Visa requirements for Japanese citizens

Japanese citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Japan and 74 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

No country asks holders of the Japanese passport for a visa beforehand while its own citizens enter Japan without one.

The reverse holds for 88 countries: holders of the Japanese passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Japan (Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan and 83 others).

15 countries ask holders of the Japanese passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 6 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Japan.

9 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Japan, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country.

The United States refused 5.7% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Japan in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 11 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 185 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Schengen consulates in Japan refused 5.8% of short-stay visa applications in 2025 (all Schengen consulates worldwide: 15%). Among the 74 countries where they received at least 10,000 applications, that is the 61st highest rate. The figure counts every nationality applying there, not only citizens.

Visa-free travel with the Japanese passport

By continent, the Japanese passport is visa-free in 44 countries in Europe, 30 countries in the Americas, 23 countries in Asia, 13 countries in Africa and 4 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Japanese citizens are allowed in Georgia (360 days), Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Armenia (180 days), Costa Rica (180 days), Dominica (180 days) and Mexico (180 days).

Visa on arrival

Japanese citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros and 31 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Japanese citizens enter Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cuba, DR Congo and 14 others. Australia, Canada, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and 4 others ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

How the passport compares

Of the 198 passports in the data, 72 can enter visa-free, 2 need an ETA, 7 need an e-Visa, 116 need a visa from an embassy or consulate and 1 is not admitted for Japan.