Japan Visa Photo — 2x2 Inch (51x51 mm) for the Standard US-Consular Visa

Need a visa photo for Japan, applying through a Japanese embassy or consulate in the United States? Prepare your Japan visa photo online with IDPhotoBy: upload a photo you already have and the tool sizes and crops it to 2 x 2 inch (about 51 x 51 mm), the size the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. and its Consulates-General (for example Atlanta and Chicago) require for a standard visa application — Short-term Visit (Tourism/Business/Conference/Study) or another regular visa category — with the Japan Visa 2x2 inch document already selected. This is a printed, self-supplied photo: no certified photographer and no live in-person capture is required for it, and it is not the same photo as Japan's separate online eVISA channel (more on that below).

IDPhotoBy does not retouch, beautify, or AI-edit your face — only the framing, size, and background are checked and prepared.

The Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. and its Consulates-General set this requirement, and IDPhotoBy prepares your photo to match it. For a standard visa application submitted through a Japanese mission in the US, your photo must:

• Measure 2 inches by 2 inches (about 51 x 51 mm) — one color photograph.
• Be taken in front of a plain background.
• Be no more than 6 months old at the time you apply.
• Be a color photo (confirmed by Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago materials).
• Be your own printed, self-supplied photo — no certified photographer or on-site live capture is required for this document.

IDPhotoBy checks your uploaded photo against this specification and outputs a print-ready file at the correct 2x2 inch size and a checked, compliant background — you print it yourself and glue it to your application.

If you've seen more than one "Japan visa photo size" quoted online, you're not imagining it — Japan's diplomatic missions do not all use one single worldwide photo-size convention. This page is specifically for the 2 x 2 inch (about 51 x 51 mm, or roughly 5.1 x 5.1 cm) size used by Japanese missions in the United States for a standard visa application, confirmed independently by three separate US missions: the Washington, D.C. Embassy, the Atlanta Consulate-General, and the Chicago Consulate-General. If you are applying somewhere other than a US-based Japanese embassy or consulate, or through a different visa channel, check the photo size your specific mission asks for before you use a sample photo as a reference or submit anything — don't assume every "Japan visa photo" page online is describing your consulate's exact requirement.

The Japanese missions' own instructions call for a plain background and a photo taken within the past 6 months, in color. "Plain" isn't spelled out as a specific hex color in the official instructions, so IDPhotoBy checks your background against this requirement to confirm it reads as plain and compliant — consistent with "plain," not a color the missions themselves specify. Keep the wall or backdrop behind you clear of shadows, patterns, or clutter either way.

Upload a recent photo you already have — a sharp phone photo works, as long as your face is clearly visible and unobstructed. IDPhotoBy acts as your Japan visa photo checker and cropper in one step: it sizes and crops the photo to the 2x2 inch (51x51 mm) standard and checks the background against the plain-background requirement. You get a digital copy to keep and a print-ready photo (plus a printable sheet, so you don't have to fight with a print shop's crop settings) that you print yourself.

IDPhotoBy does not retouch, beautify, or AI-edit your face — only the framing, size, and background are prepared. No online tool can promise any embassy or consulate will accept a given photo; the reviewing mission always has final discretion. Requirements can vary by embassy or consulate — check the official visa page for the Japanese mission handling your application before you submit.

None of the three US-mission sources behind this page's requirements spell out a specific facial-expression, glasses, or dress-code rule for this photo. As general good practice for an official document photo, a neutral, full-face expression with your eyes open and visible is the safest choice, and removing glasses avoids glare or reflections that can obscure your eyes — but check your specific consulate's instructions if you have a medical or religious reason to keep glasses or head coverings on, since individual missions can differ on secondary details like this. For clothing, everyday attire is fine — avoid a uniform, and avoid a top that's the same plain color as your background, so the outline of your shoulders stays clearly visible against it.

This is a print-only document: none of the three US-mission sources behind this page states a digital pixel size, file format, DPI, or file-size limit, because the photo isn't uploaded anywhere online — it's printed and physically attached to your paper application. IDPhotoBy's default print-quality output is built for exactly this: a print-ready file plus a printable sheet at the correct 2x2 inch size.

Two mounting details matter and are easy to miss: the Washington, D.C. Embassy and the Atlanta Consulate-General both instruct applicants to use glue only to attach the photo to the application — do not staple or tape it — and the Chicago Consulate-General's materials add that you should write your name on the back of the photograph in print before attaching it.

No — this is a different document from Japan's online eVISA channel, which some consulates route certain short-term tourism applicants to and which has its own separate digital-upload photo requirement. If you were directed to the eVISA system, you need a digital photo prepared to that channel's own specification, not this printed 2x2 inch photo. Note that even the Atlanta Consulate-General's own eVISA guidance states that eVISA applicants must still submit the same required paper documents for the parts of the application eVISA doesn't replace — so having this printed photo ready can still matter even if you also apply through eVISA. If you're not sure which channel applies to you, check with the specific Japanese mission handling your application.