Embarking in Japan

[mj_holiday]

Much has been said about carrying prescription drugs in hand luggage. So, for those of you who have arrived in Japan for embarking on a cruise, how was the customs and immigration experience at either of the two airports?  

[crusin7]

In our experience both airports were fast and efficient.  No problem at all with medications and my husband carries a small pharmacy.

[mrstanley]

No problem with Rx drugs. If you are concerned have your doctor write a letter for you stating all the drugs you are taking.

Just make sure they are in the bottles with the accurate labels. Most foreign airport employees can barely speak or read English. Put all your Rx bottles in one large plastic bag.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Been there twice in the last 10 months and carry my meds in my carry on bag. No problems at all.

[Damaris1900]

Here's a link that might be helpful:

https://jp.usembassy.gov/services/importing-medication/

 

We were surprised by some of the over the counter and prescription meds that are illegal in Japan, with or without a prescription, so it might be worth checking. We have not had any trouble, but we know of several travelers who did.

[rkaratsu]

We are on Japan cruise right now and had no issues with bringing in meds. 
 

And not sure if it made a difference but we used the Visit Japan Web website. Once you fill out info, you get a QR code. Coming out of customs, once we got our luggage, we just scanned QR code and literally walked right through customs and immigration. (People who fill out the paper form (you will be given one on the plane before you land but you don’t use it if you have QR code) had to wait in a much longer line, at least when we arrived.)

 

If you are not familiar with Visit Japan Web, I would Google it. There are videos explaining how to use it. It isn’t mandatory but at least in our experience it saved us a lot of time.

[Avidtravler]

Hi Rkaratsu,

Many thanks for your advice on Visit Japan Web. Looks like we will be using it in the future. Would appreciate any additional suggestions you might have for future travelers to Japan based on your current experience.

[mj_holiday]

Rharatsu

Thank you for identifying Visit Japan Web site, that will help us get ready..

[WESTEAST]

On 10/20/2023 at 5:29 PM, rkaratsu said:

We are on Japan cruise right now and had no issues with bringing in meds. 
 

And not sure if it made a difference but we used the Visit Japan Web website. Once you fill out info, you get a QR code. Coming out of customs, once we got our luggage, we just scanned QR code and literally walked right through customs and immigration. (People who fill out the paper form (you will be given one on the plane before you land but you don’t use it if you have QR code) had to wait in a much longer line, at least when we arrived.)

 

If you are not familiar with Visit Japan Web, I would Google it. There are videos explaining how to use it. It isn’t mandatory but at least in our experience it saved us a lot of time.

Your info on Visit Japan Web interests us as appears it was very efficient at your airport. We will arrive at the Haneda airport and would be curious to know what airport your arrived at?  Your experience of only having to scan your QR code is encouraging - did you not have to have photo and fingerprints taken at kiosk? Was there a different queue for VJW with QR code?  Thank you.

[rkaratsu]

4 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

>>What airport your arrived at?…

We arrived at Haneda. With the VJW website (it is not an app, they are very adamant about this for some reason!), you upload a lot of info so when you get to the kiosk (located where you collect your luggage), IIRC, it takes your photo and scans your passport after you scan the QR code. (We have American passport not sure if this makes any difference.)

 

After you do this, you go to a separate line for those who have the QR code. After you show the QR code, you are basically done. From the time we landed until the time we were out on the street getting a taxi took 18 minutes. (I timed this! We may have landed at a gate close to terminal and could have been a slow time but I do think that using the VJW QR code helped. It is not mandatory but I do think it is a time saver.)

 

Now you may have to wait in a taxi queue for 30 minutes (like we did) but this is another matter… 😀)

[WESTEAST]

10 minutes ago, rkaratsu said:

We arrived at Haneda. With the VJW website (it is not an app, they are very adamant about this for some reason!), you upload a lot of info so when you get to the kiosk (located where you collect your luggage), IIRC, it takes your photo and scans your passport after you scan the QR code. (We have American passport not sure if this makes any difference.)

 

After you do this, you go to a separate line for those who have the QR code. After you show the QR code, you are basically done. From the time we landed until the time we were out on the street getting a taxi took 18 minutes. (I timed this! We may have landed at a gate close to terminal and could have been a slow time but I do think that using the VJW QR code helped. It is not mandatory but I do think it is a time saver.)

 

Now you may have to wait in a taxi queue for 30 minutes (like we did) but this is another matter… 😀)

Fabulous thank you for clarifying and no fingerprints which is good. Presume my husband and I need individual registrations e.g., separate QR codes (no family QR code)?  Was it easy to access wifi at airport to log-in to VJW to access your QR code?

 

[RachelG]

I carry a small pharmacy as I am a medical doctor, and hubby has a number of prescriptions as well.  No issues whatsoever.

[rkaratsu]

5 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

Fabulous thank you for clarifying and no fingerprints which is good. Presume my husband and I need individual registrations e.g., separate QR codes (no family QR code)?  Was it easy to access wifi at airport to log-in to VJW to access your QR code?

 

You and hub will need your own QR codes. (Pretty sure family members can be added to adult.)

 

As far as QR codes, save them as .jpgs to your photos (although there is good wifi in Haneda.) And hopefully you use an iPhone instead of Android since it seems like most online things are biased towards iOS ( things like using wallet for Suica card, Apple Pay, etc. My wife unfortunately uses an Android phone and seemed to have more issues than I did.)

 

Ah yes, one last thing if you are planning to use Suica card for travel (or even to pay for things in convenience stores): If you need a physical Suica card, you need to get it at airport (not sold at train stations any longer. Of course if you have iPhone, you can add Suica to your Apple wallet (you can do it right now if you like) and it works like magic! Super convenient!)

Edited October 24, 2023 by rkaratsu
Typo

[forgap]

@rkaratsu  did you get an e-SIM for your iPhone while in Japan?

[rkaratsu]

1 hour ago, forgap said:

@rkaratsu  did you get an e-SIM for your iPhone while in Japan?

Our T-Mobile plan has unlimited text and data overseas (while in port; at sea we are at the mercy of Regenr’s wifi…😢)

 

In Haneda airport, there were a few places where one could get either a SIM card or some kind of mobile router (I guess for multiple devices) but don’t really know much about which one(s) might be the best.

[WESTEAST]

10 hours ago, rkaratsu said:

You and hub will need your own QR codes. (Pretty sure family members can be added to adult.)

 

As far as QR codes, save them as .jpgs to your photos (although there is good wifi in Haneda.) And hopefully you use an iPhone instead of Android since it seems like most online things are biased towards iOS ( things like using wallet for Suica card, Apple Pay, etc. My wife unfortunately uses an Android phone and seemed to have more issues than I did.)

 

Ah yes, one last thing if you are planning to use Suica card for travel (or even to pay for things in convenience stores): If you need a physical Suica card, you need to get it at airport (not sold at train stations any longer. Of course if you have iPhone, you can add Suica to your Apple wallet (you can do it right now if you like) and it works like magic! Super convenient!)

We have iPhones so will do as you recommended and save them to our photos.  Will look into a Suica card. Enjoy your cruise. Much appreciated 😀