Bringing prescription meds into Japan for a 60-day stay

If you are flying into Narita or Haneda with 60 days of prescription medication, you are over Japan's personal-import threshold by definition. The threshold is one month. The form you apply for is 薬監証明 (yakkan shōmei — pharmaceutical inspection certificate, recently renamed 輸入確認書 / yunyu kakunin-sho but still called yakkan shōmei in practice). Apply at least 3 weeks before departure. Some medications are refused at customs even when you arrive holding a valid certificate.

This is a procedure-heavy guide. Read the medication-status section first. If your specific drug is on the prohibited list, no paperwork will get it past customs. You need a different plan before you book the flight.

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Status of your medication category, before anything else

Before filling out any form, find your medication on this list. The category determines whether yakkan shōmei is the right form, the wrong form, or irrelevant because the drug is banned.

The split between "psychotropic with yakkan shōmei" and "narcotic with separate permit" matters because the offices and the lead times differ. Yakkan shōmei goes to the 関東信越厚生局 (Kantō-Shin'etsu Kōseikyoku — Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare). The narcotic permit goes to the 麻薬取締部 (mayaku torishimaribu — Narcotics Control Department) under the same ministry but a different office.

If your medication is in the prohibited row, stop here. Customs will not negotiate. Carrying amphetamine-class stimulants has resulted in arrest, detention up to 23 days without charge, and deportation. The carrier's US prescription does not change the outcome. The relevant law is 覚醒剤取締法 (Kakuseizai Torishimari Hō — Stimulants Control Act). It dates from 1951 and treats amphetamine salts as a prohibited stimulant rather than as a medication.

Before you continue, find your specific drug name on a current MHLW reference. The categories shift over time and the labels above are the 2026 status, not a permanent list.

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Why a 60-day stay always trips the 1-month rule

Japanese pharmaceutical-affairs law lets a traveler bring a 1-month personal-use supply of most prescription drugs without a certificate. The exact reading is: enough drug for 30 days of dosing at the prescribed schedule. A 30-day stay can sit under the line. A 60-day stay cannot. You will be carrying at least 30 days more than the threshold by the day you board.

The math is per-medication, not per-bag. If you take three prescriptions and bring 60 days of each, every one of them needs to clear the threshold individually. The certificate covers all of them on a single application, but the application has to enumerate each drug, each ingredient, each dosage.

There is no rule that lets you split a 60-day supply across two bags or two travelers. The rule is about your import. If a customs inspector counts 60 days of pills in your possession, you are over.

Bringing extra in case of delay is fine but you have to declare it. Buffer doses count toward your supply.

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The form, the office, the email

The Kantō-Shin'etsu Kōseikyoku covers Narita Airport (NRT) and Haneda Airport (HND). If you fly into Tokyo, this is your office regardless of where you live in Japan afterwards. The office is in Saitama, not at the airport.

Address (for paper applications):

Pharmaceutical Inspector Section of Inspection and Guidance, Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare. Saitama-Shintoshin Godochosha 1, 7th floor. 1-1 Shintoshin, Chuo-ku, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, JAPAN 330-9713.

Email: yakkan@mhlw.go.jp.

Phone: +81-48-740-0800.

You can apply by email and receive the issued certificate by email as a PDF. That is the path most non-Japanese-residents use. The bureau does not issue certificates by fax. Mailing paper is supported but slower.

The application is technically the 薬監証明願 (yakkan shōmei negai — yakkan shōmei application form). The current online portal is at the MHLW import-confirmation site. You can complete it without a Japanese gBizID account. Select "Import for Personal Use" and enter "Bring myself" with your home address as the delivery line. The portal is built around shipped imports; the personal-carry case is the same form with the flight reference in the shipping field.

What you attach:

• Scan or photo of your doctor's prescription, with both the international non-proprietary name (INN) and the brand name listed.
• A doctor's letter on letterhead. State the diagnosis, the prescribed dosage, and that the medication is for personal use during your Japan stay. English is fine; Japanese helps but is not required.
• The product information sheet from the manufacturer, which lists active ingredients and dose form.
• A copy of your e-ticket showing arrival airport and date.

What you fill in:

• Your name, exactly as on the passport you will present.
• Each medication: name, manufacturer, country of origin, active ingredient, total quantity in tablets or milliliters, total dosage in milligrams.
• Arrival date and airport.
• Email address for the certificate to be returned to.

That is the standard kit. The bureau replies with one of three outcomes: certificate issued, request for clarification, or refusal. Clarifications usually concern dosage math or missing ingredient lines. Refusals concern banned substances or quantities that read as commercial import rather than personal use.

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The 3-to-4-week timing window

Counted from the day the bureau receives a complete application, processing takes about 2 to 3 weeks. The bureau's own published guidance is "at least 2 weeks." Foreign-applicant experience is closer to 3 weeks because of clarification rounds. Add a buffer for Japanese public holidays (Golden Week in late April through early May, Obon in mid-August, year-end into January 4) when the office is closed and the queue builds.

A safe planning rule for a Tokyo arrival: submit the application 4 weeks before your flight. Earlier is fine. Earlier than 6 months is not — the certificate is dated against the arrival flight and stale-dated applications get returned for resubmission.

What the timeline looks like for a 60-day stay starting June 1:

• May 4: gather doctor's letter, prescription scan, product info sheet.
• May 5: submit yakkan shōmei application by email or portal.
• May 19 to May 26: certificate arrives by email PDF.
• May 27: print two copies. Pack one with the medication in carry-on. Keep the second in checked luggage as backup.
• June 1: present at customs in Narita or Haneda along with your declaration card.

Customs will not refuse a stay because the certificate is dated 5 weeks ahead of arrival. They will refuse a stay because you applied 5 days ahead and the bureau did not get to your file.

Mail service is not the bottleneck. The bureau's review queue is.

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What customs actually does at Narita or Haneda

Most travelers pass the pharmaceutical-affairs desk without being stopped. Officers spot-check declarations against bag contents. If they spot prescription medication on your declaration form (you should declare it, both because the rule says so and because a hidden 60-day supply looks like trafficking on inspection), they ask for the certificate.

You hand over the printed PDF. They check the medication name against the bottle label. They confirm the date and airport on the certificate match your arrival. If everything matches, they hand it back and you go.

If the medication is in the prohibited row, the certificate cannot save you. Officers have no discretion on banned substances. They will not accept a US prescription, a doctor's letter, an import-certificate that names a different drug, or a humanitarian appeal. The protocol is to seize the medication and detain the carrier for further questioning.

If your medication is psychotropic-but-allowed (Concerta, Ritalin, Ambien) and the bottle dosage is higher than the certificate dosage, the difference gets confiscated. Customs reads the certificate as written.

A 60-day stay carrier with a single common-prescription certificate (statins, blood pressure, antidepressants on Strattera, thyroid) usually clears in under 2 minutes. A multi-drug carrier with one psychotropic and two non-controlled prescriptions usually clears in 5 to 10 minutes. Build that into your arrival schedule on the airport-to-housing transit.

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What to do if your medication is on the prohibited list

If you take Adderall, Dexedrine, or any mixed amphetamine salt medication, the certificate path is closed. The options for a 60-day stay are:

1. Switch to a non-prohibited equivalent before departure. Methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin) is the most common substitute and is allowed with yakkan shōmei. Strattera and Intuniv are not controlled and need no certificate. This is a medical decision your prescribing doctor has to sign off on; it is not an admin workaround.
2. Source the medication inside Japan from a Japanese physician. A 60-day stay is long enough to register with a Tokyo psychiatry clinic that prescribes Concerta. Expect a first-visit cost of ¥10,000–¥20,000 plus the ongoing prescription cost. Seeing a psychiatrist on a tourist visa is possible but the clinic will ask about your stay length. Bring documentation of your travel dates.
3. If your medication is Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine), apply to the Narcotics Control Department for a personal-import permit. The form is different from yakkan shōmei. The address for the Kantō region is also in Saitama but a different bureau within MHLW. Approval is conditional and not guaranteed.
4. Cancel or reschedule the stay. This is the answer if your medication is amphetamine-based and you are not willing or able to switch to an alternative. A short visit on a layover is not the same as 60 days of continuous dosing.

Option 1 is the most common path among 60-day midterm guests. The medication switch happens 2 to 4 weeks before the trip so the prescribing doctor can confirm the new regimen is working before you fly.

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What to ask your doctor before you submit

Before you start the application, send your prescribing doctor a list. The reply tells you whether the form is the right form and whether your supply is the right supply.

1. The international non-proprietary name (INN) of each prescription. Yakkan shōmei lists drugs by INN, not by trade name alone.
2. The active-ingredient class. If any drug is amphetamine-class, methylphenidate-class, or a narcotic, that determines which form you submit.
3. The dosing schedule, in milligrams per day or per dose.
4. Whether your country's prescription label uses a different brand name than what is sold in Japan. The certificate cross-checks against the active ingredient.
5. A signed letter on letterhead, in English, stating the diagnosis, dosing, and that the medication is for personal use during your travel. Ask for the letter to be dated within 90 days of your travel and to include the doctor's contact information.

A common pitfall is bringing 60 days of a medication when only a 30-day prescription was filed. The bureau cross-checks the prescription quantity against the imported supply. If the prescription says 30 days and the bottle holds 60, the certificate covers only the 30-day count. The surplus is confiscated at customs. Ask the doctor to write the prescription for the full import quantity.

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Comparison: which paperwork goes to which office

The two offices are different parts of the same ministry. They do not forward applications between themselves. Submit to the right one the first time or you start the queue over.

The medical-device line is the surprise. A traveler bringing more than one CPAP machine, more than one inhaler, or insulin injection supplies needs a yakkan shōmei for the device. The form covers both the medication and the kit. One device per person passes without paperwork; multiple require the certificate.

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Set this up at least 4 weeks before your flight

Before you submit the application, do these in order:

1. Confirm the category of every prescription you carry. If anything is amphetamine-class, deal with that first by switching, by sourcing in Japan, or by canceling. The certificate path does not solve banned-substance imports.
2. Ask your doctor for a letter on letterhead naming each medication by INN and brand, the diagnosis, the dosing schedule, and your travel dates. Get this 5 to 6 weeks before your flight.
3. Photograph or scan your prescription, the product information sheets from each medication's manufacturer, and your e-ticket showing arrival airport and date.
4. Submit the yakkan shōmei application by email to yakkan@mhlw.go.jp or through the MHLW import-confirmation portal. Use "Bring myself" with your home address. Enter your flight number in the shipping reference.
5. Watch your email for clarification requests. Reply within 1 to 2 days; the queue restarts on each round of back-and-forth.
6. Print the certificate twice when it arrives. Pack one with the medication in carry-on; keep the second in checked luggage.
7. Declare medication on the customs form at arrival. Hand the certificate to the inspector. Allow 5 to 10 minutes at the pharmaceutical-affairs desk before continuing to the airport-to-housing transit.
8. If you would like halfkey to compare furnished mid-term units near English-speaking clinics, reply to this article's contact form with your dates and ward.

The most common 60-day-stay medication mistake is treating yakkan shōmei as a customs-day form. It is a 4-week-before-the-flight form. The second mistake is assuming a US prescription is universal proof. The third is packing checked luggage with the certificate left at home.

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— halfkey runs furnished Tokyo apartments for stays of 30 days to 12 months. Browse listings for your dates.