I recently arrived at Kansai International Airport on my first trip to Japan. I needed to take medication with me and not any light medication I had stimulants, psychotropics and Narcotics therefore I was really worried but turns out I did not need to be.
I can imagine many people worry about taking their medications to Japan but if you apply and do the process by the book seems like no one really cares.
Therefore I want to outline my process which allowed me to go through Immigration and Customs very smoothly.
I applied about 1 Month In advance following the Guide on this website: https://www.ncd.mhlw.go.jp/en/application2.html
I send a Medical Certificate which included all my medical diagnoses and clearly stated why I need my Narcotic Medication (Morphine Sulfate) and also attached explanation regarding the daily Dosis after I received Questions about the reasons for the Dose of 900mg per Day or 27 Grams in total.
I also provided an overview of other medications and filled out the application forms digitally but signed them personally after printing.
I also needed a Yunyu Kakunin-sho for my Methylphenidate and Diazepam as well as my Opipramol and Trimipramin I applied for 100 Tablets of Methylphenidate and 50 Tablets of each of the other medications. I also provided a Medical Certificate as well as detailed description of the Medication, which means Packaging, Producer and Generic Name as well as Dosage and Efficacy.
I also presented my onwards Itinerary to prove I need the amount of medication.
In General I tried to have them as much Information as possible. Also I got Copy’s of the actual Prescription before leaving. I printed every application.
I received my Yunyu Kakunin-sh which I applied for on the 20.04 on the 22.04.
I applied for the Import Certificate on the 03.04 and needed to add documents on the 16.04 after they had questions regarding my diagnosis and the amount. I needed to completely renew the application via Email to the Osaka Narcotics Control Department. They were really supportive and helpful even though I got worried after not having received any documentation until a week before my Trip last week but they send me the approval documents 2 Nights before the start of my trip.
I assume that because of the huge amount of Morphine they considered my application very carefully which I actually appreciate.
What surprised me was the airport I had to check that I was carrying Narcotics and immigration didn’t even asked anything. And when I was at customs he also directly wanted to send me on my way. I was irritated I always thought that Japan has strict customs laws – I told him that I have Narcotics his demeanour changed a little to more serious showed him the certificate – the only wanted to see the first page of six pages and opens my bag to show him the medication he looked and give me a good to go. He did not count or verified any of the Medications – I know Japan is a trust based society but that was really surprising for me.
If you have any questions let me know 🙂
by Kitchen-Passage-6835