Quick summary
Visit Japan Web produces one combined QR code covering both immigration and customs, a change that took effect in January 2024 and replaced the two separate codes travellers used to show. It is read at Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Fukuoka. Registration is meant to be finished at least six hours before landing, and one to two days ahead is better.
It is optional, and it is not a visa. What the code unlocks differs by airport and by whether you are clearing immigration or customs — Kansai Terminal 1 merged both scans on April 1, 2025. Here is what each step actually does.
Since January 2024, the Digital Agency’s system has issued a single combined QR code instead of separate codes for immigration and customs. But arriving in Japan with a Visit Japan Web code is not a guaranteed shortcut.
The checkpoint matters. The code’s effect depends on the airport you land at, whether you are clearing immigration or customs, and whether the checkpoint you reach reads it.
For travellers arriving from North America, Europe or Australia, timing matters too. A changed flight or corrected hotel address can turn a quick edit into a paper form and a different queue if you miss the registration window.
What Visit Japan Web actually produces now
Visit Japan Web is run by Japan’s Digital Agency. Its code stands in for the paper disembarkation and customs declaration forms. The site generates it from your passport details, planned entry, flight and accommodation, and answers to immigration and customs questions. You show it after landing.
The instruction to screenshot two codes is out of date.
Registration is optional. Paper forms are still handed out on aircraft and available in arrival halls. The code is a convenience, not a permission. It is not a visa and does not decide whether you are admitted.
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Where the QR codes work on arrival
Japan’s immigration and customs authorities list Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Fukuoka as the four international gateways that read the code. The scan takes place where you clear arrival formalities.
Kansai has gone further than the others. Its Terminal 1 merged immigration and customs QR scanning into a single checkpoint as of April 1, 2025, so a traveller clears both checks at one stop instead of two. At other gateways, the same code may be read at more than one stage.
Smaller airports have also changed. Sapporo, Nagoya and Naha are not paper-form-only: they use electronic customs declaration gates, or e-Gates, for declarations. The old split between the four big airports and everywhere else on paper no longer describes customs at those three.
What the e-gates can and cannot do
The word e-gate covers two different things. Treating them as one is the most common mistake. Immigration lanes have their own eligibility rules, as set out in the Immigration Services Agency guidance and on the Japan Customs e-Gate page.
A traveller who assumes the code is a universal fast pass may still walk to a staffed counter while the same code is read for customs.
Japan is not alone in moving arrival paperwork online. The UK government says airport eGates began upgrading to contactless technology from 6 October 2026, with full rollout expected by early 2027 and processing reported as up to 25% faster than passport-based gates. India’s Fast Track Immigration programme, launched at Delhi in June 2024, was extended to seven more airports on 16 January 2025 and clears registered travellers through e-gates in under 30 seconds. Enrollment-first lanes are opening to foreign nationals too, including India’s DigiYatra biometric entry system.
When to register before you fly
Visit Japan Web registration should be completed at least six hours before landing, and one to two days before is the guidance the system itself sets out. The window exists because a change to your hotel or flight number means editing the entry and regenerating the code.
The minimum is a deadline, not a target. Register inside it, or leave an edit until you land, and you face re-entering passport data on a phone in the arrival hall.
Editing is straightforward while you still have time and a connection.
Before you fly: check the right checkpoint
Begin at the official Visit Japan Web portal run by the Digital Agency and create an account with an email address. Enter your passport details and planned entry with your flight and accommodation, then answer the immigration and customs questions. To make a correction, log into your account, open the planned entry and edit the flight number, date or address. Save the replacement code and delete the old screenshot so there is no confusion at the kiosk.
- Register for the right airport: use the international gateway on your booking, because a later domestic connection is not where the code is scanned.
- Match the passport exactly: name order, passport number and expiry are the fields the code is generated from.
- Keep a second copy for groups: store every traveller’s saved code on more than one device before departure.
- Watch: whether foreign visitors gain access to Japan’s immigration e-gates, as distinct from the customs e-Gates, is the change most likely to alter what the code unlocks.
The checkpoint you meet may differ from the one a previous trip prepared you for. Confirm the airport and the terminal on your booking before you fly.
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Questions? Answers.
Does Visit Japan Web work for groups and families traveling together?
Each traveler needs their own registration and a unique QR code, children included. One adult can hold the whole group’s saved codes on a single phone and present them in turn, but that is a backup, not a substitute for a code per person.
What happens if my flight details change after I generate the QR codes?
Log in, open the planned entry and edit the flight number, arrival date or accommodation; the system issues a new code, and the old screenshot should be deleted. Doing that at home rather than in the arrival hall is why the registration window is worth using early.
Is Visit Japan Web registration mandatory or can I still use paper forms?
It is optional. Paper disembarkation and customs declaration forms remain available on board and at airport counters, and registering grants no right of entry — it replaces two forms with a code you show at the checkpoint.
Do all Japan airports support Visit Japan Web QR codes?
Narita, Haneda, Kansai and Fukuoka are the gateways that read the code. Sapporo, Nagoya and Naha are not paper-only, though: they use electronic customs declaration gates, so the divide is between different automated systems rather than between digital and paper.
What if I don’t have a smartphone or my phone battery dies during the flight?
Print the code at home, or keep a copy on a tablet or a companion’s phone. The code is read from any screen or sheet of paper, so it only fails if every copy lives on the device that has died.
Can I use Visit Japan Web if I am entering on a work or student visa?
The customs e-Gates that read a Visit Japan Web code handle customs declarations, while immigration clearance runs through e-gates and kiosks with their own eligibility rules. Holding a code is not the same as qualifying for an automated immigration lane.
