All,
I currently reside in the US. I will be moving to Japan for a 2 year work contract in a couple of weeks. I was wondering how to go about doing getting hormones over to Japan. I heard that you can take over a 1 month supply (carry-on) and ship 3 months at a time through the mail. I know that the Japanese are very strict when it comes to bringing in medications from other countries. I am wondering whether or not anybody on this forum has experience with bringing over hormones to Japan and if there is any precautions that I need to take when I ship the medications over / bring them in my carry-on. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
I'm not sure if he'll get a notification if I tag him, but I know
@Ayden lived in Japan for a while. I think he was getting his hormones from a Japanese doctor though and not bringing them into the country. But I know he wrote a lengthy thread about it, so you could read through his posts to find it. Or if he sees this he can pop in to give some advice.
I will reply to this when I get home from work.
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Sorry for the delay, we have bad winter roads up here so it takes forever to get anywhere.
Like FTMax said, I was in Japanland for 4.5 years. My first question is where are going? Second, are you on any injections? If you're just doing oral medication you will need to get a doctor's note before you travel that your medication is medically nessecary. You can bring a 30 day supply on a tourist visa and an 90 on a work visa and have the rest mailed to you in 90 day supplies, but there is a form you will need to fill out and turn in to customs at least one month in advance. If you're in a big city (I was in Osaka) you can turn it in locally. I was able to turn mine in at the Otemae offices, but it still had to go to Tokyo main office for approval. If you are in inaka then you may have to go to the city hall in some cases. If you are on any injectables (insulin, vitamin D or anything like that) there is an additional form you need to fill out at least 2 months prior to importing any needles. This also applies to epipens. I can dig up the form later. It's buried in my legal paperwork. But needles are illegal to own and I had to jump through hoops to get mine.
Both of the forms I mentioned need to be filled out in Japanese and have a copy of a doctor's note and the prescription attached. If they are filled out in English or another language there could be a delay in approval. Once you have the approval, it will need to be attached to the package or you will have to fax them after the packages arrive in Japan. I only needed to do it twice, but I have heard some people say they needed to do it much more often, even for things like depression meds, simply because their local customs offices were not as organized as the larger cities. There is also not a lot of foreign language support in the government offices, so you may need help filling those forms out. I was able to do it, but I still had a trusted friend take a look at it.
If your japanese is good enough to navigate the medical system and you live in a large city (Tokyo, Osaka, Hyogo or in Okinawa) there are doctors that will treat you. My situation was more difficult in that I needed an injection monthly and by the time I navigated the system I only had another few months, and it would have still taken a few psych appointments and a physical (about two to three months) to get my medication so it wasn't worth it. If you are near a larger city you may not be able to find a clinic to treat you. The system is pretty outdated the further out of the hubs you go.
A third question is do your IDs have your correct gender marker, or will they before you go? If not, carry your doctors note. If your ID does not match and you need to seek medical attention, they won't care that the letter is in English and will take it at value.
All that being said, it's a lovely place and I sorely miss it. We came back for family reasons and economic reasons (don't get me started on Abe) but we have talked about going back sometime in the future. The people are very helpful but they are unable due to the system to think outside of the paperwork box. They still physically stamp things and mail them over fax and email. But, I was never treated poorly and the few interactions that were uncomfortable were because I stood out quite a bit. I'm blond and blue eyed with tats ans piercings so I got a lot of stares and people randomly touching my hair because it's good luck with older folks. I would caution against onsen and bathhouses. Many will not even allow foreigners in it can lead to some discomfort.
If I forgot anything or you have any questions, just ask.
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The form you will need is called yakkan shoumei and can be found here:
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health-medical/pharmaceuticals/01.html
If you are on anything injectable or narcotic you will need to different forms, one for "general medication" and one for "narcotic medication and supplies". This is the same form, but will to be filled out two separate ways.
And I apologise, it is a 30 day supply that can be carried without a customs declaration. If you bring 90 days, you will need to declare it at customs. Some people do not do this (I didn't, and it was fine) and they get through customs with the 90 days. People usually wrap it in a few pairs of underwear and their customs agents won't dig through that. But, I know of someone who did have their medication seized until they could supply customs with the yakkan shoumei, a doctor's note and the prescription.
Also to clarify, your doctors note and prescription do not need to be written in japanese. However, foreign prescriptions are not honored in Japan. So keep that in mind if your doctor was going to send you with a script for later use.
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Ok, I currently have an an aparment in Miyagi just South of Sendai in the middle of nowhere. I am home on winter break right now.
Let me make sure I understand you correctly: I can hand carry a 90 day supply, I just have to declare it and have a prescription and have a letter stating that it is medically necessary and present it to Japanese customs upon entering the country.
With the medication that is mailed to me, I have to fill out the form linked above, and submit it to the appropriate Ministry of Health's email links. If I fill out the form now, by the time that I get the approval and send the package, there should be no lapse in medication. I cannot turn it into my local Japanese office because my Japanese is pretty crappy right now (it's getting better.... slowly). I cannot ask my co-workers to help me because I am not out to them right now. Also, do I need a form for prefecture and local offices, or just the one linked above?
My ID's (both Japanese and U.S.) do not have my updated gender on them.
I have also been to an onsen... it led to discomfort lol.
Right. Make sure you fill out the forms well in advance and send them to the main customs office. If possible, have the tracking number of the package that has your medication in it so that they can reference this or send it later with an additional copy of the three papers and you should be golden. There is a guy who speaks English in the Tokyo main office, (Morita I think, but dont quote me on that) he gets bogged down so fill it out as soon as you can. They should keep it on file but I had to do it twice. The yakkan shoumei does have English instructions and should have a cheat sheet for you to use.
On the customs form there is a section for medications. Just fill out that you have a doctor's note, and a copy of the Rx. If it's written for a 90 day supply you should have no problems. I brought 6 vials and 12 needles in my carry on and had no problem. Don't pull anything out unless they ask you. Most of the time at customs at Narita and Kansai you can get by because they don't want to hold up the customs line.
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My gender markers weren't updated and I never had much problem. They never ask for ID in my experience.
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Great! So my plan is to carry a 90 day supply in with me. Meanwhile, I will fill out and submit the appropriate paperwork before I leave, get approval, attach several copies of this paperwork to a package that I will send to myself (provide a tracking number on the paperwork), and send a 90 day supply to my Japanese address.
I will need to rinse and repeat for additional packages correct?
Thanks for all your help so far!
Sorry! I get spotty reception in my house.
You shouldn't need to do it more than once but I would keep several copies just to be safe. The offices have a tendency to misplace things and sometimes say you have to it again rather admit they misfiled a paper. It's a face-saving thing.
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All,
Sorry I am just getting to this now... I would like to provide an update to my situation. I actually decided to send over 1 month supplies of hormones at a time. So far, all my packages have been opened by customs and inspected, but I have never had a problem thus far </crosses fingers>, and I think that I will continue to do so unless there is a problem. Thank you everyone for all your help. I will provide additional updates every so often when I can.
よどしくおねがいします。