Japan raises visa fees by up to 400% for first time since 1978. Here’s why
TOPSHOT – People take photographs with Mount Fuji at Lake Yamanakako in snow in Yamanakako, Yamanashi prefecture on December 5, 2025. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images)
Yuichi Yamazaki | Afp | Getty Images
Travelers who require a visa to enter Japan will pay up to five times more from July 1, after Tokyo raised visa fees for the first time since 1978, citing rising costs and exchange-rate fluctuations amid a tourism boom.
The application fee for a single-entry visa will climb to 15,000 Japanese yen ($93) from 3,000 yen, while multiple-entry visas will cost 30,000 yen, up from 6,000 yen.
Japan said visa fees are now being increased “in order to respond to the current price increases and fluctuations in exchange rates.”
The Japanese yen has hovered near multi-decade lows in recent months, despite government intervention aimed at supporting the currency.
Experts told CNBC that the increase comes as Japan experiences a surge in tourism that has placed considerable strain on infrastructure and public services.
“Given the prolonged depreciation of the Japanese yen in recent years, maintaining fee structures set under different economic conditions may no longer be financially sustainable,” said Zilmiyah Kamble, senior lecturer in hospitality and tourism management at James Cook University.
Kamble said the increase was unlikely to be aimed directly at curbing overtourism.
“Although the visa fee increase is unlikely to be a direct overtourism control measure, it may contribute modestly to offsetting some of the administrative and operational costs associated with managing growing visitor volumes,” she added.
Japan welcomed record numbers of visitors in 2024 and 2025, with arrivals reaching 36.8 million and 42.6 million, respectively. The tourism sector has become a significant contributor to the country’s GDP, according to Mastercard.
FUJIYOSHIDA, JAPAN – APRIL 08: Tourists pose for photographs in front of cherry trees in bloom while Mount Fuji is seen in the background at Arakurayama Sengen Park on April 08, 2026 in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. During the cherry blossom season, Fujiyoshida City canceled its annual festival at Arakurayama Sengen Park this year due to over tourism affecting the local living environment while neighboring Fujikawaguchiko Town continues to hold its festival. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The visa fee increase is unlikely to affect tourism in the country, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reportedly said.
The move also comes alongside an increase in the departure tax for all travelers to 3,000 yen from the current 1,000 yen. The change reflects the growing share of foreign tourists among departures from Japan, according to Yuki Masujima, chief economist and partner at Deloitte Tohmatsu Group.
Foreign travelers now account for 74% of departures from Japan, compared with about 20% to 30% before the implementation…
Read More: Japan raises visa fees by up to 400% for first time since 1978. Here’s why