🇯🇵Japan

Decision flow

Entry depends on your nationality, your travel document and your purpose of stay. Work down this hierarchy:

1. Check visa-free status. Japan has visa-exemption arrangements with 74 countries and regions. Check the length as well as the eligibility: the permission granted on landing is 90 days for most, but 15 days for Indonesia and Thailand and 30 days for Brunei and Qatar.
2. Check the biometric and technical passport conditions. Some visa-free countries have extra requirements: Malaysia, Indonesia and Qatar need ICAO-standard biometric passports, and Indonesia and Qatar also require prior passport registration at a Japanese diplomatic mission. Failing this means refusal of entry at the airport.
3. Check e-Visa eligibility. Travelers from visa-required countries - India, China, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia - should check the JAPAN eVISA portal. It covers a single tourist entry up to 90 days (15 or 30 days for some nationalities), filed either directly online for residents of selected countries or through accredited agencies such as VFS Global.
4. Otherwise, a classic visa. With neither visa-free access nor e-Visa support - Russia, for instance - apply in person at the relevant embassy with an invitation letter, proof of funds and a detailed itinerary.
5. Carry proof of onward travel. Every visa-free traveler and tourist visa holder must show a return ticket or a ticket to a third country within the permitted stay, both at check-in and at immigration.

Entry formalities applicable to everyone

Everything runs through Visit Japan Web - the free, official, web-only interface at vjw.digital.go.jp, run by Japan's Digital Agency.

• There is no legal deadline in hours, but you must finish registration and generate the QR codes before immigration processing begins after landing. Register 24 to 48 hours before departure.
• Skip the system and you fill in paper cards handed out on board.
• One code, not two. Since 25 January 2024 the separate immigration and customs QR codes are unified into a single 2D code, scanned at self-service kiosks along with your passport, fingerprints and a facial photo.

Duty-free limits and financial restrictions valid as of 15 May 2026:

What matters in practice

Traveler experience and immigration-office reports point to four things that cause delays or refusal:

• Substitute entry is gone. The Digital Agency removed it from Visit Japan Web on 2 June 2025. Every adult needs their own registered account; grouping is allowed only for children or people needing assistance.
• Families need individual QR codes. Per r/JapanTravelTips (May 2026), the common mistake is assuming one shared account produces one code for the family. Each person passes the immigration counter and the customs scanner with their own code - screenshots on a single phone are fine, but the codes must differ.
• Passport scanning glitches are usually reflections on the laminated page. Photograph it under direct light without shadows, or type the data in manually, which is fully equivalent.
• Beware fake apps. Travelers report app-store scams such as "Visit Japan Web Info". Visit Japan Web is a browser service at vjw.digital.go.jp and it is free - any demand for a registration fee means a fraudulent site.

• Cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine are banned. Sudafed and its equivalents are illegal to bring in, as are Adderall and other stimulants, and this is prosecuted as drug importation rather than waved through.
• Larger quantities of ordinary prescriptions need a Yakkan Shoumei import certificate, applied for before you travel. A month's supply of most things is fine; more than that is not.
• The allowance is 200 cigarettes, three 760 ml bottles of alcohol and JPY 200,000 of other goods. Duty-free purchases made in Japan count against it if you re-enter.
• JPY 1,000,000 or more in cash must be declared, counting foreign currency at its yen value.
• Meat products are prohibited, including the vacuum-packed kind, and the fine for an undeclared sausage is real. Fresh fruit needs a phytosanitary certificate.

The easy part

• No vaccination is required to enter Japan.
• Neither malaria nor dengue is present.
• Tap water is drinkable across the whole country and meets strict standards.

The medication rules, which are the real risk

Japan enforces its anti-stimulant law more strictly than almost anywhere, and the penalty is arrest rather than a fine. The FCDO records that foreign nationals have been detained and deported for carrying medicines that are unremarkable at home.

Banned outright, with no permit route:

• Amphetamine-based stimulants - Adderall and Vyvanse among them. A valid prescription from your own doctor changes nothing: import is prohibited under all circumstances, and there is no certificate that makes it legal.

Prohibited over a threshold, and commonly carried by accident:

• Cold, sinus and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine - Sudafed, Actifed, Vicks inhalers.
• Over-the-counter painkillers containing codeine.

Controlled, but with a route:

• Methylphenidate - Ritalin, Concerta - is handled as a psychotropic rather than a banned stimulant, and there is a permit process for it. The thresholds are tight and they change. If you take it, check the current Ministry of Health rules and apply well before departure; do not assume either that it is fine or that it is banned.

How much you may bring without a certificate

Above those limits you need a Yunyu Kakunin-sho - the import certificate formerly called the Yakkan Shoumei - applied for online in advance. It is free, but it is not instant, so it is not something to start the week you fly.

Carry everything in its original packaging with the prescription, whatever the quantity.

Where to be treated

• Tokyo - St. Luke's International Hospital (Chuo-ku), Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital (Shibuya-ku).
• Kyoto - Kyoto University Hospital.
• Osaka - Osaka University Hospital.

The ambulance is free; the hospital is not. Carry insurance that covers treatment.

Accommodation

Choosing the neighbourhood for the first nights fundamentally affects airport-transfer logistics and your first contact with the city.

Recommended Tokyo neighbourhoods

• Ueno and Asakusa (best for: budget, historic atmosphere, Narita transfers): Ueno has a direct Keisei Skyliner link from Narita (36 minutes). The area offers cheaper business hotels and hostels. Indicative mid-range price: 10,000–18,000 JPY per room/night.
• Shinjuku and Shibuya (best for: nightlife, shopping, transport hubs): buzzing centres with countless restaurants and direct Narita Express (NEX) trains. Shinjuku is the ideal base for trips to Hakone or Fujisawa. Indicative price: 18,000–35,000 JPY per room/night.
• Chiyoda / Tokyo Station (best for: premium travel, families, Shinkansen transit): a calm, extremely clean district with luxury hotels within walking distance of the main station. Indicative price: 30,000–60,000 JPY per room/night.

Recommended Kyoto neighbourhoods

• Shimogyo (around Kyoto Station): the best choice for fast Shinkansen arrival and immediate access to bus and train lines across the city.
• Kawaramachi / Gion: the historic centre, ideal for walking to the main temples and evening strolls. Traditional ryokan stays here often exceed 50,000 JPY per night.

Recommended Osaka neighbourhoods

• Namba / Shinsaibashi (Minami): Osaka's southern centre, famous for its food scene (Dotonbori) and direct trains from Kansai airport (Nankai Rapi:t / Airport Express).
• Umeda (Kita): the northern business centre with modern architecture and excellent JR connections.

Municipal accommodation taxes

Taxes are paid on site at check-in, in cash or by card, even when the stay was fully prepaid online via Booking.com or Agoda.

• Kyoto (full revision from 1 March 2026): a new five-tier tax per person per night based on the net room price:
  • Room under 6,000 JPY: tax 200 JPY.
  • Room 6,000–19,999 JPY: tax 400 JPY.
  • Room 20,000–49,999 JPY: tax 1,000 JPY.
  • Room 50,000–99,999 JPY: tax 4,000 JPY.
  • Room 100,000 JPY and above: tax 10,000 JPY.
• Osaka (revised from 1 September 2025): the exemption threshold dropped from 7,000 to 5,000 JPY:
  • Room under 5,000 JPY: exempt.
  • Room 5,000–14,999 JPY: tax 200 JPY.
  • Room 15,000–19,999 JPY: tax 400 JPY.
  • Room 20,000 JPY and above: tax 500 JPY.
• Tokyo: the current rate is 100 JPY for stays priced 10,000–14,999 JPY and 200 JPY above 15,000 JPY. From 1 April 2027 an approved reform introduces a flat 3% accommodation tax.

Usual check-in practices

The Hotel Business Act obliges hosts to photocopy the passport of every foreign guest without permanent residence in Japan. Refusing to hand over the passport for copying entitles the host to cancel the booking immediately without compensation. The standard check-in time (usually 15:00) is strictly observed; free early check-in is granted only exceptionally.

Which format

For a modern, carrier-unlocked phone, buy a data eSIM before you fly. It installs at home, activates when the plane lands and the phone finds the partner network, and needs no counter, no queue and no paperwork.

A physical SIM is for an older or carrier-locked handset, and Pocket Wi-Fi - a rented portable hotspot - is worth it for a family or a group sharing one connection across several devices.

Saily plans for Japan

Registration - the rule that catches people out

Japanese law requires identity registration for voice services, not for data. So:

• A data-only eSIM or SIM: no passport, no registration, no delay.
• A voice SIM with a Japanese phone number: passport registration is required, which is why providers such as Mobal ask for it and why those cards take longer to set up.

Unless you specifically need a Japanese phone number, data-only is the simpler product.

Where to collect a physical SIM or Pocket Wi-Fi

• Narita - pickup counters in the arrivals halls of Terminals 1 and 2.
• Haneda - the counters are in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall, just past customs.
• In the city - BIC Camera and Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, Shinjuku and the other main districts sell data SIMs off the shelf, without registration, usually cheaper than the airport.

Short verdict

Buy a Saily data eSIM before departure unless you need a Japanese number or your phone is locked. It costs little, skips the counter entirely, and has you navigating from the moment you clear customs.

Sockets in Japan are Type A and B at 100 V - the lowest mains voltage anywhere - and the grid runs at 50 Hz in the east and 60 Hz in the west.

• Most sockets take two flat pins and nothing else. Type B outlets with an earth hole exist, but a great many Japanese homes and older hotels have unearthed Type A only.
• An American plug fits straight in. Everyone else needs an adapter, and the flat two-pin shape is the same one used in the United States, Canada and Taiwan.
• 100 V is gentler than it sounds. Chargers marked 100-240 V work normally. A 120 V American appliance runs slightly weakly rather than failing; a 230 V European one will not work properly at all.
• The frequency split is real but rarely matters. Tokyo and everything east of the Fuji River is 50 Hz, Osaka and the west 60 Hz. It affects motors and clocks, not electronics.
• Hotel bathrooms often have a 100 V shaver socket rated for very little current - not somewhere to charge a laptop.

Local rules and cultural differences

While in Japan you must respect local ordinances and unwritten social norms whose violation can carry fines:

• Street smoking ban: smoking on the street, vapes and heated tobacco included, is strictly regulated. Osaka's citywide ban took effect on 27 January 2025, covering roads, parks and plazas outside designated smoking zones, with a 1,000 JPY fine enforced by patrols. In Tokyo (especially Chiyoda, Shibuya and Shinjuku wards) street smoking draws an immediate on-the-spot fine of 2,000 JPY.
• Public drinking restrictions: since 1 October 2024, drinking alcohol outdoors in designated parts of Shibuya Ward is banned year-round from 18:00 to 05:00. The ordinance carries no fine or legal penalty - it works through patrols and being asked to stop - but do not treat that as permission.
• Gion photography ban (Kyoto): photographing geisha and maiko is prohibited on the designated private streets of Gion, with a fine of up to 10,000 JPY. It is a rule about those specific streets, not a blanket ban across Kyoto or all of Gion - the public thoroughfares are not covered.
• Nara deer: the deer have been designated national natural monuments since 1957, so they are protected as cultural property rather than as ordinary animals. Causing serious injury or death to one carries up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 1,000,000 JPY under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. Feed them only the crackers sold on site.
• Shared bikes and cycling rules: rented shared bikes (e.g. via the Luup app) follow the same road rules as motor vehicles. Running red lights, riding on footpaths outside permitted zones or phoning while riding are strictly fined.
• Invalid driving permits: Japan does not recognize international driving permits issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention. Driving requires an international permit under the 1949 Geneva Convention. Driving on an invalid permit is treated as driving without a licence, with risk of immediate arrest.

Everyday practical information

• Power sockets: exclusively type A (two flat parallel pins) and marginally type B (with an earth pin). Mains voltage is only 100 V (vs 230 V in Europe); frequency is 50 Hz in eastern Japan (Tokyo) and 60 Hz in western Japan (Osaka). European appliances need an adapter, and high-power devices (e.g. hair dryers) may run noticeably weaker due to the low voltage.
• Time zone: Japan Standard Time (JST) is UTC+9. Japan has no daylight saving.
• Opening hours: convenience store chains (7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart) run 24/7. Standard department stores open 10:00–20:00 or 21:00.
• No public bins: Japanese city streets have no rubbish bins. Pedestrians carry their rubbish back to the hotel. The only exception is bottle/can bins right next to vending machines - dumping general waste in them is considered a serious offence and fined 2,000 JPY for littering in Shibuya Ward.

Money and payments

Japan remains a strongly cash-based economy, despite the growth of digital payments, and the FCDO makes the same point: foreign card acceptance is more limited than visitors expect. Cash is strictly required at temples and shrines, in traditional ramen restaurants (with ticket vending machines), for topping up IC cards at machines and in smaller shops outside the main metropolises. ATM withdrawals with foreign cards carry specific limits and fees:

The DCC trap (Dynamic Currency Conversion)

When paying by card at terminals and withdrawing from ATMs, the system often offers to settle the transaction in your card's home currency instead of the local currency (JPY). Always strictly refuse and choose payment/withdrawal in JPY. Choosing the home currency activates an unfavourable DCC rate whose markup typically runs 4% to 5% above the Visa/Mastercard association rate.

Tipping

Tipping does not exist in Japan and is considered insulting or inappropriate. Attempting to leave cash on a restaurant table will result in staff chasing you down the street to return it.

For the optimal transport choice by traveler profile:

Get an IC card before anything else. Urban transit in Tokyo and the other metropolises is run by several independent operators (JR East, Tokyo Metro, Toei Subway and private railways), and a contactless IC card is the cheapest and fastest way through the gates whoever runs the line.

• Standard Suica and PASMO - available again from ticket machines at most Tokyo stations since March 2025, after the chip shortage. A refundable 500 JPY deposit applies.
• Welcome Suica and Tourist PASMO - deposit-free tourist versions valid for 28 days. Tourist PASMO launched 20 May 2026 as the replacement for the discontinued PASMO Passport. Neither refunds unused balance.
• iPhone: skip the physical card. Add a transit card to Apple Wallet and Express Mode activates automatically - you tap the phone at the gates without unlocking or Face ID, even with a dead battery. The Welcome Suica Mobile app launched for iOS on 6 March 2025.
• Android bought outside Japan: buy the physical card. Foreign Android devices lack the FeliCa hardware chip - the Osaifu-Keitai standard Japanese gates require - so the integration is technically unavailable.

The apps that matter, on iOS and Android:

• Google Maps - the most accurate navigation for Japanese public transport. It shows the exact departure platform number, the fare, and the best subway car to board for a quick transfer.
• Japan Travel by NAVITIME - a journey planner built for foreign tourists, able to filter connections by the network passes you hold, such as the JR Pass.
• GO - the dominant local app for hailing an official licensed taxi at a fixed price.
• SmartEX - the official app for booking Shinkansen tickets on the Tokaido/Sanyo/Kyushu line (Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka), pairable directly with the IC card registered in your phone. Under rules effective July 2025 a free oversized-baggage seat reservation is mandatory on Shinkansen when the sum of three dimensions is 160–250 cm; boarding without one costs 1,000 JPY.

A 1949-convention permit or nothing: this is the country where the paperwork genuinely stops people driving.

• Only the 1949 Geneva permit is valid. Licences from Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco, Slovenia, Estonia and Taiwan cannot use one - they need an official Japanese translation from JAF or their embassy, arranged in advance.
• Expressway tolls are high. Tokyo to Osaka costs more than the train, which is why the expressway passes sold to visitors with an ETC card exist and are worth checking.
• The alcohol limit is 0.03 %, enforced as zero tolerance. Penalties extend to the passengers who let a driver drink and to the bar that served them.
• Traffic drives on the left and the car is right-hand drive, which catches drivers from continental Europe and the Americas at every junction for the first hour.
• The cities are the wrong place for a car. Parking is scarce, expensive and reserved; a car earns its keep in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kyushu and the mountains, not in Tokyo.

What the risk actually is

Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, and nothing here contradicts that. But there is one well-documented exception, and the FCDO is specific about it.

Nightlife districts

The FCDO reports increased drink spiking and credit-card fraud, with victims losing anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of pounds. Japanese police name four Tokyo districts: Kabukicho, Roppongi, Shibuya and Ikebukuro.

• Most British victims were targeted in Kabukicho, in Shinjuku.
• The pattern is always the same: a street tout - a kyakuhiki - who speaks good English, offers cheap drinks or free entry, and walks you to a bar you did not choose. Inside, the drink is spiked and the card is run for far more than you agreed.
• The rule that covers it: never follow anyone who approaches you in the street. Pick your own bar and walk in on your own.
• Disputes over the bill can go badly wrong for you. The FCDO records British nationals arrested after arguments with bar staff and doormen over excessive bills. Check the menu and the prices before ordering, and confirm any entry fee at the door.

Fake monks

Men in monks' robes work the tourist areas of Tokyo and Kyoto, pressing an amulet or bracelet on you as a gift and then demanding a donation of thousands of yen. Genuine monks do not collect money from tourists in the street. Do not take the object.

Areas to be a bit more alert

Kabukicho in Tokyo and Kamagasaki in Osaka are worth extra attention late at night. This is not about physical danger - it is about who approaches you and why.

Emergency numbers

The language gap is the real problem, not the response. Emergency services in Japan are fast and competent, and they work in Japanese. If you cannot make yourself understood, call the Japan Visitor Hotline and let them relay it.

What it costs

Calling an ambulance and travelling in it are free - there is no charge for the 119 call or the ride. The treatment at the hospital is not free, and Japanese hospitals expect payment. Travel insurance covering medical costs is not optional here.

See the Health section for hospitals with English-speaking staff, and for Japan's unusually strict rules on bringing in medication.

Who answers in English

Japan's emergency lines are answered in Japanese, which is the single thing worth knowing before you need one. The English-language routes exist and are good, but you have to know their numbers.

The Japan Visitor Hotline is the number to save. It is run by the national tourism organisation, it is staffed around the clock, and it covers accidents, sudden illness and disasters as well as ordinary travel questions - so it works as an interpreter into the emergency system rather than a substitute for it.

Call 119 or 110 first if someone is in danger. The hotline is for the part that comes after: finding a hospital that will take you, explaining what happened, understanding what you are being asked to sign.

The alerts worth having on your phone

Safety Tips is the app the Japan Tourism Agency publishes for foreign visitors, and it is the practical answer to a country where the official warnings are broadcast in Japanese. It pushes:

• earthquake early warnings and tsunami warnings
• special weather warnings and heatstroke alerts
• volcanic eruption warnings
• evacuation information for the area you are standing in

It is free, works in 14 languages including English, and needs nothing more than a data connection - which is one more reason to sort out a SIM or eSIM at the airport rather than the next day.

The Japan Meteorological Agency publishes the underlying warnings in English at jma.go.jp, including aftershock and tsunami information, and is what to check when an alert has already gone off and you want to know what happens next.

What an early warning actually gives you

An earthquake early warning is issued from the first tremors detected at the epicentre, so it reaches a phone somewhere between a few seconds and a minute before the shaking does. That is time to move away from windows, get under a desk or table and stay there - not time to get down a staircase. Everything after the shaking follows the same order every time: check for fire, open a door so it cannot jam shut, and wait for instructions rather than heading outside into falling glass.

The order that works

1. Report it at a koban. These small police boxes are on street corners in every city and are staffed around the clock; a local police station will also do. Ask for a report of the theft or loss - this is the document everything else hangs off.
2. Tell your hotel. Front desk staff deal with this regularly, and having someone who can phone the police station or the embassy in Japanese turns an afternoon into twenty minutes.
3. Cancel and replace. Contact your card issuers and your airline for tickets. For the passport, contact your own country's embassy or consulate in Japan - they will ask for the police report and for photographs.

Insurance claims need the same report, whether the loss was theft, an accident or a hospital admission, so ask for it even when you do not expect to claim. Japan has very low rates of street crime and lost property is often handed in, but the paperwork is what makes a replacement possible, and it is easier to obtain on the day than a week later from another city.