Japan Airlines (JAL): vapes, lighters and cigarettes on board

JAL's international baggage page says lighters cannot be checked at all. A passenger may carry either one small smoking lighter or one small box of safety matches, on the person and in the cabin, not both.

An earlier version of JAL's English page adds pistol-shaped lighters to the banned list and asks you not to leave a lighter in the cabin when you get off. The general rules for other airlines are in our guide to lighters on planes.

JAL warns that on some international routes lighters and matches are banned from carry-on bags as well as checked bags, and links to country notices. Two are documented:

• Indonesia. In a notice dated 6 September 2022, JAL says that on the order of Soekarno-Hatta airport authority, matches and lighters are prohibited in checked and carry-on baggage on flights to and from Indonesia, and are confiscated at security.
• India. An earlier version of JAL's English page lists a notice that matches and lighters are prohibited as carry-on on flights departing India.

JAL also lists a notice for passengers departing for China. We found no details of it, so check JAL's page before flying to or from China. Entry rules are on our pages for Indonesia, India and China.

JAL's baggage page has no line on e-cigarettes in cabin or hold baggage. The rule that airlines, IATA and most regulators share is cabin only, switched off, never charged on board; see our vape on a plane guide. JAL itself does not confirm it on its baggage page.

JAL does give detailed rules on spare batteries and power banks, which cover vape batteries:

• Power banks and batteries removed from a device cannot be checked; carry them in the cabin.
• Above 160 Wh: forbidden. From 100 to 160 Wh: at most two.
• At the request of Japan's transport ministry, do not put a power bank in the overhead bin, and charge it only where you can see it.
• Departures from Seoul Gimpo have different rules; JAL links a separate page for them.

JAL's baggage page gives no limit for cigarettes, cigars or loose tobacco. The limit that matters is your destination's customs allowance; for Japan, JAL's home country, see Japan's rules for travellers.

JAL lists smoking in the lavatory, including electronic cigarettes and heated cigarettes that do not use fire, among the acts prohibited under Japan's Civil Aeronautics Law, and says a fine may be imposed if a passenger defies the captain's order.

The transport ministry (MLIT) gives the figure: the captain can issue a prohibition order, and breaking it can mean a fine of up to 500,000 yen. The vapour can trip the toilet's smoke detector, and MLIT adds that used heated-tobacco sticks thrown into the toilet bin can start a fire. The ministry says the rule applies to foreign airlines too, inside Japanese territory and airspace.

We found no amount on JAL's own pages; 500,000 yen is the maximum from MLIT.

JAL flies mostly from Tokyo and Osaka. Our lists: Tokyo Haneda, Narita and Kansai, with where each area is and whether it is before or after security.

The JAL text cited here is as published on the Japanese baggage page in April 2026, the English safety-rules page in April 2026 and the Indonesia notice in September 2025. Rules may have changed since, so confirm on JAL's baggage page before you travel.