Japan Japanese Passport (myriad / visa photo also 35×45 mm) Photo Size

Specifications

Japanese 35×45 mm passport numbers: 413×531 px and the July 2026 ¥8,900 fee

日本旅券 fees, 申請書 forms and コンビニ print services

外務省 MOFA rules and prefectural 旅券事務所 passport offices

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (外務省), through prefectural passport offices (旅券事務所) (mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/passport/) sets the rules.

Japanese passports (一般旅券 ippan ryoken) are issued under the Passport Law (旅券法 Ryoken-hō) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but day-to-day applications are received at the 旅券事務所 (ryoken jimusho, passport offices) of each prefecture and at selected city wards, or online through the My Portal (マイナポータル) using the My Number Card (マイナンバーカード). Since March 2025 the online route has been available for first-time applications in every prefecture and removes the need to submit the paper family register (戸籍謄本 koseki tōhon), because household records are now linked to the system. Foreign nationals applying for a Japanese tourist or business visa follow the separate MOFA visa (査証 sashō) process at embassies and consulates, and their visa photo follows the same 35 × 45 mm standard listed on the mofa.go.jp visa pages.

Japanese applicants almost always get the photograph before visiting the passport window: proof-photo booths (証明写真ボックス) sit outside almost every major railway station, convenience-store kiosks print certified proof photos, and photography studios (写真館) in shopping arcades measure the head to the official 34 mm standard.

• Proof-photo booths (証明写真機 shōmei shashin-ki) — Coin-operated booths at JR and subway stations, department stores and shopping centres print a set of 35 × 45 mm photos for around ¥800, with a camera height and background screen already calibrated to the passport standard.
• Konbini proof-photo printing (コンビニ証明写真) — Upload your home-cropped image to the print-service portal and collect four borderless prints from the multi-copy machine at セブン-イレブン (Seven-Eleven), ファミリーマート (FamilyMart) or ローソン (Lawson), typically for ¥200–¥600.
• Photography studios (写真館 shashin-kan) — Matsuya Camera, Bic Camera camera floors and neighbourhood studios in Shinjuku, Ginza, Umeda and Sapporo shoot and measure the head at about 34 mm, selling a sheet of photos plus the digital data.
• Prefectural passport offices (旅券事務所 ryoken jimusho) — The offices in Tokyo (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Kōrakuen), Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka receive the application and check the photo; they do not take photographs on site.
• City ward service counters — Designated ward offices (区役所 ku-yakusho) in Tokyo and 政令指定都市 (major cities) accept passport applications on certain weekdays, often with smaller queues than the main passport centre.
• My Portal online (マイナポータル) — With the My Number Card (マイナンバーカード) and the smartphone app you photograph your own face, sign and submit the application, visiting the chosen window once only to collect and pay by credit card.
• Embassies and consulates abroad — Japanese nationals overseas apply at the nearest 在外公館 (zaigai kōkan); fees are published in local currency, for example the Shenyang consulate lists the 10-year renewal at ¥15,900 by card or ¥755 in yuan cash.
• Do it yourself at home — Shoot against a white wall, crop to 35 × 45 mm at 413 × 531 px in the PixlReady Japan preset, print borderless on photo paper or send the JPEG to a konbini kiosk.

The My Portal (マイナポータル) passport flow is the national online channel: the applicant uploads a JPEG face photo, signs digitally, reads the My Number Card chip, and pays by credit card for the online discount fee. Foreign visitors use the separate MOFA visa portal only to find the embassy address — visas are not issued online for nationalities requiring them.

My Portal application: ¥8,900 online fee, 2-week turnaround and 6-month collection rule

A Japanese passport application moves from photo to finished book in about two weeks: you either apply online via My Portal and visit the chosen window once, or submit the paper form at a prefectural passport office (旅券事務所). Since 24 March 2025 every book has been laser-printed on a plastic data page at the National Printing Bureau (国立印刷局).

1. Get a compliant 35 × 45 mm photograph: booth, konbini print, studio or home crop, taken within the last 6 months.
2. Online applicants open the My Portal (マイナポータル) app with the My Number Card (マイナンバーカード), choose the passport (パスポート) procedure, select a collection window and upload the face photograph.
3. Paper applicants pick up an application form (申請書 shinsei-sho) at any passport office, ward office or convenience store, attach the photo, and bring the family register extract (戸籍謄本) issued within the last 6 months plus identification (driver licence or My Number Card).
4. Submit at the 旅券事務所 or complete the online transmission; the window issues a receipt (受領書 juryō-sho) with the collection date, usually about 2 weeks away.
5. From 1 July 2026 the 10-year book costs ¥8,900 online or ¥9,300 at the counter; the under-18 5-year book costs ¥4,400 online or ¥4,800 at the counter. Online applicants pay by credit card; counter applicants pay in cash or by the window's card terminal.
6. Collect the finished passport at the chosen window, bringing the receipt and identification; the old book is usually cancelled and returned at the same counter.
7. Collect within 6 months of issue: an uncollected passport lapses under the Passport Law, and re-applying within 5 years attracts a higher fee.
8. Foreign visitors applying for a Japanese visa instead submit the 35 × 45 mm photo with the visa application form (査証申請書) at the embassy or consulate listed on the MOFA visa pages; visa fees vary by nationality and country.

Shooting a borderless 35×45 mm shōmei shashin that passes the MOFA check

1. Stand about 1.5 m from a white or very light grey wall so that neither the room light nor a ring light casts a shadow behind your head or on the background.
2. Set the phone lens at eye level, face square-on, shoulders level; leave 4–6 mm of white space above the hair so the crown-to-chin head measures about 34 mm, 70–80% of the 45 mm height.
3. Keep a neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open and looking directly into the lens; Japanese rules do not forbid a faint smile but the teeth must not show.
4. Remove hats, hair bands, masks, earrings and necklaces; prescription glasses are allowed only when there is no reflection and the frames do not touch or cover the eyes.
5. Tie back long hair so it does not fall across the eyebrows, ears or the white background; uniform-style dark clothing photographs best against white.
6. Shoot several frames in soft daylight from a front-side window, then open the sharpest one in the PixlReady cropper and select the Japan 35 × 45 mm preset, which builds the 413 × 531 pixel frame.
7. For the My Portal online application export a JPEG of the face photograph (顔写真 kao shashin) and sign the self-declaration on screen; the portal checks orientation and file size at upload.
8. For a paper counter application print the image borderless at 300 DPI on glossy or matte photographic paper — no white frame around the edge — and keep the receipt from the booth or studio as your digital photo record.

Use the passport cropper with the Japan preset.

Online upload: JPEG face photo at 413×531 px via the My Number Card

The online passport application (オンライン申請) runs entirely inside My Portal on the My Number Card smartphone flow, so the face photograph you upload must already be a correctly composed JPEG; the portal rejects sideways, low-resolution or retouched images and asks you to reshoot rather than crop on screen.

• File format: JPEG for the face photograph uploaded in the My Portal flow.
• Pixel dimensions: shoot at least 413 × 531 px (300 DPI for 35 × 45 mm); larger is fine but the head must already occupy 70–80% of the frame.
• File weight: keep the JPEG under the portal limit (typically under 500 KB); compress without resampling below 413 px wide.
• Orientation: portrait, upright, not mirrored; a selfie taken in the phone's front camera mode must be flipped back before upload.
• No digital alteration: no beauty filters, no skin smoothing, no background replacement and no AI retouching; the booth watermark on the printed set must not appear in the uploaded JPEG.
• Background: plain white or a very light neutral with no window frame, furniture or shadow; textured walls are rejected.
• Recency: taken within the last 6 months; if you have changed hairstyle drastically, grown a beard or lost weight, reshoot.
• Eyes and glasses: both eyes open, no flash reflection on lens surfaces; coloured contact lenses that change the iris are rejected.
• Head clearance: 4–6 mm of white above the crown, chin not touching the bottom edge, face centred left to right.

Compress an oversized JPEG with the image compressor.

Borderless 35×45 mm tiles, four-up on a 4×6 sheet at 300 DPI

Japanese proof-photo sets (証明写真 shōmei shashin) are usually printed four-up on a 4 × 6 inch (102 × 152 mm) sheet: four 35 × 45 mm tiles fit in two rows, leaving thin gutters that you cut with scissors. Passport windows take a single borderless tile, and the spare tiles are reused for driver-licence and résumé photographs.

• Print at exactly 300 DPI so the tile measures 35 × 45 mm; disable 'fit to page' or the print will shrink to 34 × 43 mm and be rejected.
• The print must be borderless (縁なし) — the image runs to the edge of the 35 × 45 mm tile; a white border is a common rejection.
• Use glossy or matte photographic paper; plain inkjet printer paper, photocopies and scans are not accepted at the passport window.
• Cut along the printed crop lines with a paper cutter; the window clerk measures the outer edge, so do not trim into the image.
• A 4 × 6 sheet holds four tiles: two passport tiles plus two spare tiles for your driver licence, résumé and My Number photo records.
• Konbini kiosks print the certified proof set for ¥200–¥600 and include the digital data file (データ) on request — cheaper than a booth if you already have a home-cropped JPEG.
• Booths print on Fujifilm or Kodak photo paper with the date stamp off; ask the clerk at the studio to switch off the booth's back stamp.
• Do not fold, paper-clip or write on the front of the print; the back may be signed at the studio but the image side must stay clean.

Print-dialog settings: 300 DPI guide · 200 KB upload guide.

Why the 旅券事務所 turns down bordered or glare photos

• A white border around the print — Japanese passport photos must be printed borderless (縁なし).
• Glare or reflection on eyeglass lenses, or frames covering the eyebrows or eyes.
• Shadow on the white background, cast by overhead fluorescent light or a ring light held too high.
• Head too small or too large: crown-to-chin outside the 70–80% frame ratio.
• Hair falling across the eyebrows or ears, or a hat, hair band, mask or headphone visible.
• Photo older than 6 months, or a scan/photocopy of an older photo reused for the new application.
• Digital alteration: beauty-app smoothing, filters, AI retouching or a composited background.
• Sideways or low-resolution upload in the My Portal flow; the portal's automated check sends these back before human review.
• Coloured contact lenses that change the iris colour, or visible flash catchlight shaped like a ring light.
• Print on plain paper, glossy magazine stock, or a print smaller/larger than 35 × 45 mm.

Under-18 5-year passports: parental consent and the abolished under-12 tier

Minors under 18 apply for the 5-year passport (5年旅券) and need parental consent: the online flow requires a 親権者 (shinkensha, parental authority holder) to approve the application, and counter applications need the consent form (同意書 dōi-sho) plus the family register extract showing the parent-child relationship.

• The 5-year book for under-18s costs ¥4,400 online / ¥4,800 at the counter from 1 July 2026; the old under-12 discount tier was abolished on that date.
• Babies may be photographed lying on a white sheet on a table, shot from directly above; a parent's supporting hand must be cropped completely out.
• No pacifier, bottle, toy, bib, hat or blanket may appear; both eyes should be open but very young infants are assessed leniently.
• Primary-school children often use school photo days (証明写真撮影) — check the studio issues a 35 × 45 mm print, not the school's 4 × 5 cm uniform photo.
• The family register (戸籍謄本) proving parent-child ties is still required for counter applications for a child; the online flow reads it electronically.
• A child of divorced parents applies with the consent of the holder of parental authority; bring the custody documentation (親権者を証明する書類).
• High-school students aged 16–17 may apply themselves with parental consent on the form; the My Number Card (マイナンバーカード) is needed for the online route.
• Do not photograph a child in a kindergarten or school uniform with badges; plain clothing reads better on a white background.
• Children travelling to countries that require visa photographs for minors use the same 35 × 45 mm tile as the passport itself.

Japanese travel and identity documents that reuse the 35 × 45 mm photo

The same proof-photo set (証明写真) feeds the My Number Card, the driver licence, résumé forms and the jūminhyō-facing procedures that Japanese residents know as 証明写真の使い回し — reusing one booth sheet. Each document still has its own issuing window and rules.

• The My Number Card (マイナンバーカード) uses a portrait photograph taken at the municipal counter and is itself the login card for the online passport application through My Portal.
• The Japanese driver licence (運転免許証 unten menkyo-shō) photo is taken at the 運転免許試験場 (driver test centre), not brought by the applicant.
• Tokyo and other prefectures issue proof-photo print services that feed résumé (履歴書 rirekisho) applications; booths offer a '履歴書' size option that is also 35 × 45 mm.
• Japanese tourist and business visas (査証 sashō) for foreign nationals apply the 35 × 45 mm photo at embassies and consulates; single, double and multiple-entry fees differ by nationality.
• Japanese re-entry travellers who lose the passport abroad are issued a 帰国のための渡航書 (kikoku-no-tame-no tokō-sho, travel document for return) at the nearest embassy or consulate.
• The residence card (在留カード zairyū kādo) for foreign residents is photographed at the regional immigration bureau (出入国在留管理局), not in advance.
• Family registration (戸籍 koseki) and resident record (住民票 jūminhyō) extracts are the identity attachments for a child's first passport; the online flow pulls these without a paper copy.
• Overseas-registered Japanese voters use the 在外投票 (zaigai tōhyō) system, and nationals living abroad file the 海外転出届 (overseas move notification) so the passport office knows where to mail notices.
• Print and camera chains: Fujifilm and Konica Minolta booth networks, Kitamura Camera (キタムラ), Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera counters in Shinjuku, Umeda and Namba print the regulated 35 × 45 mm tile while you wait and burn the digital data to a CD or phone.
• 日本の在留資格ビザ種別: 短期滞在 tanki taizai (short-term visitor), 商用 shoyomu, 就労 shuro, 留学 ryugaku, 家族滞在 kazoku taizai, 日本人の配偶者等 haigusho, 永住者 eijusha, 定住者 teijusha, 技能実習 ginno jisshu, 文化活動 bunka katsudo — each attaches the same 35 x 45 mm 査証写真 at an embassy or consulate.
• 地方空港と港の上陸審査: 成田空港 Narita, 羽田空港 Haneda, 中部空港 Chubu, 関西空港 Kansai, 福岡空港 Fukuoka, 新千歳空港 Shin-Chitose, 那覇空港 Naha, 広島空港 Hiroshima, 岡山空港 Okayama, 松山空港 Matsuyama, 高松空港 Takamatsu, 鹿児島空港 Kagoshima — the immigration officer checks the passport photograph against the traveller.
• 東京の主要駅: Akihabara, Ueno, Asakusa, Ikebukuro, Harajuku, Roppongi, Ginza, Odaiba, Shimbashi, Yurakucho, Iidabashi, Takadanobaba, Kichijoji, Machida, Tachikawa, Hachioji — proof-photo booths sit outside almost every JR and Tokyo Metro station.
• 主要ターミナル: 新宿駅 Shinjuku, 東京駅 Tokyo, 池袋駅 Ikebukuro, 渋谷駅 Shibuya, 横浜駅 Yokohama, 名古屋駅 Nagoya, 京都駅 Kyoto, 大阪駅 Umeda, 博多駅 Hakata, 札幌駅 Sapporo — 駅前の証明写真ボックス (shomei shashin box) が 35 x 45 mm を印刷する.
• 旅券法用語ローマ字: 上陸許可 joriku kyoka, 在留カード zairu kaado, 資格外活動許可 shikaku gai katsudo kyoka, 再入国許可 sainyukyoka, 短期滞在 tanki taizai, 教育留学 kyoiku ryugaku, 研修 kentishu, 特定活動 tokutei katsudo, 永住許可 eiju kyoka, 定住者 teijusha.

Japan local details: proof-photo culture, My Portal online filing and prefecture offices

The Japanese word for a formal identity photograph is 証明写真 (shōmei shashin, 'certificate photograph'), and a パスポート写真 (pasupōto shashin) is simply one size in that family. The issuing office is the 旅券事務所 (ryoken jimusho, passport office) of each prefecture under the 外務省 (Gaimushō, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and since March 2025 the whole flow moves through マイナポータル (My Portal) with the マイナンバーカード (My Number Card).

• 証明写真ボックス (shōmei shashin box, proof-photo booth) — coin-operated camera boxes at stations; a set of 35 × 45 mm prints costs about ¥800 and includes a digital data option.
• コンビニ証明写真 (konbini shōmei shashin, convenience-store proof photo) — upload your JPEG and print at セブン-イレブン (Seven-Eleven), ファミリーマート (FamilyMart) or ローソン (Lawson) for ¥200–¥600.
• The 2026 fee reform: from 1 July 2026 the 10-year book is ¥8,900 online / ¥9,300 at the counter, roughly half the old ¥15,900 / ¥16,300 schedule, and the 5-year book is restricted to applicants under 18 at ¥4,400 / ¥4,800.
• Since 24 March 2025 the passport's data page is a plastic substrate laser-printed at the 国立印刷局 (Kokuritsu Insatsu-kyoku, National Printing Bureau); books are no longer assembled at the prefectural offices.
• Tokyo applicants choose among the Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Kōrakuen and Tamagawa passport centres; Osaka uses the Umeda and Namba counters, and Nagoya, Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka each run their own prefectural 旅券事務所.
• 受領書 (juryō-sho, collection receipt) — the pinkish slip the window issues after application; you must bring it back, with identification, to collect the book.
• 戸籍謄本 (koseki tōhon, family register extract) — required for counter applications, especially first-time and child applications; the online route retrieves it electronically and skips the paper step.
• 都道府県パスポートセンター network: Tokyo runs the Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Kōrakuen, Tamagawa and Tachikawa centres; Osaka uses Umeda and Namba; remaining 旅券事務所 sit in Sapporo, Sendai, Chiba, Saitama, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Niigata, Nagano, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, Kanazawa, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, Himeji, Nara, Wakayama, Hiroshima, Takamatsu, Matsuyama, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Naha (Okinawa).
• The My Number Card (マイナンバーカード) needs two passwords for the online flow: the 4-digit numeric certificate password and the 6–16 character signature password mixing upper-case letters and digits.
• Consular vocabulary: 領事手数料 (ryōji tesūryō, consular fee schedule) is re-published every April 1 and quoted in local currency at embassies; 査証 (sashō) is the visa itself, and 上陸許可 (jōriku kyoka, landing permission) is the airport stamp checked against the passport photograph.
• 全47都道府県: Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama, Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Okinawa — each runs its own 旅券事務所 (ryoken jimusho) or パスポートセンター (pasupoto senta).
• ローマ字略語集: 証明写真 shomei shashin (certificate photograph), 戸籍謄本 koseki tohon (family register), 住民票 juminhyo (resident record), 本籍地 honsekichi (registered domicile), 氏名 shimei (name), 生年月日 seinengappi (date of birth), 国籍 kokuseki (nationality), 旅券法 ryokenho (Passport Law), 領事手数料 ryoji tesuryo (consular fee), 査証 sasho (visa), 上陸許可 joriku kyoka (landing permission), 在留カード zairu kaado (residence card), 再入国許得 sainyukyoka (re-entry permit), オンライン申請 onrain shinsei, 窓口申請 madoguchi shinsei, 受領書 juryosho, 暗証番号 ansho bango (PIN).
• 国内受理窓口: 東京都旅券課 (Tokyo-to ryoken-ka), 大阪府パスポートセンター梅田, 名古屋市中区, 札幌市中央区, 仙台市青葉区, 横浜市西区, 京都市下京区, 神戸市中央区, 広島市中区, 北九州市小倉北区, 福岡市博多区, 那覇市おもろまち。
• 写真チェーン: 富士フイルム Fujifilm, コニカミノルタ Konica Minolta, ビックカメラ Bic Camera 新宿/名古屋/大阪, ヨドバシカメラ Yodobashi Camera Akiba/梅田/横浜, カメラのキタムラ Kitamura, セブン-イレブン Seven-Eleven, ファミリーマート FamilyMart, ローソン Lawson のマルチコピー機で証明写真プリント。
• 東京23区: Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo, Taito, Sumida, Koto, Shinagawa, Meguro, Ota, Setagaya, Shibuya, Nakano, Suginami, Toshima, Kita, Arakawa, Itabashi, Nerima, Adachi, Katsushika, Edogawa — ward offices (ku yakusho) receive passport applications.
• 指定都市: Sapporo, Sendai, Chiba, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Sagamihara, Niigata, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Kyoto, Sakai, Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Kumamoto — each runs a 政令指定都市 passport counter.
• 追加の在留資格: 医療滞在 iryo taizai, 芸術 geijutsu, 宗教 shukyo, 報道 hodo, 投資経営 toshi keiei, 技術・人文知識 gijutsu jinchi, 企業内転勤 kigyonai tenkin, 興行 kogyo, 技能 ginno, 介護 kaigo, 特定技能 tokutei ginno, 特定活動 tokutei katsudo.
• 写真チェーン追加: パレットプラザ Palette Plaza, スタジオ9 Studio9, スタジオアリス Studio Alice, ソフマップ Sofmap, ラオックス Laox, ドン・キホーテ Don Quijote, エディオン Edion, ヤマダデンキ Yamada Denki, ジョーシン Joshua — camera floors print regulated 35 x 45 mm.
• 地方中小都市: 釧路 Kushiro, 帯広 Obihiro, 旭川 Asahikawa, 函館 Hakodate, 八戸 Hachinohe, 石巻 Ishinomaki, 郡山 Koriyama, いわき Iwaki, 日立 Hitachi, 川越 Kawagoe, 所沢 Tokorozawa, 上田 Ueda, 飯田 Iida, 沼津 Numazu, 富士 Fuji, 豊橋 Toyohashi, 岡崎 Okazaki, 一宮 Ichinomiya, 四日市 Yokkaichi, 彦根 Hikone, 舞鶴 Maizuru, 明石 Akashi, 西宮 Nishinomiya, 宝塚 Takarazuka, 下関 Shimonoseki, 宇部 Ube, 米子 Yonago, 出雲 Izumo, 唐津 Karatsu, 佐世保 Sasebo, 諫早 Isahaya, 日田 Hita, 延岡 Nobeoka, 都城 Miyakonojo, 宜野湾 Ginowan, 石垣 Ishigaki, 宮古島 Miyakojima.
• 旅券手続ローマ字: 切替申請 kirikae shinsei (renewal switch), 記載事項変更 kisa jiko henko (data amendment), 氏名変更 shimei henko (name change), 本籍変更 honseki henko (domicile change), 旅券紛失届 ryoken funshitsu todoke (loss report), 発行履歴 hakko rireki (issue history), 交付 kofu (delivery), 引換 hiki kae (collection slip), 証紙 shoshi (revenue stamp), 収入印紙 shunyu inshi.
• 东京多摩与下町: Kita-Senju, Ayase, Kameari, Aoto, Ohanajaya, Hikifune, Oshiage, Tokyo Skytree, Senso-ji, Ueno Park, Tokyo Dome, Korakuen, Akihabara, Nihonbashi, Yaesu, Marunouchi, Yurakucho, Hibiya, Kasumigaseki, Nagatacho, Akasaka, Azabu, Shirokane, Meguro, Naka-Meguro, Daikanyama, Jiyugaoka, Sangenjaya, Shimo-Kitazawa, Koenji, Asagaya, Ogikubo, Kichijoji, Mitaka, Chofu, Fuchu, Hachioji, Machida — proof-photo booths sit outside every station.

Gotchas

• The Japanese passport photo must be printed borderless (縁なし) — a white frame around the tile is an automatic rejection.
• From 1 July 2026 the fee was roughly halved (10-year online ¥8,900) and the 5-year book is restricted to under-18s; old articles quoting ¥15,900 are out of date.
• Online applications need the My Number Card (マイナンバーカード) and the My Portal smartphone app; the paper koseki family register is not needed for the online route.
• Collect the passport within 6 months or it lapses, and re-applying within 5 years costs more.
• Prescription glasses are allowed only without reflection; coloured contact lenses and sunglasses are rejected.
• The photo must be taken within the last 6 months and printed on photographic paper at 300 DPI or higher.