Customs
Two questions get asked at the same counter and answered by different rules: how much duty do I owe on this, and may this enter Japan at all. They are worth keeping apart.
| Question | Governed by | What "no" costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Is it inside the allowance? | The duty-free allowance for travelers | You declare it and pay duty. Routine |
| May it enter Japan? | Quarantine, health and customs law | The item is surrendered or destroyed, and a false declaration is an offense |
Being over the allowance is an ordinary transaction. Bringing something inadmissible is not, and the two have nothing to do with each other: a ¥3,000 sausage is well inside every allowance and still cannot enter.
And it is not the shop kind of tax-free
"Tax-free" on a shop window is consumption tax on goods you buy in Japan, refunded when you leave. It is a different tax, decided by a different authority, and it does not touch the allowance you spent on arrival. That one is here.
Bringing medicine into Japan — what needs permission, and what is refused outright
Adderall cannot enter Japan at all; Vyvanse can, with a permit applied for two weeks ahead. Work out which of the four answers applies to your prescription, and which office issues the paperwork.
Japan duty-free allowance calculator — what you can bring in
Three bottles, 200 cigarettes and ¥200,000 of everything else — plus how the ¥10,000 per-item rule is counted, which only the Japanese page spells out. Check what you are carrying before you fill in the declaration.
What you cannot bring into Japan — and why the ham is the serious one
Meat in any form, most fresh fruit, soil, and your leftover in-flight meal. The penalty is up to three years or ¥3,000,000, and the duty-free allowance has nothing to do with it.
Japan trip checklist — built from your dates, not from a generic list
What to do before you fly, in what order at the airport, and what has to happen before you check your bags on the way out. Visit Japan Web is optional; the customs counter before bag drop is not.