Japan plans to move up the schedule for introducing an electronic travel authorization system to the year ending March 2029 from the initial plan of 2030 amid a rapidly growing number of foreign visitors.

The new online screening system, which is similar to the U.S. immigration’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), will allow foreign visitors who do not need a visa to apply for a certification before entering Japan, using their trip details.

“We hope to prevent visits from unwanted foreign nationals, such as terrorists and those who entered Japan for a short stay and ended up being illegal overstayers,” said Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki in a Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee session on Wednesday.

“At the same time, we are expecting a large number of inbound tourists and in order to promote our country as a tourist destination, it is also important to facilitate a smoother immigration process,” he added.

With the new electronic system, known as the Japanese version of ESTA, visitors would be able to clear immigration via a walk-through gate instead of a staffed counter at the airport, which would speed up the process.

The system is envisioned to strengthen the country's terrorism prevention measures as well by declining entry to blacklisted individuals.

It was initially scheduled to be implemented by 2030, when Japan expects the number of foreign visitors to reach 60 million a year. However, given the rapid increase of inbound tourists in recent years — a record 36.78 million people visited the country in 2024 — the ministry is looking to bring forward the deadline to fiscal 2028, which ends in March 2029.

As of January, the Justice Ministry had recorded 74,863 illegal overstayers.

Aside from the U.S., other countries such as Canada, Australia and South Korea also have similar electronic immigration systems in place. The U.K. implemented a similar system earlier this year and the European Union is looking to follow suit by 2026.

“The Immigration Services Agency has been conducting research on the implementation of the system in other countries and has been reexamining the schedule for its introduction to reassess when we can implement it at the earliest,” said Suzuki.