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A 3–5 friend group can file different Japan tourist visas. Tokyo-only this year is personal single-entry. Okinawa/Tohoku 3-year needs a real first-night in that prefecture. Embassy fees from 1 July 2026: CNY 715 single, CNY 1,430 multiple, charged when issued.

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    Autumn friend group, Japan visa: Tokyo does not mean everyone files 3-year (as of August 2026)

    This is an introduction, not a promise of issuance or landing. Rules change. Use the current pages of the Embassy of Japan in China and MOFA. Reopen them before you file.

    Three to five friends going to Tokyo for autumn colour is not “everyone files 3-year, it pays for itself.” Visas are decided per person. Each of you files your own papers. You may travel together on different types. Fees, which mission, how to open the designated-agency list, and paper direction: Japan tourist visa: single-entry, 3-year, or 5-year. This page only answers how a friend group chooses. It does not paste a roster or a national checklist.

    Checked 30 August 2026. Facts follow the Chinese autumn page.

    Look at where the first trip actually goes

    You look likeFileDo not assume
    Tokyo this year only, or papers only support “a certain level of financial capability”Personal single-entryStay is not always 15 days. The mission issues 15 or 30. The embassy fee is not ¥200–300
    The first itinerary will actually include a night in Okinawa, or in Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, or FukushimaOkinawa / Tohoku six-prefecture 3-yearAn agent’s “short designated-area hop” is enough. That is not the embassy rule
    More trips in three years, and the first trip need not be Okinawa or TohokuUnrestricted 3-year (3-year page)Official object is “sufficient financial capability.” There is no nationwide CNY 100,000 income line
    You really are “substantially high income” and will visit often over five years5-year multipleNo published “annual income CNY 500,000 and you pass.” Do not force this to “break even”

    Embassy tourist-visa page (dated 24 March 2025): personal single-entry, validity “3 months,” stay “15 days” or “30 days,” the mission decides. Okinawa / Tohoku 3-year: up to 30 days each stay; the first itinerary must include lodging in that prefecture. Unrestricted 3-year (sufficient financial capability): destination not limited. 5-year (substantially high income): up to 90 days each stay; from the first visit you may book and change flights and lodging yourself.

    Embassy Chinese: 一定经济能力 / 足够经济能力 / 相当高收入. MOFA Japanese: 一定の経済力 / 十分な経済力 / 相当な高所得者. There is no published nationwide Chinese-yuan salary, tax, or deposit line. An agency pre-screen number is a second layer, not a guarantee of issuance.

    3–5 friends who book themselves usually file personal tourist visas. The embassy’s group tourist visa is 5 to about 40 people, stay within 15 days, with a tour escort. “Friend group” is not a reason to buy a group-tour quote.

    Three mistakes friend groups make

    1. Binding everyone to the same type. One person is going once; another will go again next year. One can file single-entry, one 3-year. The mission reviews each file. If one person is refused, Q&A: same purpose is generally not accepted within six months. That does not mean the others are refused. It also does not mean handing the same pack to an unofficial agent will pass.

    2. Filing Okinawa / Tohoku 3-year on an agent’s “short designated-area hop,” then only staying in Tokyo. Embassy: for multiple-entry tourist visas (not 5-year), the first trip must follow the schedule filed. A change is only to a trip within three months of the issue date, and the designated agency must file a change report first. The first itinerary must include lodging in Okinawa or in one of the Tohoku six prefectures (MOFA Japanese: 1泊以上, at least one night). That is not a transfer, and it is not a one-night hop arranged so you can then stay in Tokyo. If the first trip is Tokyo and there is no designated-prefecture night, file personal single-entry or unrestricted 3-year. Do not buy a fake Okinawa itinerary.

    3. Filing by hukou, or sending Tibet to Chongqing. In China, file with the mission for where you live. Hukou in Tianjin, living in Anhui: Shanghai Consulate-General (Q&A, 1 July 2026). Tibet is Beijing only. Chongqing is Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan. Open that mission’s tourist designated-agency list. Do not search “Japan visa agent.” Lists change. This page pastes no names. Reopen the current page. How to click: English hub.

    Tourist visas go through a designated travel agency. For multiple-entry tourist visas, the applicant must submit directly to that agency. Unofficial agencies are not allowed. Embassy: shops that advertise “passport only” are unofficial. Friends and marketplace sub-agents: a visa already issued may be cancelled if the papers do not match the facts.

    Embassy fee, not an agency package

    Embassy notice dated 24 June 2026, applications from 1 July 2026: single-entry CNY 715, double-entry / multiple-entry CNY 1,430. Q&A 1 July 2026, quote: 「以上费用均在获批签证时收取。」 (These fees are collected when the visa is issued.) Agency service and courier are extra. Ask for a line-item quote. The old page used ¥200–300 / 400–600 / 800–1,200 as “agency reference” and then compared types. Those are not embassy fees. Deleted.

    Tourist visas: result on the 5th business day after the mission accepts the file. That clock does not include agency intake, pre-check, lodging the file, or returning the passport, and a result may not come inside that window. As a rule the embassy does not issue early because you asked, and it does not answer case-by-case progress. Do not write “5–7 business days” as a guarantee.

    A single-entry visa is valid three months from the issue date. Q&A does not set how many days before departure you may apply; file too early and it can expire before you travel. Do not buy non-refundable flights, hotels, or tickets before issuance.

    After issuance: Tokyo hotels and China–Japan flights (sample)

    For Okinawa / Tohoku 3-year and unrestricted 3-year, the first flights and lodging are in principle arranged by the designated agency. The links below are for market prices after issuance, or for a 5-year visa, or for a 3-year visa from the second trip. They are not the application itinerary. Do not use them as fake bookings.

    Sample: check-in 17 October 2026, check-out 24 October 2026, two adults. Change the headcount and city. Prefer free cancellation.

    Family files, several cities, or a quote from public rates: travel advisor.

    Sources (reopen before you file)

    Compiled from the pages above as of 30 August 2026 (Wayback where live access was denied). Not a promise of issuance or landing. Before filing, use the mission site and the written list from that agency.

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