Procedures of Passenger Clearance

Summary

As a visitor to Japan you are required to perform certain Customs procedures which are an important part of entry into and departure from the country. This information is prepared by Japan Customs to assist foreign visitors coming to Japan by providing information about Customs regulations and procedures. The following knowledge will be helpful during Customs examination.

If you have any question, please feel free to ask a Customs officer.

Declaration

1. All passengers entering Japan are required to declare about your belongings.
   If you have any unaccompanied articles, please submit customs declaration form in duplicate.
   In addition, Japan Customs recommends submitting declarations electronically via the “Visit Japan Web”.
   Customs declaration forms are available on the plane, the ship, or at Customs.
   For further details about electronic declaration, please see the website below.
   ・Declaration of Accompanied Articles and Unaccompanied Articles : Japan Customs
   ・The Electronic Customs Declaration Gates (e-Gates) are available at 7 International Airports : Japan Customs
2. The green and red channel system
   Please choose either the green channel or the red channel.
1. The green channel is for passengers who have no goods subject to duty and/or tax and goods not prohibited or restricted for import.
2. The red channel is for all other passengers.

*Please pay duties and/or taxes at the bank in the Customs inspection zone.

When the value of the dutiable goods exceeds three hundred thousand yen (300,000yen), Customs procedures for commercial cargo are required.

Exemption

Personal effects and unaccompanied baggage for personal use are free of duty and/or tax within the allowance specified below. (As for rice, the limit is 100KG a year.) If you have both personal effects and unaccompanied baggage, please consider them together and refer to the allowance.

-Personal Effects and Professional Equipment

Clothes, toiletries, and other personal effects for your personal use, as well as portable professional equipment that will be used during your stay in Japan, are all free of duty and/or tax, if they are considered quantitatively appropriate and are not for sale.

-Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco Products, Perfume, etc

Moreover, allowances will be made for certain other articles within the limits specified below.

-Household Effects (including Automobiles)

If you are to move to Japan and to stay for more than one year, your or your family's household effects being used by the members of your family may be imported free of duty and/or tax within the limit deemed reasonable.
Such household effects may include automobiles, boats, and other vehicles, provided that a registration certificates or sales receipts are presented to prove that the automobiles are used and that the boats have been in use for more than one year prior to its arrival in Japan.
Automobiles and other vehicles may be imported temporarily free of duty and/or tax provided they are subsequently exported.

(Notes)
*1 Commodities and commercial samples are subject to duty and/or tax since they are not regarded as being for personal use.
*2 In the case of applying duty-free allowance for rice, please submit a "Report for the Import of Rice" to the Local Food Office or other competent organization, then submit one of the copies which are returned to you to the Customs Office.
*3 For additional information of the new exemption of tobacco, please see the brochure(Announcement[PDF:464KB]).

Simplified Customs Duty and Tax Rates

When your belongings exceed the limit of the allowances, the following simplified Customs duty and tax rates will be applied, in most cases, to that amount which is in excess.

Unaccompanied Baggage

When you have unaccompanied baggage, two copies of written declaration forms are required to submit at the time of your entry, one of which will be returned to you with the seal of certification by a Customs officer. Such declaration is necessary to obtain duty and/or tax exemption status.
Such unaccompanied baggage must be in your custody within six months after your arrival. The sealed declaration must be presented at the time of clearance of the unaccompanied goods.
If baggage is imported by mail, you are required to list this unaccompanied baggage on your declaration, and you should identify the parcel by placing the words "unaccompanied baggage" on the parcel.

Currency

If you are carrying cash or other means of payment exceeding 1 million yen （*0.1 million JPY in a case that you are bound for North Korea）, you are required to declare to Customs. Please ask a Customs officer at a seaport/ airport for a blank form. (In case of import of gold bullion (regardless of its purity or weight), please be aware of duty-free/tax-free allowance.)

Form:DECLARATION OF CARRYING OF MEANS OF PAYMENT,ETC(PDF)
(This form is different from “Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles” described below.)

To whom depart or enter Japan with currency and coins or other means of payment exceeding 1 million JPY.
〔English [pdf:210kb]〕

To whom depart Japan for North Korea with currency and coins or other means of payment, etc exceeding 0.1 million JPY!
〔English [pdf:216kb]〕 ／〔Korean [pdf:229kb]〕

What you have to declare

1. Following items in excess of 1 million yen (or their equivalent):
   *0.1 million JPY in a case that you are bound for North Korea
   • Cash(including foreign currency)
   • Checks
   • Travelers checks
   • Promissory notes
   • Securities
2. Gold bullion (not less than 90% purity) exceeding 1kg.

Prohibited Articles

The following articles are prohibited from entry by law:

1. Heroin, cocaine, MDMA, opium, cannabis, stimulants, psychotropic substances, and other narcotic drugs (excluding those designated by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Ordinance);
2. Firearms (pistols, etc.), ammunition (bullets) thereof, and pistol parts;
3. Explosives (dynamite, gunpowder, etc.) ;
4. Precursor materials for chemical weapons;
5. Counterfeit, altered, or imitation coins, paper money, bank notes, or securities, and forged credit cards;
6. Books, drawings, carvings, and any other article which may harm public safety or morals (obscene or immoral materials, e.g., pornography);
7. Child pornography; and
8. Articles which infringe upon intellectual property rights.

Restricted Articles

Some other goods are restricted by other laws and regulations. When you import such goods, permits and approval under laws and regulations other than the Customs Law are required, or the goods must be examined by a government agency, as the case may be.

Major restricted items are listed below:

1. Plants and animals must be presented to the plant or animal quarantine officer for quarantine inspection prior to Customs examination.
2. There are quantity restrictions on the import of medicine and cosmetics.
   (e.g., for pharmaceutical products: amount for use for a period of 2 months; quasi-drugs: amount for use for a period of 2 months; cosmetics: 24 applications) Web-site of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare *Click here for details.
3. No person shall bring hunting guns, air guns, swords, etc. into Japan without a permit to possess.

Purchase of Tax-Free Goods

You are required to export the tax-free goods. Do not transfer or consume the tax-free goods in Japan.
When leaving Japan, at the airport or seaport of departure,

1. if you do not have “Record of purchase slip”, please present your passport at customs.
2. if you have “Record of purchase slip(s)”, please submit the record of purchase slip(s) at customs.

Customs inspect your possession of the tax-free goods as necessary.
If you DO NOT EXPORT the tax-free goods, you have to pay the consumption tax at customs.

Please refer to the website of National Tax Agency for more detail.
https://www.nta.go.jp/publication/pamph/shohi/menzei/index.htm