Japan Customs Duty From Korea (2026): The ¥10,000 Rule

🕒 Last updated: August 31, 2026

How the ¥10,000 threshold is actually applied

According to Japan Customs' official guidance, exemption is decided by three rules together: (1) the total taxable value on a single declaration must not exceed ¥10,000, (2) the total value of everything inside one package must not exceed ¥10,000, and (3) if the same sender ships multiple packages to the same recipient at the same time, those are added together for the ¥10,000 check[1]. In other words, splitting one order into several boxes doesn't get around the limit — customs looks at the combined total.

Items that are taxed no matter how cheap they are

⚠️ Leather bags, handbags, and gloves; knitted apparel (T-shirts, sweaters, and similar); ski boots; and leather footwear or shoes with leather soles are excluded from the ¥10,000 exemption regardless of price — though genuine personal gifts can sometimes qualify for an exception. If you regularly order clothing or leather goods from a Korean seller, this exclusion list is the one thing worth knowing before you assume "it's cheap, so it's tax-free."

Examples of how this plays out

Purchase price	Result
¥8,000 (not an excluded item)	Duty and tax free
¥10,000 (not an excluded item)	Exactly meets the exemption threshold
¥12,000	Fully taxed — on the whole amount, not just the excess
¥5,000 knitted sweater (excluded item)	Taxed regardless of the low price

When tax does apply, it's calculated in order: customs duty first, then consumption tax on (item value + duty), then local consumption tax — so higher-duty items end up costing proportionally more overall.

A bigger change is coming in 2028

Right now, online purchases of ¥10,000 or less also skip the separate 10% consumption tax that would otherwise apply on import — but this consumption-tax exemption is scheduled to be abolished on April 1, 2028 (pending Japanese Diet approval as of August 2026)[2]. After that date, the overseas seller — or the digital platform they sell through, if that platform's annual revenue exceeds ¥5 billion — will be required to register for and collect Japanese consumption tax directly, likely at checkout rather than at customs. Nothing changes for you today, but if you shop from Korean sellers regularly, this is worth knowing about in advance.

Timeline

Date	What applies
Now (as of Aug 2026)	Duty: exempt under ¥10,000 taxable value (excluded items aside) / Consumption tax: separately exempt for online purchases at or under ¥10,000 retail
Apr 1, 2028 (planned)	Online-purchase consumption tax exemption abolished; overseas sellers/platforms must register and collect the tax directly

One thing worth double-checking

✅ Make sure your shipping address is a genuine personal residence. A company address or a freight-forwarding address can make it harder for the shipment to be recognized as a personal import, which can delay clearance. Cosmetics and health supplements also carry separate quantity limits on top of the value limit, so if you're ordering these repeatedly, it's worth checking with the seller in advance.

How Tosome Logis Can Help — Sellers and Buyers

How Tosome Logis helps

🇯🇵Checking whether a product falls on the excluded-item list

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📦Professional packaging for fragile, mixed, or bulk orders

🛍️Purchase agent service — already found a seller? We can pay them on your behalf and ship it to you

✅Official DHL / FedEx / UPS partner based in Korea

⚠️ Note: specific quantity caps for cosmetics and supplements weren't confirmed from a primary source and are omitted here. Check current guidance from Japan Customs and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare before relying on this for a specific shipment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Leather bags, knitted apparel (like sweaters and T-shirts), ski boots, and leather footwear are excluded from the ¥10,000 duty-free rule regardless of price.

No. Multiple packages sent by the same sender to the same recipient at the same time are added together when Japan Customs checks the ¥10,000 threshold.

The separate consumption-tax exemption for online purchases under ¥10,000 is being abolished, and the overseas seller or the platform they sell through will be required to register and collect Japanese consumption tax directly.

References & Sources

[1] Japan Customs official FAQ, "Duty exemption for goods at a total customs value of 10,000 yen or less" — www.customs.go.jp
[2] VATcalc, "Japan Consumption Tax low-value consignment threshold" — www.vatcalc.com

#JapanCustoms #BuyingFromKorea #TenThousandYenRule #TosomeLogis

Bought Something From Korea? Here's Japan's ¥10,000 Duty-Free Rule