Japan recommends Visit Japan Web. It does not require it, and Japan Customs says so

What it actually is

A web service, not an app. It lets you register your immigration and customs information in advance and present a 2D code on arrival instead of filling in forms at the counter. It works for people entering Japan and for residents returning. Foreign visitors can also use it for tax-free shopping during their stay.

The Digital Agency describes the benefit in modest terms: register in advance, present the code, and “you can go through the immigration procedures smoothly”. That is the honest scale of it. It is a queue-shortening tool.

The mandatory question, settled

This is the reason the page exists.

A great deal of travel content states or implies that Visit Japan Web is required to enter Japan. The primary source says otherwise. Japan Customs, on its own declaration page, uses “recommends” for the electronic route and says the paper form “can still be used”.

So:

• If you use it, you arrive with a 2D code and generally move faster.
• If you do not, you complete a paper customs declaration, which Japan Customs still accepts and which you can print at home in advance on A4.

Neither route costs anything. Visit Japan Web is the electronic route, not the only route.

Use it anyway if you can. Not because you must, but because the alternative is filling in a form standing up after a nine-hour flight.

The one part that genuinely needs your phone

Registering can be done on a computer. Presenting cannot.

Although you can register the information necessary for immigration procedures from a PC, you will need to present your 2D code at the time of immigration procedures using your smartphone or tablet. Digital Agency, Visit Japan Web

That single sentence is the only real connectivity consideration in the whole process, and it is not about mobile data. Your phone needs to display the code. Screenshot it before you fly.

A screenshot survives a flat airport wifi network, a slow page load and a queue that is moving faster than your browser. It costs nothing to take.

Fake apps

Japan Customs published a fresh warning in May 2026 after fake sites and private assistance services asked travellers for fees or personal information. It says Visit Japan Web is free and no payment to Japan Customs is required for arrival customs procedures.

The pattern is familiar: Visit Japan Web is a website, not an app, so anything presenting itself as the official app is already misrepresenting what the service is. Go through the Digital Agency’s own page rather than an app store search or a sponsored result.

Do you need a travel eSIM for it?

No.

Register at home on wifi. Screenshot the 2D code. Neither step needs mobile data, and a travel eSIM changes nothing about the immigration process.

Japan is a destination where plenty of people do want data on arrival, for trains, maps and restaurant bookings, and we have written that up separately in the best eSIM for Japan. It is a different decision from this one, and we would rather keep them apart.

For the equivalent forms in Thailand, Indonesia and New Zealand, our digital arrival card guide keeps the current rules in one place.

Questions people actually ask

Is Visit Japan Web mandatory?

No. Japan Customs recommends electronic submission and states that the paper customs declaration form can still be used.

Is Visit Japan Web free?

Yes.

Do I need the app?

There is no official app. It is a web service. The Digital Agency has published a warning about suspicious apps using similar names.

Can I register on my computer?

Yes, but you need to present the 2D code on a smartphone or tablet at immigration.

Do I get one code or two?

One. Immigration clearance and customs declaration were unified into a single 2D code in January 2024.

What happens if I do not use it?

You complete the paper customs declaration form, which Japan Customs still accepts and which you can print in advance on A4.

Do I need mobile data in Japan to use it?

No. Register before you fly and screenshot the code.

Can I use it for tax-free shopping?

Foreign visitors can use it for tax-free purchases during their stay.

Sources

The statement that Japan Customs “recommends submitting declarations electronically via the ‘Visit Japan Web'” and that “The existing paper version of the Customs Declaration Form can still be used, and can also be printed out (on A4 sized paper) in advance” from Japan Customs, checked 3 September 2026. Scope of the service, the requirement to present the 2D code using a smartphone or tablet, and the unified 2D code for immigration clearance and customs declarations dated January 2024 from Japan’s Digital Agency, checked 3 September 2026. The May 2026 fee and fake-site warning is from Japan Customs, checked 3 September 2026. Government requirements change without notice; check the official page before you travel.

Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.