By 
Visit Japan Web is the government portal that lets you complete immigration and customs paperwork before you land, in exchange for a QR code you scan at the airport. It is genuinely useful, it is not compulsory, and the anxiety it causes among travellers is out of all proportion to what it actually does.
The short answer
- It is a convenience, not a requirement. Paper forms on the aircraft still work.
- It produces QR codes — for immigration and for customs — used at the electronic gates.
- Register before you fly, while you have wi-fi and your passport in front of you.
- Screenshot the QR codes. Airport wi-fi at the gate is exactly where connectivity fails.
- It is free. Any site charging you to register is not the government portal.
What it replaces
Two pieces of paper that were previously handed out on the aircraft:
- The disembarkation card — name, passport details, flight, address in Japan, purpose of visit.
- The customs declaration — what you are carrying, one per family.
Completing them in advance turns each desk into a scan rather than a conversation. At a busy arrival slot that difference is measured in real minutes.
It is a convenience, not a border requirement
Registration is not a condition of entry. If the site is down, your phone is dead, or you simply did not know about it, you complete the paper forms on the aircraft or at the arrivals hall exactly as travellers always have. Cabin crew carry them. Nobody is refused entry for not using the portal.
What you need to register
- Your passport — the details must match exactly, including the order of given names.
- Flight number and arrival date.
- Your address in Japan — the first hotel is fine, with its telephone number.
- An email address for the account.
- Details for everyone travelling with you, if you are registering as a family.
Allow fifteen minutes for one person, and do it at home. Doing it in the boarding queue is where mistakes get made.
The QR codes
| Code | Used at | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration | The e-gate or immigration counter | Scan the code, then passport and biometrics as normal. |
| Customs | The electronic customs gate after baggage reclaim | Scan the code, scan your passport, walk through. |
They are separate codes used at separate points. Having both ready before you reach each one is the whole trick.
Screenshot them
The arrivals hall is precisely where roaming has not connected and airport wi-fi requires a registration email you cannot receive. Take screenshots of both QR codes before you board, and keep them somewhere you can reach without a network — a photo album, not a browser tab.
When it goes wrong
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The site will not accept your passport details | Check name order and spelling against the machine-readable strip at the bottom of the passport page. That is the authoritative version. |
| No confirmation email | Check spam. The account works regardless; log in and the codes are there. |
| Details changed after registering | Log in and edit. Flight and address can be updated up to arrival. |
| QR code will not scan | Raise screen brightness and disable auto-dimming. If it still fails, go to a staffed counter — they process it manually. |
| Phone dead or lost | Paper forms. Tell the officer at the counter. |
| Site down before departure | Do nothing. Complete the paper forms on the aircraft. |
The consistent theme: every failure has a paper fallback, and the officers deal with all of these daily.
What it is not
- Not a visa. If your nationality requires a visa for Japan, you still need one, obtained from an embassy or consulate. The portal does not assess or grant entry.
- Not a guarantee of entry. The immigration officer decides at the border, as always.
- Not a health declaration in normal circumstances. Health-related steps have appeared and disappeared with public health measures.
- Not chargeable. The official portal is free. Third-party sites offering to “process” your registration for a fee are selling you something you can do yourself in fifteen minutes.
Only use the official portal
Search results for this service are crowded with lookalike sites charging for a free government process. Reach the portal through the Digital Agency or Japan Customs website rather than through an advertisement, and never pay a fee to register.
Before you register, know what you are declaring
The customs half of the form asks what you are bringing in, and the honest answer requires knowing the allowances — particularly for medicines, food and cash, where the rules are stricter than most visitors expect. See Japan customs and duty-free allowances before you complete it.
Entry procedures are the fastest-changing figures we publish, and they change without notice. Confirm the current position with the official portal before you travel — our sourcing policy explains how we re-check them.
Visit Japan Web is one step in a longer sequence. Whether you need a visa at all is covered in the 90-day rule, and what happens between the aircraft door and the arrivals hall is in the arrival procedure.
Sources
- Digital Agency of Japan — Visit Japan Web service description and account requirements.
- Immigration Services Agency of Japan — entry procedures for foreign nationals.
- Japan Customs — electronic customs declaration gates and the declaration form.
Data checked: 2026-09-27
