This is a translation of the Japanese original. The Japanese version is authoritative; figures follow Japanese tax law.
The International Tourist Tax (国際観光旅客税), commonly called the departure tax, is already ¥3,000 per departure from Japan[NTA No.7195]. From departures on or after 1 July 2026 it is three times the old ¥1,000. The tax is added to the price of your air or sea ticket, and the airline or shipping company pays it to the state. The old ¥1,000 rate survives only on tickets contracted before 1 July where the departure date was already fixed at that point[NTA Tourist Tax Q&A, Q19]. Open tickets and coupon tickets do not qualify, and a ticket whose departure date was changed on or after 1 July becomes ¥3,000. Children under 2 and transit passengers who leave within 24 hours of arrival are exempt. If you already hold a ticket, ask the airline whether the old rate applies.
The short answer: ¥3,000 per departure, and very few tickets keep the old rate
| Item | How it works now |
|---|---|
| Rate (departures on or after 1 July 2026) | ¥3,000 per departure |
| Rate (departures up to 30 June 2026) | ¥1,000 per departure |
| Legal basis | International Tourist Tax Act and Article 22 of the supplementary provisions of the FY2026 reform act |
| Tickets that stay at ¥1,000 | Tickets contracted before 1 July where the departure date was also fixed before 1 July |
| Tickets that become ¥3,000 | Open tickets and coupon tickets / tickets whose departure date was changed on or after 1 July / tickets whose carriage terms provide for collecting the tourist tax separately from the fare |
| How you pay | Added to the ticket price. The airline or shipping company collects it as a withholding agent and remits it |
| Who does not pay | Children under 2, transit passengers leaving within 24 hours of arrival, and eight other categories |
Sources: NTA Tax Answer No.7195[NTA]. The transitional measure is in the NTA "Q&A on the International Tourist Tax", Q19 and Q20[NTA]. Remittance: Japan Customs, "International Tourist Tax"[Customs].
The increase is already behind us. Every ticket bought from now on carries ¥3,000 whenever you fly. What you can still do is not to dodge the rise, but to check the rate on the booking you already hold and whether anyone in your party is exempt.
The tripling applies to departures from 1 July 2026
The International Tourist Tax is a national tax charged at a flat amount each time you leave Japan by ship or aircraft. It has applied to departures on or after 7 January 2019[NTA tourist tax portal]. It applies whatever the purpose of the trip, tourism, business, a family visit or study, and whatever your nationality. The rise to ¥3,000 is the first change of rate since the tax began[MOF, FY2026 outline].
The departure tax is collected on top of the price of the air or sea ticket. The airline or shipping company is the withholding agent and remits the tax by the end of the second month following the month of departure[Customs]. Many tickets do not show a separate "International Tourist Tax" line, so most passengers are carrying the tripled cost without noticing. Only where the tax cannot be added to a ticket price, such as a private jet, does the traveller pay Customs directly[NTA No.7195].
The transitional measure needs both the contract date and the departure date
The condition for keeping the old ¥1,000 rate is widely misread. It is not "any ticket bought by 30 June is ¥1,000". It covers only tickets where the contract of carriage was concluded before 1 July and the departure date was already fixed at that moment[NTA Tourist Tax Q&A, Q19]. On top of that, where the carriage terms provide for collecting the tourist tax separately from the fare, the transitional measure is not available at all.
Tickets that stay at ¥1,000
- Issued by 30 June 2026 with the departure date also fixed by that day
- Flown or sailed on that same ticket without changing the departure date
- Issued by a carrier whose terms do not itemise the tourist tax separately from the fare
Tickets that become ¥3,000
- Open tickets and coupon tickets, where no departure date was set at the time of contract
- Tickets whose departure date was changed on or after 1 July (for example moving a 3 July departure to 4 July)
- Tickets whose carriage terms provide for collecting the tourist tax separately from the fare
- Every ticket bought on or after 1 July
Source: NTA, "Q&A on the International Tourist Tax", Q20 (revised April 2026)[NTA]
Change the departure date and the new rate applies
Read this as "it does", not "it may". The NTA lists a change of departure date on or after 1 July as a case where the new rate applies. Shifting a ticket held at the old rate by a single day adds the ¥2,000 difference.
Before you rearrange a trip, ask the airline how the tourist tax will be handled. More useful than the amount itself is the habit of reading the breakdown on your ticket and your invoice. The tax dates for the year are listed on the tax calendar.
Ten categories of people pay no departure tax
Almost everyone leaving Japan is taxed, but the law sets out ten exemptions. The two that matter on a family trip and on a connection are children under 2 and departure within 24 hours of arrival.
| Exempt person | Note |
|---|---|
| Children under 2 | Age is judged on the departure date |
| Transit passengers who leave within 24 hours of entry | Connecting through Japan |
| Crew of a ship or aircraft | Pilots, cabin crew, seafarers and the like |
| People leaving on a government aircraft or vessel | Such as a government plane |
| People who, after departure, returned without calling at a foreign port because of weather or another unavoidable reason | Turned back |
| Passengers on an international vessel that called at Japan because of weather or another unavoidable reason | An unintended stop |
| People subject to deportation | A statutory exception |
| Diplomats and consular officers posted to Japan | Official travel only |
| State guests and persons of equivalent standing | Visiting at the invitation of the state |
| Members of the United States Forces and the United Nations Forces | Official travel only |
Sources: NTA Tax Answer No.7195, "Outline of the International Tourist Tax", exemptions section[NTA]; Japan Tourism Agency, "For those departing from Japan"[JTA]
Put the other way round, everyone aged 2 or over who leaves for tourism or business is taxed. A round trip still counts as one departure, so it is ¥3,000 per person.
A family of four on one overseas trip pays ¥12,000
- Departing on or after 1 July 2026: ¥3,000 × 4 = ¥12,000
- Had the tickets kept the old ¥1,000 rate: ¥1,000 × 4 = ¥4,000
- A difference of ¥8,000. Children under 2 are exempt, so they drop out of the count
Note: this is our own estimate, applying the ¥3,000 rate (NTA No.7195) to the number of travellers. It is not a worked example published by the NTA.
In money terms it is close to one family meal out, and it is small against the cost of the trip. But it falls on every departure, so it bites hardest on people who fly abroad several times a year. If you travel often for work, check that the tax is included in the ticket price on your expense claim.
The ¥3,000 flows into the Tourism Agency's ¥138.3 billion
The International Tourist Tax is earmarked for expanding and strengthening the tourism infrastructure needed to make Japan a leading tourism nation[MOF, outline of the tax]. Following the increase, the FY2026 budget of the Japan Tourism Agency is as follows.
| Item | FY2026 |
|---|---|
| Total Japan Tourism Agency budget | ¥138,345 million (2.39 times the previous year's ¥57,929 million) |
| Of which, projects funded by the International Tourist Tax | ¥130 billion |
| Of which, safe and secure overseas travel conditions for Japanese travellers | ¥17,490 million |
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, "Outline of the FY2026 budget of the Japan Tourism Agency", pages 1 and 69[JTA]
The law limits the uses to three fields. The revenue goes to measures against overtourism, attracting visitors from a wider range of countries and regions, and upgrading immigration procedures[JTA budget outline].
- Building a stress-free, comfortable travel environment
- Making information about Japan's varied attractions easier to find
- Raising satisfaction with experiences and stays that draw on local culture and nature
Japanese travellers pay the same ¥3,000. That makes it worth watching whether the budget carries a line for "safe and secure overseas travel conditions for Japanese travellers". Whether a budget 2.39 times the previous year's is actually spent as stated can be checked against next year's budget papers and the settled accounts. Taxes charged on accommodation are set out in our nationwide list of lodging taxes.
A further increase is officially under consideration
Nothing says ¥3,000 is the end of it. The Japan Tourism Agency's paper on expanding the tax puts the next step this way.
"Consideration will be given to reviewing the tax rate so that a conclusion can be reached as early as possible"[JTA, expansion of the tourist tax]. Three things are named as the premises: the need for revenue to strengthen tourism policy, how heavily the current increase weighs on passengers, and the practical burden on operators.
As at the time of writing, no official document gives a figure or a date. The next move will surface in the annual tax reform debate. The wider picture is in our guide to the 2026 tax reform.
From 1 November 2026, duty-free shopping changes too
The departure tax is not the only 2026 change touching travel to and from Japan. From 1 November, the consumption tax exemption for foreign visitors moves to a refund system[NTA, refund system]. You pay the tax-inclusive price in the shop, and the consumption tax is returned after Customs checks the goods on departure.
This looks like a foreigners-only matter, but people who have lived outside Japan for two years or more still qualify for the exemption. It affects shopping on a trip home, so it is worth reading how it works in our article on the duty-free refund system. It is also worth remembering that the departure tax and the refund procedure land on the same day at the airport.
Frequently asked questions about the departure tax
How much is the departure tax now?
It is ¥3,000 per departure. That has applied to departures on or after 1 July 2026. Departures up to 30 June 2026 were ¥1,000.
If I bought the ticket by June, does it stay at ¥1,000?
Only on conditions. The ¥1,000 rate applies solely to tickets contracted before 1 July where the departure date was also fixed at that point. Open tickets and coupon tickets with no departure date do not qualify. It is also ¥3,000 where the carriage terms provide for collecting the tourist tax separately from the fare.
What happens if I change the departure date on an old-rate ticket?
It becomes ¥3,000. The NTA states that the new rate applies where the departure date is changed on or after 1 July. Check with the airline before you make the change.
Do children and transit passengers pay?
Children under 2 are exempt. Transit passengers who leave within 24 hours of entering Japan are also exempt. Every ordinary traveller aged 2 or over is taxed.
Reference links (sources)
- NTA, Tax Answer No.7195, Outline of the International Tourist Tax - the ¥3,000 rate, the ten exemptions, how the tax is remitted
- NTA, Q&A on the International Tourist Tax (revised April 2026) - Q19 and Q20: the conditions for the transitional measure and the three cases that take the new rate
- Japan Customs, International Tourist Tax - the rate and the remittance deadline (end of the second month after departure)
- Ministry of Finance, Outline of the International Tourist Tax - the purpose of the tax and where the rate sits
- Ministry of Finance, Outline of the FY2026 tax reform - the rate increase and the date it takes effect
- Japan Tourism Agency, Outline of the FY2026 budget - the ¥138,345 million budget and the allocation of the ¥130 billion funded by the tax
- Japan Tourism Agency, Expansion of the International Tourist Tax to enhance tourism policy - the review of the rate now under consideration
- Japan Tourism Agency, For those departing from Japan - guidance for travellers and examples of exemptions
Note: this article is general information, not tax advice. For how the rate applies to a particular ticket or to a change of booking, check with your airline or shipping company or with a tax office.
