Japan: Arrival & Departure Procedures
We were scheduled to arrive in Narita at 4.20 pm, and I was very concerned that we would miss 6 pm Limousine bus going to Hilton Tokyo Bay (the last bus of the day that stops at the hotel). However, it took us no time to clear the immigration and customs and we actually made 5 pm bus with a few minutes to spare. And that considering we had to pick up Wi-Fi router rental and buy the bus tickets. This shouldn’t have a been a surprise considering Japan is known for its efficiency.
Our experience with arrival and departure procedures is below. Please note that your experience might differ 🙂
Table of Contents
Arrival
Quarantine
If quarantine questionnaires are distributed onboard the aircraft, you will need to fill them out and present them to the quarantine counter upon arrival.
Since we did not received the questionnaire, we just kept on walking to the passport control.
Immigration/Passport Control
Everyone in your travel party must have a filled out Embarkation/Disembarkation card.
The cards are usually distributed by the flight attendants prior to the arrival. If, by any chance, you don’t get one, there is stack of them on the tables next to the passport control.
We were flying Japan Air (see my post on how we got to fly in business class for the price of economy class ticket here), and the in-flight entertainment system had a section with detailed instructions on how to fill out the immigration card and the customs form.
After getting my picture and fingerprints taken (not needed for kids), we got landing permission stickers attached to our passports and we went on on our merry way to the luggage claim.
Note: we are US citizens and did not need a visa for a short-term stay (up to 90 days). See Japan visa requirements here.
Customs
Unlike the Embarkation/Debarkation card, you need only one Customs Declaration form per family.
If you don’t receive the form from a flight attendant, there are tables with the Customs Declaration forms next to most of the luggage claim areas.
If you have anything to declare (see instructions below), you have to go through the Red Channel, otherwise, go to the Green Channel.
Wi-Fi Pocket Router Pick Up
There are several options to stay connected while in Japan: get data plan with your mobile provider, get local SIM card, or rent a pocket Wi-Fi router. I went with the Wi-Fi router rental as we could connect up to 5 devices to it.
I have pre-ordered mine via Klook. I was able to pick it up in Narita and return it in Haneda. The pick up location for our rental was at QL Liner counter, which confused me at first as the sign at the counter said “Luggage Delivery”, but it turned out to be the correct location.
If you are interested, this is the Wi-Fi device I chose. Click here for $5 off your first Klook order.
The router served its purpose well, however, there is no way it will last 9 hours as advertised on the website, so make sure you have a power bank with you if you want to keep using Wi-Fi. I got my power bank on AliExpress.
Arrival Video
Here is the a quick video of our arrival experience:
Departure
We were leaving from Haneda airport. Departure process was smooth and efficient as well.
We made quite a few tax-free purchases and I had several receipts stapled to my passport pages. There is a customs counter before the passport control where you must present your receipts attached to the passport. The customs official told us to drop off the receipts in a basket on the counter and we were free to proceed. You might be asked to show your tax-free purchases (in the sealed bags) though.
After a short line, we got a departure stamp in our passports and we were on the way to Hong Kong.
