Japan's duty-free shopping scheme is worth carrying your passport for

Common sense tells us to leave our precious passports securely in the hotel safe, but this savvy traveller's hack will change your mind – and save you money. 

Helicopter passporting is something many of us can relate to. Having been born in the ’80s to parents who liked my sister and I to dress smart for flights (they were diplomats often flying the pointy end, so no shade) and arrive at the airport earlier than early, I have an irrational fear of anything happening to my passport. I think many of us do.

 

It’s an anxiety that grips me often when travelling, for good reason; a stolen or lost passport is just about the worst thing that can happen on holiday besides being doubled over the plane toilet and sink simultaneously like some sort of sick take on Twister. But that’s a story for another time.

It starts from the moment I step into the taxi. “Have I got my new passport, not my old one?” (I paid a hefty $516 for a fast-track passport last year after running out of pages in my old one, and for a while there, I travelled with both, just in case I’d mixed them up).

Then my attention turns to its appearance: “Hang on, is that mould in the spine?”

And then once safely through immigration, the obsessive stalking of the precious little booklet ensues. Spoiler alert: It always seems to be where I left it, in my travel sleeve, and if it’s not in my travel sleeve, it’s in the depths of my handbag, which is a game it likes to play often to spice things up.

Leaving your passport in the hotel safe may sound like a good idea, but not if you're hitting the shops in Japan.

Being passport-pedantic would seem to go hand-in-hand with keeping it locked up in the hotel safe, but as I recently discovered, it’s not always the smartest move, especially while mooching around Tokyo.

I’ve left jewellery in there in the past, so there’s always the potential to forget your passport is even in the safe and move on to the next leg of your journey none the wiser.

But even worse was this: In 2024, I stayed at one of the most luxurious new hotels in Japan. I’m talking the type of place that charges more than $1000 a night. It wasn’t until I was halfway into a trip in Niigata three days later that I realised my passport was missing. My gut dropped. Staff had never handed it back to me after check-in. Reception had even called me to tell me they would have someone deliver it to the room but they never did. And I forgot. Luckily, I was returning to Tokyo a few days later and my passport and I were safely reunited.

Bring your passport and Shimokitazawa's fashion shops could be more affordable than you'd think.

But I recently made a discovery in Tokyo that left me regretting my overanxious style of passport parenting. Dragging your most important life document around the world’s biggest city might sound moronic, but hear me out. Many retailers in Japan are part of a consumption tax-free initiative, through which tourists can get discounts when shopping if they show their passport. Sadly, a photocopy or photo of your passport won’t do. Purchases need to be over ¥5000 ($54) and it applies to everything from food to pharmacies and even vintage clothing.

I bought a vintage jacket for ¥15,180 ($164) in Shimokitazawa, which would have been ¥13,180 ($142), saving me about $20 had I been able to present my passport at check-out. I took home a second vintage suede tassel jacket that day, so could have saved nearly $50 in total.

So next time you’re in Tokyo, which by the way, is one of the safest cities in the world for tourists, don’t be afraid to let your hair down and take your passport out for a twirl.

Just make sure it’s home and tucked up in bed by 7pm.

Originally published as Japan's duty-free shopping scheme is worth carrying your passport for