Japan visa 2026: who needs one, the 74 visa-free countries, how to apply for a tourist visa, and what JESTA will change

Do you need a visa for Japan?

Start with the official line. Japan's national tourism organisation, JNTO, puts it this way: "All foreign visitors must have a valid passport. Passport holders of some countries (and some regions) do not need a visa if their period of stay in Japan is 90 days or less and they are only engaging in tourism activities."

The countries and regions in question are the ones on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' visa-exemption list, which as of its 1 September 2025 update has 74 entries. If your passport is on it, you board the plane with just the passport and receive permission to stay on arrival. If it is not, you need a visa issued before you travel. There is no visa on arrival for tourists.

The 74 visa-free countries and regions

This is the Foreign Ministry's list as published, grouped by region. Several entries carry conditions, set out in the next section, so read those before relying on the list.

Three countries were added in 2025: Paraguay from 1 June, Peru from 1 July and Montenegro from 1 September, each on condition that the traveller holds an ICAO-compliant electronic passport. Colombia, by contrast, is not on the list, and Colombian citizens are told to obtain a visa in advance.

Conditions that catch people out

The list is shorter than it looks for some nationalities, because the exemption only applies to certain passports.

• Electronic (IC) passport required: Brazil, Malaysia, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Serbia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. An older passport without the chip means applying for a visa.
• Passport registered in advance: Indonesian citizens must first register their IC passport at a Japanese embassy or consulate; the registration lasts three years or until the passport expires. Qatari citizens also register their IC passport in advance.
• Machine-readable passport required: Barbados, Lesotho and Türkiye.
• Particular passports only: Taiwan passports that show the holder's identity number; Hong Kong SAR passports, or BNO passports held by people with the right of abode in Hong Kong; Macao SAR passports.
• Uruguay: new passports issued from 16 April 2025 without a place of birth are not covered. The older type still is.

Who can stay up to six months

Citizens of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom fall under arrangements that allow a stay of up to six months. Even so, going beyond 90 days means applying to an immigration office in Japan for an extension before the 90 days run out.

What you can and cannot do on a visa-free stay

The visa-free stay, and the tourist visa, both lead to the same thing at the airport: permission to land as a "Temporary Visitor", the short-stay status set out in Japan's immigration law. It covers sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives, attending meetings and conferences, and similar activity that earns no money in Japan. JNTO lists what it does not cover. You cannot:

• engage in paid work;
• enrol in long-term educational programmes;
• apply for residency.

That Temporary Visitor status matters beyond immigration. The Japan Rail Pass and JR West's regional passes can only be used by visitors who entered as Temporary Visitors, and tax-free shopping is likewise for short-term visitors. If you live in Japan on a work or student visa, those offers are not open to you.

Passport validity

JNTO's requirement is simply "a valid passport". The government's Visit Japan Web service does flag any passport with less than six months left, displaying "Check remaining length of passport", and airlines can apply rules of their own at check-in. A passport with comfortably more than the length of your trip left on it avoids questions.

How to get a Japan tourist visa if you need one

If your passport is not on the list, or does not meet its conditions, the visa comes from a Japanese embassy or consulate, and JNTO's advice is to deal with the one "in your country of residence". In outline:

1. Find the right mission. Look up the Japanese embassy or consulate that covers where you live. Its website lists the documents it wants, the fee, how to submit (in person, through an appointed agency or online) and its opening hours.
2. Gather the documents. JNTO's general list says that, depending on your circumstances, you may need a visa application form, a valid passport, a recent photo, an accommodation reservation confirmation or itinerary, and proof of sufficient funds to cover your trip. Missions can ask for more, so follow their list rather than this one.
3. Apply with time to spare. JNTO says "processing times vary but generally take around five business days". Allow longer around your own country's holidays and Japan's busy seasons.
4. Collect the visa. It is either a sticker in your passport or, if you applied online, an electronic visa.

What does a Japan visa cost?

This guide does not quote a fee. Fees are set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and published by each embassy and consulate, they depend on the type of visa, and they can change, so the figure on the page of the mission handling your application is the only one worth trusting. Beware of websites that charge a "processing" fee to submit an application on your behalf; the official route is the embassy, the consulate or an agency it names itself.

Linking your visa to Visit Japan Web

If you hold a visa, Visit Japan Web has an optional "Link VISA" step. You enter the visa issue number, the service fetches the details of your application, and they can be copied into your arrival registration so you type less. It is optional: the visa works whether you link it or not.

JESTA: the online pre-registration that is coming

Visa-free visitors will eventually have to register online before they travel, much like the ESTA that visitors to the United States fill in. Here is where it stands as of October 2026.

• The law exists. The amendment to the Immigration Control Act that creates JESTA, Japan's electronic travel authorisation, passed the Diet on 29 May 2026 and was promulgated on 5 June 2026.
• It is not in force. The start date is to be set by cabinet order, no later than 31 March 2029. The Immigration Services Agency says it is preparing for an introduction during fiscal 2028, which runs from April 2028 to March 2029.
• Who it will cover: people entering visa-free for a short stay (Taiwanese visitors included), passengers on designated cruise ships and some transit passengers. An authorisation will be needed for each entry.
• The fee: to be set by cabinet order. No amount has been announced.
• What it will change: without either an authorisation or a visa you will not be admitted, and airlines will be barred from carrying passengers who have been notified that they cannot enter.

Until an official start date is announced, nothing changes for visa-free travellers. Any website selling a "JESTA" today is not the government's.

On arrival: immigration and customs

A visa, or a visa-free passport, gets you to the immigration desk; it is not the same as permission to enter. The Immigration Services Agency is clear that every foreign visitor still goes through an examination by an immigration officer. What you can prepare is the paperwork.

Every new foreign arrival submits an embarkation and disembarkation card (the ED card) and a customs declaration. The agency recommends doing the ED card electronically through Visit Japan Web; the paper card is still accepted. If you use Visit Japan Web, enter a length of stay of 90 days or fewer when you are coming on a short-term stay, register every family member separately so that each has their own QR code, and keep the code handy: the agency says a screenshot of it works too.

At the airports with joint kiosks, which include Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Fukuoka, you scan your passport and the Visit Japan Web code at one machine. It reads the passport, takes your photograph and, for foreign nationals, your fingerprints, and sends your details to immigration and customs together. Our Visit Japan Web guide walks through the registration screen by screen.

Customs is a separate step. Keep to the duty-free allowances, declare cash over 1 million yen, and check our medication guide before packing prescription drugs: some common medicines need paperwork, and a few, including amphetamine-based ADHD drugs, are banned outright.

Working remotely: the digital nomad visa

For remote workers who want more than a holiday, Japan offers a separate status, the digital nomad visa. According to JNTO it is "6-month limited, non-renewable", it is for people who can work remotely full-time for an employer overseas, and it "requires an annual income of a minimum of 10 million yen". A spouse or child can accompany the holder on a matching visa, and only citizens of certain countries and regions are eligible, with the list published by the Immigration Services Agency. You apply for it through a Japanese embassy or consulate like any other visa.

Leaving Japan: the departure tax

Everyone leaving Japan by air or sea pays the international tourist tax, which rose from 1,000 to 3,000 yen per departure on 1 July 2026. It is collected in the ticket price, so there is nothing to pay at the airport. Children under two and transit passengers leaving within 24 hours of arrival are exempt. Our rules guide covers the details.

To cite or link to this page: Japan visa 2026: who needs one, the 74 visa-free countries, how to apply for a tourist visa, and what JESTA will change — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/plan/visa/ Copy