How to Use Visit Japan Web: Family Members, QR Code and Offline Mode

What Is Visit Japan Web?

Visit Japan Web is a free website run by Japan's Digital Agency where you enter, before your flight, the information that immigration and customs ask for on arrival. Once you have filled it in, it gives you a QR code.

You show that code at the immigration booth and at customs instead of handing over the paper disembarkation card and customs declaration.

Since January 2024, immigration and customs share one QR code per person, so a family of four has four codes on one phone. The official site is vjw.digital.go.jp.

There is no Visit Japan Web app in the App Store or Google Play, because it runs in your phone's browser. The site works in English and eight other languages, and you can fill it in on a computer, but you need a smartphone or tablet to show the code at the airport.

For the wider picture of what happens on arrival, from fingerprints to customs allowances, see our guide to Japan entry requirements, and for whether you need a visa at all, our Japan visa requirements guide.

Everything here follows the official guide and the instruction manual (version 3.16, July 2026) as of October 2026. The screens change from time to time, so if something looks different, the official manual is the reference.

Is Visit Japan Web Mandatory?

No. Visit Japan Web is optional, and the paper forms are still available on the plane or at the airport. Japan Customs recommends declaring electronically, though, and the QR code lets you use the electronic declaration terminals and the customs e-Gates, which are now at seven international airports.

The online route saves a family work in two ways.

• Less writing on the plane. You enter passports, flight and hotel details once, at home, instead of filling in a card for every person with a tired child on your lap.
• One customs declaration. One parent can answer the customs questions for the whole family.

If you have not done it before boarding, you can still fill it in on your phone after landing, as long as you have data or the airport Wi-Fi, though it is easier at home.

What to Prepare Before You Start

Have these ready before you open the site. Allow about 15 to 20 minutes for the first person, and less for each family member after that.

1. An email address you can check straight away. A confirmation code is sent to it, and closing that screen cancels the code.
2. Every traveller's passport, including the children's. The site can scan the photo page with your phone camera.
3. Your flight. You need the airline, flight number, arrival date and the airport you depart from.
4. Your first hotel in Japan. You need its name, address and phone number.
5. Your visa issue number, if you have a visa. You can link it so the details fill in automatically.
6. A rough list of what you are bringing. Note any alcohol, tobacco, gifts over ¥10,000 each, and any food or medicine.

Only use the official site at vjw.digital.go.jp. The Digital Agency has warned about copycat apps such as "Visit Japan Web Info", and Visit Japan Web never charges a fee.

How to Use Visit Japan Web, Step by Step

The official guide splits the process into five steps, covering the account, your details, your trip, the procedures and the QR code on the day. Adding family members fits in between your details and your trip, so it appears below as its own step.

Step 1, Create an account

Open the site, choose your language and tap "Sign up for a new account". Agree to the terms, enter your email and a password of at least 10 characters with upper- and lower-case letters, a number and a symbol.

Enter the confirmation code from the email and keep that screen open until the account is created. Two-step login with an authenticator app is optional.

Step 2, Register your details

Tap "Your Details". Answer the questions about your entry category (for a foreign visitor, "No" to a Japanese passport and a re-entry permit), and choose whether you will use the tax-free QR code.

Then choose "Scan with camera" or "Enter by yourself" for your passport, and add your occupation and home city. If your passport has less than six months left, a warning appears.

It does not stop you, but check the expiry against your stay.

Step 3, Add family members traveling with you

From the home screen, tap "Details of family members traveling with you", then "Add", and register each person with their own passport. You can add up to 10 people, and they must be going through immigration with you at the same time.

The family section below covers who counts and how customs works for them.

Step 4, Register your planned entry

Tap "Register new planned entry/return". Enter a trip name, your arrival date, airline, flight number and the city you depart from, then your contact address in Japan.

On the next screen, tick the family members on this trip. You can register trips up to 31 December of the following year, and keep up to 100 planned trips.

Step 5, Fill in immigration and customs

Open the trip and tap "Immigration clearance and Customs declaration". The immigration part asks about the purpose and length of your stay and the standard yes/no questions.

The customs part asks if you are carrying restricted or prohibited items, then how many bottles of alcohol, cigarettes and so on. Answer truthfully. If you answer "Yes" to a restricted item, you can still finish, and you go to the red channel and declare it.

Tick "The above entry is true and correct" and register.

An optional "Quarantine" button lets you check what to do if you feel unwell.

Step 6, Display the QR code

When everything shows "Registered", tap "Display QR Code", read the precautions and tap "Agree and display the QR code". The name of the person the code belongs to is shown above it, and you switch between family members with the drop-down list.

That is the code you show on arrival.

How to Add Family Members in Visit Japan Web

Add family members from "Details of family members traveling with you" on the home screen, then tick them in your trip. One account covers the family, and each person still gets their own immigration record and their own QR code.

Work in this order.

1. Register yourself first under "Your Details".
2. Tap "Details of family members traveling with you" → "Add" and enter each person's passport, by camera scan or by hand. Repeat for each person, up to 10.
3. Tick them in the trip. When you register the planned entry, the "Select family members traveling with you" screen appears. Tick everyone on this flight. If you skip it, open the trip later and tap "Selection of family members" to add or remove people.
4. Fill in immigration for each person. The manual says the procedures are processed one person at a time, so after your own record, tap "Next" to fill in each family member's.
5. Answer customs once. On the customs screen, answer "Yes" to entering customs declarations for accompanying family members at the same time. Their screens then skip most of the questions, and your answers are copied to them.

Families should also know these points.

• Who counts as a family member. The official wording is family members who go through immigration with you at the same time. Grandparents or older children arriving on another flight need their own account.
• Babies and young children are added the same way, with their own passport. They cannot fill anything in themselves, so you do it for them. A newborn needs a passport of their own to be added.
• Editing a family member (a new passport, a typo in the name) needs an internet connection. It cannot be done in the offline version.
• At the e-Gate, each person scans their own code and passport at the customs terminal, but a child under 100 cm tall can pass through the gate with a parent.
• Visitors 16 years and older give fingerprints and a photo at the immigration booth. Younger children do not.

If you are travelling with friends rather than family, each household needs its own account.

Using Your Visit Japan Web QR Code at the Airport

You show the same QR code twice, first at the immigration booth and then at customs. On arrival, follow the signs for foreign passport holders.

At the booth, hand over your passport and show the QR code on your phone. The officer scans it, takes fingerprints and a photo, and puts the landing sticker in your passport as usual.

After collecting your bags, go to customs. At the seven airports with electronic declaration terminals (New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha), hold your IC passport and the code over the terminal scanner, then walk through the e-Gate.

At Haneda, Fukuoka and Naha, you can use the terminals while you are still waiting at the baggage belt. Elsewhere, show the code to the customs officer at the inspection table.

Two habits help here.

• Install the offline version before you fly (next section). Once installed, it shows your registered QR codes without an internet connection.
• Charge your phone before landing, and keep one adult's phone for the whole family's codes.

The official guidance is to display the code from Visit Japan Web itself rather than from a screenshot, which is why the offline version matters. For what to do after the airport, our Haneda Airport guide and Narita Airport guide cover getting into Tokyo with children and luggage.

How to Use Visit Japan Web Offline

Visit Japan Web works offline once you add it to your phone's home screen from the login page and log in while you still have a connection. The official offline manual gives these steps.

• iPhone (Safari). Open vjw.digital.go.jp, tap the share icon, then "Add to Home Screen" and "Add".
• Android (Chrome). Tap "Add Visit Japan Web to the Home Screen" in the pop-up, then "Install". If there is no pop-up, use the "⋮" menu and "Add to Home screen".
• Computer (Chrome). Click "Install Visit Japan Web" in the address bar.

Then log in online before you board and stay logged in. The offline version only works for an account that has logged in online in advance.

Task	Offline?
Display the immigration and customs QR code	Yes
Check or change registered answers	Yes
Register a new trip	No, go online
Add or edit family members	No, go online
Create or show the tax-free QR code	Online first, then once shown it displays offline until it expires
Change your password	No, go online

The manual also warns that if you change answers offline on two phones, they do not sync until you go online, so make changes on one phone only.

Tax-Free Shopping and the Visit Japan Web Tax-Free QR Code

Visit Japan Web also makes a tax-free QR code that you can show at participating shops instead of handing over your passport. Only foreign visitors with Temporary Visitor (or Diplomat, Official) status can use it.

To create it, you scan your passport face photo and the QR code on the landing sticker that immigration puts in your passport. The official guide says screenshots of this code cannot be used.

Japan's tax-free system changed on 1 November 2026. Since then you pay the full price in the shop, the purchase is recorded against your passport, and the consumption tax is refunded after customs checks the goods on your way out.

Your purchases must total ¥5,000 or more before tax, per shop, per day, and the goods must leave Japan within 90 days of purchase. At the seven main airports, you can start the departure procedure online through Visit Japan Web instead of at a terminal.

Keep your passport with you when shopping, and on departure day leave time to do the refund before you check in your bags. Our Japan souvenir guide covers what to buy and where.

Common Visit Japan Web Problems and Fixes

Most problems come from the account email, the passport scan, a missing family member or a weak signal at the airport.

Problem	What to do
No confirmation email	Check spam, and that mail from @vjw.digital.go.jp is not blocked
Passport scan fails	Try better light without glare, or choose "Enter by yourself"
Flight changed	Edit the planned entry, then display the code again
A family member is missing from the QR code list	Add them under family members, then tap "Selection of family members" in the trip
No internet on arrival	Use the installed offline version

If you made a mistake after the code was shown, you can edit the declaration from the same screen and display it again. If you get stuck, the site has a chatbot, and the paper forms are always there as a fallback.

After arrival, if you would like someone to plan your first day in Tokyo around naps, strollers and food allergies, see our Tokyo private tour with kids, and for money, trains and data, our Japan travel tips.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Visit Japan Web free?

Yes. Visit Japan Web is a free government service run by Japan's Digital Agency at vjw.digital.go.jp. Any website or app that asks you to pay to register is not the official service.

What is the official Visit Japan Web website?

The official site is vjw.digital.go.jp, and the Digital Agency's information page is services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/. There is no official app in the app stores.

When should I fill in Visit Japan Web?

Fill it in any time after you have your flight and hotel booked, ideally a few days before departure. You can register trips up to 31 December of the following year and edit them later, including on the day if a flight changes.

How do I add family members to Visit Japan Web?

Tap "Details of family members traveling with you" on the home screen, then "Add", and enter each person's passport. Then tick them in your planned entry. One account holds up to 10 family members who go through immigration with you, and each gets their own QR code.

Can I register my baby on my Visit Japan Web account?

Yes. A baby is added as a family member traveling with you, with their own passport details, and you fill in the forms for them. Children under 16 give no fingerprints at immigration.

Does Visit Japan Web work offline?

Yes, once you add it to your home screen from the login page and log in online in advance. Offline, you can display and edit your registered QR codes, but new trips and family member changes need a connection.

Can I use a screenshot of the QR code?

The official guidance is to show the code from Visit Japan Web itself, and screenshots of the tax-free code are not accepted. Install the offline version so the code displays without Wi-Fi on arrival.

Do I still need a passport stamp if I use Visit Japan Web?

Yes. The QR code only replaces the paper forms. You still show your passport, give fingerprints if you are 16 or over, and receive the landing permission sticker at the immigration booth.

Do I need Visit Japan Web when leaving Japan?

No. Visit Japan Web covers arrival, and departure immigration only needs your passport. With tax-free goods, do the customs check for your refund in the departure lobby before you check in your bags, either on Visit Japan Web at the seven main airports or at a tax refund kiosk. Keep the goods where you can show them to customs.

What if I don't use Visit Japan Web?

You fill in the paper disembarkation card and customs declaration instead, on the plane or at the airport. It is slower, but entry is not refused for not using Visit Japan Web.

Sources

https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/
https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/guide/
https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/manual/main/visitjapanweb_manual_en.html
https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/manual/offline/visitjapanweb_manual_offline_en.html
https://www.customs.go.jp/english/passenger/egate.htm
https://www.customs.go.jp/english/summary/passenger.htm
https://www.japan.travel/en/us/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-japans-new-tax-free-shopping-system/
https://www.japan.travel/en/ca/news/changes-are-coming-to-japans-tax-free-shopping/