Gold Smuggling into Japan Running Rampant

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:41 JST, February 15, 2026

Gold is being brought into Japan without being declared at customs and then sold — while not paying consumption tax — in order to illicitly make a profit, a smuggling method that is becoming more common.

When gold is brought into Japan, the carrier must pay consumption tax on the metal to customs upon arrival. However, if someone buys ¥1 million worth of gold bullion in a country with no consumption tax, brings that gold into Japan without declaring it and then sells it to a purchaser in the country for ¥1.1 million after adding in the 10% consumption tax, a profit of ¥100,000 would be generated.

Smugglers have been using every trick in the book to secretly bring gold into Japan, such as by concealing it in underwear or disguising it as integrated circuit chips.

According to Japan Customs, gold smuggling had surged since 2015, a year after the consumption tax rate increased from 5% to 8%. The number of cases plunged due to tighter inspections and the COVID-19 pandemic, but 1,218 kilograms were seized in 2024 — four times the amount confiscated in the previous year — as gold prices soared.

The over-the-counter price of gold per gram, including tax, at Tanaka Precious Metal Technologies, a leading indicator of domestic gold prices, rose from about ¥10,000 at the start of 2024 to about ¥15,000 at the end of that year. In September 2025, the price topped ¥20,000 for the first time and kept climbing to reach ¥30,248 in the afternoon of Jan. 29.

In 2024, Hong Kong was the source of about 60% of detected attempts to smuggle gold into Japan. Hong Kong has no consumption tax.

“The selling price for gold is cheaper [in Hong Kong] than in mainland China,” an employee at a precious metals shop in Hong Kong said. “If you’re buying gold, you’ll definitely get a better deal in Hong Kong.”

In December, the Finance Ministry again strengthened measures to combat gold smuggling. If people are found to be trying to smuggle gold, customs is allowed to confiscate it, and if the price of gold increases between the time of detection and when the fine is paid, the fine will be hiked in accordance with the market price.

Under the Customs Law, the unauthorized export or import of gold is punishable by a fine of up to five times the gold’s value.