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Shopping and tax-free

The shopping streets from the itineraries, and how tax-free works with a passport.

How tax-free shopping works in Japan

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A tourist does not pay Japanese consumption tax on what they take out of the country. The tax is 10% on most goods and 8% on food and drink.

The purchase has to be at least ¥5,000 before tax, in the same shop on the same day, and you bring the passport itself. A photo is not accepted.

From 1 November 2026 the system is new. You pay the full price in the shop and get the tax back after a check at the airport.

What counts is the day of purchase, not the day you fly. Anything bought up to 31 October stays under the old system, with the sealed bag, even if you fly home in November.

How it works

  1. In the shop you show the passport and pay the full price, tax included. The shop explains how the money comes back, for example to your credit card.
  2. Keep every item from every receipt until you leave Japan. You have 90 days from the purchase.
  3. At the airport, before check-in, scan the passport at a Tax-Free kiosk in the departures hall. At Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha you can also do it through Visit Japan Web on your phone.
  4. Green: you are done. Red: go to the customs counter with the goods.
  5. After customs approves, the shop, or a company that works with it, refunds the tax. The law does not set a deadline, so ask at the till when, and whether there is a fee. At Daimaru, for example, the fee is up to 2.3% of the pre-tax purchase amount.

What else changes: no more sealed bag, and no separation between food and clothes. You may use a garment or a camera in Japan. Food or cosmetics that have been opened get no refund.

Mistakes that cost money

  • Checking the suitcase before the check. A checked bag does not come back, and the refund is lost. Sake and cosmetics have to go in the hold, so the Tax-Free kiosk comes first and check-in after.
  • Eating one box from a receipt. The check is per receipt: one item missing, and there is no refund on the whole receipt. Buy what you plan to eat in Japan on a separate receipt.
  • Arriving at the airport at the usual time. A red result means a customs check, and nobody compensates you for a missed flight.
  • Entering Japan through an automated gate without a stamp in the passport. Without an entry stamp the shop cannot sell tax-free, so ask an immigration officer for a stamp while you are still at the airport.
  • Confusing Tax-Free in the city with Duty Free at the airport. The Duty Free shops after security are a different track, and the rules here do not apply to them.

Checked on 15 September 2026 and updated on 1 November 2026 against the official sources:Japan Tourism Agency, the new system · Japan Tourism Agency, questions and answers · National Tax Agency, questions and answers on the refund system · Japan Customs · Daimaru Kyoto, the refund fee

13 shopping streets and department stores in 3 cities. Every place that comes from an itinerary links to its full day.

Tokyo

9 shopping streets and department stores

Kyoto

2 shopping streets and department stores

Kyoto · Tax-free

Shijo-dori department stores, Kyoto

Kyoto's main street, with the two large department stores: Daimaru and Takashimaya, both with a tax-free counter. From 1 November 2026 you pay the full price, and the tax goes back to your credit card after customs approves it at the airport. Daimaru deducts a fee of up to 2.3 percent of the pre-tax purchase amount from the refund, so you get back less than the full 10 percent. The counter at Daimaru is on floor 8. Take your passport, not a photo of it.

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Osaka

2 shopping streets and department stores
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