🇯🇵 Japan vs 🇰🇷 South Korea: which passport is stronger?
Updated 2026-07-23 · destinations reachable without a pre-arranged visa, of 198
🇰🇷
A razor-thin contest: South Korea leads by just 1 (163 vs 162)
Counting visa-free + visa on arrival + eTA access worldwide.
Score
🇯🇵 Japan162/198
🇰🇷 South Korea163/198
114Japan visa-free
114South Korea visa-free
4Japan world rank
2South Korea world rank
Where South Korea goes — Japan can't (top-100)
Where Japan strikes back
No top-100 destination is open to Japan but closed to the other passport.
Head to head
🇯🇵→🇰🇷 Japan citizens to South Korea
Visa-free · 90d
details →
🇰🇷→🇯🇵 South Korea citizens to Japan
Visa-free · 90d
details →
Open in the interactive comparator → Japan profile South Korea profile