The reel above is a tax-free chocolate you would open in the hotel. The line that keeps it closed is まだ開けません. This page is that line, the sealed bag for purchases through 31 October 2026, and the airport refund for purchases on 1 November.
Can you eat tax-free snacks before leaving Japan?
No. The snacks have to leave Japan with you, uneaten, if you want the 10 percent. 消費税 (shōhizei) is the consumption tax, and tax-free shopping applies to goods you export. Until 31 October 2026 a tax-free shop takes the tax off at the till and seals food, drinks, medicine, and cosmetics. That seal stays closed. Eat the chocolate in the hotel and you can owe that tax at departure. From 1 November 2026 the shop charges the 税込 (zeikomi) price, tax included, and the airport refunds the tax only while those goods are still in your hands. Eat it then, and that purchase is left out of the refund. How to shop tax-free in Japan is the till, the live path through 31 October. Where you complete the tax-free procedure is the airport kiosk from November.
What does まだ開けません mean?
まだ開けません (mada akemasen) means "I'm not opening it yet." まだ (mada) means "still" or "not yet." In front of a negative verb it means the action has not happened. 開ける (akeru) means to open something you can close again, a bag, a box, a wrapper. 開けます (akemasu) is the polite form. 開けません is the polite negative: I am not opening it. The beats are ma-da, then a-ke-ma-sen. You say it about your own hands when a friend reaches for the chocolate. The sentence for that friend is 開けないで (akenaide), "don't open it." 開けないでください (akenaide kudasai) adds "please." The reel uses the first sentence. A longer line is 出国するまで開けません (shukkoku suru made akemasen), "I won't open it until I leave the country." 出国 (shukkoku) is departure from the country. まで (made) means until.
What happens if you open the sealed bag before 1 November 2026?
You can owe the tax the shop already took off. Through 31 October 2026, Japan Customs still runs the current rule. You show your passport at the tax-free shop, and you export the goods. If you consumed them in Japan, or you do not have them when you leave, you pay the consumption tax on those goods. The category is 消耗品 (shōmōhin), consumables. Japan Customs names 食品 (shokuhin, food), 飲料 (inryō, drinks), 薬品 (yakuhin, medicine), and 化粧品 (keshōhin, cosmetics). The shop packs them in the designated way and hands you a sealed bag. Opening that bag is 開封 (kaifū), breaking the seal. The floor is ¥5,000 before tax at one shop on one day. Consumables also stop at ¥500,000 before tax at that shop on that day. When the consumables are under ¥5,000 and a general good is also under ¥5,000, the shop can seal them in one bag so the total clears the floor. That general good is then treated as a consumable. A shirt in that bag follows the snack rule. Japan Customs states this in its English note for non-residents. The purchase date picks the rule. A snack bought on 31 October stays under the sealed-bag rule even when you fly in November.
What happens if you eat a tax-free snack after 1 November 2026?
The special bag goes away, and the refund on that receipt goes away if you eat the snack. The Japan Tourism Agency's refund-method page for travelers says purchases on or after 1 November 2026 are charged at the tax-included price. The amount equal to the consumption tax comes back after customs confirms you are taking the goods out of Japan. Special packaging for consumables is abolished on that date, so a normal shopping bag is allowed. Food, drinks, and cosmetics you consume in Japan are not eligible for the customs check. The same page says customs checks each purchase, such as one receipt. If you are missing even one item on that receipt, none of the tax-free goods on it qualify. One chocolate eaten in the hotel can cancel the refund on the cookies, the sunscreen, and every other line on that same slip. The ¥5,000 floor stays, counted before tax, at one shop on one day. The ¥500,000 daily cap on consumables ends. You have 90 days from the purchase date to finish the airport step, and you carry the goods out yourself. The kiosk, the green screen, and the red screen are the tax-free procedure guide.
What do you tell customs when a snack from the receipt is already gone?
Tell an officer at the counter, and keep that receipt off the kiosk. The Japan Tourism Agency's traveler FAQ says that if you have consumed all or part of the goods, you do not complete the tax-free procedure at the terminal. You report the consumption to a customs officer. The sentence is すみません、これは日本で食べました (sumimasen, kore wa nihon de tabemashita), "excuse me, I ate this in Japan." 食べました (tabemashita) is the polite past of 食べる (taberu), to eat. For a bottle you finished, say これは日本で飲みました (kore wa nihon de nomimashita), "I drank this in Japan." 飲みました (nomimashita) is the polite past of 飲む (nomu), to drink. Point at the receipt. A slip with a missing item fails as a whole, so that slip stays off the machine. Show the officer the receipts that are still complete, and name the one you ate. In October the same sentence explains an open sealed bag, and the skipped tax that is now due.
Which purchases count as snacks, and which bags can you open?
Food, drinks, medicine, and cosmetics count as the goods you leave sealed. A chocolate bar, a bottle of tea, throat drops, a sunscreen, and a sheet mask are all 消耗品. Through 31 October 2026 they belong in the sealed bag, and that bag stays shut. A coat, a kettle, or a pair of shoes is a general good in that same period. You can use it in Japan, and you still take it with you when you leave. From 1 November the two categories share one rule. Anything you no longer have fails the receipt it was printed on. Sunscreen you rub on counts as consumed, the same way a chocolate you eat does. The split that saves a trip is at the till. Snacks for tonight go on an ordinary taxed purchase. Snacks for the suitcase go on the tax-free purchase, and they stay unopened. Say まだ開けません when the closed bag is the one with the 10 percent still attached. The price tag with tax included is the number you pay in the shop from 1 November. The 10 percent comes back later, and only for goods customs can still see.
The chocolate can wait. まだ開けません (mada akemasen) is the line. Through 31 October 2026 the sealed bag is the rule for a tax-free snack. From 1 November the bag is an ordinary one, and an eaten snack still cancels the refund on its receipt. Watch the 30-second version before the next tax-free counter.
