Chubu Centrair International Airport serves Nagoya and central Japan. Since November 1, 2026, its advice for travelers claiming a tax refund is blunt: when you arrive at the airport, do the tax-refund step before anything else. That means the customs kiosk (often called the tax refund counter), before you check any bags, in whichever of the airport’s two terminals your flight uses.
This guide covers where the kiosks are in each terminal, what to do if they’re busy, how early to arrive, and the cash refund points after check-in.
Chubu Centrair, step by step
Before you leave for the airport
- Check which terminal your flight leaves from. Centrair has two terminals, each with its own international departure lobby: Terminal 1 on 3F and Terminal 2 on 2F. Walking between them takes about 10 minutes, on a moving walkway to FLIGHT OF DREAMS and then straight through it. Coming by Meitetsu train, turn right at the station exit for Terminal 1, or left for Terminal 2.
- Register with Visit Japan Web if you want the online route. Centrair is one of the seven airports where you can complete the customs confirmation on your own phone — see Visit Japan Web online confirmation for the setup.
- Pack every refund-eligible purchase in your carry-on, with your passport in reach. You need all of them with you for the procedure. See the pre-departure checklist for the full countdown.
At the airport
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Go to the customs kiosk first — before check-in. Per Japan Customs’ kiosk location map, with the airport’s description of the spot:
- Terminal 1: 3F, in front of the international check-in counters — open according to flight schedules
- Terminal 2: 2F, at the CIQ Information Corner next to the check-in counters — open according to flight schedules
Scan your passport there; you’ll see a green or red result.
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If the kiosks are crowded, confirm online instead. Centrair points travelers to Visit Japan Web, using the dedicated customs Wi-Fi near the kiosks. The network is Customs_WiFi_For_TaxRefund (password: jcustoms), as Japan Customs publishes it.
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On a red result, go to the customs verification area near the kiosks. In Terminal 1 it’s in front of the international check-in counters, near the kiosks. In Terminal 2 it’s on the way from the CIQ Information Corner to the security checkpoint, open 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (subject to flight schedules). An officer matches your purchase records against your goods, so have your passport and every item ready before you join the queue — and if you need to repack, do it somewhere out of the way. See red judgment for the full picture.
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Then check in. After the customs check, you no longer need to show your purchases, so the airport says you can pack them into checked baggage. The order matters, though: check in first and you can’t go back and do the refund procedure.
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Arrive 2 hours before departure — and treat that as a minimum. That’s Centrair’s advice for international departures, and check-in counters typically open about 2 to 3 hours before your flight. The airport adds that the tax-refund procedures take time, so build that in on top.
Connecting from a domestic flight
- Do the customs step at the airport you leave Japan from. Japan Customs asks you to complete it at the airport or seaport of your final departure from Japan. If you fly domestically into Centrair for an international flight, do it here before you check in for that flight, with your purchases kept out of any bag checked through to your final destination. If you fly domestically from Centrair to another airport and leave Japan from there, do it there.
Cash refund points
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Know that Centrair has dedicated cash refund points — and that they’re not the customs kiosk. If your store offers a cash refund at Centrair, you collect it here, in Japanese yen, after the customs step and check-in. Per the airport:
- Terminal 1: five machines near passport control and a staffed counter near Gate 20, open according to flight schedules
- Terminal 2: refund machine just outside the passport control area, 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (subject to flight schedules)
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They only handle cash. For a refund to a credit card, a QR payment app such as Alipay or WeChat Pay, or a bank account, these counters and machines can’t help — follow the instructions from the store you bought from. Some stores don’t offer cash refunds at the airport at all, so ask at the register; for the usual options, see how much comes back, and when.
Why Centrair says “tax refund first”
Every other step at the airport closes a door behind you. Once the bag holding your purchases is checked, customs can’t see what’s in it; once you’re through passport control, you can’t come back to the departure lobby. Doing the kiosk the moment you arrive means none of those steps can get ahead of it — which is exactly why Centrair’s own instructions put it at the top of the list.
We point you to Japan Customs’ kiosk map for the exact layout rather than describing it here — the reason is in the Narita & Haneda guide.
The official pages below have the detail Centrair and Customs have published — worth a check closer to your travel date, since anything updated there will be more current than a fixed description here.