Thoughts on Japan Entry Documents

We often describe what to do once you arrive in Japan but I am in the process of returning to Japan and decided to write an article to inform you what you will be going through to get through Japanese Customs whether your flight arrives in Narita, Haneda, Osaka or any other Japan port of entry.

If you are visiting Japan less than 3 months, Japanese customs will require two entry documents to be completed. One is titled “Customs Declaration” and the other form is called “Embarkation Card for Foreigner”.

The Customs Declaration Form
The Customs Declaration poses general questions, such as name, flight number and airline name, port of entry and the date, your nationality, birthdate, passport number, occupation, number of dependents accompanying you as well as the phone number and the address of the place you are staying, such as Shinjuku Hilton Hotel, Tokyo Marriott, Grand Hyatt, etc.

Then the section 1 of the Customs Declaration asks four questions regarding what you are bringing in to Japan. Prohibited articles, duty free items, commercial goods and items requested by someone from Japan. The section 2 asks how much cash, notes securities you are bringing in to Japan. It you have totaled exceeding 1,000,000 yen or equivalent of $10,000 USD, and then you must disclose it. The section 3 asks if you have any unaccompanied articles. It’s a yes or no question and if you are relocating to Japan to live and you’ve sent household goods, this is where you answer “yes”. As you go through the final custom’s check to present this document, ask the customs office to apply a special stamp on this form. Then request to keep the form with you so that you can turn it in to the household moving company who in turn will use it to process your household goods through the Japanese customs.

The back side of this form refers to the duty free questions you’ve answered in section 1 before. The Japanese customs would like you to quantify how much alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and cigars or other Tabaco product you have with you. Finally, disclose how many ounces of perfume you purchased outside of Japan. Then sign the form at the bottom. This form is required to be completed one per family.

The Embarkation Form
The Embarkation Form for Foreigner will asks same type of questions as Custom’s Declaration Form such as your name, nationality, birthday, flight number, country origin, gender, occupation, purpose of visit, length of stay in Japan, intended address plus the phone number in the front of the form. The back of the form asks 4 questions. They are questions regarding your legal status, such as “have you ever been deported from Japan”, “have you been found guilty in a criminal case”, “do you possess narcotics, weapons, etc.”, and “how much money do you possess”？ Each person must complete this form to go through the Japanese customs.

One advice is that when you enter the airplane prior to take off, have the following information handy:
• Passport number
• Address and the phone number of the place you are staying
• Flight number
If you have this information handy, you should be able to complete these forms without any difficulties.