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The first time you need an ID photo in Japan, it isn’t obvious where to get one. Back home you might have had a go-to drugstore counter or a one-hour print shop. Here the options are different, the machines are in Japanese, and the price runs from about ¥200 to ¥5,000 for what is essentially the same photo. This guide walks through the four ways to make an ID photo in Japan, what each costs, and which suits which situation, so you’re not overpaying and not stuck at a Japanese-only screen.
The four ways, and why it matters
Almost every ID photo in Japan is made one of four ways: at a photo studio, at a coin-operated booth, with a phone app printed at a convenience store, or on your own printer at home. They produce a similar photo, but they differ sharply on the things that actually matter when you live here — price, whether you can retake, and whether the whole thing happens in a language you read.
1. Photo studio (写真館)
A camera shop or dedicated studio photographs you with proper lighting, retouches the result, and hands you printed photos. Chains like Kitamura do this alongside smaller neighborhood studios.
It’s the most expensive route, usually ¥2,000–5,000, and you generally need to go during business hours and sometimes book ahead. The screen and the staff are in Japanese. What you get for that is the highest quality: even lighting, a light retouch, and someone making sure the photo meets the spec. For a job-hunting photo or any portrait you want to look your best in, that’s worth paying for.
2. Station photo booth (証明写真機)
These are the coin-operated boxes you see near station exits and outside supermarkets. You sit down, the machine guides you, and a sheet of prints drops out a couple of minutes later.
They cost about ¥800–1,000 and need no appointment, which is their whole appeal — you can do it on the spot. The catch is that it’s one shot: if you don’t like the result, retaking means paying again, and the machine fixes your head position for you, so a slightly off posture is hard to correct. The interface is Japanese only.
3. Smartphone app + convenience store
Here you take the photo yourself: a selfie against a plain wall, uploaded to an app that removes the background and crops it to the exact official size. The app gives you a code, and you print the sheet at a convenience store.
It’s by far the cheapest — about ¥200 for the app plus ~¥30 to print — and you can retake as many times as you want before you pay, which removes the booth’s one-shot risk. You do it at home, any time. The trade-off is that the photo and the printing are on you: you need a plain wall and decent light, and you collect the print from the konbini yourself. Quality between apps varies, and most of them assume you read Japanese — which is the real gap for foreigners.
4. Home printer (DIY)
If you already own a photo printer, you can size the image yourself and print it on photo paper at home. It’s cheap in materials, and there’s no trip involved.
In practice it’s the fiddliest option. Hitting the exact millimetre size and cutting it cleanly is harder than it sounds, inkjet color can drift far enough to fail a spec, and most people don’t have a photo-quality printer to begin with. It only really makes sense if printing photos at home is already part of your routine.
Side by side
The same photo, four very different experiences:
| Photo studio | ¥2,000–5,000 |
|---|---|
| Station booth | ¥800–1,000 |
| App + convenience store | ≈ ¥230 (¥200 + ~¥30 print) |
| Home printer | Materials only |
Two columns decide it for most foreigners: price, where the spread is more than 20×, and language, where only the app route offers anything other than Japanese.
Which one is right for you
There’s no single best method — it depends on the photo and the moment:
- An important or formal photo (job hunting, a portrait you’ll reuse for years): a studio is worth the price for the lighting and retouch.
- Need it in the next ten minutes, with a booth right there? Use the booth and accept the one-shot risk.
- Everything else — residence card and My Number renewals, a license, a résumé photo, anything you’d rather not overpay for — the app + convenience store route is the cheapest, lets you retake until it’s right, and is the only one that works in your own language.
Make your ID photo for ¥200, in your language
Residence card, My Number, license and more — take a selfie, the app fits it to the official size, and you print at a convenience store. In English, with unlimited retakes.
Create my ID photoUseful links
FAQ
What is the cheapest way to get an ID photo in Japan?
Can I get an ID photo in Japan if I don’t read Japanese?
Are smartphone ID photos accepted for official documents?
Where do I print a photo made with an app?
Is a photo studio better than an app?
The cheapest spec-compliant ID photo in Japan
≈ ¥230 all in, in 5 languages, with unlimited retakes — versus ¥800–5,000 the other ways. Pick your document and start from a selfie.
Start now — ¥200