As I covered last week, starting November 1, 2026, Japan introduced a new Tax-Free Shopping process for international travelers that ended instant in-store processing and now includes airport processing.
I had a look around yesterday to see what this entails (not having anything to process this time), and they have now installed machines where you scan your receipts in person.
This follows a similar process to Korea, where you also do your own scans but only need to see the counter agent if you want a cash refund, something that the machines in this case appear to be equipped to dispense.
In my case, I only had carry-on either way, but if you have checked baggage and wish to check in the purchased items, you have to go to the processing area in the check-in zone to scan the receipts there, in case a manual inspection of the goods is necessary, which will be displayed on the screen.
I assume that manual processing is triggered by a certain value threshold or product type (jewelry, electronics).
If you only have carry-on baggage like me, you go through immigration, and then there are scanpoint machines right behind the checkpoint.
Without a receipt, I couldn’t get any further, but the process is self-explanatory. You first scan the passport, then the receipts; if all receipts are accepted, you request the refund method – card or cash.
Someone wrote on social media that if you want to have the refund on your credit card, the name on the passport and the name on the card have to match 100%. I can’t verify that myself since I don’t have that “issue” so just a word of warning if your names aren’t 100% identical.
I have seen plenty of pictures and videos people took of this, and for some reason it appears like there are several different types of processing machines (design-wise). Why would there be several different machine types, presumably from different manufacturers?
This is my original article from last week:
Reminder: New Tax-Free Shopping Refund Regulations In Japan Starting November 1, 2026
I got all my purchases done before the October 31st cutoff date and I’m honestly not looking forward how this will look in the future. Right now, there is obviously no demand as everyone shopped before the new system came into effect, but we’ll start to see MASSIVE demand and lines in 5-10 days’ time.
You can also shop at the airport in the traditional way if you want to buy “duty free” and I did so as well, getting a new passport wallet at LV, which I like because you can get yourself the worldwide destination stamps at local stores:
It’s pretty fun to collect these, and my old wallet deteriorated a while back, so I decided to start fresh with a new design and a more durable canvas wallet instead of soft leather.
Conclusion
As we previously mentioned, starting November 1, 2026, Japan introduced a new Tax-Free Shopping process for international travelers that will unfortunately see an end to instant in-store processing.
All purchases from November 1st onward will need to be processed at the airport, as is already the common procedure in almost all other countries, and I’m sure it’ll result in chaotic scenes.
Right now, there is almost no demand for this system yet, as most travelers shopped before November 1st, but I’m pretty sure that, at least at the beginning, many people will be forced to abandon their refunds or risk missing their flights, as the lines are going to be massive. Especially in peak tourist seasons.
Was it really necessary to change this system?