Japan guide

If something goes wrong

Pharmacies & medicine

For a headache, cold or upset stomach, a drugstore is the quick answer. Pharmacists can help you choose, and some medicine is sold only when a pharmacist is there.

6 steps · 3 common mistakes· Show in Japanese (3)
薬 くすり

Two kinds of shop

  • Drugstore (ドラッグストア): everyday medicine, plasters and cosmetics, no prescription needed. Many are open late.
  • Dispensing pharmacy (調剤薬局, chōzai yakkyoku): fills prescriptions from a Japanese doctor, usually next to a clinic.
  • Look for the sign 薬 (kusuri — medicine).

Common mistakes

  • Expecting a drugstore to fill a prescription from your home country — it can't.

Buying medicine

Step by step

  1. Write your symptoms on your phone in your language, or point to the part that hurts.

  2. Show the line below to staff or the pharmacist.

  3. Tell them about allergies and any medicine you already take.

  4. Check the dose — Japanese doses can be different from what you're used to.

Common mistakes

  • Buying late at night and finding the pharmacist has left — some medicine then can't be sold.

Bringing your own medicine

At departure, a traveller shows the passport and the tax-free shopping bag to a customs officer at a counter marked 税関.

Without a special import certificate (Yunyu Kakunin-sho), you can bring up to one month of prescription medicine and up to two months of other medicine. Some common cold and allergy medicines are not allowed — anything with more than 10% pseudoephedrine, for example.

Step by step

  1. Keep medicine in its original packaging with the prescription.

  2. Check the Ministry of Health's rules before you fly if you need more than the limits.

Common mistakes

  • Packing amphetamine-based medicine such as Adderall — it can't be brought into Japan, even with a prescription.

Find one near you

Opens your map app and searches around where you are. The Japanese is there to show someone if you need directions.

Sources

Sources (checked 2026-11-04). Facts, numbers and prices on this page come from these official pages.

  1. Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)Guide for when you are feeling ill(opens in a new tab)JNTO: guide to getting medical care when you feel ill
  2. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare医薬品等の個人輸入について（輸入確認証）Japanese(opens in a new tab)Ministry of Health: bringing medicines into Japan for personal use
  3. Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)Japan Visitor Hotline(opens in a new tab)JNTO: the 24-hour Japan Visitor Hotline for travellers
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