Key Takeaways
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Japan’s customs rules let an adult bring in three bottles of alcohol, 200 cigarettes, two ounces of perfume and other goods worth up to JPY 200,000 duty free, and Japan’s health ministry separately allows up to one month’s supply of prescription medicine without any paperwork (Japan Customs, Procedures of Passenger Clearance, customs.go.jp ; MHLW, Bringing medicines for personal use into Japan, mhlw.go.jp ; both accessed 2026-09-17).
This guide is maintained by Zurich Kotak General Insurance, an IRDAI-registered general insurer in India and part of the Zurich Insurance Group.
Last verified: 2026-09-17.
Japan’s duty-free allowance at a glance
Japan Customs sets the allowance “for an adult”, and anything above it is taxed. Rupee figures are at 1 JPY = INR 0.617 on 2026-09-17.
What you carry | Duty-free allowance | Notes |
Alcoholic drinks | 3 bottles | About 760 ml a bottle |
Cigarettes | 200 | Carrying more than one kind of tobacco: 250 g in total |
Cigars | 50 |
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Heat-not-burn tobacco | 10 individual packages | For example, 200 IQOS or glo sticks |
Other tobacco | 250 g |
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Perfume | 2 ounces | About 28 ml an ounce |
Other goods | JPY 200,000 in total overseas value (about INR 1,23,400) | Items under JPY 10,000 (about INR 6,170) each are not counted; an item or set worth more than JPY 200,000 gets no allowance |
Above the allowance, Customs charges simplified rates, such as JPY 800 (about INR 494) a litre on whisky and brandy, JPY 200 (about INR 123) a litre on wine and beer, JPY 15 (about INR 9) a cigarette, and 15% on other articles, paid at the bank inside the customs area.
Cash and gold
Declare cash and other means of payment worth more than JPY 1 million (about INR 6,17,000), and answer the gold question on the declaration if you carry gold. The cash rule covers any currency, cheques, travellers’ cheques, promissory notes, securities, and gold bullion of 90% purity or more above 1 kg. Separately, Customs asks anyone carrying gold bullion or gold products to tick “Yes” to the gold question, whatever the quantity or value. Its English page does not carve out jewellery, so if you carry gold jewellery and are unsure, ask the officer.
Food from home and other items Indians pack by mistake
Leave meat products, fresh fruit, vegetables and plants at home: Japan prohibits or restricts them, and penalties run to three years in prison. JNTO: “Bringing meat, meat products, plants and plant products into Japan is strictly prohibited”, with penalties of up to 3 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to JPY 3 million (about INR 18,51,000) (JNTO, Customs & Duty, accessed 2026-09-17). The Embassy of Japan in India says: “Do not bring any meat products, vegetables or fruits into Japan.”
Item | Position |
Meat and meat products, including meat pickles and snacks containing meat | Prohibited or restricted |
Fresh fruit, vegetables, plants and plant products | Do not bring; plants must pass quarantine |
Other packaged food, dry fruit, home-made snacks | Check with the Animal Quarantine Service and Plant Protection Station before packing |
Customs also bans narcotics (medicines aside, below), firearms, explosives and counterfeit goods.
How to declare: Visit Japan Web, e-Gates or paper
Every passenger must make a customs declaration; Japan Customs recommends Visit Japan Web, and the paper form still works.
· Channels: green if you have nothing dutiable, prohibited or restricted; red for everyone else.
· Visit Japan Web: fill in the customs section before you fly and show the QR code on arrival; see our Visit Japan Web guide .
· e-Gates at seven airports, including Narita, Haneda and Kansai: scan your IC passport and the QR code, then use the gate (Japan Customs, e-Gates, accessed 2026-09-17).
· Paper: form C-5360, handed out on the plane and at customs, or printed on A4 in advance (Japan Customs, accessed 2026-09-17).
· Medicine certificates: keep any Import Confirmation or MHLW permit ready for the officer.
Travelling to Japan? Get covered before you fly. Travel insurance for Japan does not change what customs lets you carry, but Japan’s Foreign Ministry highly recommends medical cover for visitors.
Medicines: what MHLW allows without paperwork
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) lets you bring up to one month’s supply of prescription medicine, and two months’ supply of other ordinary medicine, without applying for anything.
Category | Limit without an Import Confirmation |
Prescription drugs, and medicines classed as poisons | 1 month’s supply |
Medicines for external use (other than the above) | 24 per item |
Injectables (pre-filled syringes or self-injection kits only) | 1 month’s supply |
Other medicines, such as over-the-counter products | 2 months’ supply |
Cosmetics | 24 per item |
Household medical devices | 1 set; disposable contact lenses, 2 months’ supply |
These limits cover only medicines that are neither prohibited nor controlled. Japan Customs’ summary says two months for pharmaceutical products, but MHLW, which sets the rule, allows one month for prescription drugs: pack to MHLW’s figure. A Hyderabad couple carrying six weeks of a daily prescription tablet each would need an Import Confirmation.
More than a month’s supply: the Import Confirmation
For larger quantities, apply online for an Import Confirmation certificate, sometimes called Yakkan Shoumei, and receive it before you leave India (MHLW, Application for Import Confirmation; MHLW Q&A; accessed 2026-09-17).
Question | MHLW’s answer |
Where to apply | Online at impconf.mhlw.go.jp , running since 2023-02-01 |
Documents | A prescription or doctor’s note naming the patient, the medicine and the doctor, for every medicine; and an airline document with your name, arrival date, arrival airport and flight number |
How long | “Normally issued in a few business days”, excluding weekends and holidays |
What you receive | A file by email, also downloadable from the status page; show it at customs if asked, unaltered |
Short on time | Email the Pharmaceutical Inspector for your arrival airport: yakkan@mhlw.go.jp (Narita, Haneda and others) or kiyakuji@mhlw.go.jp (Kansai, Chubu Centrair, Naha and others) |
MHLW also says psychotropics, narcotics and stimulants’ raw materials may not be posted to Japan from overseas.
Controlled medicines: check the ingredient, not the brand
Some ingredients in ordinary medicines are controlled in Japan, and the rule depends on MHLW’s category for the ingredient. MHLW’s Controlled Substances List (dated 2024-12-12) carries no brand names; if unsure, MHLW says to check the category with your prescribing doctor (MHLW Narcotics Control Department, accessed 2026-09-17).
Category | Examples MHLW names | What you must do |
Narcotics | Morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, codeine, tapentadol, GHB (tramadol is not a narcotic); 1% or less of codeine or dihydrocodeine is excluded | Permit before entering Japan |
Stimulants’ raw materials | Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse, Elvanse); ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and methylephedrine (10% or less excluded); phenylpropanolamine (50% or less excluded) | Permit before entering Japan |
Psychotropics | Methylphenidate, zolpidem, alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, buprenorphine and others | No permission up to MHLW’s table amounts, such as zolpidem 300 mg; above them, or as injections, carry a doctor’s certificate naming the disease, the need and the quantities; for more than a month’s supply, email yakkan@mhlw.go.jp |
Prohibited, even with a prescription | Heroin, opium powder, methamphetamine and amphetamine (including dexamphetamine and levamfetamine), methaqualone; Customs also lists cannabis | Do not bring. MHLW says Adderall cannot be brought in; Vyvanse can, with advance permission |
The 1%, 10% and 50% figures are MHLW’s content thresholds. How one applies to a given tablet or syrup is a question for MHLW or your doctor, not something to work out from a label.
Applying for a narcotics or stimulants’ raw materials permit
Apply to the Narcotics Control Department office for your arrival airport at least 14 days before you travel.
1. Fill in the import application form, plus the export form if you will take leftovers home.
2. Get a medical certificate from your doctor, issued within 3 months, with your name and address, the specific reason for the medicine (not just “for personal use”), each medicine’s dose and strength, and the doctor’s signature.
3. Photograph the packaging, as JPEG, PDF or Word files (MHLW cannot read HEIC).
4. Send everything by email, fax or post. For Narita and Haneda, add proof of address unless the certificate shows it. Tokyo’s office accepts no last-minute applications.
5. Carry the medicine yourself: MHLW says it cannot be posted or carried for you by anyone else, including family. Show the import certificate at customs.
None of this can be arranged at the airport. For general packing advice on any trip, see medicines to carry while travelling abroad ; for Japan, follow MHLW’s rules above.
Regular medication and travel insurance
If you take medicine for a long-term condition, check your insurance too. Zurich Kotak’s Smart Travel plans generally exclude pre-existing conditions, though a declared condition is covered in a life-threatening situation up to 10% of the sum insured or USD 10,000, whichever is lower. An optional pre-existing disease add-on covers a condition only when it is declared at purchase, accepted and recorded in the policy schedule; see travel insurance for pre-existing conditions .
Japan does not make insurance an entry condition for Indian tourists, but its Foreign Ministry calls it “highly recommended” (MOFA, accessed 2026-09-17), and for bills arising from 2026-04-01, MHLW shares details of visitors who leave a medical bill of JPY 10,000 (about INR 6,170) or more unpaid with the immigration agency, for strict screening on a later visit (MHLW notice, accessed 2026-09-17). Smart Travel treats Japan as Asia geography: Excel up to USD 100,000 and Prime up to USD 500,000, for travellers up to age 70, with no Senior Citizen plan (travellers aged 71 or over, see travel insurance for senior citizens ). Expect most claims in Japan to be settled by reimbursement. See travel insurance for Japan .
Tax-free shopping and the trip home
Tax-free shopping is a consumption-tax scheme, not a customs allowance: for purchases up to 2026-10-31, eligible visitors buy tax-free at the counter, and for purchases from 2026-11-01, the tax is refunded after customs confirms at departure that the goods are leaving Japan. See our guide to shopping in Japan .
Back in India, a resident’s general duty-free allowance is INR 75,000 under the Baggage Rules, 2026, notified on 2026-02-02 (Press Information Bureau, accessed 2026-09-17). Alcohol and tobacco have separate limits: check them on cbic.gov.in before you buy.
Pre-flight checklist
Run through these five checks before you fly to Japan.
· Leave meat, fresh fruit, vegetables and plants at home.
· Count your medicine against MHLW’s limits, and check each active ingredient with your doctor.
· Get any Import Confirmation or permit before you fly, applying for a permit at least 14 days ahead.
· Declare cash above JPY 1 million and answer the gold question honestly.
· Fill in Visit Japan Web’s customs section, or form C-5360 on the plane.
Indians need a Japanese visa in advance, applied for through the Japan Visa Application Centre (see our Japan visa for Indians guide).
FAQs
Q: How much alcohol can I bring into Japan duty free? A: Three bottles, for an adult, each about 760 ml. Anything above that is charged at simplified rates, such as JPY 800 a litre for whisky and brandy.
Q: What medicines can I bring into Japan from India? A: Up to one month’s supply of prescription medicine and two months’ supply of other ordinary medicine, without paperwork, if none contains a prohibited or controlled ingredient. Larger quantities need an Import Confirmation from MHLW before you travel.
Q: Is pseudoephedrine allowed in Japan? A: It is controlled, not banned outright. MHLW lists pseudoephedrine as a stimulants’ raw material, excluding substances with 10% or less, and medicines covered by the rule need a permit applied for at least 14 days before travel. Check your medicine’s category with your doctor.
Q: What is Yakkan Shoumei? A: An older name for MHLW’s Import Confirmation, the certificate needed to bring medicines above the personal limits. Apply online at impconf.mhlw.go.jp before you travel; it is normally issued in a few business days and cannot be obtained at the airport.
Q: Can I carry Indian food to Japan? A: Not meat products, fresh fruit, vegetables or plants, which Japan prohibits or restricts, with penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment. For other packaged food and snacks, check with Japan’s Animal Quarantine Service and Plant Protection Station before packing.
Q: How much cash can I carry into Japan? A: Declare it if the total is more than JPY 1 million (about INR 6,17,000). The rule covers cash in any currency, cheques, travellers’ cheques, promissory notes and securities.
