Nagoya · NGO

Chubu Centrair International Airport: tax refund procedure

Do the customs confirmation before you check in your bags, within 90 days of purchase. Here is where to go at Centrair and what to expect.

Where: Terminal 1: Departure lobby, in front of the international check-in counters · Terminal 2: CIQ Information Corner, next to the check-in counters
When: Before you check in any bags. Within 90 days of the purchase date.
Online option: Visit Japan Web, while connected to the dedicated Wi-Fi inside the marked area of the departure lobby (up to the security checkpoint).
Customs office: Nagoya Customs

Terminal by terminal

Terminal	Tax-free terminals (kiosks)	Dedicated Wi-Fi area	Customs inspection (RED)
Terminal 1	Departure lobby, in front of the international check-in counters	Only around the customs kiosks (Centrair lists SSID Customs_WiFi_For_TaxRefund, password jcustoms)	In front of the international check-in counters, next to the customs kiosks
Terminal 2	CIQ Information Corner, next to the check-in counters	Only around the customs kiosks (same dedicated customs Wi-Fi)	On the way from the CIQ Information Corner to the security checkpoint (10:00–21:30, subject to flight schedules)

Source: Centrair tax refund page (English). Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

Centrair asks you to do the tax refund procedure first, before anything else, when you arrive at the airport. Once you have checked your bags or passed passport control you cannot come back to do it.
The kiosks and verification areas open according to the flight schedule. In Terminal 2 the verification area and the refund kiosk are listed as 10:00–21:30.
Cash refunds, where the shop offers them, are paid after check-in at dedicated refund kiosks and counters, in yen only: Terminal 1 has 5 kiosks near passport control and a staffed counter near Gate 20; Terminal 2 has one kiosk just outside passport control. Card, QR-code and bank-transfer refunds go through the shop’s own process, not these counters.
Check-in counters typically open 2 to 3 hours before departure and the customs check can take time, so arrive earlier than usual.
Duty-free shops after passport control at Centrair already sell at tax-exempt prices, so no refund procedure is needed for those purchases.

Do the tax-free procedure first, before you check in any bags. The terminals are in the international departure lobby, before baggage check-in. Checked bags cannot be retrieved, and every tax-free item has to be with you.
Scan your passport at a tax-free procedure terminal. At the seven major airports you can instead use Visit Japan Web on your phone while connected to the dedicated Wi-Fi in the marked area, which runs up to the security checkpoint. Either way it takes seconds.
Read the result. GREEN: the customs procedure is complete. RED: take your goods to the customs inspection area and show them to the officer.
Keep every item from every receipt with you, consumables unused. If one item from a receipt is missing, that whole receipt loses the refund. If you ate, drank or used something, do not use the terminal; report it to the customs officer at the counter.
Then check in your bags and go through security. The whole procedure, including any inspection, must be finished before your boarding procedures, so arrive with time to spare.
The refund comes later from the shop or its refund operator. Customs does not pay you. It arrives by the method you registered at the shop: bank transfer, card, app or cash at the port. See Where’s my refund?

Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

We only state terminal locations we have verified against an official source. Airports move things; check the airport’s own page before you fly.