Japan tax-free from 1 Nov 2026: customs kiosk before check-in, cash refunds at Narita, Haneda and Naha

This week's news · Checked 2026-09-06

Update 1 Nov 2026 (day one).

• Customs kiosks at each airport are now published. Japan Customs lists the floor of each tax-free kiosk and inspection area (updated 21 Oct): Narita T2 level 3 (Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air), Narita T1 level 4 (ZIPAIR), Haneda T3 level 3 (AirAsia X), KIX T1 level 4. All are in the departure lobby, before check-in — once your bags are checked you can't do the procedure, and they can't be pulled back (Japan Tourism Agency FAQ).
• Cash refunds at the airport. Japan Airport Terminal and Glory open "Self Tax Refund" from 1 Nov: the refund in yen cash, in about a minute, at Haneda T2 and T3 (after immigration; T3 24 hours), Narita T1 and T2 (before immigration, 06:00–24:00) and Naha (release, 21 Oct). Cash Japan runs a similar service at KIX, Kobe, Chubu, Fukuoka, Narita and New Chitose; KIX T1 has 24 customs kiosks on level 4 and 16 cash machines on level 3 after immigration (Aviation Wire, 20 Oct).
• But cash only works for shops whose refund operator has joined the service. Other shops refund to a card or an app. Ask when you pay.

What it means for you. Find your terminal in our full table, arrive early (miss your flight over this and there's no compensation), and keep tax-free goods in your hand luggage until the kiosk screen turns green.

Day one, 1 Nov: what is confirmed

• The refund system has started. Haneda's official page says tax-free changed to a refund system from 1 Nov 2026, and Glory announced that "Self Tax Refund" began operating on 1 Nov at Haneda, Narita and Naha. Japan Customs' kiosk list is still the 21 Oct version, so the kiosk floors above are unchanged (official sites of Haneda, Glory and Japan Customs, checked 1 Nov 2026).
• Haneda T3 (AirAsia X): 13 customs terminals, 24 hours, before the level 3 security check, and 5 Self Tax Refund cash machines, 24 hours, after the security check. Haneda T2: 8 customs terminals 06:00–02:00, 5 cash machines 06:45–01:30. Haneda T1 has no such service (Haneda official site, checked 1 Nov 2026).
• Narita (Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, ZIPAIR): customs kiosks open 05:30–23:00 at T1 Central Building level 4, T2 Main Building level 3 and T3 level 2, all before the security check. Cash machines: Self Tax Refund before the security check (06:00–24:00) and Cash Japan after it (24 hours). The refund operators each accepts are different, and some shops offer no cash refund at the airport (Narita official site, checked 1 Nov 2026).
• New Chitose (Sapporo) opened to the public from Sunday 1 Nov: customs kiosks in the International Terminal, level 3, from 06:00 to closing, and the Cash Japan cash counter 07:00–20:00. Cash Japan also lists Fukuoka (International Terminal level 3, counter 07:00–21:00) and KIX T1 (level 4, counter 07:00–24:00, kiosk 24 hours) (official sites of New Chitose and Cash Japan, checked 1 Nov 2026).
• Self Tax Refund machines: one passport, one transaction. Each family member uses their own passport. Yen cash only, a service fee is deducted from the refund, minimum ¥100, maximum ¥1,000,000, and the customs kiosk result may take a few minutes to show on the machine (Glory official site, checked 1 Nov 2026).
• Don Quijote (PPIH group): no fee for the refund application from 1 Nov, except if you take cash at the airport, where the refund operator's fee applies (PPIH official release 5 Oct 2026, checked 1 Nov 2026).

What it means for you. A family of 4 = 4 separate transactions at the Self Tax Refund machine. Early-morning flight from Narita: customs kiosks open at 05:30. Want cash? Ask at the shop counter which refund operator it uses, because not every machine accepts every operator.

Not confirmed on 1 Nov. The official sites of KIX (would not open) and Fukuoka Airport (no notice), and official announcements from Bic Camera, Uniqlo, Matsumoto Kiyoshi and AEON on how they refund.

Original, 6 Sept 2026:

What happened. Today, tourists show a passport at a tax-free shop and pay without the 10% consumption tax. From 1 November 2026 that changes: you pay the full price in the shop, then claim the tax back at the airport before departure. Sealed bags and the "consumables" rules are abolished.

What it means for you.

• November or December trips: keep cash or credit-card headroom to pay the 10% up front. On RM3,000 of shopping, that is RM300 you get back later.
• Airport refund counters will be busy in the first days of the new system. Arrive early.
• How the refund is paid (cash, card or otherwise) has not yet been fully announced by the JTA.

Next. I will publish a full guide to claiming the refund (which shops, which counters, how long) before 1 November, once the official details are complete.

Sources

• Haneda Airport, "Tax Refund" (English; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://tokyo-haneda.com/en/service/facilities/tax_refund.html
• Narita Airport, "Consumption tax refund procedure for foreign visitors to Japan" (English; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://www.narita-airport.jp/en/service/exchange/taxrefund/
• New Chitose Airport, "Customs Tax Refund Kiosk" (English; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://www.hokkaido-airports.com/en/new-chitose/service/money/customs-tax-refund-kiosk/
• New Chitose Airport, "Tax Refund (Cash)" (English; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://www.hokkaido-airports.com/en/new-chitose/service/money/cash-japan-tax-refund/
• Glory, "Self Tax Refund" (English; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://www.glory.co.jp/selftaxrefund/en/
• Glory, notice of 1 Nov 2026 "Self Tax Refund began operating" (Japanese): https://www.glory.co.jp/topics_detail166/id=3683
• Cash Japan, "Get Customs Validations in Japan" (English; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://www.cashjapan.com/get-your-refund/
• PPIH (Don Quijote), release of 5 Oct 2026 on refund fees (Japanese; checked 1 Nov 2026): https://ppih.co.jp/news/pdf/news_261005_refund.pdf
• Japan Customs, "Locations of Tax Refund Kiosks and Customs Inspection Areas" (English & Japanese; data updated 21 Oct 2026, checked 1 Nov 2026): https://www.customs.go.jp/kaigairyoko/taxrefund/map.htm
• Japan Airport Terminal & Glory, "Self Tax Refund" release (Japanese, 21 Oct 2026): https://tokyo-haneda.com/site_resource/whats_new/pdf/000017830.pdf
• Japan Tourism Agency, traveller FAQ (Japanese; checked 27 Oct 2026): https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/tax-free/page01_000001_00023.html
• Aviation Wire, Cash Japan and the KIX layout (Japanese, 20 Oct 2026): https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/352751