Taiwanese media outlet Sanli News Network reported on September 29 that Mr. Lin Shibi (Lin Shih-pi), known as a Japan travel expert, shared his insights regarding travelers' concerns over changes to Japan's duty-free system.

The article first explained, "In Japan, the duty-free system will change from November 1st, and the procedure for travelers purchasing duty-free goods will become 'tax first, then refund'." In response to this, many people are concerned that "they might need to arrive at the airport 3 or 4 hours in advance from now on." Mr. Lin, however, conveyed that "if the duty-free amount is not large, it should be fine as before once the period of confusion after the introduction of the new system passes."

According to the article, Mr. Lin stated in a social media post, "While people are being urged to arrive at the airport early, once the period of confusion passes, 'at least 2 hours in advance' should be fine as before." On the other hand, he indicated that those with large duty-free amounts might particularly need to go to the airport earlier.

Mr. Lin explained that after travelers arrive at the airport, there are three stages: "duty-free processing terminal," "customs inspection," and "refund after customs confirmation." Of these, he stated that the "latter two are mainly what could take time." He added, "Before checking luggage, when you scan your passport at the duty-free processing terminal, the terminal determines whether an inspection is necessary. If it shows green, no additional inspection is needed, but if it shows red, you will need to have customs confirm that you are taking the duty-free items out of Japan at the customs inspection area. This is the point that takes time, because it's unclear how long the queue will be or what criteria are used for the determination," he pointed out.

Mr. Lin also speculated, "Customs might primarily check people who purchased items above a certain amount, high-value items, or specific items, and also conduct random inspections at a certain rate." Finally, he stated that "some duty-free businesses allow cash refunds at counters or terminals, which could lead to long queues," while also indicating the view that "many businesses are expected to adopt online refunds, so on-site queuing might not be very common." (Translated and edited by Noya)