What to buy in Tokyo

From 1 November 2026 Japan moves to a refund method: the consumption tax equivalent is refunded after Customs confirms at departure that the goods are being taken out of Japan. Layovers either side of that date work differently at the checkout.

Since 1 April 2025 tax-free shopping does not apply when the purchaser sends the items overseas by international parcel, though direct shipping arranged by the shop itself may still be available.

Coming in, the personal allowance is three bottles of alcohol at roughly 760cc each, 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250g of other tobacco, two ounces of perfume, and other goods with a total overseas market value under 200,000 yen. Any item whose overseas market value is under 10,000 yen is excluded from that total.

Cash and payment instruments over 1,000,000 yen must be declared, as must gold bullion of not less than 90 per cent purity exceeding 1kg. This catches crew carrying accumulated per diems.

Plants and animals must be presented to the plant or animal quarantine officer, and hunting guns, air guns and swords need a permit. Medicines and cosmetics are subject to their own quantity limits rather than an outright ban.