Key Takeaways
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Visit Japan Web is the Japanese government’s free online service for completing your immigration arrival card and customs declaration before you land, and for Indian travellers it is optional: Japan’s immigration and customs agencies recommend it, but paper forms are still accepted (Digital Agency, Visit Japan Web, services.digital.go.jp , accessed 2026-09-17; Japan Customs, Customs Declaration, accessed 2026-09-17). You register once and show one QR code on arrival.
This guide is maintained by Zurich Kotak General Insurance, an IRDAI-registered general insurer in India and part of the Zurich Insurance Group.
Last verified: 2026-09-17.
The official Visit Japan Web site
Visit Japan Web is run by Japan’s Digital Agency, and you use it at www.vjw.digital.go.jp , free of charge. The Digital Agency describes it as “a service that allows you to perform arrival procedures (immigration, customs) and ‘Tax-free shopping service’ online” (Digital Agency, accessed 2026-09-17).
What | Address | Cost |
The service: account, registration and QR codes | Free | |
Information, guide and announcements | Free |
The old information address, vjw-lp.digital.go.jp/en/ , now redirects to the new one (checked 2026-09-17). Check that the address ends in digital.go.jp before you type anything in. On 2025-06-05 the Digital Agency warned about a website charging users and said it never asks them to pay, and on 2023-12-14 it flagged suspicious apps such as “Visit Japan Web Info” (Digital Agency announcements, accessed 2026-09-17). Type the address into your phone’s browser rather than following an advert or installing an app.
Is Visit Japan Web mandatory?
No. Japan requires the arrival card and the customs declaration themselves; Visit Japan Web is the recommended way to submit them, and paper still works.
Japan’s Immigration Services Agency (ISA) asks every newly arriving foreign national for the Disembarkation Card for Foreigner, known as the ED card. It recommends submitting it through Visit Japan Web, and asks travellers who are not comfortable with smartphones to hand in the paper card instead (ISA, Foreigner Entry Record, accessed 2026-09-17). Japan Customs recommends Visit Japan Web too, but says: “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.”
Procedure | Required? | Paper option |
ED card (immigration) | Yes | Still accepted |
Customs declaration | Yes, from every passenger | Still accepted: form C-5360, handed out on the plane and at customs |
Quarantine health questions | Optional; answers bring up health ministry guidance and are not registered | Not applicable |
What Visit Japan Web covers today
It covers immigration and customs, which share one QR code, plus an optional tax-free shopping code for use during your stay.
· Immigration: the ED card.
· Customs: the Declaration of Accompanied Articles and Unaccompanied Articles. Since 2024-01-25 both procedures use one unified QR code, and codes made before that date no longer work.
· Tax-free shopping: a visitor with “Temporary Visitor” status can scan their passport and landing permission stamp to create a tax-free code for shops that accept it. A screenshot of this code cannot be used, and it does not replace your passport. For purchases from 2026-11-01, Visit Japan Web can also complete the departure tax-free step at seven major airports (Japan Tourism Agency, accessed 2026-09-17).
How to fill in Visit Japan Web, step by step
The Digital Agency’s guide has five steps: create an account, register yourself, register your trip, fill in the procedures, and show the QR code (Digital Agency, How to use, accessed 2026-09-17). Keep your passport, your visa details and your address in Japan to hand. You can register on a PC, but the Digital Agency says you “will need to present your 2D code at the time of immigration procedures using your smartphone or tablet.”
1. Create an account (Step 0). Type www.vjw.digital.go.jp into your browser and create an account with your email address.
2. Register yourself (Step 1). Choose the category of entry procedure, then add your passport with “Scan with camera” or “Enter by yourself”, checking the name and number against the passport. You will see a warning if the passport has less than six months left.
3. Register your trip (Step 2). Enter your travel information and save the schedule. An eVISA holder can instead enter the visa issue number and select “Get visa information” to pull in the visa details.
4. Fill in the procedures (Step 3). Open the saved trip, answer the quarantine questions if you want guidance, then complete “Immigration clearance and customs declaration”. ISA warns that the length of stay is often entered wrongly: enter the days you actually plan to stay, 90 or fewer for a tourist trip. Answer the customs questions truthfully; Japan Customs lists the allowances and restricted items on its passenger clearance page.
5. Show the QR code on arrival (Step 4). Display the code from the procedure page at the immigration counter, then at customs.
Register in India: Visit Japan Web’s FAQ says codes work offline if you stayed logged in, but creating or editing needs internet.
Travelling to Japan? Get covered before you fly. Travel insurance for Japan is not something Visit Japan Web asks for, but Japan’s consulates in India recommend cover because medical expenses in Japan can be very high.
Registering your family
Each traveller needs their own QR code, and family members going through immigration with you can be added to your account as accompanying members. Visit Japan Web runs on one account per person in principle, but its FAQ lets you add accompanying family members, each with their own code, and ISA asks for a code to be shown for each person.
A Pune couple with two children needs one account, with the spouse and children added as accompanying members, and shows four codes at the counter. A relative on a different flight should register on their own account.
At the airport in Japan
Show your code to the immigration officer first, then use it at customs, at an electronic terminal or the inspection desk.
· Immigration. Show the code at the counter. An immigration officer still examines you and decides whether to grant landing permission. At some airports, a shared kiosk reads your code and IC passport for immigration and customs in one step (ISA).
· Customs at seven airports. New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu Centrair, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha have electronic declaration terminals and e-Gates. Hold your IC (chip-enabled) passport and the code over the scanner, then walk through the e-Gate. Officers may still inspect your bags (Japan Customs, e-Gates, accessed 2026-09-17).
· Customs elsewhere, or without a chip passport: show the code at the inspection desk.
· Screenshots. ISA says the QR code can be used as a screenshot, but you must recreate it if you change any registered detail.
· No signal or battery. Codes already created work offline if you stayed logged in; otherwise, fill in the paper forms.
When to register
Japan publishes no submission window for Visit Japan Web: register before you fly, and update it if plans change. ISA asks only that you enter the details before you reach the immigration area. Some other Asian countries open their arrival cards only a few days before arrival; see which countries require a digital arrival card for how they work. Register once your flights and hotel are fixed, and check the entry the day before you leave.
Visit Japan Web is not a visa
Visit Japan Web does not grant entry or replace a visa; its own FAQ sends visa questions to Japan’s Foreign Ministry. Indian passport holders need a Japanese visa before they fly: there is no visa on arrival, and applications from India go in through the Japan Visa Application Centre (VFS Global) for your state, with single-entry tourist visas issued electronically. See our guide to the Japan visa for Indians and check the Embassy of Japan in India’s website ( in.emb-japan.go.jp ) before you book.
An eVISA holder’s visa issuance notice, shown at check-in in India, is separate from the Visit Japan Web code.
Common mistakes
Mistake | What happens | How to avoid it |
Paying a website, app or agent to fill it in | Money spent on a free service, and your passport details with an unknown operator | Type www.vjw.digital.go.jp yourself |
Treating it as a visa | Refused boarding in India | Get your Japanese visa first |
Wrong length of stay | An error ISA says is common | Enter your actual days, 90 or fewer for a tourist trip |
One code for the whole family | Family members arrive with nothing registered | Add each as an accompanying member |
Changing details after taking a screenshot | An outdated code | Recreate the code after any change |
Travel insurance and your pre-departure list
Visit Japan Web does not ask about travel insurance, and Japan does not make it an entry condition for Indian tourists, but Japan’s Foreign Ministry says: “It is highly recommended to purchase international travel medical insurance for your trip to Japan” (MOFA, VISA, accessed 2026-09-17).
Japan’s consulate in Chennai advises that “medical expenses can be very high in Japan” (Consulate-General of Japan in Chennai, accessed 2026-09-17). And for bills arising from 2026-04-01, Japan’s health ministry collects details of visitors who leave a medical bill of JPY 10,000 or more unpaid (about INR 6,170 at 1 JPY = INR 0.617 on 2026-09-17) and shares them with ISA for strict screening when that person next seeks to enter (MHLW notice of 2026-02-04, accessed 2026-09-17).
Zurich Kotak’s Smart Travel plans treat Japan as Asia geography: Excel, sum insured up to USD 100,000, and Prime, up to USD 500,000, for travellers up to age 70. There is no Senior Citizen plan on this geography; travellers aged 71 or over can read about travel insurance for senior citizens . Cover centres on emergency medical treatment, with medical evacuation, baggage, trip delay, trip cancellation and passport loss covered up to plan limits, and most claims in Japan are settled by reimbursement through Europ Assistance India. See travel insurance for Japan .
FAQs
Q: Is Visit Japan Web mandatory for Indians? A: No. Japan’s Immigration Services Agency and Japan Customs recommend it, but the paper arrival card and paper customs declaration are still accepted. What Japan requires is the arrival card and the customs declaration, in either form.
Q: Is Visit Japan Web free? A: Yes. Visit Japan Web is a free Digital Agency service at www.vjw.digital.go.jp , and the Digital Agency says it never asks users to pay. Ignore any website or app that charges to fill it in.
Q: How many days before travel should I fill in Visit Japan Web? A: There is no fixed window. Japan publishes no deadline or earliest date and asks only that you complete it before reaching immigration, so register in India once your flights and stay are fixed.
Q: Can I use a screenshot of the Visit Japan Web QR code? A: Yes, for arrival. Japan’s Immigration Services Agency says the QR code can be used as a screenshot, but you must recreate it if you change any registered detail. The separate tax-free shopping code cannot be used as a screenshot.
Q: How do I add my family to Visit Japan Web? A: Add them to your account as accompanying family members. Family members going through immigration with you can be registered this way, and each gets their own QR code.
Q: Does Visit Japan Web replace a Japan visa? A: No. Visit Japan Web is not a visa and does not grant entry. Indian passport holders need a Japanese visa issued before they fly, applied for through the Japan Visa Application Centre (VFS Global), and Japan has no visa on arrival.
