Your passport in Japan: why you must carry it, and why hotels ask to copy it

Two passport rules surprise visitors to Japan. You are expected to carry your passport when you go out, and your hotel will ask to see it and make a copy. Both come from Japanese rules, not from the hotel being difficult.

Carry your passport when you go out

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department answers this question on its English living guide:

• Yes. You must carry your passport (or your residence card, if you have one) whenever you go out.
• It is an obligation under Japanese law, and you must show it when asked by the police.

The same police department's page for visitors from abroad says that foreign nationals staying in Japan are required to carry their passport or permits, and to show them if a police officer asks.

In practice: keep your passport on you in a zipped inner pocket or a bag you keep in front of you, not in a back pocket.

Why your hotel asks for your passport

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) publishes a multilingual notice for hotels to show guests. It says:

• For guests who are foreign nationals without an address in Japan, the government requires the lodging to record your nationality and passport number in the guest register, in addition to your name, address and contact details.
• The government also requires the presentation and photocopying of passports.

So when a hotel, ryokan or guesthouse asks to scan or copy your passport at check-in, it is following this rule. The MHLW notice asks for guests' understanding and cooperation.

If you live in Japan and have an address here, this passport rule for "foreign nationals without an address in Japan" does not describe your case. Ask the front desk what they need.

If you lose your passport

The Tokyo police's lost-and-found guide says:

1. Contact your country's embassy or consulate first to check whether you need a police certificate to have your passport reissued.
2. File a Lost Property Report at a police station or police box (koban). The form is available at any police office, and on the police website to fill in beforehand. Reports sent by email are not accepted.
3. The police will contact you if the item is found. They ask for a Japanese phone number, and in principle do not make international calls.

Also contact the railway, bus company, airline or business where you may have left it; the police guide notes they may keep lost property for a few days.

See also Lost something in Japan?.

Sources

• Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, "Do I always have to carry my passport or residence card with me?": https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/english/finding_services/living_guide/living_guide_e_4.html (checked 2026-09-29)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, "To foreign visitors" (in Japanese): https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/japanese/safe_society/avoid_victim/ninpo.html (checked 2026-09-29)
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, notice on passport presentation and copies for foreign guests: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000130600_00001.html (checked 2026-09-29)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, "Lost and Found": https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/multilingual/english/finding_services/lost_and_found/lost_found.html (checked 2026-09-29)