Do You Need JESTA for Japan This Autumn? Not Until 2028 - the Fee Rise and Departure Tax You Do Need to Know

If you have searched "JESTA Japan" this month, you have probably found a mix of alarm and sales pages. The short answer is that JESTA is a real, legislated system that does not exist yet and will not affect a single autumn 2026 trip. The things that will affect your trip are less dramatic and have already happened: a fivefold increase in visa issuance fees for nationals who need a visa, and a tripled departure tax that is now built into most tickets.

This article covers what JESTA is, when it is coming, who still travels visa-free, and the two money changes that took effect on 1 July 2026.

JESTA: Passed, Not Launched

JESTA - the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorization - is Japan's answer to the US ESTA, the UK ETA and the EU's ETIAS. It will require visa-exempt short-stay visitors to obtain an online authorisation before travelling, shifting part of the immigration screening from the arrival hall to before departure.

The enabling amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act passed the House of Councillors on 29 May 2026 by 186 votes to 58, completing its passage through the Diet. That vote is what set off the current search spike, and what the sales pages are trading on.

What the law does not do is start the system. According to VisasNews' reading of the text, JESTA must be brought into operation by government ordinance no later than 31 March 2029 - the end of Japan's fiscal year 2028. The government's stated working target, given in Diet testimony in April, is fiscal year 2028, on a schedule of at least 17 months of design and development, around eight months of systems testing and three months of staff training.

What is known about how it will work

From the same testimony:

• Who: visa-exempt short-stay travellers, cruise passengers and certain transit passengers - roughly 31 million people a year at current volumes.
• What you will provide: name, date of birth, nationality, passport number, reason for travel, place of stay in Japan and intended length of visit, with OCR capture of the passport identity page and possibly a facial photo for comparison.
• Fee: undecided. The amount will be set by ministerial ordinance after the reform passed. Officials cited Australia's ETA, the US ESTA, Canada's eTA and ETIAS as reference points, which suggests something in the low thousands of yen, but nothing has been fixed.
• Validity, portal, exemptions: not yet defined.

What that means for you

Nothing, for now. There is no JESTA form, no JESTA fee and no JESTA website. A site offering to "pre-register" you or to process an application is selling a product that does not exist. When the system is close to launch, the Immigration Services Agency and MOFA will publish the portal and the rules well ahead; we will cover it here, as we have with ETIAS in Europe, which is in a similar not-yet-live state.

Who Still Enters Visa-Free This Autumn

Japan's short-stay visa exemption is unchanged. Nationals of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia may enter for up to 90 days for tourism, business meetings, conferences and visits to friends or family, according to MOFA's visa exemption list. UK passport holders can additionally apply in Japan to extend to a total of six months.

The exemption covers visits, not work. If you intend to take up employment, study long-term or do anything paid for a Japanese entity, you need the appropriate visa regardless of nationality. Use our visa checker to confirm your passport's position, and see the Japan hub for the full picture.

Visit Japan Web

Visit Japan Web is the Digital Agency's online service that, in its own words, "allows you to perform arrival procedures (immigration, customs)" online before you land. You register your passport and trip details, answer the immigration and customs questions, and receive QR codes to show at arrival. It is optional: the Digital Agency describes it as a service rather than a requirement, and paper landing and customs cards remain available on the aircraft and in the arrival hall. It does save time at busy arrivals, and it is free. Do not confuse it with JESTA, which is a separate pre-travel authorisation that does not exist yet.

Change One: Visa Fees Rose Fivefold on 1 July 2026

This does not affect visa-exempt visitors, but it does affect the many Indian, Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese and other nationals who need a visa for Japan, and anyone travelling with them.

For applications submitted on or after 1 July 2026, MOFA's fee revision set the issuance fees at:

Fragomen's summary confirms the same figures and notes the fee is payable at the embassy or consulate when the visa is issued. Fees are charged in local currency at a rate each mission sets, and visa application centres add their own service charges. Some nationalities keep bilateral concessions; our fee-increase article covers who pays what, and the March changes piece explains the eVisa and package-tour routes that some nationalities must use.

If you are planning a mixed-nationality trip - a British passport holder travelling with an Indian partner, say - budget the new fee for the visa-required traveller and start the application early. Autumn is Japan's busiest visa season and appointment capacity at some missions is limited.

Change Two: The Departure Tax Is Now JPY 3,000

Japan's International Tourist Tax - the "sayonara tax" introduced in 2019 - applies to everyone leaving the country, Japanese nationals included. The Japan Tourism Agency's official notice sets out the change:

• Rate: JPY 3,000 per departure from Japan, for departures on or after 1 July 2026, up from JPY 1,000.
• Transitional measure: the previous JPY 1,000 rate still applies if you depart using an eligible ticket issued on or before 30 June 2026. If you booked a November trip in the spring, check your ticket issue date; many long-booked tickets will still carry the old rate.
• Exemption: infants under the age of two.
• How it is paid: as a general rule, air and sea carriers collect the tax from departing passengers, typically by adding it to the ticket price, and remit it to the government. You should not be asked for it at the airport.

At current exchange rates JPY 3,000 is roughly USD 20, GBP 15, CAD 28 or AUD 31 per person. For a family of four it is a line item, not a shock, but it is worth knowing where it went when you compare fares booked before and after 1 July. The government has said the revenue funds crowding measures, smoother entry and exit facilities, and information for visitors.

Autumn 2026 Timing

Autumn is the season the fee and tax changes will be felt most, because it is when most Western visitors travel.

The Asian Games, 19 September to 4 October

The 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya open on 19 September and close on 4 October, with some team-sport preliminaries from 10 September according to the published schedule. Expect Nagoya hotels and the Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka rail corridor to be busy through that fortnight, and Chubu Centrair airport to be fuller than usual. Nothing changes at immigration; visa-free entry applies as normal, and Visit Japan Web is the quickest way through a crowded arrival hall.

Foliage, mid-October to early December

Autumn colour typically starts in Hokkaido and the northern Alps in October and reaches Kyoto, Nara and Tokyo in the second half of November, sometimes running into early December. Kyoto in the last two weeks of November is the single most crowded window of the Japanese year, and the departure tax and hotel prices both bite hardest then. Booking the return leg early is more valuable than usual this year, and our trip planner helps sequence a north-to-south route against the colour front.

Practical checklist

• Confirm your passport is valid for the whole stay; Japan does not impose a six-month rule for visa-exempt visitors, but airlines sometimes do.
• Complete Visit Japan Web if you want the QR codes; skip it if you prefer paper.
• Check whether your ticket was issued before or after 30 June 2026 if you are reconciling fares.
• If a travelling companion needs a visa, budget JPY 15,000 or JPY 30,000 plus centre fees and apply early.
• Ignore anything describing itself as a JESTA application. There is no such thing in 2026.

What to Watch

• A JESTA implementing ordinance. The fee, validity and portal will be set by ordinance closer to the FY2028 launch. That, not the May vote, is the moment JESTA becomes something you can act on.
• The 2028 target itself. Large IT projects slip; the law's outer limit is 31 March 2029.
• Further immigration fee changes. Fragomen notes additional immigration application fee increases proposed for October 2026, affecting residence-related procedures rather than tourist visas.

We will update this article when the government publishes JESTA implementation details, and cover any autumn changes in the monthly roundups.

Verified against Japanese government sources and the reports cited above on 4 September 2026. JESTA implementation details will be set by ordinance and may change; check MOFA and the Immigration Services Agency before relying on any launch date.