This page is written for English-speaking travellers going to Japan.
Stage 2 of 5Last checked August 24, 2026
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 29
What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does a ¥1,000,000 Cosmetics Haul Add a Step?¥1,000,000 or more adds registration of a serial number or other ID. Whether cosmetics count per item or per receipt is not set out; ask at the till.- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Do Free Samples Count Toward the ¥5,000 Minimum?Cosmetics count at ¥5,000 before tax per buyer, per shop, per day, built from what was paid. Sachets and novelties handed over free carry no price.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Is the ¥5,000 Line Judged on the Discounted Price?Cosmetics count at ¥5,000 before tax per buyer, shop and day, on what was paid. A set discount lowers the total, so tags above the line can fall below.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does a Luxury Bag Over ¥1,000,000 Need an Extra Step?A bag of ¥1,000,000 or more needs a serial number or similar details registered, and from November 1, 2026 the tax returns only after the customs check.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: How Is the ¥5,000 Line Counted on a Bulk Buy of Diapers and Formula?Diapers and formula bought in quantity are counted as 1 total: everything 1 buyer pays 1 shop for on 1 trading date, measured against ¥5,000 before tax. From November 1, 2026 the 2 former categories are counted together, so packs, tins and the rest of the basket form a single figure. The unit doing the counting is the buyer in the passport, which makes a purchase for a baby the purchase of whichever adult paid for it.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Do Beauty Devices Reach the ¥5,000 Refund Line?A dryer or facial device is general goods: the line is ¥5,000 before tax for 1 buyer, 1 shop, 1 trading date, and from November 1, 2026 spare heads join it.
- What you are buyingCosmetics in Japan 2026: What Changes for a Big Haul?Cosmetics gain the most from the November 1, 2026 change. The ¥500,000 daily cap goes, the sealed bag goes, and cosmetics are counted together with everything else bought in the same shop on the same day.
- 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 buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does a Figure's Box Count Toward the ¥5,000 Line?A boxed figure is measured by the amount the shop charged, which has to reach ¥5,000 or more before tax for one buyer at one shop on one trading date. The box is part of what that amount paid for, so a shelf tag of ¥5,500 is the tag that converts to ¥5,000 before tax. From November 1, 2026 the two former categories stop being told apart and the tax returns after a customs confirmation at departure.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does a Coat You Wear Before You Fly Still Count at ¥5,000?Putting a purchase on before the flight does not sit against the published condition, because that condition names the buyer as the person the goods leave Japan with, within 90 days of the purchase date. The amount was settled at the till — ¥5,000 or more before tax at one shop on one trading date — and the single thing wearing the item changes is where it sits when a Red result asks for the goods.
- What you are buyingGroup Tour Shopping and Japan Tax-Free in 2026A tour leader can interpret, hurry the schedule and choose the stops. What decides whose purchase it is stays the passport handed across the counter at ¥5,000 before tax.
- What you are buyingCold Medicine and Patches in Japan: What Changes in 2026?From November 1, 2026 a drugstore purchase of ¥5,000 before tax no longer travels sealed. The open question is what a departure terminal accepts once a box has been opened.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does a Skincare Set Reach the ¥5,000 Line?A cleanser, a toner and a cream picked off three shelves are measured as one pre-tax figure at one shop on one date. The arrangement counts money rather than pieces, so one item can qualify and five can fall short.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Can You Open the Package Before You Fly?From November 1, 2026 the special sealed packaging leaves the tax-free system in Japan, so a purchase can be opened during the trip. What the departure check reads is the passport and whether the goods leave Japan with the buyer.
- What you are buyingJapan Tax-Free 2026: Do Snacks and Sweets Count Toward ¥5,000?Snacks, sweets and soft drinks are food, and food in Japan carries the reduced 8% consumption tax. How reduced-rate goods are handled under the refund is unannounced as of August 19, 2026, so this page separates what is settled from what is not.
- 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 on Stationery and Small Goods: One Total in 2026?Small goods are decided by the total of the purchase, not by the price on each item. From November 1, 2026 stationery, small variety goods and a bag of sweets bought in one shop on one day are read as a single figure against the ¥5,000 line.
- 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 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.
Shops and chains 1
Shopping districts 7
Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: What Changes for Kawaramachi Shoppers on November 1?From November 1, 2026, Kawaramachi shoppers pay the tax-included price; tax is refunded after customs confirms departure. Unannounced items are marked.- Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: Do 3 Cosmetics Floors Add Up to ¥5,000?Tax-free needs ¥5,000 before tax per buyer, shop and day; receipts from different shops do not combine, so three cosmetics floors can each fall short.
- Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: Does Shopping Inside Hakata Station Add Up to ¥5,000?From November 1, 2026, shopping inside Hakata Station counts per store, per day: ¥5,000 before tax at one shop. Receipts from other shops do not add up.
- Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: How Is ¥5,000 Counted Across Akihabara Chains and Small Shops?A day in Akihabara is read through 3 labels: 1 buyer, 1 shop, 1 trading date, with each shop measured on its own against ¥5,000 before tax. From November 1, 2026 everything 1 buyer pays 1 shop for on a single date forms one figure. What is treated as 1 shop — an annex, a floor let to another trader, 2 counters inside 1 operator — is not written into the published conditions as of August 19, 2026, so the question belongs at the till before paying.
- Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: How Do You Reach ¥5,000 Per Shop in Shinsaibashi?One arcade, one roof, and a row of separate counts underneath it. The line is ¥5,000 before tax for one buyer in one shop on one day, and what is treated as one shop is not set out in the published conditions as of August 19, 2026.
- Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: How Do You Reach ¥5,000 Per Shop in Shinjuku?Shinjuku puts many shops within a short walk, but the tax-free count stays per buyer, per shop, per day. How a building holding many shops is divided into shops is not written into the published conditions as of August 19, 2026, so it is asked at the shop.
- Shopping districtsJapan Tax-Free 2026: Is a Whole Mall Counted as One Shop?The ¥5,000 minimum is counted per shop, but you are standing in a building with dozens of them. Whether the building counts as one is a question for its counter, and asking before you buy is what decides it.