Japanese passport

Japanese passports are issued to Japanese nationals to facilitate international travel. From 2018 to 2022, it was ranked first on the Henley Passport Index for visa-free travel, and second as of April 2025, with holders able to travel visa-free to 190 countries and territories.

History

Japanese citizens were first issued travel documents for overseas travel in 1866, near the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. These took the form of a stamped "letter of request" that permitted travel abroad for business or educational purposes. The earliest known recipient was the acrobat and magician, who received his travel document on 17 October 1866 to perform at the 1867 Exposition Universelle held in Paris, France. The term "passport" was formally introduced into the Japanese language in 1878, and the first regulations governing Japanese passports were enacted in 1900. The modern form of the Japanese passport first came about in 1926, and the first ICAO-compliant, machine-readable passports were introduced in 1992.

Types of passports

Ordinary passport : Issued to ordinary Japanese citizens and have a validity of 10 years.

* Ordinary passport : Issued to ordinary Japanese citizens and have a validity of 5 years. Japanese citizens under 17 years of age can only be issued a blue passport. Official passport: Issued to members of the National Diet and public servants.Diplomatic passport: Issued to members of the Imperial Family, diplomats and their family members, and high-level government officials.
* In accordance with international conventions for heads of state, the Emperor and Empress of Japan do not possess passports.Emergency passport: Issued to overseas Japanese nationals when machine-readable passports are unable to be issued by a diplomatic mission of Japan due to a malfunction and there is no time to wait for the passport to be issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, or to overseas Japanese nationals who failed to be issued a Travel Document for Return to Japan, valid for 1 year from date of issuance.
* Travel Document for Return to Japan: Emergency single-use travel document issued to overseas Japanese nationals to return to Japan, features a white cover with the paulownia crest of Japan|crest]. It is invalidated immediately after use.

All Japanese passports issued after 20 March 2006 are biometric passports.
Japanese passports have the chrysanthemum crest inscribed in the centre of the front cover, with seal script Kanji characters reading Nipponkoku Ryoken inscribed above the crest and its English translation JAPAN PASSPORT in Latin letters below the crest. Ordinary passports valid for five years feature dark blue covers, and those valid for ten years feature crimson-coloured covers. Additionally, official passports feature dark green covers, and diplomatic passports feature dark brown covers.

Data page

Photo of the passport holder
Type
Issuing country
Passport number
Surname
Given name
Nationality
Date of birth
Sex
Registered Domicile
Date of issue
Date of expiry
Issuing authority
Signature of bearer

The information page ends with the Machine Readable Zone.

Passport photo requirements

A photo for a Japanese passport should meet specific requirements:

Size: 35mm by 45mm and: 600 dpi minimum.
Head size and position: From chin to forehead should be 32mm to 36mm.
Photo must be in color.
Must be taken in the last 6 months.
Background: Solid white only. No other objects visible, like door, windows etc.
Neutral face expression.
2 passport photos per application.
Head cover is allowed for religious or medical reasons.

Passport note

The passports contain a note from the issuing country that is addressed to the authorities of all other countries, identifying the bearer as a citizen of that country and requesting that he or she be allowed to pass and be treated according to international norms. The note inside of Japanese passports states:
In Japanese:
In English:

Language

Japanese passports are entirely printed in both Japanese and English, except for the note of caution that is found at the end of the passport, which is only printed in Japanese. This note contains information about what the bearer should know when encountering various situations in a foreign country.
The surname, given name and other personalised mentions are only indicated in Latin uppercase letters. Japanese names are in principle transcribed according to one variant of the Hepburn romanization system, but exceptions are admitted in certain cases, notably when the name comes from the katakana transcription of a foreign name, in which case the original spelling of the name in the Latin alphabet may be used.
The signature may be written in any language and in any spelling the individual desires.

Visa requirements

Visa requirements for Japanese citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states which are placed on citizens of Japan. As of April 2025, Japanese citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 190 countries and territories, tied with the South Korean passport and ranked the second most powerful passport in the world in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index.