Arriving at Narita International Airport - Japan - questions

[mikeerdas]

You fill in immigration cards , asking about drugs at arrival in Japan airport. No one asked us about meds. But the forms have drug questions.

Also, we went fromYokohama to Nagasaki on ship. More immigration, questions and forms there.

Returning to Japan. At Niigata more immigration to get off ship. With fingerprinting, face recognition. They came inboard with face masks and equipment to take our temperature. Many quarantine signs.

Just tell the truth re. Meds.

 

Thanks dog. Seemed like a bigger deal--like a 64 reply thread dedicated to the topic somewhere here on CC. Or it may have been on another forum. Many cruisers are older and take lots of meds, so I could see why this could be a potential issue when arriving by air. Wouldn't expect any of that at port stops.

[GeezerCouple]

In a nutshell, how big of a deal are carrying medications when arriving at NRT? Assuming any checks would be done at customs. Seems there's a whole *huge* thread on this topic. Is bringing meds home the issue? Never once have I brought a letter from a doctor in all my travels, I don't carry medications in their original bottles (I use a pill holder), and never once have I had an issue traveling to Europe multiple times. Strange that they are so strict about even things like ibuprofen. I use a prescription drug for lower back pain (diclofenac). Do I really need a doctor's letter for that? Wife always brings ibuprofen for potential migraine headaches. Sounds crazy. But I don't want to be detained or be without required meds. Lots of walking to do, so I'll need my anti-inflammatories.

 

Just send them a list of any meds that might be problematic and require "permission".

 

I've just completed the approvals process for Japan.

We needed to deal with two separate offices. The first was to get the Yakkan Shoumei permission, and that group told me that for one of the meds, we needed the slightly more detailed permission of another office.

 

In both cases, it was very straightforward.

I sent a list of what I thought "might" be meds of concern for DH and myself.

The Yakkan Shoumei official responded promptly, indicating which meds:

-- are restricted to a one-month supply;

-- are restricted to one per person (inhalers);

-- required a Yakkan Shoumei advance permission form;

-- needed to get approval from another office;

-- no comment about the rest.

(Any need to increase the standard quantities would simply require another Yakkan Shoumei.)

 

They sent a form to complete to apply for the Yakkan Shoumei, which needed to be returned with a copy of the Rx and a letter from the physician. All could be done via email, although the form allows for handling it through regular mail.

 

They directed me to the other office's e-address (and phone number/physical address), so I wrote, stating that the Yakkan Shoumei official had told me to contact them (the new office) about Med "A".

They sent a different form, and this one had a separate place for "Import" and "Export" permission (same form, different header).

Again, they needed a letter from physician and copy of Rx.

Each time, the emailed response was remarkably fast.

(Still, I wouldn't wait until the last minute, in case of some sort of delay.)

 

I now have two stamped permission slips, which we printed in color due to the color stamps :)

Actually, there are three, as the second med has an "Import" and "Export" approval.

They asked for the quantity being "Imported" (easy) and the quantity being "Exported" (??).

So I just enter "X" for the first, and "<X" for the second, and no one questioned that.

 

You fill in immigration cards , asking about drugs at arrival in Japan airport. No one asked us about meds. But the forms have drug questions.

Also, we went fromYokohama to Nagasaki on ship. More immigration, questions and forms there.

Returning to Japan. At Niigata more immigration to get off ship. With fingerprinting, face recognition. They came inboard with face masks and equipment to take our temperature. Many quarantine signs.

Just tell the truth re. Meds.

 

This ^ (tell the truth!)

In this case (Japan) it was very easy to determine that they are more strict (or they *can* be, so why risk it?).

As described above, it's easy enough.

We'll just hand the forms in when we arrive at Immigrations, along with the "regular" arrival forms.

 

We've long traveled with Rx in properly labeled little pharmacy bottles. (Our pharmacy supplies us with the smallest size for the number of pills needed, for meds where we get jumbo containers with 90-day supplies.)

And for one injectable, for years, I've carried a (sometimes out of date) letter from my physician about the need for the needle and syringe and little vials of solution. [This is not something common, such as insulin, and there is not a suitable pre-loaded injector pack, such as EpiPen.]

 

We've never been questioned.

But especially as all sorts of oversights and restrictions increase, we just feel much more comfortable knowing that IF (or when) we *do* get inspected/questioned [after all, the Immigrations folks do have that right if you want to enter their country], we'll be prepared.

 

The one time that TSA (on outbound) decided that I needed *thorough* inspection, and they completely emptied my carry and and started swabbing everything and all over the interior...

[Yes, I had immediately requested a private room for the screening.]

I probably flinched as the took out each and every little med bottle... and then the needles and syringes... all with apparent complete disinterest. (It might have been different if I had been *entering* the country?)

 

And then they thanked me, and one of the two agents stayed with me as I repacked everything as quickly (and neatly) as possible.

 

I'll never know what it was that triggered that "search".

[e050377]

I just sent an e-mail yesterday at 8am asking what I needed to do to bring my meds with us and I had an answer at 10pm! I'm so glad I saw these threads I had no idea about the whole bringing meds to Japan thing. Just wanted to let everyone know how simple it was.

 

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