anyone have any experience with various prescriptions and OTC entering japan - here is what we currently take and we are out of time so can't contact japan drug agencies

between the 2 of us we use 2 non banned prescription antidepressants (used daily), atorvistatin (daily), xanax (used for sleep as needed)
- my understanding is that a copy of the prescription and the pills in the original bottle is all we need for less than a 30 days supply

OTC we like to have on hand in case we need it but magnesium and vitamins we take daily
- nexium, advil, advil PM, Acetaminophen, magnesium (daily), multi-vitamin (daily)
- keep all in original bottles? and put into daily pill containers after we get there?

should we say yes on customs forms about prescriptions or just 'forget' - any advice would be appreciated.

Here's a relatively recent thread on that subject:
Medicine In Japan

P.S. In case you didn't realize, Fodor's forums have a search function that can be very helpful. Just an FYI.

thanks!

You should make a note of the active ingredients for the drugs and the dosage in case you need to buy some. They won’t have the same brand names in Japan. You listed acetaminophen, which is an active agreement so that’s good. I don’t know about the others..

FYI Touring in Japan now, we did bring all scripts and OTC meds according to recommendations (original bottle, paper script, 30 day supply) however it turned out not to be an issue, we were not questioned at HND about anything - we used visitjapan electronic immigration process a couple days before we left and took a photo of the QR code and breezed thru immigration and customs, i guess its good to be prepared in case you get questioned about your meds but we were not.

For what it is worth, in over 40 years of international travel (all over the world, including Japan) with literally 100's of trips ranging from a week to over 6 months I never carried my prescription meds in original bottles or carried the original paper scrip. I usually kept my meds in "7-day pill containers" on short trips and in plastic baggies on the longer trip. I was NEVER questioned about the meds by any Customs/immigration officials in all that time.

I bring insulin and atorvostatin in with me. Always have copy of prescription with me, but have never been asked for it. At security when I take my stuff and liquids out of my bag, I always show them my medicine ziplock bag and they normally just smile and wave it away.

just returned from 11 days in japan, way overprepared for prescriptions and were not asked about anyting except via Visitjapan they asked if we had narcotics.
also no issues with tax free or purchases - stuff we bought and were told keep sealed till we leave japan we openend and packed in luggage and were not asked anything about anything
great treat, rough travel, good to be back

As long as the medications are not banned substances and are kept in their original containers with the pharmacy label, you are often allowed to bring less than 30 days' worth of prescription medications into Japan. Atorvastatin and antidepressants should be fine. However, Xanax is a prohibited substance in Japan; if you carry more than a very small amount, you typically need a Yakkan Shōmei certificate.

xanax is not banned nor considered a narcotic.....using visitjapan they only ask if you have narcotics before you get your immigration QR code and you should definitely do this in advance.....we said no, immigration took 30 seconds with zero searching so we spent lots of time prepping but were not examined at all, just have your xanax in your original bottle, not more than 30 days supply (or 30 pills) and have your script in case you get a jerk at immigration.

Yes, there is a presecription required for certain type of OTC. Kindly check before hand to avoid any innconvenice.