Japan's Finance Ministry announced it will fully digitalize all airport customs declarations by 2030 to support a target of 60 million annual visitors.
The ministry unveiled the plan on Tuesday under the title Smart and Secure Border Control: Customs Vision 2030. Passengers will complete declarations using QR codes generated after entering their names and addresses online.
Electronic declarations were introduced in 2019, yet roughly half of applications remained paper-based as of April 2026. The government plans to deploy an AI-based X-ray inspection system at major airports including Narita and Osaka by 2030.
With foreign visitors exceeding 40 million last year for the first time, the measures aim to ease workloads for customs officers.