On 1 July 2026, Japan has tripled the amount of its Departure Tax, also known as the Sayonara Tax. When combined with the increased visa fee, tourists should be prepared to pay significantly higher levies than before when visiting the country.
Since 2019, Japan has been applying a so-called International Tourist Tax or Sayonara Tax to anyone leaving the country by air or by sea. Both locals and tourists have been paying 1,000 yen (€5.4) upon departure ever since. More often than not, the tax is incorporated into airlines’ and cruise operators’ ticket prices. On a yearly basis, the levy raised approximately 50 billion yen (€269 million).
However, since 1 July 2026, Japan has tripled the amount of the Departure Tax, which now amounts to 3,000 yen (€16.1). The tax only applies to tickets bought on 1 July 2026 or later, meaning that those with tickets predating the introduction can still benefit from the previous tariff. Children aged two or younger, transit passengers leaving within 24 hours, airline and ship crew members, and some diplomatic travellers are exempt from the tax.
Expected to bring in some 120 billion yen (€648 million) per year, according to Business Standard, the extra revenue of the Sayonara Tax will be used to fund overtourism countermeasures, to promote lesser-visited regions, to enhance accommodation capacity, and to strengthen Japan’s overall infrastructure.
The amount of the International Tourist Tax has been raised at the same time as Japan’s visa fees. This is the first increase in five decades; tourists and corporate arrivals from nations that do not benefit from a visa waiver will now have to pay five times as much as before to enter Japan. Single-entry visas will go up from ¥3,000 (€16) to ¥15,000 (€80), while a multi-entry visa has gone up from ¥6,000 (€32) to ¥30,000 (€160).
Moreover, some of Japan’s local authorities have been introducing or increasing their own taxes over the past year in order to deal with the larger number of visitors. For example, the city of Kyoto raised its hotel tax tariffs in March 2026. Instead of a maximum of 1,000 yen (€5.39) before, visitors can now be charged up to 10,000 yen (€53.9) per person per night for hotel rooms that are priced over 100,000 yen (€539) per night.
Meanwhile, however, passport fees for residents have gone down from 15,900 yen (€85) to JPY 8,900 (€48) when applying for a 10-year passport online.
The Departure Tax and visa fee increases come at a time when Japan has been experiencing a sharp rise in international arrivals. In 2025, 42.4 million visitors arrived in the country, while authorities are aiming to attract 60 million foreign tourists per year by 2030. Some of Japan’s most popular destinations, including Mount Fuji and Kyoto, are, however, already having a hard time dealing with the large influx of visitors, as the local infrastructure and accommodation capacity are not necessarily equipped for such an increase.
