Moving from Ireland to Japan (2026): Complete Guide

Relocating from Ireland to Japan is a two-country project, not one shipment. On the Irish side you are exporting your belongings out of the EU customs territory and closing out your tax and social-welfare footprint; on the Japanese side you are importing personal effects under a specific customs regime that depends entirely on your immigration status, and registering as a resident within days of landing. This guide walks through both halves in the right order, names the actual authorities and forms on each side, and flags where numbers are official rules versus freight-industry estimates. It is written for anyone leaving Ireland for Japan on a work, spouse, student or other long-stay status, and it closes with a short note on the reverse move.

Key takeaways

• Your Japanese status of residence (visa) decides your customs treatment: household effects enter Japan duty- and tax-free only if you intend to stay more than one year (Japan Customs).
• Unaccompanied belongings are declared on Japanese customs form C No. 5360-B, "Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles" (Japan Customs form list).
• Unaccompanied baggage must arrive within six months of your entry to Japan to keep the relocation exemption (Japan Customs).
• Ireland’s customs authority is Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs); goods leaving the EU are declared through the Automated Export System (AES) (Revenue AES process flow).
• Bringing a dog or cat requires microchip, two rabies shots, an antibody test ≥ 0.5 IU/ml, a 180-day wait, and 40-day advance notice to Japan’s Animal Quarantine Service (MAFF AQS).
• Cash of €10,000+ must be declared leaving Ireland (Revenue); means of payment over ¥1,000,000 must be declared entering Japan (Japan Customs).
• Within 14 days of moving in, foreign residents must file a moving-in notification at their Japanese municipal office (Japan MIC).

1. Your Japanese visa determines the customs treatment

Before you book any freight, understand that Japan’s duty-free "moving home" allowance is not automatic — it is tied to your immigration status. Japan Customs grants relief from duty and consumption tax on used household effects only where you are entering "with the intention of staying more than one year," in which case those effects may be imported free of duty and/or tax within the limit deemed reasonable (Japan Customs). In practice this means arriving on a long-stay status of residence — a work visa, spouse or dependent visa, highly-skilled professional, student, or similar — and being able to show your residence card. Someone entering on short-term/tourist entry does not qualify for the relocation exemption, and their goods are treated as ordinary imports. Get your visa and residence card sorted first; the customs paperwork flows from it.

2. The Ireland export side

Ireland’s tax and customs authority is Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs). Japan is outside the EU, so your shipment is an export from the Union customs territory and must be covered by an electronic export declaration lodged through Revenue’s Automated Export System (AES), which replaced the older AEP system on 21 March 2023 and handles export and exit formalities for goods leaving the EU via Ireland (Revenue: What is AES?; Revenue AES process flow). A full export declaration is not required for consignments valued at €1,000 or less and weighing 1,000 kg or less, but a household move of used effects sits well above that, so a declaration is made — in practice your freight forwarder or customs agent files it under your details. Export declarations can be pre-lodged ahead of departure, so build that lead time in.

Ireland has no compulsory population register, so there is no continental-style "deregistration" step — instead, closing out is about tax and welfare. Your PPS number is issued for life and cannot be surrendered; you keep it if you ever return (Citizens Information). Notify Revenue and your social welfare office when you leave.

On tax residency, plan for the exit. You are Irish tax-resident in a year if you spend 183 days there, or 280 days across that and the prior year; after three consecutive resident years you become "ordinarily resident," a status that lingers for three years after you leave. Split-year treatment can mean your post-departure foreign employment income is not taxed in Ireland in your year of departure (Revenue: moving to or from Ireland). Apply in writing to Revenue.

3. Ports and transit times

Almost all household-goods sea freight leaves via Dublin Port, Ireland’s largest port, which handles roughly half the Republic’s trade and the bulk of its containerised traffic (Dublin Port). Deep-sea cargo out of Cork (Ringaskiddy) is another option, though most Ireland-to-Japan container moves route through Dublin or feeder to a large European hub (Rotterdam, Antwerp or Hamburg) before the main leg to Japan. On arrival, Japanese ocean freight typically clears through the major container ports — Yokohama, Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka or Nagoya — while air shipments arrive at Narita, Haneda or Kansai.

The following transit times are freight-industry estimates, not official figures, and vary with sailing schedules, transhipment and customs:

• Sea freight (full or shared container): roughly 6–10 weeks door-to-port on the main Europe–Japan leg, plus packing, consolidation and destination clearance.
• Air freight: typically 1–2 weeks door-to-door for the transport itself, more once you add packing and customs.

Treat these as planning ranges. Because your unaccompanied goods must reach Japan within six months of your arrival to keep the customs exemption (see section 4), even the slow sea option leaves comfortable margin — but don’t ship so early that goods land before you can present your stamped declaration.

4. The Japan import side

When you enter Japan you complete a customs declaration and, crucially, tell Customs that you have unaccompanied baggage still to arrive. Passengers with unaccompanied goods must submit two copies of the declaration; Customs certifies and returns one copy to you, and you must keep that stamped copy to clear the goods when they land (Japan Customs). The form is C No. 5360-B, "Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles" — the English-language version of the C-5360 series (Japan Customs; C-5360-B PDF).

Key rules to get right:

• Six-month window: unaccompanied baggage must be in your custody within six months after your arrival to qualify for the relocation exemption (Japan Customs).
• What clears duty-free: used personal effects and household goods for your own use, within the limit deemed reasonable, where you intend to stay over a year. New items and anything in excess of a reasonable personal quantity are assessed like normal imports; the general traveller’s duty-free allowance is capped at a total overseas market value of ¥200,000 (Japan Customs duty-free FAQ).
• Documents: carry copies of your passport, visa, and both sides of your residence card, and an inventory of the shipped goods.

When you arrive in Japan the customs declaration can also be prepared through the Visit Japan Web system, but the C-5360-B logic for unaccompanied effects is unchanged. Once settled, complete your moving-in notification at the municipal office within 14 days of taking up residence, which also starts your My Number registration (Japan MIC).

5. Pets

Ireland is a non-designated (non-rabies-free) region for Japan, so the full import protocol applies to dogs and cats, and it is long — start 7 to 9 months before departure. Japan’s Animal Quarantine Service (AQS), under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, sets the steps (MAFF AQS):

1. Microchip (ISO 11784/11785) implanted before the first rabies vaccination.
2. Two or more rabies vaccinations with inactivated or recombinant vaccine; the first only counts once the animal is at least 91 days old and microchipped, and the second at least 30 days after the first and within its effective period.
3. Rabies antibody (serological) test drawn after the second shot at an AQS-designated laboratory, showing a titre ≥ 0.5 IU/ml; the result is valid for two years.
4. 180-day wait: the animal may arrive in Japan only after 180 days have passed from the blood-sampling date.
5. Advance notification to AQS at the port of entry not less than 40 days before arrival — file it late and, in principle, it will not be accepted.
6. Government health certificate and a pre-export clinical inspection, then import inspection on arrival (MAFF AQS index).

On the Ireland side, the export certificate must be endorsed by an official government veterinarian. Contact your Regional Veterinary Office (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, DAFM) at least two months before travel so the required certification can be completed (DAFM pet travel; DAFM pets portal). Miss any single step and your pet can face detention of up to 180 days at a Japanese quarantine station.

6. Vehicles, money, and things people forget

Vehicles. A car can in principle enter Japan as part of your household effects duty-free if you are moving for over a year and the quantity is reasonable (Japan Customs), but Japanese roadworthiness, registration and shaken inspection make importing a used Irish car rarely worthwhile — most people sell before leaving. Ireland and Japan both drive on the left, so at least the wheel is on the correct side. Exporting the vehicle from Ireland still runs through the AES export declaration.

Money. Declare cash of €10,000 or more to Revenue when leaving the EU via Ireland (Revenue). On the Japanese end, declare means of payment — cash, cheques, and gold of at least 90% purity over 1 kg — exceeding ¥1,000,000 or equivalent on entry (Japan Customs). Neither is a limit; both are declaration duties, and non-declaration carries penalties.

Easy to forget: file split-year treatment with Revenue; notify your social welfare office; keep your PPS number details; register your Japanese address within 14 days; and remember your Irish driving licence must be converted to a Japanese one through the official gaimen kirikae process at your prefectural licence centre before you drive.

How Flyto handles your Ireland to Japan move

Flyto’s strength is our in-house European operation — our own offices, warehouses, crews and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — which we combine with a carefully chosen network of vetted partners and subcontractors for the legs we don’t run ourselves. For the Japan end we work with trusted local partners for destination clearance, delivery and unpacking, so your Irish export declaration and your Japanese C-5360-B clearance are coordinated end to end rather than handed off and forgotten.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay Japanese duty on my used furniture and clothes?
Not if you are moving on a long-stay status and the goods are used, for your own use, and reasonable in quantity — they clear duty- and tax-free within that limit (Japan Customs).

What is the deadline for my shipping container to reach Japan?
Unaccompanied baggage must be in your custody within six months of your arrival to keep the exemption (Japan Customs).

Which form do I need, and when?
Form C No. 5360-B for unaccompanied effects; declare the unaccompanied baggage on arrival, get one copy stamped, and keep it to clear the goods later (Japan Customs).

How early should I start the pet process?
Seven to nine months. The 180-day post-test wait plus the 40-day advance AQS notification are the binding constraints (MAFF AQS).

Will I still owe Irish tax after I leave?
Possibly, depending on residence and ordinarily-resident status; split-year treatment may exempt post-departure foreign employment income in your exit year — apply to Revenue (Revenue).

Reverse direction: Japan to Ireland

Moving back mirrors the process. You export from Japan (a moving-out notification at your municipal office) and import into Ireland, where you can claim Transfer of Residence relief from customs duty and VAT if you lived outside the EU for at least 12 months and owned and used the goods for at least six months — submitting Revenue form C&E 1076 at least two weeks before your goods arrive (Revenue: transfer of residence). Pets travel on an EU health certificate issued before entry.

Sources

• Japan Customs — Procedures of Passenger Clearance
• Japan Customs — Customs Form C list (C-5360-B)
• Japan Customs — Form C No. 5360-B (PDF)
• Japan Customs — Duty-free Allowance FAQ 7104
• Japan Customs — Export/Import of Means of Payment FAQ 7305
• MAFF Animal Quarantine Service — Importing dogs and cats (non-designated region)
• MAFF Animal Quarantine Service — Import/export quarantine of dogs and cats
• Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs — Basic Resident Registration: move-in/move-out
• Revenue — Moving to or from Ireland during the tax year
• Revenue — What is the Automated Export System (AES)?
• Revenue — AES: new process flow to confirm exit of goods from the EU
• Revenue — Travelling with, or sending, cash (€10,000)
• Revenue — Transfer of Residence relief / C&E 1076
• Dublin Port
• DAFM — Pet Travel
• DAFM — Pets portal
• Citizens Information — Personal Public Service (PPS) number