Most packing lists for Japan are generic. This one covers only what is different here.
Cost: a handkerchief ¥500 · a hotel laundry cycle ¥400–600
Where: everything you forget is buyable within 200 metres, except medicine
Hardest part: low, but one item on this page can stop you at the border
1. Check your medicine first. Some ordinary cold and ADHD drugs are illegal here
2. Shoes you can slip off. You will take them off more often than you expect
3. A small towel handkerchief. Public toilets have nothing to dry your hands with
4. Pack half a suitcase. Every hotel has a coin laundry, and you will buy things
5. Leave the adapter at home if you are American: the plug already fits
Medicine: the only thing that can go seriously wrong
Japan judges medicine by its active ingredient, not by whether a doctor prescribed it. A few things sold over the counter at home are banned here, and a prescription does not change that.
- Cannot be brought in at all: pseudoephedrine (in many decongestants and cold tablets) and lisdexamfetamine, sold as Vyvanse or Elvanse. Also codeine, oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine
- Allowed with paperwork: methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) and zolpidem (Ambien) need an import certificate, which takes a few weeks to obtain
- No paperwork needed: one month of ordinary prescription medicine, or two months of anything over-the-counter. Above that, you apply in advance
- Always: original boxes, original labels, and a copy of the prescription in English
Read the ingredient list on the back of your cold medicine tonight, not at the airport. The rest of this page is about comfort; this part is about customs.
Five things people forget
- Shoes that come off easily. Temples, ryokan, some restaurants, changing rooms, a few museums. Laces get annoying by day two, and so do socks you would rather nobody saw
- A folding tote bag. Shops charge for plastic bags, and there are almost no public bins, so you carry your rubbish until you find one
- Your own deodorant. What is sold here is much milder than you are used to. Bring your own rather than planning to buy it
- Shoes and clothes in your size, if you take over 27 cm / US 9 in men’s shoes or above a Japanese L. The range narrows quickly past that point
- A power bank. Maps, translation and photos will drain a phone by three in the afternoon
TSŪ INFORMATIONwhat Japanese connoisseurs know
Carry a ハンカチ (hankachi), a small towel handkerchief. Most public toilets here have no paper towels and no dryer, so everyone dries their hands on their own cloth. Any station shop sells one for about ¥500. It is the smallest thing on this list, and carrying one makes you look like you have been here before.
What to leave at home
- A plug adapter, if you are American. Japan uses the same two flat pins at 100V. Anything with a dual-voltage brick (phone, laptop, camera) works as is. UK, EU and Australian plugs do need one
- Towels and toiletries. Every hotel has them, including capsules. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a toothbrush, and a bath deep enough to use them in
- Two weeks of clothes. Business hotels have a coin laundry, usually ¥400–600 for a wash and dry. Pack six days and do one load midway
- The biggest suitcase. It will not fit in the room, the locker, or the overhead rack on a local train
Two things to sort before you fly
Data. An eSIM has to be installed over WiFi, which means at home, before you leave. Forgetting this is the most common day-one mistake: how to get data in Japan.
Insurance. Japan is very safe and its hospitals are excellent, and that is why a visit without insurance costs a lot. SafetyWing is the one most travellers we meet use, and you can buy it monthly. Whichever you choose, buy it before you fly; almost no policy covers a trip that has already started.
Then the rest, in order: the full Japan trip checklist, where to stay, and what to do with that suitcase on day one.