Guide · Akihabara

Part of: Where to Buy Anime Figures in Akihabara

Tax-Free Shopping in Japan After November 2026: Pay Full Price, Get It Back at the Airport

From purchases made on 1 November 2026, Japanese tax-free shops stop taking the consumption tax off at the till. You pay the full tax-inclusive price, show your purchases at a customs kiosk at the airport before you check in your bags, and the tax is refunded to you afterwards by the shop or its refund agent. The minimum spend stays the same: 5,000 yen before tax, in one shop, on one day.

That is the whole change in one paragraph. The details below are what decide whether you actually get the money back — and the one that catches people is the order of things at the airport.

What changes on 1 November 2026?

The point where the tax disappears moves from the shop to the airport. Until the end of October 2026, a tax-free shop sells you the item at the pre-tax price. From 1 November, the shop charges tax as normal, and you get it back only after customs has confirmed at departure that the goods are leaving Japan. The Japan Tourism Agency calls this the "refund method."

The reason is simple enough: under the old system, goods bought tax-free were sometimes resold inside Japan and never left. Charging the tax first and refunding it after the export check closes that gap. For an honest visitor, the practical result is an extra step at the airport and a wait for the money.

What do you have to do at the airport?

Before you check in any luggage, go to a tax-free kiosk in the international departures area and scan your passport. The screen then shows green (done, no inspection) or red (take your purchases to the customs inspection point). You need every item from that receipt with you, so the purchases must still be in your hand or in the suitcase you have not yet checked in.

This order matters more than anything else in this article. The official guidance is explicit on three points:

• You cannot do the check after checking your bag. Once a suitcase is handed to the airline, it cannot be pulled back for a customs inspection. If the kiosk shows red and your purchases are already in the hold, the refund is gone.
• Arrive early. The kiosk itself takes seconds, but a red result means an inspection, and it all has to be finished before check-in. Missing a flight because of the tax check is, in the agency's words, not compensated by the airline or customs.
• Do it at your last airport in Japan. If you fly domestically to connect to an international flight, the check happens at the airport you actually leave Japan from.

At the seven busiest airports — Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha — you can also complete the step online through Visit Japan Web, while connected to the dedicated Wi-Fi in the departures area before security.

When and how do you get the money back?

After customs confirms the export, the shop or the refund company it works with pays you. The method is chosen by the shop, not by the government: bank transfer, credit card, an app, or cash at the airport are all listed as possibilities. The shop explains how its refund works when you buy, so that is the moment to ask.

This is the part that varies most, and it is why no single "you get X back in Y days" figure exists. Two shops on the same street can use different refund agents with different methods. If you are making one large purchase — a figure, a camera, a set of knives — ask at the counter how and when the refund arrives before you pay. The staff at tax-free counters deal with this question all day.

If you would rather pay by card and avoid carrying cash, cash or card in Japan covers where cards work, and ATMs that take foreign cards covers the rest.

Can you still use what you bought?

Not if you want the refund on it. The sealed bags for food, drinks and cosmetics are abolished, but that does not mean you can open them: if you eat or use consumables in Japan, you cannot get the tax back on them. And the check works per receipt — if even one item from a receipt is missing, the refund for everything on that receipt is lost.

That second rule changes how you should shop. If you plan to eat some of the snacks you are buying and take the rest home, pay for them separately, so the ones you eat do not cost you the refund on the ones you keep. If you have already used something, the official instruction is not to use the kiosk for that receipt but to tell a customs officer at the counter.

Taking goods through the check and then not exporting them is treated as a tax offence: the tax is collected and penalties apply.

What counts as tax-free, and what does not?

Almost anything for personal use that you take out of Japan, as long as you spend at least 5,000 yen before tax in one shop on one day. The exceptions are gold and platinum bullion and coins, and items that are exempt from consumption tax anyway. Quantity is limited to what you can carry out yourself.

The "what you can carry" limit replaces the old separate caps. In practice it means that buying twenty of the same figure is the kind of purchase a shop may question, because it no longer looks like personal luggage. For single items priced at 1,000,000 yen or more before tax, the shop records the serial number, and customs may ask to see a certificate or warranty — keep them with the item.

Where to find the shops worth spending 5,000 yen in is the subject of where to buy anime figures in Akihabara; second-hand chains are covered in the Book-Off guide.

Can the shop ship it home for you?

Ask the shop. Whether a store will ship tax-free goods abroad is up to each store. What you can no longer do is buy tax-free and post the goods home yourself — that route was abolished on 31 March 2025.

This matters for bulky purchases. If a shop offers overseas shipping, the export happens through the shop and the tax-free procedure at the airport does not apply. If it does not, you are carrying the item out yourself. For moving a suitcase between hotels before the flight, luggage forwarding in Japan is the tool — but remember that anything you need to show at the tax-free kiosk has to be with you at the airport, not travelling separately.

Common mistakes to avoid

Checking the suitcase first, opening a consumable that shares a receipt with things you want refunded, and arriving at the airport with no spare time. All three lose the refund, and none can be fixed afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

Is anything different if I shop before 1 November 2026? Yes. Purchases made up to 31 October 2026 follow the old system: tax is removed at the till. The new process applies to purchases from 1 November.

Do I still need my passport in the shop? Yes. You show your passport when you buy, as before. The shop records the purchase and sends it electronically; there is no paper slip stapled into the passport.

Can I combine purchases from different shops to reach 5,000 yen? No. The minimum is per shop, per day.

Does the kiosk take long? The official figure is a few seconds from scanning the passport to the result. The time you need to allow is for a possible inspection, not the kiosk itself.

I am a Japanese citizen living abroad. Can I shop tax-free? If you have lived outside Japan for two years or more, yes, with proof. From November a My Number card showing that you moved abroad is accepted alongside the existing documents, and the permanent domicile no longer needs to be shown.

I am spending a day in Akihabara before flying home. Should I shop that day? It works well, as long as the purchases go in your hand luggage or the case you check in only after the kiosk. Things to do in Akihabara and what to pack for Japan cover the rest of the day.

The one rule to remember

Kiosk first, check-in second. Everything else — the method, the timing of the refund — the shop tells you when you buy.

About the author. I am Yuuki, a Japanese teacher and Akihabara anime tour guide based in Tokyo. I run private anime tours in Akihabara, rated 4.96★ on Airbnb across 171 reviews, and the question of how tax-free works comes up at almost every figure shop we walk into. I also teach Japanese one-on-one online as an italki Top 1% teacher, 5.0★ across 358 reviews.

Yuuki guides private anime tours in Akihabara — see the tour — and teaches Japanese online at animesenseijp.com.

Sources: Japan Tourism Agency, Japan Tax-free Shop site — Refund method: page for travellers, Traveller FAQ on the refund method and the comparison table of procedural changes, for the 1 November 2026 start date, the 5,000 yen minimum, the 90-day window, the kiosk and red/green procedure, the seven airports offering Visit Japan Web, the per-receipt rule, the abolition of sealed bags and the consumables cap, the 1,000,000 yen serial-number rule and the end of self-posting on 31 March 2025. Refund methods and timing vary by shop and are not listed here.