Every departure from Japan now costs a little more. From July 16, Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax — the departure levy baked into every plane and ship ticket — from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 (roughly ₹590 to ₹1,770), and hiked short-term visa fees by up to five times, as the country grapples with record tourist numbers.
What happened
Japan's departure tax rose from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 (about ₹1,770) effective July 16, 2026, applying to both foreign visitors and Japanese nationals leaving the country, according to Business Today. The increase is automatically folded into airline and cruise ticket prices for bookings made from July 1 onward — travellers don't pay it separately at the airport — while bookings made before July 1 are exempt from the higher rate.
The government expects the change to lift annual revenue from the tax from around ¥50 billion to about ¥120 billion (roughly ₹2,950 crore to ₹7,080 crore), with the extra funds earmarked for overtourism countermeasures and infrastructure. Japan also raised short-term tourist visa fees the same day: single-entry visas rose from ¥3,000 to ¥15,000 (₹1,770 to ₹8,850), and multiple-entry visas from ¥6,000 to ¥30,000 (₹3,540 to ₹17,700), per Japan Today.
The moves follow a record 42.4 million inbound tourists in 2025 — Japan's highest annual figure ever — with the government still targeting 60 million visitors a year by 2030. A visa exemption covering 74 countries, including the US and South Korea, remains unchanged; the fee hikes apply to travellers who still need a visa, which currently includes Indian passport holders.
Why it matters
Japan has been one of the standout destinations for Indian travellers over the past couple of years, and this is the second cost lever the country has pulled this year after earlier accommodation-tax moves in some cities. The visa fee increase — up to five times the old rate for multiple-entry — is the more consequential change for Indians specifically, since a five-fold jump on a multi-year multiple-entry visa adds real cost to a trip that was previously fairly cheap to apply for.
What this means for your trip
If you're planning a Japan trip, factor the higher visa fee into your pre-trip budget rather than treating it as a rounding error — a multiple-entry visa now costs five times what it did before July 16. The departure tax increase itself is small in absolute terms (about ₹1,180 more per departure) and will already be included in your ticket price, so there's nothing extra to pay at Narita or Haneda. If you're weighing when to book, note that reservations made before July 1 were grandfathered in at the old rate — a detail that matters less now but is worth knowing if similar grace periods appear with future changes.
Japan's departure tax rose "from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000" effective July 16, with annual revenue expected to climb "from ¥50 billion... to around ¥120 billion" — Business Today
The bottom line
Japan is monetising its own popularity — record arrivals now come with a record departure tax and steeper visa fees. It's not enough to change the calculus on a Japan trip, but it's one more line item Indian travellers should budget for, especially anyone applying for a multiple-entry visa.
