Changing planes at Haneda's Terminal 3, you stay in the transit area and never pass immigration. To leave the airport, US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa for stays of up to 90 days. Indian passports need a Japanese visa, applied for before you fly.
Not to change planes: if you stay in Haneda's transit area at Terminal 3, you never pass immigration. To leave the airport, US, UK, EU, Schengen, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa for stays of up to 90 days; register on Visit Japan Web before you land. Indian passports need a Japanese visa: the eVISA, through an accredited agency, or a visa through VFS. A connection to a domestic flight means entering Japan.
If you stay airside
Most international connections at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) never reach Japanese immigration. You stay airside, in the transit area past security where you wait for your next flight, and you need no visa.
- At Terminal 3. Most international flights use Terminal 3. After landing, follow the signs for “International Transit” to the transit security checkpoint, and you’re back in the departure area.
- From or to Terminal 2. A few international flights use Terminal 2. Connecting between the two, you take the international transit bus, and airport staff guide you to the transit security checkpoint.
- Boarding pass. If you already have your onward boarding pass, go straight to transit security. If you don’t, JAL passengers check in at the international transfer counter just before immigration; on other airlines, ask at your airline’s transfer desk.
That holds while you stay airside. You’d enter Japan, and need to be able to, if you collect your bags, change to a domestic flight or leave the airport.
A domestic connection means entering Japan. Changing from an international flight to a domestic one, you clear immigration and customs at Haneda, collect your checked bags and check in again. JAL asks for at least 1 hour 20 minutes between an international arrival at Terminal 3 and a domestic departure.
If your passport needs a visa for Japan, as an Indian passport does, ask your airline before you fly to confirm you can connect airside without one.
If you want to leave the airport
You pass immigration and enter Japan, so you need permission to enter. Japan lets in passports from 74 countries and regions without a visa, for up to 90 days for almost all of them.
| Passport | What you need to leave Haneda |
|---|---|
| US | No visa. Stays of up to 90 days |
| UK | No visa. Stays of up to 90 days |
| EU and Schengen | No visa, for every EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Stays of up to 90 days |
| Canada | No visa. Stays of up to 90 days |
| Australia | No visa. Stays of up to 90 days |
| India | A Japanese visa, applied for before you fly: the eVISA or a visa through VFS. See below |
To check another passport, find your country on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ visa exemption list, linked under Sources. Some countries on it qualify only with an ePassport.
Visa-free entry
With a passport on the list, a layover needs no paperwork beyond the passport itself. At the border you’re given permission to stay for up to 90 days (15 days for Indonesia and Thailand, 30 for Brunei and Qatar). Before you land, register on Visit Japan Web, the Japanese government’s free online service, and fill in your immigration and customs details: it gives you a code to show at the border.
Indian passports
India isn’t on Japan’s visa-free list, so with an Indian passport you need a Japanese visa to leave the airport, even for a few hours. There are two ways to apply, both before you fly:
- The eVISA. A single-entry visa for a short stay for tourism, of up to 90 days, applied for online through an accredited travel agency.
- A visa through VFS. Submitted in person at a VFS Japan Visa Application Centre in India. Many centres, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, need an appointment booked online first, so check yours on the VFS site before you go.
The visa fee for Indian nationals is ₹500, plus the agency’s or VFS’s service fee. Applications are accepted from 3 months before you travel, and the Embassy of Japan in India says processing times can vary widely and can’t be sped up, so apply early. Its 24-hour visa information line is +91 11 7181 6614.
If you can’t get a visa in time, stay airside: the Transit hotel at Terminal 3 has rooms past security.
If you’re on separate tickets
On separate tickets your bags don’t go through to your next flight. You collect them, pass immigration and customs, and check in again, so you enter Japan even if you never planned to leave the airport. You need to be able to enter: without a visa on a passport from the list, or with one on an Indian passport. If you need a visa and don’t have one, book both flights on one ticket instead.
At the border
Haneda publishes no immigration queue times, so plan on about an hour from landing to the train, and more at busy times. If it takes longer, you have less time in town, but the time you must head back doesn’t change, because it counts back from your departure.
- Before you land. Fill in Visit Japan Web, so you have your code ready for immigration and customs.
- Arriving. After immigration you collect any bags and pass customs, then come out on the arrivals floor of Terminal 3, where both railways’ ticket gates are.
Before you go landside
Landside is the public side of the airport, after immigration. Once you’re there, the way back to your gate is through check-in or bag drop if you need them, security and departure immigration.
- Check that your bags are checked through to your final destination.
- Keep your passport and onward boarding pass to hand.
- Be back at the airport 90 minutes before departure. JAL and ANA close check-in an hour before.
- Getting into town: getting to the city.
Stopovers on ANA
For a longer stop, ANA’s TOKYO+ fares, sold with an ANA ticket from Europe, include a stopover in Tokyo of up to or over 24 hours and a free domestic flight within Japan on the same ticket. Taxes and fees may be extra. The stopover is a normal entry to Japan, so the rules above apply.