A local girl in Nagoya β most packing lists for Japan are just packing lists. This is only the part that is different here.
π΄ Cost: a handkerchief Β₯500 Β· a hotel laundry cycle Β₯400β600
π Where: everything you forget is buyable within 200 metres, except medicine
π° Difficulty: low β 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 β 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 simply banned here, and a prescription does not change that.
- Cannot be brought in at all: pseudoephedrine β in many decongestants and cold tablets β 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. Everything else on this page is comfort; this one is customs.
Five things people forget
- Shoes that come off easily. Temples, ryokan, some restaurants, changing rooms, a few museums. Laces will annoy you by day two, and so will the socks you would rather nobody saw
- A folding tote bag. Shops charge for plastic bags, and there are almost no public bins β you carry your rubbish until you find one
- Your own deodorant. What is sold here is much gentler than you are used to. Bring it; do not plan 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 plus translation plus photos will empty a phone by three in the afternoon
TSΕͺ INFORMATIONwhat Japanese connoisseurs know
Carry a γγ³γ«γ (hankachi), a small towel handkerchief. Most public toilets here have no paper towel and no dryer β everyone dries their hands on their own cloth. Any station shop sells one for about Β₯500. It is the smallest thing on this list and the one that makes you look as though 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 β phone, laptop, camera β simply works. 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 Β₯400β600 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 β this is the single most common day-one mistake: how to get data in Japan.
Insurance. Japan is extremely safe and its hospitals are excellent, which is exactly why an uninsured visit is expensive. SafetyWing is the one most travellers we meet use, and it can be bought monthly. Whatever you choose, buy it before you fly; almost no policy covers a trip already under way.
Then the rest, in order: the full Japan trip checklist, where to stay, and what to do with that suitcase on day one.