Japan's rules for tourists in 2026: the laws and local rules visitors actually get caught by, from customs and drugs to bicycles, e-scooters, drones and Kyoto

Is Japan strict with tourists?

Strict is the wrong word; consistent is closer. Japan asks little of visitors beyond what it asks of its own citizens, and almost nothing on this page applies only to foreigners. What makes the country feel strict is that its rules are applied without the informal slack tourists are used to elsewhere: a drug offence means arrest and deportation whatever your home law says, a cyclist who rides through a red light is fined on the spot, and a hotel will ask to copy your passport before it checks you in. The upside is predictability. Learn the short list below and you will not be stopped, fined or turned away, and you will be treated with the same courtesy as everyone else.

This guide sticks to rules with legal force or official guidance behind them. Manners, the unwritten rules about shoes, chopsticks and quiet trains, are a different subject and are not what gets a visitor into trouble. Table manners, from slurping noodles to chopsticks, are in our guide to what to eat in Japan.

Entry rules: visas, Visit Japan Web, JESTA and the departure tax

Visa-free entry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists 74 countries and regions whose citizens can enter Japan for short stays without a visa, most for up to 90 days, a few for 15 or 30 days, and a handful for up to six months. The purpose must be tourism, business meetings, visiting friends or similar, not paid work in Japan. If your passport is not on the list, apply for a visa at a Japanese embassy before travelling.

Visit Japan Web. Every foreign visitor fills in an arrival card (the ED card) and a customs declaration. The Immigration Services Agency says it recommends submitting the ED card electronically through Visit Japan Web, the government's free online service, and the customs declaration can be done the same way; since 25 January 2024 a single QR code covers both. It is a recommendation, not a requirement: the paper forms are still accepted. Registering before you fly saves time at the busiest airports, and from November 2026 the same account can also handle tax-free departure procedures at seven airports, covered below. Our Visit Japan Web guide walks through it screen by screen.

JESTA. Japan's electronic travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors, modelled on the American ESTA, was written into law in 2026: the amendment to the Immigration Control Act passed the Diet on 29 May 2026 and was promulgated on 5 June 2026. As of October 2026 it is not in force, no application is possible and no fee has been announced; the law requires the system to start by the end of March 2029. Until an official start date is published, nothing has changed for visa-free travellers, and any website offering to sell a "JESTA" now is not official.

The departure tax. Japan's international tourist tax, charged to everyone leaving the country by air or sea, rose from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen per departure on 1 July 2026, as the National Tax Agency sets out; tickets bought before that date keep the old rate. It is collected inside the airfare, so there is nothing to pay at the airport, but it explains part of a higher ticket price. Children under two, airline crew and transit passengers who leave within 24 hours of arriving are exempt.

Carry your passport. JNTO's local laws page is explicit that foreign visitors must carry their passport at all times; the police can ask to see it, and a photocopy or a phone photo is not a substitute. Hotels and ryokan copy the passport of every foreign guest without an address in Japan at check-in, which JNTO's FAQ confirms, so expect it and do not take it personally.

Customs: what you can bring in, and what you must declare

Japan Customs publishes the duty-free allowances for each adult visitor:

Two age rules change the table. Customs states that "persons under 20 years old are not granted allowances of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products", and that children under six get no allowance at all "except for items that are clearly regarded as for children, such as toys". Anything over the allowance is dutiable, and the declaration can be made in the Visit Japan Web app or on the paper form.

Prohibited items include narcotics of every kind, cannabis among them, firearms and ammunition, explosives, counterfeit money, obscene materials, child pornography and goods that infringe trademarks or copyrights, which covers the fake handbags and game cartridges sold in some markets abroad. Restricted items need a permit or inspection: plants and plant products, animals and animal products including many meats and sausages, and medicines and cosmetics above personal-use quantities. The rules on bringing in prescription and over-the-counter medicine, and the ingredients that are banned outright, are in the medication guide.

Cash. Anyone carrying more than 1 million yen, or the equivalent in foreign currency, cheques or securities, must declare it to customs on arrival and on departure. The money is not taxed; failing to declare it is the offence.

Drugs: zero tolerance, including cannabis

JNTO's local laws page describes Japan's drug laws as zero tolerance, and the point most visitors from North America and Europe miss is that it includes cannabis. Cannabis is illegal to possess, use or import even if it was bought legally or prescribed at home; a medical card from California or a Canadian prescription has no standing in Japan, and the same applies to edibles and oils that contain THC. A drug offence for a visitor means arrest, detention for weeks or months during the investigation, prosecution and deportation with a ban on returning. There is no quiet warning and no fine. If a product was legal to buy at home and you are unsure whether it would be here, leave it at home.

Alcohol and smoking: the age is 20, and where you can light up

The legal age for both alcohol and tobacco in Japan is 20, not 18; Japan Customs draws the same line when it refuses the alcohol and tobacco allowances to anyone under 20. Shops and bars rarely ask obvious adults for ID, but they can, and the age applies to foreigners.

Drinking outdoors is legal. JNTO's local laws page notes that drinking alcohol in public, in a park or on the street, is permitted, which is why hanami picnics under the cherry trees come with beer. Local ordinances can restrict it in particular spots, so follow posted signs, and drunkenness that causes trouble is dealt with by the police as anywhere else.

Smoking is the reverse: the restrictions are indoors and on the street. JNTO summarises the position as smoking "not allowed in most restaurants and bars except in designated areas"; many venues have a sealed smoking room, and some small bars allow smoking throughout, with a sign at the door. Outside, most city wards and many towns ban walking while smoking and smoking on the pavement away from the marked smoking areas, with on-the-spot fines whose amounts are set locally, so this site does not quote one. Look for the enclosed smoking areas near stations, and never drop a butt. Heated tobacco counts as smoking on the street and in most venues.

Tax-free shopping: the rules change on 1 November 2026

Visitors on a short-term stay can buy goods free of consumption tax (10 per cent, or 8 per cent on food) at shops displaying the tax-free sign, with a minimum of 5,000 yen before tax per shop per day, and the goods must leave Japan with you within 90 days of purchase. Until 31 October 2026 the shop deducts the tax at the till after scanning your passport. For purchases from 1 November 2026 the system changes under the Japan Tourism Agency's reform: you pay the full tax-inclusive price, customs confirms at departure that the goods are leaving the country, and the tax is refunded afterwards. From the same month the seven largest airports, Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, let you complete the departure-side procedure through Visit Japan Web. The practical rules for both systems, before and after 1 November, with a calculator for what you will get back, are in the tax-free tool.

Bicycles: on-the-spot fines for riders from April 2026

Japan brought bicycles into the traffic-ticket system on 1 April 2026. The National Police Agency's portal explains that riders aged 16 and over who commit a listed violation now receive a blue ticket with a fixed penalty, as drivers do, instead of a warning. The amounts the NPA publishes for the commonest offences:

The rules behind the fines are the ones rental-bike shops have always posted: ride on the left side of the road, use the pavement only where a sign allows it and then slowly, no umbrella or phone in hand, lights on at night, no riding two abreast and no passenger except a small child in a fitted seat. Cycling after drinking is an offence too. Renting a bicycle in Kyoto or on the Shimanami Kaido is still one of the best things to do in Japan; the change is only that the police can now fine a tourist as easily as a resident.

E-scooters: no licence needed, but the rules have teeth

The shared electric scooters on Tokyo and Osaka streets, LUUP being the biggest operator, are a legal category of their own, the "specified small motorised bicycle", limited to 20 km/h, 0.60 kW and a frame no larger than 190 by 60 cm. The National Police Agency's rules for riders:

• No driving licence is needed, but riders must be 16 or over. Riding under 16 is an offence carrying up to six months' imprisonment or a 100,000 yen fine, and lending a scooter to someone under 16 is banned as well.
• Ride on the road or in a bicycle lane, on the left edge, and make right turns in two stages as a bicycle does. Pavements are off limits unless the scooter is switched to its "exceptional" mode, with the green light flickering and the speed capped at 6 km/h, and then only on pavements with a sign allowing bicycles.
• No alcohol. Drunk riding carries the same penalty as drunk driving: up to five years in prison or a 1,000,000 yen fine.
• No passengers (a fine of up to 50,000 yen), no phone in hand, and a helmet is an "effort obligation", meaning recommended rather than compulsory.
• The scooter must carry a number plate and compulsory liability insurance, which a shared scooter does and a scooter bought on holiday may not.

LUUP's app requires every rider to pass a traffic-rules test with full marks and to upload proof of age of 16 or over, which for a visitor means a passport (a driving licence, residence card or My Number card also work for residents); the check takes a few minutes. Treat the scooter as a small motorbike without the licence, not as a toy: the same police who fine cyclists stop scooters on the pavement every day.

Drones

Japan's drone rules, set by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, apply to visitors and their holiday drones in full. Any drone weighing 100 g or more must be registered before it flies outdoors, display its registration ID and broadcast a remote ID; registration and applications go through the ministry's DIPS 2.0 portal. Flying in the airspace around airports or over a densely inhabited district, which covers almost all of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and every other city centre, needs the ministry's permission in advance, and certain ways of flying need its approval wherever you are, among them flying at night, out of your own sight, close to people or property, over crowds or dropping anything from the aircraft. The ministry's English rules page says you must report your flight plan, with the time, route and altitude, before you fly, and keep a flight logbook, and it warns that a sentence or fine is imposed for flying without compliance. The ministry runs a help desk on +81-3-5539-0225. For most visitors the practical answer is to leave the drone at home, or to fly only in the countryside, in daylight, within sight, after registering.

Places with their own rules: Kyoto's Gion and Mount Fuji

Gion, Kyoto. The city's official sightseeing guidelines ask visitors not to touch, chase or photograph geiko and maiko without permission, not to enter private property, not to block the narrow streets and to photograph only where it is allowed; they note that fines are in force and that the smoking and litter rules apply. In Arashiyama, carving a name into the bamboo is criminal property damage with a fine of up to 300,000 yen. The same guidelines tell visitors to use licensed taxis with green number plates and to avoid white-plate cars offering rides, which are illegal.

Mount Fuji. Climbing is allowed only in the official summer season, 1 July to 10 September in 2026 (from 10 July on the Fujinomiya and Gotemba trails), and both prefectures now charge a hiking fee of 4,000 yen per person. On the Yoshida Trail in Yamanashi the gate at the fifth station is closed from 14:00 to 3:00 the next morning to anyone without a mountain-hut reservation, climbers are capped at 4,000 a day and booking in advance is recommended. On the three Shizuoka trails every climber must register in the "Shizuoka Prefecture FUJI NAVI" app, complete the e-learning and the Mt. Fuji test and show the QR-code permit at the trailhead, and anyone entering between 14:00 and 3:00 must have a hut booking. The rules exist to stop "bullet climbing", the overnight dash to the summit without rest.

Tattoos, tipping and rubbish

Tattoos are legal and no business is obliged to turn you away, but JNTO's FAQ confirms that "some onsen (hot springs), public baths, and pools may restrict entry for guests with tattoos." Check before you book, choose a ryokan with a private bath, or cover a small tattoo with a waterproof patch where the facility allows it; the ryokan guide explains the options.

Tipping is not expected, and not a rule you can break by mistake. JNTO's answer is the whole of it: "No. Japan does not have a tipping culture. In restaurants, hotels, taxis, and other services, you only need to pay the amount shown on the bill."

Rubbish is the everyday habit visitors find hardest. Public bins are rare, so the convention is to carry your rubbish back to the hotel or to a convenience-store bin, and to sort it as the labels show: burnable, plastic, cans, bottles. Leaving rubbish on a station bench or beside a vending machine is the most visible thing a tourist can do wrong.

On the road: driving, taxis and the police

The rules for drivers, including the 30 km/h limit on roads without a centre line in force since September 2026, the drink-driving law that also punishes passengers, compulsory child seats under six and how a blue-ticket fine is paid, are in the driving guide, with the licence and permit rules in the car rental guide. The taxi guide explains fares, apps and why Japan has no Uber-style rideshare.

Emergency numbers

Police 110. Ambulance and fire 119. Both work from any phone, including a foreign mobile on roaming. If you have no Japanese, say the place name slowly and ask a Japanese speaker nearby to help with the call. For help in English that is not an emergency, from a lost passport to a typhoon warning, the Japan Visitor Hotline run by JNTO answers around the clock on 050-3816-2787.

To cite or link to this page: Japan's rules for tourists in 2026: the laws and local rules visitors actually get caught by, from customs and drugs to bicycles, e-scooters, drones and Kyoto — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/plan/rules/ Copy