Japan's Temporary Visitor status covers tourism, visiting friends and family, attending conferences, and short business trips that do not involve being paid by a Japanese source. Most travellers from Western countries never apply for anything: 74 countries and regions have visa exemption arrangements with Japan, and their nationals are granted Temporary Visitor status on arrival.
Check whether you need a visa at all
Nationals of the exempt countries get 90 days on arrival in most cases, with shorter allowances for a few: 30 days for Brunei, Israel, Qatar and the UAE in some categories, and 15 days for Thailand. Some exemptions also require an ePassport or a machine-readable passport.
The full country-by-country position is on the visa-exempt countries page. If your nationality is not on it, you need a visa before you travel, even for a weekend.
Applying when you do need one
Short-stay visa applications go to the Japanese embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over where you live, usually through an accredited travel agency rather than in person. Nationals of a growing list of countries can use the eVisa system instead and complete everything online.
The usual document set:
- Passport valid for the stay
- Completed application form and a recent photograph
- Flight itinerary, in and out
- Proof of accommodation for the whole stay
- Bank statements or other evidence you can fund the trip
- For family or friend visits, an invitation letter, a guarantee letter, and documents from the person in Japan showing their status and income
Fees rose sharply on 1 July 2026, the first change since 1978: a single-entry visa now costs ¥15,000 (previously ¥3,000) and a multiple-entry visa ¥30,000 (previously ¥6,000). See Japan Visa Fees.
What 90 days actually means
The 90 days is a period of stay, not a rolling allowance, and it cannot normally be extended. A small number of extensions are granted for unavoidable reasons such as illness or a cancelled flight, and they are exceptions rather than a planning option.
There is also no fixed rule requiring a gap between visits, but there is an unwritten one in practice. Immigration officers look at the pattern of your entries, and someone who spends 90 days in Japan, leaves for a week, and returns for another 90 days will be questioned and can be refused entry. The rough working assumption among long-term visitors is that you should not spend more than about half the year in Japan on this status. If you are approaching that, you are describing residence, and Japan expects residence to come with a residence status.
You cannot work
No paid work of any kind, including remote work for a foreign employer that happens to be done from a café in Tokyo. This is the rule people most often misunderstand, and the Digital Nomad status exists precisely because Temporary Visitor does not cover it.
What you can do: attend meetings, negotiate contracts, go to conferences and trade shows, and conduct market research, as long as you are paid by an entity outside Japan and are not providing services to a Japanese company for payment.
What is coming: JESTA
Japan's Cabinet approved a pre-travel screening system called JESTA in March 2026, modelled on the US ESTA and the EU's ETIAS. Once it is running, nationals of visa-exempt countries will register online before departure and receive authorisation before boarding. Full rollout is targeted for 2028.
JESTA will not replace visa exemption and it is not a visa. It adds a step, and a small fee, for people who currently need to do nothing before flying.
Where to go next
If your plans run past 90 days or involve any kind of work, the short-stay route will not stretch to cover them. Start at Visa Types to find the category that fits, or read Visa vs. Status of Residence to understand why the distinction matters.
Back to Visa Types.