Apply here, nowhere else
For a short tourist or business visit with no paid work, there is no visa application to buy and no entry fee to pay. That is exactly why copycat sites are a risk: any site selling you a Japan visa, an entry permit, or a paid arrival registration for this kind of trip is not selling an official requirement.
- Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco: Visa Information - official Japanese consulate page, checked directly on 24 October 2026. It states that a visa is NOT required for US citizens for a short-term stay of less than 90 days for transit, tourism, business without paid activities, conference, or study.
- US Department of State: Japan Travel Advisory - official US page, advisory dated 28 September 2026, checked directly on 24 October 2026. It states no visa is required for stays less than 90 days, the passport must be valid for the entire stay, and one blank page is required per entry stamp.
Visit Japan Web is a separate, optional, free arrival service run by Japan's Digital Agency. It is not a visa and it is not an entry permit, and paper arrival and customs forms remain accepted. No Visit Japan Web link is printed here because the official address could not be verified by a direct text check on 24 October 2026. Do not pay for it through a third party. Check the Japan Digital Agency site directly, and only use an address on a Japanese government domain.
Entry checklist, short visit
- Visa-free, up to 90 days: US passport holders do not need a visa for a short-term stay of less than 90 days for tourism, business without paid activities, conference, or study. The stay is granted as Temporary Visitor status on arrival.
- Cost: $0 for visa-free entry. No advance application and no fee for this category.
- Validity: up to 90 days per entry, as granted on arrival. The period starts on the entry date. It is not a 90-day visa that you hold in advance.
- Passport: valid for the entire time you are staying in Japan, with at least one blank page for the entry stamp. Airlines may apply their own stricter validity checks, so check with your carrier as well.
- Onward travel: you should have proof of a return or onward ticket. Immigration officers may also ask how you will support yourself in Japan, and may deny entry if you cannot show it.
- On arrival: most visitors must provide fingerprints and have a photograph taken at immigration, with exceptions including diplomatic visa holders and minors.
- No paid work: you cannot work on the local economy on a visa-free visit. Paid work, a stay over 90 days, or a change to another status needs a visa obtained before travel, normally with a Certificate of Eligibility for work or long-term stay.
- Not a guarantee: landing permission is decided by an immigration officer on arrival, even for visa-free travellers.
- Transit: no separate transit permit figure was verified for this page. The State Department guidance says to ensure your passport and visa are valid for your entire stay, and that airlines in Japan may not let you board if you do not have the right travel documents for your next destination. Verify your exact transit case before travel.
- Not a move: a visa-free visit does not give work or residence permission. Work, study, or living in Japan needs a separate immigration route, with its own advice.
Visa-required cases are different. The San Francisco consulate page states that visa approval takes a minimum of 5 business days with sufficient documents, and that it does not provide expedited service. That processing figure applies to people who need a visa, not to visa-free travellers, who have no application to process.
Scouting trip budget, fixed maths
Flights are per person, the room is shared, daily spending is per person. Trip total is for all travellers. Per person is trip total divided by travellers, per day is trip total divided by days, with no extra flight added. All figures below are editable examples, not sourced flight or hotel prices. Entry cost is $0 on this route, so no entry fee is added to the total.
Worked example, checked: 10 days, 2 travellers, $1,200 flights per person, $200 room per night, $110 daily per person, 10% buffer. Base is (2 x $1,200) + ($200 x 10) + (2 x $110 x 10) = $6,600. With buffer, $7,260 total, $726 per day, $3,630 per person. Flight and hotel figures are editable examples only.
Your result
Estimated trip total, all travellers
Flight and hotel figures here are examples for maths checking only. Replace them with quotes you have actually received. Entry cost on this route is $0, checked 24 October 2026.
From scouting trip to move
A scouting trip answers questions a calculator cannot: which neighbourhood feels right, what the commute actually feels like, and whether Tokyo in your travel season is a place you want to live. If the trip goes well, the next step is the move page, not a longer visitor stay.
Sources, checked 24 October 2026
- Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco, Visa Information page, opened directly 24 October 2026: US citizens, short-term stay less than 90 days for transit, tourism, business without paid activities, conference, or study, NOT required. Certificate of Eligibility holders over 90 days and other listed cases, required. Visa processing minimum 5 business days for visa-required applications.
- US Department of State, Japan Travel Advisory, dated 28 September 2026, opened directly 24 October 2026: no visa required for stays less than 90 days, passport valid for the entire stay, 1 blank page per entry stamp, proof of return or onward ticket advised, no work on the local economy, no change to another visa while in Japan, fingerprints and photograph on arrival, and entry may be denied without proof of means of support.
- Visit Japan Web as optional and free, paper forms still accepted, and JESTA as approved in law but not yet in operation with a planned fiscal year 2028 start, from secondary summaries checked 24 October 2026. These two points were not verified on a Japanese government page by direct text check that day, so recheck them before this page publishes as a guide, and do not pay any site for either service.
If any figure above has moved since 24 October 2026, the page is out of date until it is rechecked. That is the point of the last-checked stamp.