Japan’s Immigration Services Agency (ISA) has awarded NEC Corporation a contract to implement face recognition walkthrough gates at three major Japanese airports. The new gates, scheduled to become operational after April 1, 2025, will be installed at Haneda Airport Terminal 3, Kansai International Airport Terminal 1, and Narita International Airport Terminal 3.
The implementation builds upon NEC’s previous successful trials of facial recognition systems in Japanese airports, using the company’s Bio-IDiom Edge Software, which has consistently ranked at the top of NIST performance evaluations for facial recognition technology.
Japanese nationals returning to the country will experience a streamlined arrival process, requiring only a passport scan, photo capture, and information submission at an Immigration & Customs Declaration KIOSK before passing through the walkthrough gate.
The comprehensive implementation schedule includes the deployment of walkthrough gates at Haneda Airport Terminal 3 on April 11, Kansai International Airport Terminal 1 on April 1, and Narita International Airport Terminal 3 on April 7. Additionally, Immigration & Customs Declaration KIOSKs will be installed at Haneda Airport Terminals 2 and 3, Kansai International Airport Terminals 1 and 2, and Narita International Airport Terminal 3, with deployments scheduled between April 1 and April 11.
The initiative comes as Japan prepares for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, and aims to support the government’s ambitious target of attracting 60 million overseas visitors by 2030.
The project is being implemented under NEC’s BluStellar value creation model, which focuses on leveraging cross-industry expertise and advanced technologies to address social challenges while transforming traditional business models.
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March 25, 2025 – by the ID Tech Editorial Team
