Visitors and residents of Japan from overseas often comment that Japanese drugs are ineffective. Whether because the dosage is wrong, or they have not been prescribed what they were hoping for; the common refrain is a plea for medicines from home. Many people will import over the counter medicines in their bags, or have them shipped from home. This may or may not be legal; see this previous post (Finding Ibuprofen in Japan) for a little information on importing medicines into Japan.
This is not the most efficient, but there is good news! A recent change in the law has opened up a new way to get these medicines; Amazon! We recently discovered that many foreign brands of medicine have begun popping up on the online retailer’s site, including:
- Clariten RediTabs – クラリチン レディタブ
- Benadryl Allergy – ベナドリル アレルギー
- Advil – アドビル
- Advil Migraine – 偏頭痛にアドビル
- Tylenol – タイレノール
- Bayer Low Dose Aspirin – 低用量アスピリン Low Dose “Baby”
- Vicks Nyquil Cold&Flu – ぐっすり夜用
- Feminine Hygiene Products
- Berocca
You can browse a long list of overseas medicines and other products by searching for this term; 海外直送品 – kaigai choku souhin
When I searched using that term, there were 400 pages of items available; I can only imagine it will increase over time!
