Moving from the UK to Japan (2026): Complete Guide

The UK-to-Japan corridor is one of the longer household moves you can make, and it has two distinct halves that are governed by two completely separate authorities. On the departure side, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) controls how your goods leave Great Britain and how your tax affairs are closed. On the arrival side, Japan Customs decides whether your used household effects enter duty-free, while Japan’s Animal Quarantine Service polices anything with a heartbeat. This guide covers both halves in the order you will actually meet them, plus a short note for anyone planning the reverse trip later. It is written for a UK resident relocating to Japan — someone shipping a home’s worth of belongings, possibly a pet, and needing to get the paperwork right the first time.

Key takeaways

• Japan lets you import used household effects free of duty and tax when you are relocating to Japan for over one year, within reasonable limits (Japan Customs).
• Your unaccompanied baggage (sea/air freight) must arrive and be in your custody within six months of your arrival in Japan to keep the duty-free treatment (Japan Customs).
• On arrival you (or your agent) file the Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles, Customs Form C No.5360 / C-5360-B, in duplicate (Japan Customs form list).
• Every UK export requires an electronic declaration on HMRC’s Customs Declaration Service (CDS) — CHIEF could no longer be used for export declarations after 4 June 2024 (GOV.UK).
• Tell HMRC you are leaving with form P85 and settle your UK tax-residency position under the Statutory Residence Test (RDR3) (P85; RDR3).
• Bringing a dog or cat from the UK (a non-designated region) means microchip, two rabies shots, an antibody titre ≥ 0.5 IU/ml, a 180-day wait and a 40-day advance notice to Japan’s Animal Quarantine Service (MAFF).
• Declare £10,000 or more in cash when leaving Great Britain, and ¥1,000,000 or more when entering Japan (GOV.UK; Japan Customs).

1. How your Japanese visa status determines the customs treatment

Japan Customs does not grant duty-free entry to household goods on the strength of your nationality — it grants it on the strength of your intended length of residence. The rule is explicit: when you are relocating to Japan "for over one year," your and your family’s used household effects "may be imported free of duty and/or tax within the limit deemed reasonable" (Japan Customs).

Your status of residence — the visa in your passport, whether it is a Work, Spouse, Highly Skilled Professional or long-term category — is the evidence that proves you intend to live in Japan for more than a year. A short-stay or tourist entry does not qualify you as a resident, so the same shipment that clears duty-free for a work-visa holder would be treated as ordinary dutiable cargo for a visitor. Two consequences follow. First, only used effects qualify; brand-new goods still in their packaging may attract duty and consumption tax. Second, the concession is for genuine household goods in reasonable quantity — commercial volumes are not covered. Fix your visa before your goods ship, and make sure your name on the bill of lading exactly matches your passport and residence card.

2. The UK export side — HMRC, leaving, and closing your tax file

The customs authority. In Great Britain the relevant authority is HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Even personal belongings leaving the country need an electronic export declaration lodged on HMRC’s Customs Declaration Service (CDS). HMRC completed the migration of all export declarations onto CDS during 2024: businesses had a transition period to move across, and after 4 June 2024 export declarations could no longer be submitted through the legacy CHIEF system (GOV.UK). The declaration must be made before the goods leave the UK or are presented at the border, following HMRC’s completion requirements for Great Britain (GOV.UK).

In practice you will not file this yourself. Making a CDS declaration requires a Government Gateway account, access to the Customs Declaration Service, and a GB EORI number (CDS access; EORI). Your international removals company, acting as your export agent, holds these and lodges the declaration for your consignment.

"Deregistration" — the UK version. Unlike much of continental Europe, the UK has no central population registry and therefore no single town-hall deregistration step. Your departure admin is instead a checklist: cancel or transfer council tax, close or redirect utilities, notify the NHS/your GP, and cancel your vehicle tax with the DVLA if you are keeping a UK car off the road. The one step you must not skip is telling HMRC.

Tax-residency exit. Notify HMRC that you are leaving using form P85, "Get your Income Tax right if you’re leaving the UK." The P85 tells HMRC you have gone, closes your PAYE record and claims back any overpaid tax for your final part-year (GOV.UK). If you already file Self Assessment, you report the departure on that return instead. Whether you actually stop being a UK taxpayer is decided by the Statutory Residence Test (SRT), set out in HMRC’s guidance note RDR3; if you leave part-way through a tax year you may qualify for split-year treatment (RDR3). General guidance on tax when you move abroad is collected on GOV.UK‘s "Tax if you leave the UK to live abroad" page. Get this right, because UK/Japan tax residency in your move year affects both countries’ claims on your income.

3. Ports and transit — where UK cargo leaves, and how long it takes

The overwhelming majority of household goods travel by sea freight in a shared or sole-use container. The UK’s dominant container gateways, by Department for Transport figures, are the Port of Felixstowe (the UK’s busiest container port) and the Port of Southampton, with London Gateway/Port of London a major and growing third (DfT port freight statistics). Your container will most likely sail from one of these to a Japanese hub such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe or Osaka.

A clear caveat on timing: transit times are freight-industry estimates, not official government figures, and they move with sailing schedules, transhipment and congestion. As a working guide only, sea freight from the UK to Japan is commonly quoted at roughly 5–8 weeks port-to-port, and door-to-door — including UK collection, export clearance, consolidation, the ocean leg, Japanese customs and final delivery — often runs 8–13 weeks or more. Air freight cuts the ocean leg to days but is far costlier and practical only for a small, essential subset of belongings. Treat any single number a mover gives you as an estimate and build in slack, especially around Japanese public holidays.

4. The Japan import side — the actual form and process

When your shipment reaches Japan as unaccompanied baggage, it is cleared against the declaration you make on arrival as a passenger. On landing you complete the Declaration of Accompanied Articles and Unaccompanied Articles in duplicate; the customs officer stamps both copies and returns one to you. You must keep that stamped copy — it is what releases your later-arriving freight (Japan Customs).

The declaration used for the freight itself is Customs Form C No.5360, or its English-language equivalent C-5360-B, the "Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles" (Japan Customs form list; C-5360-B PDF). Alongside it your agent files a detailed packing list and supporting documents (passport, visa/residence card). Remember the two hard conditions: the effects must be used, and the shipment must be in your custody within six months of your arrival (Japan Customs). Miss the six-month window and the duty-free concession is lost. Note also that Japan restricts or prohibits certain goods regardless of residence status — check before you pack anything unusual.

5. Pets — the rules at both ends

Moving a dog or cat to Japan is the single most time-critical part of the whole relocation, and the timeline is set by Japan, not the UK. The UK is a non-designated region in Japan’s system, so the full procedure applies (MAFF):

1. Microchip (ISO 11784/11785) implanted first.
2. Two rabies vaccinations — the first when the animal is at least 91 days old and after microchipping, the second 30+ days later.
3. Rabies antibody titre test at a designated laboratory, result ≥ 0.5 IU/ml.
4. 180-day wait measured from the blood-sampling date before the animal may enter Japan.
5. Advance notification to the Animal Quarantine Service at least 40 days before arrival — a notice filed late is, in principle, not accepted.
6. Pre-export clinical inspection and official certification, then import inspection at a designated Japanese airport/seaport (MAFF overview).

An animal that does not meet every requirement can be detained for up to 180 days, so start at least seven months before you fly.

On the UK side, taking a dog or cat out of Great Britain to a non-EU country requires a microchip, rabies vaccination, an Export Health Certificate (EHC) confirming your pet meets Japan’s rules, and — in England, Scotland and Wales — an Export Application Form (EXA). You nominate an Official Veterinarian and apply through the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (GOV.UK; pet travel overview).

6. Vehicles, money and the things people forget

Vehicles. Japan Customs will admit a used personal vehicle duty-free as part of a residence move only where a registration certificate or sales receipt proves it is used (Japan Customs). Separately, the car must pass Japan’s roadworthiness (shaken) and emissions/type-approval regime before it can be registered and driven — a costly, uncertain step that leads most movers to sell the UK car and buy locally.

Money. Leaving Great Britain, you must declare £10,000 or more in cash (or equivalent), and the declaration can be made from 72 hours before travel (GOV.UK). Arriving in Japan, you must declare ¥1,000,000 or more in cash or equivalents (Japan Customs).

Commonly forgotten: medicines (Japan restricts many common drugs — check before packing), your stamped unaccompanied-baggage copy, and matching every name and address across passport, visa, bill of lading and the C-5360.

How Flyto handles your UK-to-Japan move

Flyto runs strong in-house European operations — our own offices, warehouses, trained teams and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe — so the UK collection, packing and export-clearance leg is handled directly by people we employ. For the ocean and air legs and the destination side we combine that with a carefully chosen network of partners and subcontractors, backed by trusted local partners in Japan who manage the C-5360 clearance and final delivery. We coordinate the whole corridor end to end without pretending we do every mile ourselves.

Frequently asked questions

How early should I start? At least six to seven months ahead if you have a pet, because Japan’s 180-day rabies-titre wait and 40-day advance notice dominate the schedule (MAFF). Without a pet, three to four months is comfortable.

Do I qualify for duty-free household goods? Yes, if you are relocating to Japan for over one year, the goods are used, and they reach you within six months of arrival (Japan Customs).

Do I file the UK export declaration myself? In practice, no. It needs CDS access, a Government Gateway account and a GB EORI — your removals company files it as your agent (GOV.UK).

What tax form do I submit when I leave the UK? Form P85, unless you already report via Self Assessment; your residency is then settled under the Statutory Residence Test (P85; RDR3).

Can I ship a few brand-new items? They may not get the used-goods concession and can attract duty and consumption tax, so declare them honestly (Japan Customs).

What about the reverse move, Japan → the UK? Coming back, the key UK relief is Transfer of Residence (ToR): apply on form ToR1 before your goods arrive to import household belongings free of duty and import VAT, then quote the URN on the import declaration (Transfer of residence; ToR1). It broadly requires 12 months’ residence abroad and 6 months’ ownership of the goods.

Sources

• Japan Customs — passenger/personal effects, six-month rule, vehicles, ¥1,000,000 cash
• Japan Customs — Customs Form C list (C No.5360 / C-5360-B)
• Japan Customs — C-5360-B form (PDF)
• MAFF Animal Quarantine Service — import of dogs and cats (overview)
• MAFF Animal Quarantine Service — import from non-designated regions
• GOV.UK — CDS open for all export migration (CHIEF closure)
• GOV.UK — Customs declaration completion requirements for Great Britain
• GOV.UK — Get access to the Customs Declaration Service
• GOV.UK — Get an EORI number
• GOV.UK — Get your Income Tax right if you’re leaving the UK (P85)
• GOV.UK — RDR3 Statutory Residence Test guidance note
• GOV.UK — Tax if you leave the UK to live abroad
• GOV.UK — Take cash in and out of the UK (£10,000)
• GOV.UK — Taking your pet abroad (overview)
• GOV.UK — Taking your pet abroad: non-EU country (EHC/EXA/APHA)
• GOV.UK — Port freight quarterly statistics, Oct–Dec 2024
• GOV.UK — Transfer of residence to Great Britain
• GOV.UK — Application for transfer of residence relief (ToR1)