Japanese Passport Photo: requirements and cropper
A japanese passport photo is 35 × 45 mm. The head must measure 32–36 mm from the crown of the head to the bottom of the chin — a 4 mm window, tight enough that eyeballing the crop will usually miss it. The background must be white is recommended; a plain light blue is also accepted. The photo must have been taken within the last 6 months.
Crop a photo to the Japan spec
Drag the two markers. Put the blue one on the very top of the head — including hair — and the red one on the bottom of the chin. Every measurement below is calculated from that, because Japan measures head height as 32–36 mm crown to chin, not the face.
Your photo
Result
The official requirements
| Printed photo size | 35 × 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height | 32–36 mm, crown to chin |
| Background | White is recommended; a plain light blue is also accepted |
| How recent | Taken within the last 6 months |
| Glasses | Removing glasses is recommended. If worn, coloured lenses, reflections, shadows and frames obscuring the eyes are not allowed. |
| Expression & pose | Natural expression. Exaggerated expressions — for example raised mouth corners that noticeably differ from normal appearance — are not permitted. |
| Not published | digital dimensions, file size, file format, minimum resolution, copies required, head coverings, children & infants — the official source does not state these, so nothing is shown rather than a number we made up. |
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan — passport photo guidance — read 2026-07-26.
Worth knowing
MOFA states the face length as 34 mm ± 2 mm, crown to chin, which is the 32–36 mm range shown here. Retouching is explicitly disallowed, including the eye-enlargement and face-slimming filters that phone cameras now apply by default — worth checking before submitting a photo taken on a recent phone.
How to make one
- Take or choose a photo shot straight on, from about arm's length or further, in even light with no shadow falling on the face or the wall behind it. Phone selfies taken close up distort the face and are a common rejection reason.
- Stand far enough from the wall that you cast no shadow on it. The background needs to be white is recommended; a plain light blue is also accepted — the tool fills only the area outside your photo's edges, it does not replace the wall behind you.
- Drop the photo into the tool above. Nothing is uploaded; the file is read directly by your browser.
- Drag the blue marker to the very top of the head, including hair, and the red marker to the bottom of the chin. This is the measurement every official spec is written against.
- Check the head-height readout. It should sit between 32 mm and 36 mm; the panel turns green when it does.
- Download the photo, or generate a print sheet if you need physical copies.
Why Japan photos get rejected
Drawn from the official guidance rather than guesswork. Most rejections are not about dimensions at all:
- Photo more than six months old
- Face length outside 32–36 mm
- Glare or reflection on glasses, or frames covering the eyes
- Background not white or plain light blue
- Retouched photo — eye enlargement, face slimming, blemish removal
- Exaggerated expression
Japan photo questions
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The cropping, resizing and compressing all happen inside this page, using your browser's own image APIs. There is no server to upload to — the site is static files. Open your browser's network tab, use the tool, and you can watch nothing leave.
It also keeps working with your Wi-Fi switched off once the page has loaded.
What size is a japanese passport photo?
35 × 45 mm, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan — passport photo guidance. Within that, the head must measure 32 mm to 36 mm from crown to chin.
Can this tool change my background?
No, and that is deliberate. Background replacement means guessing where your hair ends, and the guess is visible — a halo or a chewed-up fringe is exactly the kind of artefact that gets a photo rejected as digitally altered. Japan requires white is recommended; a plain light blue is also accepted, so photograph yourself against a matching wall.
The fill colour setting only paints the area outside your photo's edges when the required crop is larger than the image you supplied.
How recent does the photo have to be?
Taken within the last 6 months. Reusing the photo from your previous passport is a standard rejection reason.
Can I wear glasses?
Removing glasses is recommended. If worn, coloured lenses, reflections, shadows and frames obscuring the eyes are not allowed.
Will a photo from this tool definitely be accepted?
Nobody can promise that, and any site that does is selling you certainty it does not have. A photo is judged on framing, background, lighting, expression, sharpness and how recent it is. This tool handles the geometry and the file size precisely; the rest is down to how the photo was taken. The requirements here were read from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan — passport photo guidance on 2026-07-26 — check the source before you submit, because rules change.
Other specs
- Brazilian Passport Photo 50 × 70 mm · not published for applicant-supplied photos
- Canadian Passport Photo 50 × 70 mm · head 31–36 mm · plain white or light-coloured · max 5 MB
- Chinese Passport Photo 33 × 48 mm · head 28–33 mm · white
- French Passport & CNI Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · plain light-coloured — light blue or light grey. white is explicitly not allowed.
- German Passport & ID Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · solid
- Indian Passport Photo 35 × 45 mm · plain white
This is not official advice. img-fix is not affiliated with any government or immigration authority. The figures on this page were read from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan — passport photo guidance on 2026-07-26, and requirements change without notice. Check the official source before you submit.