VisaJapan limits its online medicine-permit trial to eligible Tokyo arrivals
The November trial covers specified controlled medicines and routes; applicants outside its conditions must use the conventional procedure.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Check the substance and airport before choosing the online trial
Japan’s November online-permit trial covers the controlled category called stimulants’ raw materials. It accepts import-only or import-and-export applications for Haneda or Narita arrivals without connecting flights. Entry must be by 20 December, with documents sent fourteen business days beforehand.
The department’s linked controlled-substances list classifies ingredients, rather than treating every prescription medicine alike. It identifies lisdexamfetamine as a stimulants’ raw material, while amphetamine is marked prohibited. This difference matters even where products are prescribed for a similar medical condition abroad. Ask the prescriber to establish the active ingredient and use the official category list; a familiar brand or a foreign prescription alone does not establish Japanese import eligibility. The list distinguishes category codes from a separate prohibited marker. A substance appearing in the table is therefore not necessarily banned, and absence of that marker is not a permit. It also notes that salts are generally controlled unless specifically excepted.
Complete both application stages and the document email
The trial requires pre-application, then main application, followed by replying to its emailed copy with supporting documents. Completion occurs when those documents are sent, not at the eligibility check.
Provide the medical certificate, medicine photographs and requested supporting evidence, keeping each email within ten megabytes. Issuance takes at least about two weeks from the main application. Ineligible applicants use the conventional method. No application was submitted or individual eligibility established here.
Prepare a specific medical certificate and observe the holiday deadlines
The conventional guidance requires a certificate from the prescribing doctor identifying the patient and address, the specific reason for treatment, medicines with doses and strengths, the doctor’s signature and an issue date within three months. Vague statements merely describing personal use or treatment are insufficient. Include medicine-package photographs in the accepted formats; the department says it cannot view HEIC images.
Its holiday schedule asks for complete applications by 7 December 2026 for entry from 21 December 2026 to 4 January 2027, by 14 December 2026 for entry from 5–11 January 2027, and by 21 December 2026 for entry from 12–18 January 2027. These conventional-procedure deadlines are separate from the trial’s business-day cutoff. Offices close from 29 December 2026 through 3 January 2027, with possible email delays.
Use the sample form without copying its example journey
The official stimulants’ raw-material import sample shows the medicine name, strength and total quantity as separate information, along with the reason for entry, reason the medicine is needed, entry date and arrival airport. It also requests contact details, the application’s creation date and a signature. The sample’s 2023 dates and fictional personal details demonstrate completion; they are not current deadlines or details to reproduce.
The form explains that import and export require separate application forms. Its parent-signature example retains the name of the person actually taking the medicine and identifies that a parent signs on that person’s behalf. Use that distinction when preparing a child’s documents rather than replacing the patient with the adult completing the paperwork. The sample does not prove that a particular quantity or formulation will receive approval.
Find the responsible office and separate ordinary-medicine confirmation
The department’s office list assigns Narita and Haneda to Kanto-Shin’etsu and Kansai to Kinki. It publishes Tokyo’s telephone as +81-3-3512-8691 and the address tokyoncd@mhlw.go.jp. Use the office covering the actual airport of arrival for the conventional process; choosing a holiday destination elsewhere in Japan does not change the arrival airport. Contact information is a route for questions, not evidence that a permit has been granted.
MHLW’s general medicine FAQ covers a different process: ordinary personal prescription supplies up to one month can avoid special procedures only when its stated conditions are met, including exclusion of prohibited and especially controlled drugs. More than one month of ordinary prescription medicine requires Import Confirmation before entry. That general confirmation should not be mistaken for the controlled-drug permission discussed here. The reviewed trial material does not state a fee; this report therefore does not describe it as free. Obtain clarification about classification or charges before relying on either process.
