Organization : Japan Customs
Service Name : Procedures of Passenger Clearance
Country: Japan
Website : http://www.customs.go.jp/english/summary/passenger.htm
Procedures of Passenger Clearance:
As a visitor to Japan you are required to perform certain Customs procedures which are an important part of entry into and departure from the country.
Related : Customs & Tariff Bureau Ministry of Finance Procedure of Obtaining Refunds/ Drawbacks on Duty Payments Japan : www.statusin.org/11099.html
This information is prepared by Japan Customs to assist foreign visitors coming to Japan by providing information about Customs regulations and procedures. The following knowledge will be helpful during Customs examination.
If you have any question, please feel free to ask a Customs officer.
Declaration:
You are required to make a written declaration about your belongings.
Two copies of a written declaration are required, if you have unaccompanied baggage.
Customs declaration forms are available on the plane, the ship, or at Customs.
The green and red channel system:
Please choose either the green channel or the red channel.
The green channel is for passengers who have no goods subject to duty and/or tax and goods not prohibited or restricted for import.
The red channel is for all other passengers.
*Please pay duties and/or taxes at the bank in the Customs inspection zone.
When the value of the dutiable goods exceeds three hundred thousand yen (300,000yen), Customs procedures for commercial cargo are required.
Exemption:
Personal effects and unaccompanied baggage for personal use are free of duty and/or tax within the allowance specified below. ( As for rice, the limit is 100KG a year. ) If you have both personal effects and unaccompanied baggage, please consider them together and refer to the allowance.
Personal Effects and Professional Equipment:
Clothes, toiletries, and other personal effects for your personal use, as well as portable professional equipment that will be used during your stay in Japan, are all free of duty and/or tax, if they are considered quantitatively appropriate and are not for sale.
Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco Products, Perfume, etc:
Moreover, allowances will be made for certain other articles within the limits specified below.
Household Effects (including Automobiles):
If you are to move to Japan and to stay for more than one year, your or your family’s household effects being used by the members of your family may be imported free of duty and/or tax within the limit deemed reasonable.
Such household effects may include automobiles, boats, and other vehicles, provided that a registration certificates or sales receipts are presented to prove that the automobiles are used and that the boats have been in use for more than one year prior to its arrival in Japan.
Automobiles and other vehicles may be imported temporarily free of duty and/or tax provided they are subsequently exported.
Purchase of Tax-Free Articles:
When you purchase articles at specified “tax-free” shops, consumption tax on those articles may be exempted on condition that they are taken out of Japan.
When you purchase tax-free articles, you will be required to present your passport at the shop and you will receive a card entitled ” Record of Purchase of Consumption-Tax-Exempt for Export, ” which will be attached to your passport.
Articles purchased tax free will be checked with the card by a Customs officer, who will collect the card at the time of your departure from Japan.
Notes:
No exemption on consumption tax will be given to articles purchased at shops other than “tax-free” shops.
When you export guns, swords, or high-quality personal computers that require an export license, you must obtain said license from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry prior to its export.