In this booster
Japan refunds its 10% consumption tax to tourists on the spot — the “Tax Free” signs in department stores, electronics shops, and drugstores are aimed straight at your passport. The process is three sentences and one document, and this booster is those sentences: claim the exemption, find the counter, and handle the shop-floor questions around it — size, color, the fitting room, and the gift wrap. (Same department store, two floors down: the food basement is the Depachika booster — its edibles ride the same tax-free counter, into the same sealed bag.)
No new grammar — every sentence here is a frame you already own, wearing new nouns. Mostly Lesson 4’s doko / arimasu, Lesson 3’s ikura, Lesson 1’s onegaishimasu, and Lesson 7’s permission frame — plus Lesson 5’s ga ii desu choosing colors. Boosters assume the finished core (Lessons 1–9); take them in any order.
As always: tap each sentence and listen first, repeat it aloud, then check yourself against the text and meaning that appear. Tap again to listen as often as you like.
The tax-free counter
menzei — tax-free / duty-free, the word on all those red-and-white signs. Ask it before paying; smaller shops do the exemption right at the register.
Menzei kauntaa wa doko desu ka.
kauntaa — counter, the loanword. Department stores centralize the paperwork at one desk: buy first, then bring everything (with the receipts) here.
Zeikin wa ikura desu ka.
zeikin — tax. Prices in Japan are often shown both ways (税込 with tax, 税抜 without); when the tag is ambiguous, Lesson 3’s ikura sorts it out.
At the register
reji — the register / checkout. Big drugstores hide it behind the aisles; two words find it.
Reshiito, onegaishimasu.
reshiito — receipt. For tax-free claims the receipt is the paperwork — ask for it, keep it with your passport until you fly.
Purezento desu.
purezento — present. Say this at any register and watch: Japan’s gift-wrapping culture takes over, usually free, always beautiful. The single highest-return sentence in this booster.
Hako wa arimasu ka.
hako — box. For the omiyage that has to survive your suitcase.
Omiyage o sagashimasu.
omiyage — souvenir, with Lesson 4’s sagashimasu. Omiyage is a social institution here — regional, edible, beautifully boxed — and staff light up helping you choose one.
Saifu ga arimasen.
saifu — wallet, in Lesson 8’s problem-kit pattern. Say it where you are; the kouban (Lesson 8) does the rest — and in Japan, lost wallets famously come back.
Sizes, colors, the fitting room
saizu — size, with Lesson 3’s ookii in front. Worth knowing: Japanese sizes run one to two steps smaller than Western ones — this question gets asked a lot.
Chiisai saizu wa arimasu ka.
Chiisai and ookii — the antonym pair, doing what it’s done since Lesson 3.
Kono iro wa arimasu ka.
iro — color. Lesson 2’s kono plus a phone photo covers any color in existence — but four color words — aka, ao, shiro, kuro, all taught next — cover most of what you’ll actually say.
Aka wa arimasu ka.
aka — red. Colors in Japanese are nouns, so they drop straight into the frames — no adjective machinery to worry about.
Shiro ga ii desu.
shiro — white, choosing with Lesson 5’s preference frame.
Kuro no kaban wa arimasu ka.
kuro — black, glued to any noun with Lesson 2’s no.
Ao mo arimasu ka.
ao — blue, riding Lesson 5’s mo. Swap any color word through any of your frames; that’s the whole system.
Shichakushitsu wa doko desu ka.
shichakushitsu — the fitting room. Heads-up before you go in: shoes come off at the step (Lesson 7’s genkan rule follows you everywhere), and many shops hand you a face cover for pullovers.
Shichaku, ii desu ka.
shichaku — trying on. Lesson 7’s permission frame, garment in hand. Wait for the douzo.
Set piece
The whole procedure in two words — said at the register or the counter, passport already coming out of your bag. Everything after this sentence is their job, not yours.
Dialog
A department store: finding the counter, claiming the exemption, hearing the one rule. Listen to the whole dialog cold first.
Sumimasen. Menzei kauntaa wa doko desu ka. Nikai desu. Menzei, onegaishimasu. Reshiito to pasupooto, onegaishimasu. Hai, douzo. Nihon kokunai de wa kaifuu shinaide kudasai. Wakarimashita. Arigatou gozaimasu.Seven lines, one document, ten percent back. The clerk’s sealed-bag line is the recognition script below coming at you in the wild — you answer it with Lesson 1’s wakarimashita.
What they’ll say to you
Three lines you’ll hear around shops. You never say these — catch the keyword, answer from your kit.
Go-shichaku nasaimasu ka. Gosen-en ijou de menzei ni narimasu. Nihon kokunai de wa kaifuu shinaide kudasai.The verbs in these are keigo and negatives outside your kit — on purpose. Shichaku, gosen-en, menzei: one noun each is the whole message.
Repair drill
Ask about tax-free and the full answer arrives wearing keigo, thresholds, and clause chains. You are not expected to parse it.
Sumimasen. Menzei wa arimasu ka. Menzei wa zeinuki gosen-en ijou no okaiage de, pasupooto no go-teiji ga hitsuyou to narimasu. Yasashii nihongo de onegaishimasu. Gosen-en kara desu. Pasupooto, onegaishimasu.Asked in easy Japanese, the keigo blizzard collapsed to a number you’ve owned since Lesson 3 and pasupooto — a noun you’re literally carrying in your pocket. The clerk didn’t just slow down; he traded go-teiji ga hitsuyou for plain onegaishimasu — the word-swap that rung exists to request.
How to behave: the fine print
- The mechanics move — check the current rules before you rely on them. Japan has been revising its tourist tax-free system (a refund-at-departure model has been announced); the words on this page are permanent, but the thresholds, bags, and paperwork aren’t.
- The deal: ¥5,000 minimum, same store, same day, physical passport. The 10% consumption tax comes off for purchases of ¥5,000+ (pre-tax) in one store in one day — and only with your actual passport in hand. A photo of it doesn’t count; carry it on shopping days.
- Consumables get sealed — leave the bag sealed. Food, drink, cosmetics, and medicine go into a sealed bag you must not open before leaving Japan; customs can charge you the tax back at the airport if the seal is broken. General goods (electronics, clothes) have no such rule — use them freely.
- Keep the receipts with your passport until you fly. The exemption is registered against your passport; departure customs can ask to see the goods. In practice checks are rare — but the receipts weigh nothing.
- Gift wrapping is a civilization. Purezento desu at almost any register produces free, meticulous wrapping — paper, ribbon, seasonal patterns. Budget five extra minutes and enjoy watching a professional at work.
Checkpoint
Your exit exam, out loud. Each line below sets a scene from this booster — say the Japanese before you tap; the tap plays the answer. Check yourself, repeat after the audio matching its pronunciation, rhythm, and speed, and if one won’t come, replay its section. These are this deck’s speaking cards — in Anki they queue up after the listening cards, so you’ll always have heard a line before you’re asked to produce it.
Vocabulary reference
| # | Romaji | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | menzei | tax-free | Menzei, onegaishimasu. |
| 2 | kauntaa | counter | menzei kauntaa — the tax-free desk |
| 3 | zeikin | tax | Zeikin wa ikura desu ka. |
| 4 | reji | register / checkout | Reji wa doko desu ka. |
| 5 | reshiito | receipt | the tax-free paperwork |
| 6 | omiyage | souvenir | Omiyage o sagashimasu. |
| 7 | purezento | present | Purezento desu. — free wrapping |
| 8 | hako | box | Hako wa arimasu ka. |
| 9 | saifu | wallet | Saifu ga arimasen. |
| 10 | saizu | size | Ookii / chiisai saizu wa arimasu ka. |
| 11 | iro | color | Kono iro wa arimasu ka. |
| 12 | aka | red | colors are nouns — slot them anywhere |
| 13 | ao | blue | Ao mo arimasu ka. |
| 14 | shiro | white | Shiro ga ii desu. |
| 15 | kuro | black | kuro no kaban — black + no + noun |
| 16 | shichaku | trying on | Shichaku, ii desu ka. |
| 17 | shichakushitsu | fitting room | shoes off at the step |
Recognize only — never say these. The shop scripts:
| Script line | It means | You do |
|---|---|---|
| Go-shichaku nasaimasu ka. | want to try it on? | Answer Hai, onegaishimasu. / Iie, daijoubu desu. |
| Gosen-en ijou de menzei ni narimasu. | tax-free from ¥5,000 | the threshold answer to your menzei question — check your total, add an omiyage if you’re close |
| Nihon kokunai de wa kaifuu shinaide kudasai. | don’t open the sealed bag in Japan | the sealed consumables bag; keep it sealed until you fly |
Anki deck
Drill this booster’s audio anywhere: download the Tax-Free Shopping Anki deck. Sentence cards are the course; vocab cards are backup — suspend them unless a word won’t stick.