Passport renewal Japan costs 8,900 yen online for a 10-year adult passport since 1 July 2026, down from 15,900 yen, and the five-year passport is no longer available to adults. If you apply at the counter, the fee is 400 yen higher, which puts the over-the-counter total at about 9,300 yen. Online applicants need a My Number Card (Japan’s national ID card) and the government’s Mynaportal service.
If you’re planning passport renewal Japan for yourself or a family member, the 2026 fee cut changes the maths and the wait. Applications jumped after 1 July, and the Foreign Ministry’s own estimate of the processing time has moved from two weeks to a month and then to about three weeks. This guide explains the new fee table, the online and counter routes, the documents, children’s passports and renewal from overseas. It draws on Jiji Press reports dated 24 April, 1 July and 13 August 2026, a Yokohama City page and a Friday Digital article from 30 April 2025, and an Envoy Global note from 2023. The Jiji Press reports reached us through Nippon.com and Adnkronos. None of these is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so confirm the fee and the processing time with your prefectural passport office before you apply. For how renewal works in the United States, see our passport renewal guide.
How Much Does Passport Renewal Japan Cost in 2026?
8,900 yen online and about 9,300 yen at the counter for a 10-year adult passport, effective 1 July 2026. Nippon.com, citing Jiji Press, reported the figures when the Diet (Japan’s parliament) passed the bill in April. Adnkronos confirmed the effective date and the online fee on 1 July.
Before the change, the Yokohama City page listed the counter fee as 400 yen higher than the online fee, for example 16,300 yen against 15,900 yen for the 10-year passport. Adnkronos describes the new counter surcharge the same way but doesn’t print the total, so 9,300 yen is the implied figure, and Nippon.com gives 9,300 yen directly. Treat 8,900 and 9,300 as the working numbers.
The sources disagree about children. Adnkronos on 1 July says the under-12 fee fell from 5,900 yen to 4,400 yen and lists 10,900 yen for ages 12 to 17 without a previous figure. Adnkronos on 13 August says the child fee fell from 10,900 yen to 4,400 yen. Nippon.com says the child fee is around 4,500 yen and names the old 12 to 17 fee as around 11,000 yen. Ask your passport office which age band applies to your child.
The fee cut arrived with other costs. Adnkronos reports that the departure tax rose and that visa fees for foreigners went up on the same day, so the overall travel bill isn’t falling as much as the passport fee suggests.
Can You Renew a Japanese Passport Online?
Yes, if you hold a valid My Number Card, and you visit the counter once to collect the passport. The Friday Digital article from April 2025 says online applications for new passports and renewals are available and that applicants visit the counter once, down from two visits. The Yokohama City page confirms that online applications need a My Number Card and no family register certificate.
Envoy Global reported in 2023 that online renewal was limited to people whose passport had less than one year of validity or at least three blank visa pages. That page is two years older than the Friday Digital and Yokohama pages, which describe broader availability, so don’t rely on the narrower rule. Check the Mynaportal screens before you start.
If you apply at the window, you submit a paper form. Yokohama says new applicants at the window must bring a family register (koseki) certificate, while the Friday Digital article says renewals never require one. A copy costs 450 yen plus postage when it’s needed, according to the same article.
What Documents Do You Need?
A My Number Card for the online route, or the paper form, your current passport and a photo for the counter route. The sources don’t list a full document set. Yokohama mentions the family register for new paper applications and none for online ones. Envoy Global refers readers to a government page for details and doesn’t summarize them. Because the lists vary by prefecture, ask the office that accepts your application what to bring.
Bring the current passport in all cases. A Japanese passport renewal produces a new booklet, and the old one is cancelled.
How Long Does Passport Renewal Japan Take?
About three weeks in mid-2026, according to the Foreign Ministry’s own estimate. Adnkronos reported on 13 August that officials expected issuance to take about three weeks, which was faster than the earlier estimate of one month.
The timing has shifted a lot over the past two years.
- March 2025 (Yokohama City): 6 to 9 days at one center and 8 to 11 days at another.
- April 2025 (Friday Digital): about 2 weeks domestically, and 2 weeks to 1 month at overseas missions.
- July 2026 (Adnkronos): about 1 month, because of an expected surge in applications.
- August 2026 (Adnkronos): about 3 weeks.
The surge was real. Adnkronos reports about 530,000 applications in July 2026, roughly 1.6 times the figure a year earlier, and 3.3 times the usual volume in the first three days of the month. The Friday Digital article advises applying about a month ahead. In 2026, add another week of margin, since the ministry’s own estimate is about three weeks. An applicant who files online on 1 November should plan on collecting around 22 November at the earliest.
Why Did Japan Remove the Five-Year Adult Passport?
The sources report the change and don’t explain the reasoning. Nippon.com says adults can apply only for a 10-year passport and that the five-year passport remains for children, who are eligible only for five years. The result is simple. Adults pay 8,900 yen once every decade, compared with 15,900 yen before the cut. A traveler who used to renew a five-year passport for 10,900 yen twice (21,800 yen in total over ten years) now pays 8,900 yen for the same ten years.
What Does the Fee Cut Mean for a Household?
A family of four adults saves 28,000 yen on 10-year passports applied for online. Before July 2026, four passports cost 63,600 yen (4 times 15,900). Now they cost 35,600 yen (4 times 8,900). Applying at the counter adds 400 yen per person, or 1,600 yen for the four, so the online route saves money as well as a trip to the office.
Families with children see a smaller change. If Adnkronos’s 1 July figures are right, a child under 12 pays 4,400 yen, down 1,500 yen from 5,900 yen, while a child aged 12 to 17 pays the same 10,900 yen as before. Children can only get five-year passports, so each child’s passport needs renewing twice as often as an adult’s.
How Do the Online and Counter Routes Compare?
Online costs 400 yen less, needs one visit and avoids the family register for new applicants. The counter route is the fallback for anyone without a My Number Card.
- Fee: 8,900 yen online and about 9,300 yen at the counter for an adult 10-year passport.
- Visits: one to collect the passport online, according to Friday Digital. The counter route involves the application visit and the collection visit.
- Documents: the online route skips the family register for new applications, and renewals never need one.
- Speed: Friday Digital reports online comments claiming paper applications are faster, but the ministry’s figures describe one timeline for all applicants. Treat the claim as unverified.
- Risk: Yokohama City warns that maintenance of the Mynaportal system can make online applications and status checks unavailable for a time.
If a maintenance window is announced for your filing week, switch to the counter route rather than wait.
Can You Renew a Japanese Passport From Abroad?
Yes, through a Japanese embassy or consulate, but the wait is longer. The Friday Digital article says overseas missions take 2 weeks to 1 month. The Envoy Global note doesn’t address overseas applicants, and none of our sources gives the overseas fee. The 8,900 yen figure applies to online applications in Japan, so contact the mission that serves you for its fee and for the documents it requires.
What About the 2025 Passport Design?
Passports issued from 24 March 2025 are the “2025 passport,” with stronger anti-counterfeiting features. Yokohama City says the National Printing Bureau prints them and delivers them to the prefectures, and its page lists longer processing times after the change, though it doesn’t link the two. If your current passport was issued before that date, the renewed one will look different. The design change doesn’t alter the fee schedule.
What Should You Check Before You File?
Confirm your My Number Card works, your fee tier and your travel date. Three quick checks cover the main risks.
- Log in to Mynaportal and confirm your My Number Card works with the service before you start the application.
- Check which fee applies to the traveler: adult 10-year, child under 12 or child 12 to 17.
- Count back from your departure date. With a three-week estimate and a post-July backlog, filing less than five weeks before a flight leaves little room for a rejected photo or a corrected form.
The Friday Digital article reports online applicants waiting up to 3 weeks, or over a month when errors occur, so a clean first submission matters.
Which Mistakes Delay Passport Renewal Japan?
Applying late and using an out-of-date fee table cause most delays. Check each point first.
- Using the pre-July 2026 fee of 15,900 yen as your budget.
- Planning around the 2025 processing time of about two weeks.
- Starting an online application without a My Number Card.
- Assuming an adult can still choose a five-year passport.
- Bringing a family register certificate you don’t need, or skipping one that you do.
- Applying for a child without checking which age band applies.
- Filing at the counter and paying the 400 yen surcharge when you could have applied online.
- Forgetting to leave a week of margin for the post-July surge.
FAQs
How much does passport renewal Japan cost?
For an adult 10-year passport, 8,900 yen online and about 9,300 yen at the counter since 1 July 2026, per Jiji Press reports.
Can I still get a five-year passport?
Not as an adult. Adnkronos says the five-year adult passport is no longer available. Children remain eligible for five years only.
Can I renew online?
Yes, with a My Number Card. You visit the counter once to collect the passport, according to Friday Digital.
How long does it take?
About three weeks, according to the Foreign Ministry’s August 2026 estimate reported by Adnkronos.
Why is it taking longer than before?
Applications reached about 530,000 in July 2026, roughly 1.6 times the year-earlier figure, after the fee cut.
Do I need a family register certificate?
For a new paper application, yes. Renewals don’t require one, according to Friday Digital.
Can I renew from overseas?
Yes, through a Japanese embassy or consulate. Friday Digital says it takes 2 weeks to 1 month.
Conclusion
Passport renewal Japan now costs adults 8,900 yen online for a 10-year passport, and the main catch is a wait of about three weeks. Apply online with a My Number Card, and plan to collect the passport a month before you fly.
