JAPAN · FOR VISITORS
Notes from someone who actually goes there.
Short, specific guides to the parts of a Japan trip that generic travel blogs get wrong — the tax-free desk, the ticket machine, the queue you did not need to join.
Japan's tax-free shopping changes on 1 November 2026
From 1 Nov the refund moves to the airport, the window goes 30 → 90 days, and the sealed-bag rule disappears. Here is what you actually do at the counter and at customs.
About
Field Notes is written by a Hong Kong–based traveller who plans Japan trips the slow way: official sources first, receipts second, other blogs never. Everything here is checked against the National Tax Agency, JNTO or Japan Customs before it is published.
Where a page links to a booking site or a tour, that link is an affiliate link. It costs you nothing and it is how the notes stay free.