Japan visa exemptions: read the passport footnotes

What to check

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a short-stay exemption table with nationality-specific notes. An entry in that table does not make every document issued by the same place eligible.

Prepare and compare

Some arrangements depend on an ICAO-compliant electronic or machine-readable passport; others require prior registration or a particular passport format. The permitted initial stay also differs between entries. Read the note beside your own passport rather than relying on the flag alone.

Before you travel

Visa2Book labels these cases as conditional and links to the original table. It does not assume a registration has been completed. For a stay beyond the initial allowance, a different activity or an unusual document, consult the responsible Japanese mission.

Editorial source check: 7 September 2026. This is not the policy’s effective date.