FOR MANY, heading to Japan is a dream come true with the vibrant cities of Tokyo and Kyoto – but from this year, visiting will become more expensive.
Across 2026, several new fees are being introduced in Japan that could see your holiday to the Asian country suddenly become a lot more expensive.
So if you are planning a trip to Japan, you might want to budget a bit extra…
Kyoto hotel tax
From March, anyone visiting Kyoto will have to pay Japan‘s highest-ever hotel tax.
The new system will be tiered based on the prices of rooms, with the fee ranging from ¥200 (93p) per night, to as much as ¥10,000 (£46.73) per night.
The city’s authorities have introduced the tax as a way for tourists ‘sharing the cost’ of tourism.
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The money collected from the new fee is set to go to transport upgrades, campaigns and a new express bus service that will connect the city centre to Higashiyama’s temple district.
It is estimated that the tax will generate around ¥12.6 billion (about £58.8million) each year, which is around double what the city’s previous tax raised each year.
Departure tax
Known as the departure tax, Japan will raise the fee for travellers leaving the country.
The fee will rise from ¥1,000 (£4.67) per person to ¥3,000 (£14.01) in July 2026.
The departure tax was originally introduced back in 2019 and applies to anyone who is leaving Japan.
The fee isn’t paid separately but is usually applied to either a flight ticket or ferry ticket.
However, if you depart within 24 hours of arriving – so let’s say you have a flight stopover – you will not be charged the fee.
The fee will apply to all travellers aged two or older.
Visa fees
Visa fees could also rise under Japan’s 2026 budget.
The plans suggest there could be a ¥15,000 (£70.07) processing fee for a single-entry visa.
This would cost five times more than the current fee, which sits around ¥3,000 (£14.01).
For multiple-entry visas, the fee could even rise to ¥30,000 (£140.13).
2028 introductions
Japan is also looking at introducing even more fees in the future.
By 2028, the country hopes to roll out the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (JESTA) for travellers from visa-free countries.
If this were introduced, it would mean that citizens from 71 countries and regions that currently have visa-exempt short-stays in Japan, would need to get a pre-authorisation to travel.
And this includes Brits.
It would, in practice, be similar to America’s ESTA.
The fee for this could be between ¥2,000 (£9.34) and ¥3,000 (£14.01) per person.
Existing fees
There are a number of fees already in place across Japan including Mount Fuji’s ¥4,000 (£18.70) entry fee which was introduced last summer to limit the issues of overtourism.
The fee applies to all four main trails of Mount Fuji.
In other tourist fee news, the cost of holidays is set to rise at home AND abroad thanks to pricier flights and new tourist tax rules.
Plus, new tourist tax to introduce £76 entry fee at 11 National Parks – while locals have free entry days.