Watches, handbags, jewelry, cameras — Japan is a popular place to buy them, and from November 1, 2026, the tax you pay at checkout comes back to you as a refund once customs confirms the item is actually leaving the country with you. For most purchases that confirmation is routine. For any single item priced at ¥1 million or more before tax, the rules add an identification step, and how carefully that step is done at the register can decide whether the refund happens at all.
What to do when one item costs ¥1 million or more
- Know what triggers the rule. The threshold is ¥1,000,000 or more before tax, per single item — not per receipt. A ¥1.2 million watch triggers it. Three ¥400,000 bags on the same receipt don’t, even though together they clear ¥1 million.
- Ask the store to record full product information details. For any item at or above the threshold, the purchase record must include the product name, brand, model number, defining features like shape or color, and whether it comes with a certificate of authenticity or warranty — plus the serial number, if the item has one, which covers most watches and many bags. The NTA’s own guidance shows what counts as enough detail: a watch entered as brand name, model AA12345, blackish, serial X9999999. A one-word entry like “black” is the NTA’s own example of what isn’t enough. If your item has a serial number and it never makes it onto the record, customs may not be able to confirm it’s the same item at departure — and you could lose the refund for it. That’s exactly what the Japanese card below asks staff to check.
- Keep the certificate or warranty with the item, not left behind in the store bag. If your purchase record identifies the item partly by “comes with a certificate of authenticity,” you’ll need to present that document at departure. Without it in hand, customs has no way to confirm the item, and the refund for it doesn’t happen.
- Buying two of the same model? Expect two separate entries. Each item at ¥1 million or more is recorded on its own, serial by serial, and customs checks each one individually — a matching pair isn’t bundled into a single confirmation.
- Under ¥1 million, the details are optional — identification still isn’t. The store doesn’t have to log the same level of detail, but the item still has to be identifiable from what’s on the record. Keep boxes, tags, and model numbers regardless; see keep the box for why that matters even below this threshold.
- In stores where the boutique and the tax-free counter are separate, don’t assume the details travel with you. The NTA itself flags the set-up where the brand boutique that sells the item and the tax-free counter that registers it are in different places, as in many department stores: the boutique has to pass the item’s details to the counter. That handoff is worth a quick check at the counter before you leave, not a discovery at the airport.
- At the airport, keep the item and its papers together in your carry-on. The customs kiosk comes before bag check-in, so anything already checked can’t be shown there. Expect closer attention on very high-value purchases, and the Japan Tourism Agency’s own guidance says customs may ask you to present certificates of authenticity or warranties alongside the actual items — having them out and ready helps you clear the check without a delay. See at the kiosk for how the check itself works.
- Think about what else shares a receipt with your ¥1 million item. The customs check runs per receipt and is all-or-nothing: if even one item on it can’t be confirmed, none of the items on that receipt get confirmed. A ¥1.5 million watch sharing a receipt with a snack you finish on the train is a refund you can lose in full over something small. See refund calculation examples for the math and the consumables rule for what counts as consumed. Where it’s practical, it’s generally safer to keep a high-value item on its own receipt.
Show this in Japanese日本語カードを表示 — hand your phone to the staff
店員・係員のみなさまへ:外国からのお客様がこのカードを提示しています。
【状況】
税抜100万円以上の商品を免税(リファンド方式)で購入する旅行者です。出国時の税関確認で商品の同一性が確認できるようにしたいと考えています。
【お願い】
購入記録情報の「商品情報詳細」欄に、ブランド名・型番・シリアル番号など商品を特定できる事項が登録されているか、確認をお願いします。
【公式情報】
Why the system singles out ¥1 million items
The refund pays for a specific item that customs has confirmed is leaving Japan, not for the fact that you bought something. For most purchases, that’s a simple match: the item you’re carrying is obviously the one on your receipt. At six and seven figures, “obviously the same item” stops being good enough on its own — two visually identical black handbags are only distinguishable if the record has something that identifies each of them individually, which is exactly what a serial number or a certificate provides.
The purchase record is what customs actually checks against at departure, not what you remember buying or what the clerk meant to type. A missing serial number is a store-side slip, but the consequence — a refund that can’t be confirmed — lands on you at the airport, not on them. That’s the real reason to glance at the record before you leave the counter rather than trusting it silently.
It’s also worth a moment to check how your travel insurance treats a valuable you’ve just bought — see travel insurance in Japan for how that coverage typically works and where it falls short.
The official pages below cover the exact wording of the product-information-details requirement and the broader refund system it sits inside.