The Japan tourist tax for 2026 is really three charges. The first is the International Tourist Tax, which went from 1,000 yen to 3,000 yen per departure on 1 July 2026 and is folded into your air or ferry fare. The second is the hotel tax set by each city: Kyoto raised its top rate to 10,000 yen per person per night in March 2026, Osaka charges up to 500 yen, and Tokyo charges up to 200 yen until it moves to 3 percent in April 2027. The third is not a new tax but a new way of paying an old one, since tax-free shopping turns into a refund at the airport from 1 November 2026. For a Singapore couple on a week split between Tokyo and Kyoto, the first two add roughly S$100 to the trip. Below are the rates, a worked example and the few ways to pay less.
Everyone who leaves Japan by plane or ship pays the International Tourist Tax, Japanese citizens included. The Japan Tourism Agency confirms the rate is 3,000 yen per departure from 1 July 2026, up from 1,000 yen. Airlines and cruise lines collect it by adding it to the ticket price, so you will not be asked for it at the airport. At about 125 yen to the Singapore dollar, it works out to roughly S$24 a person.
A few groups do not pay. Infants under two are exempt. So are transit passengers who leave Japan within 24 hours of arriving on a connecting itinerary. There is also a transitional rule: if your ticket was issued on or before 30 June 2026, the old 1,000 yen rate applies even if you fly out later. That matters if you booked a year-end trip early, so check the tax lines on your e-ticket before you assume you were charged the new rate.
The money goes to Japan's tourism budget, such as crowd-control projects and smoother airport gates, according to the agency's leaflet. For you it is simply a fixed S$24 or so per person per trip that you cannot avoid by booking differently.
Hotel taxes are charged per person per night, and the rate depends on what the room costs per person, not per room. Two people sharing a 30,000 yen room are each on a 15,000 yen charge. Meals are not counted. Kyoto made the biggest change. Its old top rate was 1,000 yen. Since 1 March 2026 it is 10,000 yen for stays of 100,000 yen or more per person, and the middle tiers rose too.
| Room charge per person per night | Kyoto (from 1 Mar 2026) | Osaka (from 1 Sep 2025) | Tokyo (until Mar 2027) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5,000 yen | 200 yen | None | None |
| 5,000 to 5,999 yen | 200 yen | 200 yen | None |
| 6,000 to 9,999 yen | 400 yen | 200 yen | None |
| 10,000 to 14,999 yen | 400 yen | 200 yen | 100 yen |
| 15,000 to 19,999 yen | 400 yen | 400 yen | 200 yen |
| 20,000 to 49,999 yen | 1,000 yen | 500 yen | 200 yen |
| 50,000 to 99,999 yen | 4,000 yen | 500 yen | 200 yen |
| 100,000 yen or more | 10,000 yen | 500 yen | 200 yen |
Tokyo's metropolitan government plans to replace its flat 100 and 200 yen charges with 3 percent of the room charge. Stays under 13,000 yen per person per night will be exempt, up from 10,000 yen today, and private holiday rentals will be covered for the first time. A couple on a 20,000 yen per person night would go from 200 yen each to 600 yen each. If you are booking Tokyo for early 2027, that is the rate to plan for.
Take a couple flying out of Singapore for seven nights: four in Tokyo at 24,000 yen a room, then three in Kyoto at 40,000 yen a room. Per person, that is 12,000 yen a night in Tokyo and 20,000 yen in Kyoto.
A family changes the sums in two ways. A baby under two pays no departure tax, so two parents, a seven-year-old and an infant pay 9,000 yen at the airport rather than 12,000 yen. Hotel tax is worked out on the charge per person, so the more people share a room, the lower the tier each one falls into. A 40,000 yen Kyoto room split between two adults is 20,000 yen each and taxed 1,000 yen a head. Check the property's own rules for children before you budget, since cities and hotels count them differently.
The same trip in 2025 cost 5,800 yen in these taxes: 2,000 yen of departure tax, the same 800 yen in Tokyo, and 3,000 yen in Kyoto at the old 500 yen rate. So the bill more than doubled, and almost all of the increase is the departure tax and Kyoto. Neither is large next to the airfare. Our breakdown of the cheapest flights from Singapore to Tokyo puts a return fare well into the hundreds. Still, it is money that never shows up in the room price on a booking site.
That is the practical catch with hotel tax. Booking sites often list it as payable at the property, so it can turn up at check-out even on a room you prepaid. Keep some yen or a card that does not charge a heavy foreign-currency markup. Our currency conversion fee calculator shows what a 3.25 percent card fee adds to small charges like this.
It is 3,000 yen per person per departure from 1 July 2026, up from 1,000 yen. It is added to your air or ferry ticket. Infants under two do not pay, and a ticket issued on or before 30 June 2026 keeps the old 1,000 yen rate.
No. Airlines and shipping lines collect the International Tourist Tax as part of the ticket price and pass it to the government. Hotel taxes are different and are often collected by the property at check-in or check-out.
Since 1 March 2026 it ranges from 200 yen to 10,000 yen per person per night, depending on the room charge per person. Most mid-range stays between 6,000 and 19,999 yen per person pay 400 yen, and 20,000 to 49,999 yen pays 1,000 yen.
Yes, from April 2027 Tokyo plans to charge 3 percent of the room charge instead of a flat 100 or 200 yen, and to exempt stays under 13,000 yen per person per night. Private holiday rentals will be included for the first time.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).