TripZillaStarting from 7 Jan 2019, travellers departing Japan by plane or ship will have to pay a “sayonara tax” of 1,000 yen (about US$9).
This tax applies to both Japanese and non-Japanese travellers. Exempt are those who leave Japan within 24 hours of arrival as well as children below the age of two.
The proceeds from the tax will be funnelled into tourism-related expenses, particularly building the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate the influx of tourists leading up to and after the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.
It will also be used to promote tourism in Japan in various ways, from sponsoring global tourism campaigns to improving the multilingual guide services in national parks.
The legislation on this departure tax was passed by the upper house of parliament on Wednesday, 11 Apr, and government officials expect the income from this tax to amount to 6 billion yen (almost US$56 million) between just Jan and Mar 2019 alone.
