Border control at Japan airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Foreign nationals arriving in Japan go through a landing examination by an immigration inspector. Since 20 November 2007, most must give fingerprints from both index fingers and a facial photo at this step ².

Special permanent residents, people under 16, diplomats and officials, and people invited by the head of a national government body are exempt. A person who is not exempt and refuses to give the data is refused entry and ordered to leave ².

Japanese nationals can use face recognition gates for departure and return. These gates do not stamp the passport ⁴.

Entry permission: visa exemptions and JESTA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs listed 74 countries and regions with visa exemption arrangements on a page dated 1 September 2025. Most allow stays of up to 90 days. Indonesia and Thailand allow 15 days, and Brunei and Qatar 30 days. Seven countries, including Germany, the UK and Mexico, allow up to six months under bilateral arrangements, with an application to immigration after 90 days ¹.

Some exemptions apply only to holders of passports that meet ICAO machine-readable or ePassport standards. Countries in this group include Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, the UAE, Türkiye and Qatar ¹.

The Cabinet approved a bill on 10 March 2026 to amend the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and create JESTA, the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorization ⁸. The House of Councillors passed it on 29 May 2026 ⁹. Visa-exempt short-term visitors and some transit passengers will need approval from the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) before departure. Travellers without approval will be denied boarding. The government aims to start in fiscal 2028 ⁷.

No JESTA fee had been set as of the March 2026 reports ^7,8. About 80 per cent of the 38.46 million new short-term visitors in 2025 came from visa-exempt countries and regions ⁸.

Biometrics and face recognition gates

The 2007 landing rules aim to identify people seen as security risks, such as terrorists, and people using passports that are not their own ². An ISA report says the biometrics confirm identity, screen against blacklists and catch people who were deported before and try to return with forged passports ³.

Face recognition gates for foreign nationals leaving Japan started at Haneda on 24 July 2019. Users need an IC passport, must be at least 135cm tall and must be leaving after a stay as a Temporary Visitor. No registration is needed. The gate compares a live photo with the image on the passport chip. The Ministry of Justice says the photo taken at the gate is used only for the identity check and is not stored ⁴.

A traveller who wants a departure stamp must ask an officer before boarding. Travellers who need proof of departure later can file a disclosure request ⁴.

Passenger data: API and PNR

Japan's Advance Passenger Information System began joint operation on 4 January 2005. Submission became mandatory for arriving aircraft and ships on 1 February 2005 ³.

Japan Customs collects PNR under Articles 15 and 17 of the Customs Law. Inbound PNR could be requested from October 2011, and outbound PNR from June 2017. Electronic reporting of both through the NACCS system became mandatory in principle on 17 March 2019. Airlines report 72 hours before departure and again right after departure. The data has 35 elements, including name, nationality, date of birth and itinerary ⁶.

Customs says a small central unit analyses the data in a closed system. It shares data with other Japanese agencies, and with foreign customs services under Article 108-2, only case by case ⁶. The JESTA law adds a duty on carriers to report passenger information, such as names, to the ISA Commissioner and to refuse boarding to people found ineligible. Carriers that break these rules face fines ⁸.

Watch lists and checks

Fingerprints and face photos taken on arrival are screened against blacklists, according to the ISA report ³. Customs uses PNR for passenger targeting against smuggling of terrorism-related goods and drugs ⁶. Under JESTA, the government will check visa-exempt visitors before arrival and refuse those it considers a problem. An Upper House committee asked the government to run JESTA so it does not unreasonably restrict refugees ⁹.

Your data: the law and how to ask for records

The Act on the Protection of Personal Information (Act No. 57 of 2003) is overseen by the Personal Information Protection Commission, an independent body. Its duties include supervision, complaint mediation and reporting to the Diet ¹⁰.

The 2007 immigration notice said biometric data would be stored and protected under the Act for the Protection of Personal Information Retained by Administrative Institutions. It did not give a retention period ². Japan Customs says PNR is handled under the act covering personal information held by administrative organs and the Public Records and Archives Management Act ⁶.

Travellers can file a disclosure request with immigration for records of their departures and returns ⁴.

Who runs the systems

The Immigration Services Agency of the Ministry of Justice runs landing examinations, biometric collection and the face recognition gates ^3,4. Japan Customs runs the PNR programme ⁶. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes visa exemption rules ¹.

Panasonic said in August 2019 that the ISA first chose its face recognition gates in October 2017. It reported 203 gates at airports nationwide, 123 of them for foreign nationals ⁵.

Security screening on departure

In Japan airlines carry out passenger security screening. A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism study group said in December 2024 that Japan is the only country that relies on airlines for this. An amendment to the Civil Aeronautics Act gave screening a legal basis from 10 March 2022 ¹¹.

The study group is working on moving screening to airport administrators. It proposed that passengers pay a share in a transparent way, with the state and airlines bearing part of the cost ¹¹.

Narita Airport uses body scanners at international checkpoints. It says scan results appear as an animated figure to protect privacy. Passengers flagged by the scanner get an extra check ¹².