Japan is an amazing place to visit. It’s bursting with culture, great food, and fascinating history – and its capital Tokyo is home to the world's coolest neighbourhood for 2025. However, if you’re currently planning a trip to Japan for 2026, there are a few things you should know, and a few extra costs you should account for.
As of next year, the government has announced a few changes to visas and fees for tourists. This includes increasing the exit tax, and the cost of single and multi-entry visas. According to Japanese financial newspaper the Nikkei, the money raised will go towards improving infrastructure and security in airports, as well as fund national projects like making high school free.
This will be the first time the exit tax will increase since its introduction six years ago, and the first upping of visa fees since 1978. No official announcements have been made yet about exactly when these new fares will be introduced.
Japan’s departure tax is about to go up
Since 2019, everyone is required to pay a small fee to leave the country, including Japanese citizens. This is automatically added to the price of your plane or ferry ticket, so you don’t need to worry about filling out any forms or applications ahead of this change. The levy is currently a nominal ¥1,000 (roughly €5.60 or £4.90), but reports suggest that the government is looking to increase it to the ‘international standard’.
Other countries with similar leaving fees vary in cost; in Germany, it can be anything from €15.53 to €70.83, depending on where you’re going, and in Mexico it’s around $68 (€58). It’s not clear exactly how much Japan plans to increase this cost by, but to fall in line with these nations it would need to go up by a factor of 10.
Visas will also get more expensive
Right now, if you want to visit Japan and you need a visa (which most EU, US and British nationals do not) you’ll need to pay either ¥3,000 (€17) for one-time entry, or ¥6,000 (€34) for repeated access. That cost is expected to rise, but we don’t know exactly what amount.
However, other nations charge a lot more for their short-term visas. The UK’s short stay visa, for instance, currently costs £127 (€145.60), and all countries in the Schengen zone charge a flat fare of €90, so expect Japan’s increased rates to be somewhere in that ballpark.
Why now?
The primary reason is that, put simply, it’s just time. It’s been decades since the last time any of these fees were increased, so it’s long overdue. On top of that, the country has been facing overtourism for some time, and officials are hopeful that this will both deter some visitors and give the country the money it needs to better address the increased demand on infrastructure that tourists bring.
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