Visit Japan Web Guide 2026: Register, Fill In, Add Family and Get Your Arrival QR Code

This Visit Japan Web guide takes you step by step through the online procedures for entering Japan: creating an account, scanning your passport, registering your trip, completing the customs declaration and finally generating your arrival QR code. It also explains how to add traveling companions (family), which airports let you scan the QR code for faster processing, and how to use Visit Japan Web for the tax refund check when you leave, after the new tax refund system starts in November 2026. Following along, one person's details take roughly 10 to 15 minutes.

What is Visit Japan Web? Is it required for travelers from Taiwan?

In short: Visit Japan Web (VJW) is a free web service from Japan's Digital Agency for registering immigration and customs information in advance, so that you only show a QR code on arrival^[1]. It is not a visa, and it is not mandatory.

Travelers holding a Taiwan passport can enter Japan visa-free for short tourist stays. Normally, on arrival you must handwrite two paper forms: the "Disembarkation Card for Foreigners" (arrival card) and the "Customs Declaration for Baggage and Unaccompanied Articles". Visit Japan Web puts these two forms online. Those who do not use it can still fill in the paper forms^[8], but people who do use it can take the self-service kiosks and electronic gates at some airports, and their queues are usually shorter.

Visit Japan Web currently has three main uses:

• Immigration: replaces the paper arrival card.
• Customs declaration: replaces the paper declaration form. Since January 25, 2024, immigration and customs have been unified into a single QR code^[1].
• Tax-free shopping: foreign short-stay visitors can generate a tax-free QR code; from November 2026, at some airports you can also use it for the tax refund check on departure^[7].

Is there a Visit Japan Web app? What device do you need?

In short: there is no official app. Just open the official address, www.vjw.digital.go.jp, in your phone browser. The Digital Agency's service page lists no App Store or Google Play links, and it has also warned people about suspicious applications with names such as "Visit Japan Web info"^[1].

Two points about devices:

1. You can fill in the data on a computer, but you must show the QR code on a phone or tablet when you arrive^[1].
2. Scanning your passport needs a camera. If you fill in the form on a home computer, you can enter passport details manually, but to use the tax-free function the official guidance says you must scan the passport^[2].

To make it as convenient as an app, add the website to your home screen from your phone browser.

Visit Japan Web guide: registering and filling in, in 5 steps

In short: the official procedure is STEP 0 to STEP 4. The first four are done before you leave, and the last is showing the QR code at a Japanese airport^[2].

STEP 0: Create an account

Go to the official site and click "Create new account", enter your email and a password, and enter the verification code to finish registering^[2]. Use an email address you check regularly so you can recover the account if you forget your password.

STEP 1: Register your details and passport

First choose the "procedure category for entering or returning to Japan" (for tourists on a Taiwan passport, choose foreign national), then register your passport. You can choose "read with camera" or "enter manually", and if reading fails, switch to manual entry^[2]. If your passport has less than 6 months of validity, the system shows a warning. Fill in basic information such as occupation and address in advance, and you can reuse it later when filling in the entry procedures.

STEP 2: Register your arrival plan

Click "Register new plan to enter or return to Japan" and enter your arrival date, airline, flight number and your contact in Japan (name, address and phone number of your first night's accommodation). Previously used entry data can be reused^[2].

STEP 3: Fill in immigration and customs declaration

Click the trip you just registered and complete each of the following:

• Immigration: confirm your purpose of entry, length of stay, and answer questions such as whether you have ever been refused entry.
• Customs declaration: answer, one by one, whether you carry prohibited items, items exceeding the duty-free allowance, or cash above the set amount. Ordinary travelers with nothing special mostly tick "No".

STEP 4: Display the QR code after you arrive

At a Japanese airport, tap "Display QR code" on the procedure screen. The QR code can be used at the immigration desk, the customs electronic declaration kiosk or the inspection counter^[2]. The official site also notes that at Haneda, Fukuoka and Naha airports you can complete the customs declaration at the electronic declaration kiosk while waiting for your baggage^[2].

How do I add family members to Visit Japan Web?

In short: one account can register up to 10 companions, which suits infants, elderly relatives and others who cannot use it themselves^[3]. But note that "the representative fills everything in" does not mean "the whole family shares one QR code": on arrival, each person must show their own.

How to add them:

1. After finishing your own details, go back to the home page and click "Companion information".
2. Click "Add" and follow the same steps as for your own details, choosing the procedure category and entering the family member's passport details^[3].
3. In STEP 2, when registering your arrival plan, tick the family members traveling with you on this trip; you can select several^[3].
4. Complete the immigration and customs declaration for each family member separately.

The official operation manual says the entry procedure is in principle one per person^[3], and Japan Customs states clearly that traveling companions must each generate a QR code and each operate the electronic declaration kiosk^[4]. In practice, the representative can switch through each person's QR code in turn on their phone. If family members are on different flights, or adult family members want to do it themselves, it is simpler for each to register their own account.

Using it on arrival in Japan: which airports have QR code fast lanes

In short: at every airport with international flights you can show the Visit Japan Web QR code for your procedures, but the fastest "self-service kiosk plus electronic gate" flow is offered only at some large airports.

Immigration: shared self-service kiosks (kyodo kiosk)

The shared kiosks are self-service machines installed jointly by Japan Customs and Immigration. They read your Visit Japan Web QR code and your IC passport, and send the data needed for immigration and customs in one go. According to Customs announcements, they were introduced progressively from 2025 at Kansai, Haneda and Narita Terminal 3^[6], Fukuoka Airport has also adopted them, and Narita Terminals 1 and 2 were announced to begin operating them in September 2026^[5]. Operating hours at each terminal may change depending on flights, so follow the signs on site.

Customs declaration: electronic declaration gates

Customs electronic declaration gates are located at seven airports: New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha. Before entering Japan, generate a QR code containing your declaration data in Visit Japan Web, scan the QR code and your passport at the electronic declaration kiosk in the customs inspection area, and you can pass through the electronic gate^[4]. If you have items exceeding the duty-free allowance to declare, the kiosk directs you to an inspection counter with an officer.

Direct flights from Taoyuan, Songshan, Taichung and Kaohsiung mostly land at the airports above, so most travelers from Taiwan can use them. If you land at another regional airport, simply show the QR code at the immigration desk and customs inspection counter.

Tax refund on departure also works with Visit Japan Web

In short: from November 1, 2026, Japan moves to a system where you pay tax first and are refunded after departure. According to the Japan Tourism Agency FAQ, at the seven airports of Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka, New Chitose and Naha, you can complete the customs confirmation online with Visit Japan Web inside the designated Wi-Fi area in the international departures hall before security, without queuing at tax-free procedure machines^[7].

This function uses the tax-free data in Visit Japan Web, so you must first scan your passport with the camera in your own details and read the landing permission sticker on the passport as instructed^[2]. For the full procedure, the 90-day limit and refund methods, see Japan's new tax refund system 2026.

Common problems and things to watch for

In short: most problems come from "not updating after changing data", "no connection" and "using a fake site".

• QR code screenshots: you can screenshot the immigration and customs QR code as a backup so you are not stuck without data after landing; take a new screenshot after changing any data. For the tax-free QR code, the official rule is that screenshots cannot be used^[2].
• Prepare your connection first: logging in only after landing may run into an unstable connection, so bring up the QR code before you leave and arrange mobile data for Japan; see Japan eSIM guide.
• Recognize the official address: the official service is completely free and lives only under the digital.go.jp domain. Any "proxy filling service" that asks for payment or your credit card is not official. The Digital Agency has also announced that the former "proxy input" function ended in June 2025^[1].
• New passport: if you get a new passport, go back to STEP 1 and update it, or the QR code will not match your passport data.
• Fill in accommodation correctly: your contact in Japan should be the hotel you will actually stay in; for multi-city trips, enter the first night.

Final check the night before you leave

The safest plan is to fill in Visit Japan Web a week before and confirm it the night before departure: check that every family member's QR code displays, that screenshots are saved and that your phone is charged. Combine this with the Japan trip preparation checklist to check your passport, connection, transit card and other items; more pre-departure tasks are collected in the travel preparation section.