On 1 November 2026, Japan changes how tax-free shopping works. Right now the 10% consumption tax is taken off at the register. After that date you pay the full price in the shop and claim the tax back at the airport when you leave. If you are planning an Akihabara haul around that date, this changes how you should budget, what you carry, and how much time you need at departure.
Last checked: September 2026. This is a summary of the announced rules, not tax advice — confirm details with the shop and with Japan Customs before you travel. Primary source: National Tax Agency.
The short version
| Until 31 Oct 2026 | From 1 Nov 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| When tax comes off | At the register | Refunded after you leave |
| What you pay in the shop | Tax-excluded price | Full tax-included price |
| Minimum spend | ¥5,000 per shop per day | ¥5,000 per shop per day |
| General goods vs consumables | Separate rules | Abolished |
| Sealed bags you must not open | Required for consumables | Abolished |
| ¥500,000 upper limit | Applies to consumables | Abolished |
| Deadline to leave Japan | Varies | Within 90 days of purchase |
There is no overlap period. The old system runs until 31 October and the new one starts the next day. The ¥5,000 minimum and the 90-day departure requirement are set out in the National Tax Agency’s guidance on the change.
What actually changes for you in Akihabara
You need more cash on hand
This is the part most guides skip. Today, a ¥50,000 figure costs you ¥50,000 at a tax-free shop. From November you hand over ¥55,000 and wait for the ¥5,000 back. On a serious Akihabara day — a Mandarake run, a few sealed card boxes, a scale figure — that difference adds up to real money you have to float for the rest of your trip.
If you are budgeting a shopping trip, budget the tax-included number and treat the refund as money you get back later, not money you can spend in Akihabara.
Two rules that were annoying are going away
The sealed-bag rule is being abolished. Under the current system, consumables bought tax-free get sealed in a bag you are not supposed to open until you leave Japan. Anyone who has bought snacks or cosmetics mid-trip has run into this.
The split between “general goods” and “consumables” also disappears, along with the ¥500,000 ceiling on consumables. From November it is one ¥5,000 minimum across everything you buy at that shop that day. For most anime and hobby shopping this is simpler than what we have now.
Your purchases have to still be with you at the airport
The refund is confirmed by customs before you check in your bags. In practice that means the things you bought need to be with you and available to show. If items on a receipt cannot be presented, that purchase can fail the check.
For Akihabara shoppers this matters more than it does for someone buying clothes. Boxed figures are bulky, sealed card products are heavy, and the instinct is to post a box home partway through the trip. Which leads to the change people miss:
Posting your haul home already disqualifies it
Since 1 April 2025, items shipped to your home country by international mail are no longer eligible for tax exemption. This is a separate change from the November 2026 one and it is already in force.
If you were planning to buy tax-free in Akihabara and post the heavy items home to save luggage space, that combination does not work. You either carry it out yourself and claim the refund, or you post it and pay the tax.
Who actually gives you the money back
This is the part most English guides leave vague, so to be precise: the refund comes from the shop, not from customs and not from the airport. Customs confirms you are taking the goods out of Japan; the shop then refunds the consumption tax to you.
According to the National Tax Agency, the refund method is not fixed by law — each tax-free shop decides how it pays you back. The methods listed as possible include bank transfer, a refund to your credit card, app-based transfer, and cash handed to you inside the departure area after customs confirmation.
The practical consequence for an Akihabara trip: a large chain and a small specialist shop may refund you in completely different ways, and one of those ways could be a bank transfer to an account you do not have in Japan. Ask at the register how that shop handles the refund before you commit to a large purchase — do not assume cash at the airport.
Source: National Tax Agency — revision of the export goods sales place system to the refund method (Japanese).
What to do at the airport
The refund procedure has to be completed before you check your baggage in at your final point of departure from Japan. Do it before you join the check-in queue, not after.
- Keep your passport and your purchase records together
- Keep the items themselves accessible, not buried in a case you are about to check
- Complete the customs confirmation in the departure lobby before check-in
- Allow extra time — this is a new process and the queues in the first months are unlikely to be short
Self-service kiosks and online pre-registration are part of the plan, and the exact flow will depend on which airport you leave from. Which airports get which facilities has not been published, so check your departure airport’s own guidance closer to your trip rather than assuming.
If you are travelling right around the change
A trip that straddles 31 October and 1 November 2026 means your shopping days fall under two different systems. There is no transition period, so what you buy on 31 October follows the old rules and what you buy on 1 November follows the new ones.
If the timing is flexible and you have a large purchase planned, buying before the change means you simply pay less at the register and walk away. After the change the end result should be the same, but you are lending the government the tax until you leave.
What we do not know yet
Being straight about the gaps, because plenty of pages state these confidently and they are not settled:
- Which method each Akihabara shop will pick — the refund method is left to each shop, so it will vary store by store and none have published their choice yet
- Which Akihabara shops will still be registered — shops have new record-keeping and customs-data obligations, and whether every small shop stays in the system is not something anyone can promise yet
- How long the airport process actually takes — nobody knows until it runs
We would rather tell you these are open questions than invent an answer. This page gets updated as the details firm up.
The practical takeaway
- Budget the tax-included price, not the tax-excluded one
- Keep purchases with you rather than posting them home if you want the refund
- Do the customs step before bag check-in
- Confirm the shop is registered — ask at the register, do not assume
- Keep every receipt together with your passport
Related guides
- Mandarake Complex Akihabara: 8 floors of second-hand anime goods
- Suruga-ya Akihabara Main Store: hunting second-hand deals
- Where to buy and sell Pokémon cards in Akihabara
The section below is about our own service.
Not travelling to Japan, or want the items without the luggage problem? We buy directly from Akihabara shops and ship worldwide. Note that goods sent abroad are not tax-exempt under Japanese rules, so this is about access to what Akihabara actually stocks, not about avoiding tax. See how our proxy shopping service works.
