Japan Tourist Taxes in 2026: Departure Tax, Hotel Taxes by City, and Tax-Free Shopping

Japan’s tourist taxes are two main charges: a national departure tax of 3,000 yen every time you leave the country, and local accommodation taxes that a growing number of cities and prefectures add to your hotel bill. The departure tax, officially the International Tourist Tax, rose from 1,000 yen on July 1, 2026, and airlines and ferry companies normally build it into your fare. Hotel taxes run from nothing for cheaper rooms in Tokyo to 10,000 yen per person per night for Kyoto’s most expensive stays.

By the Japan Documented editorial team. Japan Documented is run by JDOC, a Tokyo company that works with Japanese makers and shops selling to overseas customers. Amounts and dates were checked on the linked government pages in October 2026. General information, not tax advice.

How much is the Japan departure tax in 2026?

The International Tourist Tax is 3,000 yen per departure from Japan, according to the National Tax Agency (in Japanese). It started at 1,000 yen on January 7, 2019, and the rate tripled on July 1, 2026. The agency’s English Q&A says the increase pays for measures against overtourism, for spreading visitors to regional areas, and for promoting outbound tourism.

The tax is not only for foreign visitors. Carriers collect it from every departing passenger unless an exemption applies, and business trips and study abroad count too.

• Who collects it: airlines and shipping companies, which as a rule add it to the ticket price and pay it to the government, as the Japan Tourism Agency leaflet for travelers explains.
• What you do at the airport: usually nothing. JNTO says that in the vast majority of cases the tax is factored into your ticket when you buy it.
• Private jets: passengers pay the tax to Customs themselves before boarding.

Tickets bought before July 1, 2026

A transitional rule keeps the old 1,000 yen rate for eligible tickets issued on or before June 30, 2026. The NTA Q&A lists three cases where the new 3,000 yen applies anyway: an open ticket whose departure date was fixed on or after July 1, a departure date changed on or after July 1, and a contract that says the tax is collected separately from the fare.

Who is exempt from the International Tourist Tax?

The National Tax Agency lists the travellers who do not pay. There is no exemption for older children, students or seniors.

• Children under 2 on the day they leave Japan. On a single round-trip ticket, age is judged on the first travel date in that ticket.
• Air transit passengers who leave Japan within 24 hours of arriving, when one ticket covers the trip between two other countries and shows the onward flight leaving within 24 hours. A weather delay does not cancel the exemption.
• Crew of aircraft and ships on duty.
• Passengers forced to land in Japan by weather on a flight between two other countries, or forced back to Japan after leaving.
• Deportees, passengers on government aircraft or ships, and some diplomats.

Two transit cases still pay, according to the NTA Q&A. If the airport you flew from before Japan is the same airport you fly to after Japan, as on a Seoul to Tokyo to Seoul ticket, the 24-hour exemption does not apply. Ship passengers passing through Japan get no transit exemption at all.

Japan tourist tax by city: accommodation tax comparison

Accommodation taxes are local taxes. Each prefecture or city sets its own rates, charged per person, per night on the room-only price. The table covers the places visitors most often stay, as of October 2026.

The national list of local taxes (in Japanese) dated January 2026 shows more than 30 cities and towns with their own lodging tax, including Kitakyushu, Nagasaki, Atami, Takayama, Matsue, Hakodate and Otaru. Elsewhere, ask the hotel.

Tokyo accommodation tax: current rates and the April 2027 change

Tokyo’s accommodation tax applies to licensed hotels and ryokan in Tokyo, and only when the room-only price is 10,000 yen or more per person per night, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Taxation (in Japanese). The rate is 100 yen from 10,000 yen to under 15,000 yen, and 200 yen from 15,000 yen. When two or more people share a twin room, the room price is converted to a per-person price first. Children pay on the same basis as adults.

From April 1, 2027, Tokyo switches to 3% of the room charge. Stays under 13,000 yen per person per night will be exempt, and simple lodgings and private rentals will be taxed for the first time. The Tokyo assembly passed the change on March 27, 2026, and the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications agreed to it on June 30, 2026, as the Tokyo review page (in Japanese) records.

What the switch means for one guest, by room-only price:

• 12,000 yen per night: 100 yen now, nothing from April 2027.
• 20,000 yen per night: 200 yen now, 600 yen from April 2027.
• 50,000 yen per night: 200 yen now, 1,500 yen from April 2027.

Kyoto accommodation tax: rates since March 1, 2026

Kyoto City taxes every stay in the city, at every type of lodging including private rentals and unlicensed rentals, as Kyoto City (in Japanese) explains. There is no minimum price, and the city FAQ says guests pay regardless of age. On March 1, 2026, the rates rose for every band except the cheapest:

• Under 6,000 yen: 200 yen, unchanged.
• 6,000 to under 20,000 yen: 200 yen to 400 yen.
• 20,000 to under 50,000 yen: 500 yen to 1,000 yen.
• 50,000 to under 100,000 yen: 1,000 yen to 4,000 yen.
• 100,000 yen or more: 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.

The date of your stay decides the rate, not the date you booked.

Booking-site points do not lower the Kyoto tax. A 20,000 yen room paid with 5,000 yen in points is still taxed at 1,000 yen. A discount from the hotel itself does lower it.

Osaka accommodation tax, onsen tax and other local charges

Osaka Prefecture’s accommodation tax covers hotels, ryokan, simple lodgings and private rentals anywhere in the prefecture, as Osaka Prefecture (in Japanese) sets out. Since September 1, 2025, it has been 200 yen for room charges from 5,000 yen to under 15,000 yen, 400 yen from 15,000 yen to under 20,000 yen, and 500 yen from 20,000 yen. The prefecture’s page for guests warns that a price prepaid on a booking site may not include the tax.

Hokkaido: two taxes in some towns

Hokkaido started a prefecture-wide tax on April 1, 2026, and some cities and towns add their own. Guests in Sapporo pay both, and Kutchan collects both as one charge of 3% of the room price.

Onsen bathing tax

Hot spring towns add a separate bathing tax (nyuto-zei). The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (in Japanese) sets the standard at 150 yen per person per day, and the ryokan or bathhouse collects it from guests. Our guide to onsen etiquette explains how the baths themselves work.

Miyajima Visitor Tax

Visitors to Miyajima in Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, pay a Miyajima Visitor Tax (in Japanese) of 100 yen per visit, or 500 yen for a year, since October 1, 2023. On a ferry it is added to the fare and collected by the ferry company. Preschool children are exempt.

How hotels collect the accommodation tax

For every hotel tax in the table, the hotel collects the tax from you and pays it to the city or prefecture.

• Where you pay: at the hotel, with the room charge, by the payment methods the hotel accepts. See our guide to payment methods in Japan.
• Prepaid bookings: Kyoto says the tax may already be in what you paid a booking site or travel agency, while Osaka says it may not be. Check your confirmation, and if the tax is not listed, ask the hotel how it will collect it.
• Per person, per night: a couple in a double room pays twice, and a three-night stay is taxed three times.
• Room-only price: meals and consumption tax are left out in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, while service charges are included. This matters at a ryokan if dinner and breakfast are part of the rate. Our ryokan stay tips cover how those rates work.
• Children: Tokyo and Kyoto tax children like adults. Exemptions in Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Miyagi and Nagano cover school trips, not family holidays.
• No tourist-only rate: Tokyo says it does not distinguish guests by nationality or place of residence.

Do Japan’s tourist taxes affect tax-free shopping?

No. Tax-free shopping is a separate system that returns the consumption tax on goods you take out of Japan. It does not refund the departure tax or any hotel tax. From November 1, 2026, tax-free shops charge the full price including consumption tax, and the Japan Tourism Agency says the tax is refunded after a customs inspection at the airport or seaport confirms the goods are leaving Japan. The minimum is 5,000 yen before tax, per store, per day.

The two departure-day items are easy to mix up. The departure tax is already inside your ticket, so there is nothing to do for it at the airport. The tax-free check is something you do yourself, at a terminal in the international departure lobby before baggage check-in. Our guide to Japan tax-free shopping in 2026 walks through the new refund steps, and our power bank rules cover what goes in your carry-on.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is the Japan departure tax in 2026?

The Japan departure tax, officially the International Tourist Tax, is 3,000 yen per person for each departure from July 1, 2026. It was 1,000 yen before that date, and tickets issued by June 30, 2026 keep the old rate unless the departure date changes or was left open. Children under 2 do not pay it.

Is the Japan departure tax included in my plane ticket?

Yes, the Japan departure tax is normally included in your plane or ferry ticket. Airlines and shipping companies collect it from passengers, usually by adding it to the fare, and pay it to the government. Only travellers leaving on a private jet or similar pay it to Customs themselves before boarding.

Do children pay Japan’s tourist taxes?

Children under 2 are exempt from the Japan departure tax, and children 2 and older pay the full 3,000 yen. Hotel taxes are different. Tokyo and Kyoto tax children like adults, and the child exemptions in cities such as Kyoto, Osaka and Sapporo cover school trips, not family holidays.

How much is the Kyoto accommodation tax?

The Kyoto accommodation tax is 200 yen to 10,000 yen per person per night since March 1, 2026, depending on the room-only price. Rooms under 6,000 yen pay 200 yen, 6,000 to under 20,000 yen pay 400 yen, and 20,000 to under 50,000 yen pay 1,000 yen. Every stay in Kyoto City is taxed.

Can I get Japan’s accommodation tax back through tax-free shopping?

No, Japan’s accommodation tax cannot be refunded through tax-free shopping. The tax-free system only returns consumption tax on goods you take out of Japan, and from November 1, 2026 it does so by refund after a customs check at departure. The departure tax and hotel taxes are separate taxes outside that system.

Do I pay the Japan departure tax twice if I leave Japan twice?

Yes, the Japan departure tax is charged on each departure. The National Tax Agency says a traveller who leaves Japan, comes back and leaves again pays it every time. A side trip from Tokyo to Seoul in the middle of a holiday adds a second 3,000 yen, normally inside the price of that ticket.

Last checked: October 2026. Tax rates and start dates change, so confirm with the official sources linked above before you travel.