New Chitose is Hokkaido’s main airport, with separate buildings for domestic and international flights. That matters for your tax refund. Since November 1, 2026, the customs confirmation that releases your refund happens at the airport where you actually leave Japan — so if your trip home starts with a domestic flight from New Chitose to Tokyo or Osaka, New Chitose isn’t where you do it.

This guide covers both cases: flying out of Japan directly from New Chitose’s International Terminal Building, and starting the trip home with a domestic flight.

First: which airport do you leave Japan from?

  1. If your international flight leaves from New Chitose, you do the customs step here — at the customs kiosk (often called the tax refund counter) in the International Terminal Building, before you check any bags. The steps are below.
  2. If you fly domestically first, you do it at the airport your international flight leaves from. Japan Customs is explicit: complete the procedure at the airport or seaport of your final departure from Japan. Flying to Haneda or Narita for a flight home? See the Narita & Haneda guide; flying out of Kansai, see the Kansai Airport guide.
  3. On that domestic flight, keep your tax-free purchases out of any bag checked through to your final destination. Customs has to see them at your international departure airport, before you check in there — and a bag checked through to your final destination won’t be in your hands at that point. Carry the purchases on the domestic flight, or check them only as far as the airport you leave Japan from and collect them there. Watch for this on a ski trip: skis, boots and the big suitcase may go in the hold for the whole journey, so the tax-free shopping can’t go in with them.

Leaving Japan from New Chitose, step by step

Before you leave for the airport

  1. Head for the International Terminal Building, not the domestic terminal. International check-in is in its departure lobby, on 3F. The two buildings are joined by a connecting facility. Until around the end of June 2027 (tentative), construction closes part of its passage, and you can’t cross between the buildings on the affected floor. If you arrive on the domestic side, allow extra minutes and follow the signs.
  2. Register with Visit Japan Web if you want the online route. New Chitose is one of the seven airports where you can complete the customs confirmation on your own phone instead of at a kiosk — see Visit Japan Web online confirmation for the setup.
  3. Pack every refund-eligible purchase where you can reach it, with your receipts. See the pre-departure checklist for the full countdown.

At the airport

  1. Go to the customs kiosk before you check any bags. Per Japan Customs’ kiosk location map, New Chitose’s kiosks are in the International Terminal Building:

    • International Terminal Building: 3F — open 6:00 a.m. until the building closes

    The airport’s own page doesn’t say where on the floor they sit, so open the Customs map for the exact spot and the customs inspection area.

  2. Or confirm online. If you set up Visit Japan Web, connect to Customs_WiFi_For_TaxRefund (password: jcustoms) in the dedicated Wi-Fi area of the international departure lobby, before security — the network Japan Customs publishes for this procedure.

  3. Read the result. Green means you’re done: go check in. Red means you take everything you registered, plus your receipts, to the customs inspection area — see red judgment for what happens there.

  4. Check in liquids only after the customs step. New Chitose reminds travelers that liquids bought at tax-free shops in town can’t be carried through security, so they go in your checked baggage. Do the confirmation first, with that sake or skincare still in your hands, then check it in.

  5. Then check in, drop your bags, and go through security and passport control. Once a bag is checked, you can’t pull it back to show customs what’s inside.

  6. Give yourself time — New Chitose doesn’t publish a set arrival time for international flights. Check-in arrangements vary by airline, so check your airline’s deadline and add time for the customs step, plus any inspection after a red result.

Cash refunds

  1. Know that there’s a cash refund service in the International Terminal Building — and that it’s not the customs kiosk. Since November 1, 2026, a service called Cash Japan Tax Refund pays refunds in cash to travelers who completed tax-free procedures at participating stores. You still clear the customs kiosk first. Per the airport:

    • International Terminal Building: 3F, counter 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., machine whenever the building is open

    The airport’s page doesn’t say whether it sits before or after passport control, so check the floor map on the day.

  2. Only use it if your store told you to. It works only for purchases from participating stores, so ask at the register how your refund will be paid; for the usual card and bank options, see how much comes back, and when.

Why the domestic flight changes everything

Customs confirms your purchases at the moment they leave Japan, because that’s what makes them exports. A domestic flight from New Chitose to Tokyo doesn’t take anything out of the country, so there’s nothing to confirm yet — and if your purchases are sealed inside a bag checked through to your final destination, there’s nothing for customs to see when you do leave. The fix costs nothing: keep the tax-free shopping in your carry-on until the airport you actually fly home from.

As for finding the kiosk once you’re there, we point you to Japan Customs’ kiosk map rather than describing each kiosk’s position — the reason is in the Narita & Haneda guide.

The official pages below have the detail New Chitose Airport and Customs have published — worth a check closer to your travel date, since anything updated there will be more current than a fixed description here.