026, and with it the sealed bag that consumables had to travel in and the ¥500,000 daily ceiling on them.
At the other end of the scale, goods of ¥1,000,000 and above have their serial numbers or equivalent identifying details recorded at the time of purchase.
Common questions at this stage
Can I add up receipts from two different shops?
No. The ¥5,000 is per shop, per day.
A department store has several floors and several tills. Is that one shop?
The rule is one shop on one day. How a large store treats its own floors and concessions is a matter for that store, and it has not been settled centrally in anything published. Ask at the store's tax-free counter before you split a purchase across floors.
Does the sealed bag still apply?
Until October 31, 2026, yes, for consumables. From November 1 the general-goods and consumables split is abolished and the special packaging is no longer required.
Can I buy on someone else’s passport?
The purchase is recorded against the passport shown at the till and the same traveller has to take the goods out of Japan. Whether a refund can be paid to a card in a different name has not been published.
Articles in this stage
What you are buying 16
What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: What Happens at the Customs Terminal?From November 1, 2026 the refund is settled at departure, not at the register. You read your passport at a terminal and get one of two outcomes. Here is what each one means and how to be ready for both.- What you are buyingWhere Do Japan Tax-Free Purchases Go in 2026, Carry-On or Checked?Japan publishes no rule that assigns a tax-free purchase to one bag or the other. What it publishes is the departure step, where the goods themselves can be asked for. Here is how that decides where to put them under the system that starts on November 1, 2026.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free in 2026: Is the Price Tag Tax-Included?The tax-free line is read on the before-tax amount, so a tag printed with tax shows a different number for the same line. Here is which figure the rule uses, and what November 1, 2026 changes about it.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free in 2026: What If the Shop Says They Do Not Do It?Not every shop in Japan puts a purchase into the tax-free system. Here is what that sentence at the register actually means, what it does to the ¥5,000 before-tax rule, and the three things worth doing instead.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does a Longer Stay Move the 90-Day Deadline?Your flight moved and the trip got longer. The 90 days are counted from the purchase date, not from your departure plan, so here is what moves and what does not — before and after November 1, 2026.
- What you are buyingTax-Free Clothes and Shoes in Japan From November 1, 2026Clothes and shoes are general goods, so the sealed bag story was never really their story. Here is what actually changes for them on November 1, 2026, what was always true, and what is simply not published.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free vs Your Own Duty-Free Allowance in 2026Two different systems get confused constantly: the Japanese consumption tax refunded on your purchase, and whatever your own country charges when you land. Here is which is which, and which one changes on November 1, 2026.
- What you are buyingGroup Tour Shopping and Japan Tax-Free in 2026On a tour everyone shops at the same stop, at the same hour, off the same coach. The tax-free side is still counted one buyer at a time, and the passport at the register is what decides whose purchase it is.
- What you are buyingRice Cookers and Hair Dryers Tax-Free in Japan From November 1, 2026An appliance is general goods, so the rule that decides it is the same ¥5,000 before tax at one shop on one day. What November 1, 2026 changes is that the appliance stops being counted on its own.
- What you are buyingDoes How You Pay Change Japan Tax-Free Eligibility in 2026Japan publishes four conditions for a purchase to qualify — the buyer, the shop, the day and ¥5,000 before tax. A condition about cash, cards or phone codes is not among them. Here is what is published, and what is still open on November 1, 2026.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: What Is Confirmed and What Is Not?The structure of the November 1, 2026 system is settled, but six of the questions travellers ask most are still unanswered. Here is the line between the two, and where the missing answers would appear.
- What you are buyingTokyo, Kyoto, Osaka: Do Tax-Free Receipts Add Up in 2026?A multi-city trip spreads spending across many shops, and the minimum is counted per shop, per day. Here is what actually adds together from November 1, 2026, and how to plan a route around it.
- What you are buyingCold Medicine and Patches in Japan: What Changes in 2026?Medicine is bought to be used, and from November 1, 2026 you can start using it in Japan. The catch is the customs terminal, where a Red judgment asks for the goods. Here is how to handle both.
- What you are buyingBuying a Camera in Japan 2026: What Happens at the Register?A camera basket is a body, a lens and accessories that add up in one shop. From November 1, 2026 they count as one total, and a purchase of ¥1,000,000 or more adds a registration step. Here is the sequence.
- What you are buyingSupplements in Japan 2026: Do They Count as Food at the Till?Whether a supplement carries 8% or 10% is decided at the register, not by you. Either way it counts toward the ¥5,000 minimum from November 1, 2026. What differs is the refund, and that part is unannounced.
- What you are buyingBuying a Watch in Japan: Where Does the 1,000,000 Yen Line Bite?Watches are the category where the upper end matters more than the ¥5,000 minimum. A purchase of ¥1,000,000 or more needs serial numbers registered at the till. Here is what that changes on the day.