Japan visa photo requirements
Japan's photo spec is one of the strictest visa standards anywhere — a rare 45 × 45 mm square format, pure white background (not off-white, not cream), and an unusually tight 200 KB digital upload cap on JViS (the online e-Visa portal). Most rejections happen because of the background or the file size, not the face.
The exact spec
Per Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mofa.go.jp) and the JViS online application portal:
- Dimensions: 45 × 45 mm square (not the 35×45 used by most other Asian and European visas)
- Head height: 32 to 36 mm chin to top of hair
- Eye position: 18 to 22 mm from the top edge
- Background: plain white, no shadows, no patterns. Off-white or cream gets rejected by JViS biometric checks.
- File size (online JViS): 200 KB maximum
- Format: JPEG only (PNG is rejected by JViS)
- Recent: taken within the last six months
- Expression: neutral, mouth closed, both ears visible
- No glasses (Japan tightened this rule in 2020 — the previous "non-tinted glasses OK" exception is gone)
- No headwear unless religious; face must be fully visible
The 200 KB problem
200 KB is one of the tightest digital upload caps for any visa worldwide. A direct phone photo runs 3–5 MB; even a "compressed" iPhone export rarely lands under 500 KB. JViS will silently reject anything over the cap with no useful error message — applicants often retry the same file three or four times before giving up.
The studio handles this automatically. Pick "Japan Visa" from the country list, and the encoder binary-searches JPEG quality to land just under 200 KB while keeping facial detail. You upload one file; it works.
Background — why white matters more here
Japanese consulates and JViS biometric scanners are unusually picky about background uniformity. White means white — RGB roughly (250, 250, 250) and up. A typical interior wall painted "Antique White" or "Eggshell" will fail. The studio replaces your background with pure white (#FFFFFF) automatically, so even a blue couch behind you works as a source.
Take the shot
Same setup as a passport photo: rear camera, 4–6 feet away, even light, stand 3+ feet from any wall to avoid shadows. Neutral expression, eyes open, mouth closed, no glasses. Japanese spec also wants both ears visible (or at least both ear positions — long hair across the cheek is fine, but visible asymmetry triggers rejection).
What gets rejected most often
- Background not pure white (cream, eggshell, off-white all fail)
- File over 200 KB on JViS (silent failure)
- Glasses worn out of habit (banned since 2020, no exceptions)
- Asymmetric framing — head tilted, shoulders not square
- Hard shadow on the wall behind the applicant
- Smiling or any open-mouth expression — Japan is strictly neutral
For the broader rejection-reason list (with fixes), see why your passport or visa photo got rejected.
Run yours through the studio
Open the studio, drop your photo in, and pick "Japan Visa" from the country list. The studio will:
- Auto-crop to 45 × 45 mm with MOFA-spec head height and eye line
- Replace the background with pure white (#FFFFFF) — no off-white
- Compress the JPEG under the 200 KB JViS upload cap
- Run the compliance checks: eyes-open, neutral expression, no obstructions, no glasses
For the full Japan visa spec page, see Japan visa photo requirements.
Cost
$7.90 for the digital JPEG (sized for JViS upload). Add a print-ready 4×6 sheet for +$1 if you're submitting through a consulate that requires a printed photo on the application form.