Japan Visa Application Form: How to Fill In Every Field, With a Sample

FREE EXCEL Updated 12 November 2026 · Checked against the official form

The Japan visa application form in four blocks

The Japan visa application form (in Japanese Sasho Shinseisho, 査証申請書) is the one document every short-term visa applicant signs. It runs to two pages, and the fields fall into four blocks.

Fill in the trip block from your itinerary, and the Japan block from the letters your guarantor sent you, so the four documents say the same thing.

Fields people get wrong on the Japan visa application form

Names

Write the surname and the given and middle names exactly as in the passport. "Other names" means names you are or have been known by, for example a maiden name. If there are none, write N/A. The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines asks for all items to be filled in English and "N/A" where an item does not apply.

Dates

The form prints (Day)/(Month)/(Year) under each date. A birthday of 15 April 1988 is 15/04/1988 here. The Letter of Guarantee and the Letter of Invitation use Year / Month / Day, so the same date is written two ways across your documents. That is expected.

Purpose of visit and length of stay

Keep the purpose short on this form ("Tourism", "Visiting relatives"). The detail belongs in the Letter of Invitation. The length of stay and the date of arrival must match the itinerary to the day.

Names and addresses of hotels or persons you will stay with

The form has one line. Put the first place you will stay. If you stay with a relative, write their name, phone and address. The rest of the trip is in the itinerary.

Guarantor and inviter in Japan

The second page asks for a "Guarantor or reference in Japan" and an "Inviter in Japan", each with name, phone, address, date of birth, sex, relationship to you, occupation, and nationality and immigration status. The form says to write "same as above" when the inviter is the guarantor. For a Japanese national, write "Japanese" for nationality; for a foreign resident, write the nationality and the status of residence on their residence card.

Fields marked (Note)

The form says items marked (Note) are not mandatory: the partner's (or parents') occupation and the remarks line. Fill them in if they help explain your situation.

The six Yes / No questions

The form asks whether you have ever:

1. been convicted of a crime or offence in any country
2. been sentenced to imprisonment for 1 year or more in any country
3. been deported or removed from Japan or any country for overstaying or violating any law
4. been convicted and sentenced for a drug offence in any country
5. engaged in prostitution or related activities
6. committed trafficking in persons or aided such an offence

The form adds: tick "Yes" if you have received any sentence, even if it was suspended. If any answer is Yes, give the details in the box below the questions.

Photo, paper and signature

Sign the form yourself at the bottom of page two.

Japan visa application form: questions

Can I fill in the form on a computer?

The PDF linked by the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines has fields you can type into before printing. The signature still has to be yours, on paper.

Do I write in capital letters?

The form does not say so. Many applicants use capitals for names so they match the passport. What the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines asks is English and "N/A" for items that do not apply.

Is the form the same in every country?

The Visa Application Form to Enter Japan has the same fields everywhere, but where to get it, the photo rules and the documents that go with it are set by each embassy or consulate. Check the page of the office that handles your application.

Summary: the Japan visa application form

The Japan visa application form takes your details from the passport, your trip from the itinerary, and the people in Japan from your guarantor's letters. Write every field in English, put N/A where nothing applies, use Day / Month / Year, and make the dates match the other documents.

To draft it first, download the Excel worksheet below. It lists every field in the order of the form, with what to write and a filled-in sample for a visit from the Philippines. If someone in Japan is inviting you, the [Letter of Guarantee](/letter-of-guarantee-japan-visa/), [Letter of Invitation](/letter-of-invitation-japan-visa/) and [itinerary](/japan-visa-itinerary/) pages show their side of the same example.