Medicines You Can’t Bring Into Japan (And the Permit Rules)

Some medicines that are ordinary in your home country are illegal in Japan, and a valid prescription from your own doctor does not change that. For most other medicines you can carry up to a one-month supply with no paperwork at all, and above that you need a free government document called a Yunyu Kakunin-sho (import confirmation). A small group of drugs — medical narcotics and what Japan calls “stimulants’ raw materials” — needs a separate permit applied for at least 14 days before you travel.

This guide explains the three tiers as Japan’s own agencies describe them, as of October 2026, and how to check your own prescription before you fly. Every rule below comes from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), its Narcotics Control Department (NCD), or Japan Customs. Rules can change without notice, so treat the official pages linked at the end as the authority.

Which medicines are banned from Japan even with a prescription?

Japan Customs lists as prohibited imports “Heroin, cocaine, MDMA, opium, cannabis, stimulants, psychotropic substances, and other narcotic drugs (excluding those designated by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Ordinance)”. The word doing the most work there for ordinary travellers is stimulants.

MHLW’s own question-and-answer sheet for travellers says you may bring general prescription medicine without special procedures only on condition that “it is not any prohibited drug in Japan such as Methamphetamine”. Amphetamine-type stimulants sit in that prohibited category under Japan’s Stimulants Control Act.

This matters because several widely prescribed medicines are amphetamine salts. Japan’s lists are written by substance, not by brand name, so the only reliable way to check is to read the active ingredient on your own box and compare it against the official categories — or email the inspectors and ask, which we cover below.

The U.S. Embassy in Japan puts the consequence plainly: “It does not matter if you have a valid U.S. prescription for a medicine/drug which is illegal in Japan: if you bring it with you, you risk arrest and detention by the Japanese authorities.” The embassy also states that it does not maintain a comprehensive list of prohibited medications, because only the Japanese government does.

How much medicine can you bring into Japan without paperwork?

If your medicine is not prohibited and not in the specially controlled group, MHLW sets quantity ceilings for personal use. Stay at or under these and you need no application.

One trap worth knowing: MHLW states that if you import a syringe on its own, without the medicine, you need an import confirmation as a medical device “even if you import 1 piece”. The one-month allowance covers the drug and its syringe together, not syringes by themselves.

These are the published personal-use allowances, not a promise about any individual inspection. A customs officer can still ask you to explain what you are carrying.

What is a Yunyu Kakunin-sho and when do you need one?

The Yunyu Kakunin-sho is an import confirmation certificate issued by MHLW. You need it when your quantity exceeds the limits in the table above — most commonly when a trip is longer than a month, or when you want to carry spare medication for a long stay.

MHLW’s guidance is direct: to bring more than a one-month supply of general prescription medicine for personal use, “You need to apply for Import Confirmation before entering Japan.” You then show it to customs if asked on arrival.

Two practical details from the same MHLW material. First, the certificate arrives as a PDF by email, and a copy is acceptable at customs. Second, do not edit it — MHLW warns you must “take care never to correct the Certificate for Import Confirmation, or it becomes invalid”.

How do you apply for the import confirmation?

Applications are made through MHLW’s online system at impconf.mhlw.go.jp. There is a published English manual for the system linked from the MHLW guidance page.

MHLW lists two attachments you must provide for every medicine or device on the application:

• A valid prescription or doctor’s note showing three things — the patient’s name, the medicine, and the doctor’s name — issued by your doctor, covering all items you are applying for.
• A document showing four things — arrival date, arrival place (airport or port), flight or cruise number, and the passenger’s name — such as an itinerary or a copy of your ticket.

Because the second attachment requires your flight details, you cannot complete this application before you have booked.

How long does approval take?

Here the two official sources do not agree, and you should plan for the slower one.

MHLW’s traveller Q&A says the certificate “will be normally issued in a few business days (not including Saturday, Sunday and National holidays), if your application form is completed.” The U.S. Embassy in Japan, by contrast, warns that “Certificate approval by the Japanese government may take several weeks to process and should be received before bringing the medication or medical devices to Japan.”

The gap is most likely the difference between a clean application and one that needs correcting — MHLW’s estimate is explicitly conditional on the form being complete, and it has a separate step for applications that are returned or rejected. Apply as early as your flight booking allows rather than relying on a few-day turnaround.

Narcotics and stimulants’ raw materials: a different permit

Medical narcotics and stimulants’ raw materials are not covered by the Yunyu Kakunin-sho. They go through the Narcotics Control Department, and the timing is stricter.

NCD’s application guidance lists narcotics as including “Morphine, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, Codeine, Tapentadol, GHB” and others, and lists stimulants’ raw materials as including “Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse, Elvanse…), Pseudoephedrine”. If your medicine is on those lists, you apply to NCD for an import certificate.

Pseudoephedrine deserves a flag. It is a decongestant found in common cold and sinus products sold freely in other countries, and it appears on Japan’s stimulants’ raw materials list. If you take it, do not assume the general two-month over-the-counter allowance applies — check with the inspectors before you pack.

NCD states you “should apply at least 14 days prior to your travel”, and requires:

• The completed application form (the import version).
• A medical certificate giving your name, address, the “specific reason why you take your medicine”, the medicines with doses and strength, and your doctor’s signature dated within the previous 3 months.
• Photographs of the medicine packaging, as JPEG, PDF or Word files.

You submit to the Narcotics Control Department responsible for the area where you are arriving, and on arrival you “show the ’IMPORT CERTIFICATE/EXPORT CERTIFICATE’ to an officer at the Customs”.

Psychotropics are handled more leniently. NCD states that for psychotropics in an amount “equal to or less than the amount indicated in the Table (excluding injection form)”, no doctor’s certificate and no official permission are needed. The threshold table is published by MHLW and is drug-by-drug, so check your specific medicine against it.

Can you post medicine to yourself in Japan?

Not for controlled drugs. MHLW states flatly that “it is not permitted to SEND Psychotropics, Narcotics and Stimulants’ Raw Materials”, and repeats that these “are prohibited to send from overseas to Japan”.

Tokyo Customs adds the other half of the rule: such items “may not brought into Japan by another person instead of the individual, nor may they be ordered from overseas by international mail, etc.” You carry them yourself, with your own paperwork, or not at all. If a package is stopped without the required licence, Tokyo Customs says “the mail cannot be imported or returned to the sender”.

For ordinary, non-controlled medicine that gets held at customs, MHLW has a separate route: apply online and attach the invoice, the air waybill or the postcard from customs, and a valid prescription or doctor’s note — with the importer’s name and the patient’s name matching.

What to carry in your hand luggage

Keep medicines in your carry-on, in their original labelled packaging, with the documents in the same bag. If customs asks, everything is in one place rather than in a checked suitcase.

The U.S. Embassy’s advice applies to any traveller, not only Americans: everyone entering Japan with a prescription medication, “including medication that is not restricted in Japan”, should consider bringing a copy of the doctor’s prescription plus a letter stating the purpose of the drug. That costs you nothing and resolves most questions at the counter.

If you have a Yunyu Kakunin-sho or an NCD import certificate, carry the printed PDF. For narcotics and stimulants’ raw materials, NCD also notes you must carry the medicine with you personally on entry and exit.

How to check your own medicine before you fly

Work from the active ingredient, not the brand name. Japan’s lists are chemical, and the same brand can contain different ingredients in different countries.

Then email the pharmaceutical inspectors for your arrival airport. MHLW asks for the name of the international airport you are arriving at, the product name, the name and amount of active ingredients (for example mg per tablet), the form (vial, tablets), and the amount you are bringing (a month’s supply, or a number of tablets).

Replace [at] with @. The U.S. Embassy points travellers to the same yakkan address and suggests including the active ingredients, the medicine name, the dosage and quantity, and your own email address. For narcotics or stimulants’ raw materials, contact the Narcotics Control Department for your arrival region instead.

Do this well before departure. An answer that arrives after you have landed is no help.

Frequently asked questions

Is a one-month supply counted in tablets or in days?
MHLW expresses the allowance as a month’s supply, and its Q&A note on injectables refers to “efficacy and dosage” — in other words, the prescribed daily dose decides how many tablets a month is. When you contact the inspectors, MHLW asks you to state the amount either as a month’s supply or as a tablet count.

My trip is three weeks. Do I need any paperwork?
If your medicine is neither prohibited nor specially controlled, a three-week supply sits inside the one-month prescription allowance, so no import confirmation is required. Carrying a copy of your prescription and a doctor’s letter is still sensible, as the U.S. Embassy advises for all prescription medication.

Does the Yunyu Kakunin-sho cost anything?
MHLW’s guidance describes an online application and an emailed PDF certificate and does not list a fee on the pages reviewed here. Confirm on the application portal, since terms can change.

What if I only find out my medicine is a problem a few days before I fly?
MHLW anticipates this. Its Q&A has a specific item for travellers who have “little time before I leave home” and directs you to email the pharmaceutical inspector for your arrival airport with the medicine details. For a narcotic or a stimulants’ raw material, the 14-day NCD lead time means a last-minute trip may not be feasible with that medicine.

Can my family member bring my medication over for me?
Not for controlled drugs. Tokyo Customs states these may not be brought into Japan by another person on the individual’s behalf.

The practical takeaway

Three questions, in order. Is my medicine a prohibited stimulant or narcotic drug under the customs list? If not, is it a narcotic or stimulants’ raw material on the NCD lists, which needs a permit at least 14 days ahead? If neither, am I over the one-month prescription or two-month over-the-counter allowance, which needs a Yunyu Kakunin-sho?

Answer those from the active ingredients on your own packaging, email the right office if there is any doubt, and keep the paperwork in your hand luggage. Decisions about what may enter Japan rest solely with the Japanese government, and the official pages below are where the current rules live.

Sources

• Information for those who are bringing medicines for personal use into Japan — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (accessed 2026-10-04)
• Q & A for those who are importing medicines into Japan (PDF) — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (accessed 2026-10-04)
• Application Guidance: importing and exporting narcotics by carrying — Narcotics Control Department, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (accessed 2026-10-04)
• Goods with Prohibitions, Controls and Restrictions — Japan Customs (accessed 2026-10-04)
• Narcotics, Psychotropic drugs, Raw materials for Stimulants — Tokyo Customs (accessed 2026-10-04)
• Bringing Over-the-Counter Medicine and Prescriptions into Japan — U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Japan (accessed 2026-10-04)