What has changed about travelling to Japan in 2026
Plenty of guides and blogs about Japan still explain rules that no longer apply, and some of this year’s changes directly affect what you will spend. Here is what has actually changed in 2026, with the exact date of each one so you can judge whether it catches you.
Reviewed on 2026-10-12. This information expires: confirm it close to your travel dates.
How you claim tax-free shopping has changed completely
Tax-freesince November 1, 2026
Until 31 October 2026, many stores deducted the tax directly at checkout. Since 1 November 2026 you pay the full price, tax included, in the store and claim the refund when you leave the country — through a procedure at the airport, at a tax-free terminal or on Visit Japan Web, before you check in your luggage. The requirement to keep consumables in sealed packaging is gone, along with the ¥500,000 limit that used to apply to them. Note: if you buy several items together on the same receipt, all of them must be present at the departure inspection, or you lose the refund for the entire receipt.
The departure tax has tripled
Feesstarting July 1, 2026
It went from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 per person per departure. It is included in the price of your flight or ferry ticket, not a separate payment at the airport. Children under 2 are exempt, as is air transit of under 24 hours on a single issued ticket — transferring by sea is not exempt. If you bought your ticket before 1 July 2026 with the departure date already set, you still pay ¥1,000; with an open date, or if you change the date, you pay ¥3,000.
New per-night hotel tourist taxes
Feesstarting March 2026
On March 1, 2026, Kyoto introduced a much higher per-night tourist tax than before, tiered by room price (up to ¥10,000/night at luxury hotels). Other cities such as Matsumoto also started charging similar taxes for the first time in 2026 — check whether this applies to the specific cities on your route before booking.
Tokyo moves from a flat ¥200 to 3% per night
Feesstarting April 1, 2027
Until 31 March 2027 Tokyo charges a flat amount per person per night: nothing under ¥10,000, ¥100 up to ¥15,000 and ¥200 above that. From 1 April 2027 it becomes 3% per person per night, with nights under ¥13,000 exempt, and it also reaches private short-term rentals, which were outside it until now. What counts is the date you stay, not the date you book. Tokyo only: every city with an accommodation tax has its own.
Which IC card you'll see on your route, and which to get on arrival
Paymentsthe shortage ended in March 2025
Japanese IC cards (Suica, PASMO, ICOCA, TOICA, manaca, SUGOCA, nimoca, Kitaca and the rest) have been mutually usable across almost the whole network since 2013, for trains and for shop payments alike; only the name changes by region. The chip shortage that left half of Japan without cards is over: since 1 March 2025 regular Suica and PASMO are sold from machines again, no paperwork. If you would rather have a visitor card, the Welcome Suica (28 days, no deposit) is still there, and since March 2025 there is a Welcome Suica Mobile valid 180 days, iPhone only. PASMO PASSPORT is no longer sold; its replacement is TOURIST PASMO. On phones, any iPhone from the 7 onwards works; Android needs a Japanese handset with Osaifu-Keitai, so an Android bought outside Japan will not do.
Sharp increase in visa fees (only if your country needs one)
Visastarting July 1, 2026
If your nationality needs a visa to enter Japan, fees multiplied on 1 July 2026: single entry went from about ¥3,000 to ¥15,000, and multiple entry from ¥6,000 to ¥30,000. The transit visa, which cost around ¥700, is no longer issued at all. What counts is the day the consulate accepts your application, not your travel date. If your country has a waiver for short tourist stays — Spain and most of Latin America do — none of this affects you.
JESTA exists as a law, not as a procedure
Visapassed in 2026, no start date
In 2026 Japan legislated an electronic travel authorisation along the lines of the US ESTA: the amendment passed the Diet on 29 May and was promulgated on 5 June as Act No. 32 of Reiwa 8. What it does not have is a start date — a later cabinet order will set that, with a deadline of 31 March 2029 — or a price. For a 2027 trip there is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay, and the pages already offering to process it cannot be processing something that does not exist.
The Japan Rail Pass price has gone up
JR Passstarting October 1, 2026
It went up on 1 October 2026, but only at designated agencies abroad: JR's official website is still selling at the old price for a period they have not specified. So right now the same pass costs ¥50,000 or ¥53,000 depending on where you buy it. The comparison below uses the website price, which is the cheaper one.
On 30 November most of the month falls away
SeasonNovember 2026
Of the 911 activities in the catalogue with a declared season, 182 are available in November, and 125 of them — three in four, across 77 destinations — have November as their last month. On 1 December the map drops to 129, the floor of the year, and two destinations close entirely: the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route and Hakusan. In exchange 74 activities open and 31 exist only this month. The hard date is midnight on 6 November: the crab season opening.
In January and February 656 things drop off the map
Seasonwinter 2026-27
The catalogue holds 911 activities with a declared season, and 711 of them, spread across 162 destinations, are shut in both January and February. December is the thinnest month of the year — 129 available against 338 in August — and 32 of the ones that drop out are flagged as the must-see of their destination. In exchange, 176 activities exist only in winter, across 93 destinations. Winter is not less Japan: it is a different one, and the destinations have to be chosen accordingly.
The Alpine Route closes on 30 November
Seasonclosed until April 2027
The Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route is one of four destinations in the catalogue that close entirely for part of the year: it runs from mid-April to 30 November and for the rest of the winter it does not exist. The 2027 dates were not published as of October 2026. The full traverse costs ¥10,940 per person and the JR Pass covers none of it. And there is a booking trap almost nobody mentions: the high-altitude bus is all-seated, so getting off at an intermediate stop means reserving the next departure all over again.
What it really costs to send your suitcase ahead
Transportfares revised on 1 October 2025
Sending a suitcase from one hotel to the next costs between ¥2,630 and ¥4,690 depending on size and regions, not "¥800 to ¥5,000" as it is usually put. Yamato charges by size — the sum of the three sides — and by region pair, and a normal travel suitcase falls into the 140 or the 160. Prices rose on 1 October 2025 and much of what is written out there still uses the old ones. Dropping the bag off yourself at a konbini takes ¥100 off.
Build your route with this already factored in
The planner accounts for these changes where they matter: the JR Pass comparison uses current prices, and the cost summary includes the taxes you will actually run into.
Open the planner