Japan Duty free shopping:Need to go to a customs agent at last cruise terminal port?

Hi everyone,

I plan to shop while on a Japan cruise in October. We will sail onward to South Korea after a visit in Nagasaki. Below is a note to claim the Japan 8% consumption tax refund:

• Only foreign visitors who have temporarily stayed in Japan for less than 6 months since entering Japan.
  
• You must show your passport at the store where you purchased the goods for tax-free procedure.
  
• You have to claim your sales tax refund on the same day of purchase.
  

When you produce your passport at the tax refund counter, they will check your Japan entry permit stamp to confirm your eligibility. They will then staple a piece of paper with the tax refund information and your particulars on the page where the Japan entry permit stamp is. You will need to return this piece of paper (titled “Record of Purchase of Consumption Tax – Exempt for Export”) to the Japan customs at the airport just before you go to the immigration counters where your passport is checked.

Do I need to find a Japan customs agent at Nagasaki cruise terminal to return the "Record of Purchase of Consumption Tax-Exempt for Export"?

Does any body have experience with this?

Twee

At the appropriate port, a Japanese Customs Official will board your ship and be available all day to collect the forms from you.

If for some reason you do not meet him, you can have the forms removed by officials at the airport you exit Japan from.

You will already have received your duty-free discount at the time of purchase, so it is a very simple process to remove the forms from your passport.

I often have Duty Free purchase forms stapled in my passport in Japan. Quite often as I exit Japan, the official sees them, but fails to remove them. I wait until I am out of the country and just remove them myself.

Thank you BruceMuzz for the information. I'll look for the customs agent in Nagasaki. If no one is available, I will wait to remove the papers from my passport after arriving back home.

Thank you for your time.

Twee