How do I buy medicine at a Japanese drugstore?
Most of what you want for a cold, a headache or a blister is on an open shelf in a drugstore and needs no conversation at all. The stronger classes sit behind the counter and legally need a pharmacist in the building, and the pharmacist is often only on shift for part of the day. Packaging is in Japanese. Point at the symptom, not the box.
The ritual, in order
From the door to the register
Work out which kind of shop you are standing in
ドラッグストア — Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Sundrug, Welcia, Cosmos — is a shop that sells cosmetics, snacks, nappies and basic medicine, and it is what you want. A 薬局 (yakkyoku) next door to a clinic is a dispensing pharmacy that mainly fills prescriptions and may not sell you anything without one.
Find the medicine, which is rarely at the front
The front of a drugstore is cosmetics and drinks. Medicine is at the back or upstairs, near a counter with a person behind it. Open shelves are the lower legal classes; the locked or counter-side shelf is the class that needs a pharmacist.
Point at the symptom rather than naming a drug
Brand names from home mean nothing here and the active ingredient is printed in Japanese. Point at your throat, your head or your stomach, or hold up the card at the top of this page: 風邪薬はありますか？ — kazegusuri wa arimasu ka?, do you have cold medicine?
Answer three short questions
Symptoms, fever, and how many days you want it for. Nodo ga itai desu (my throat hurts), netsu wa arimasen (no fever), mikka-bun (three days' worth) covers most of it. Staff commonly reach for a translation app at this point — let them, it is faster than either of you guessing.
Pay at the front register, not at the counter
The medicine counter hands you the box; the till is at the entrance with everything else. Larger chains take cards and IC cards; small ones may not. Point-card questions at the till (pointo kādo wa?) can be answered with iie.
Read the dose before you take any of it
Japanese doses are often lower per tablet than the equivalent at home and the frequency is different. Photograph the box and the leaflet and translate them before you swallow anything, and check the ingredients against anything you already take.
What they will ask you
Four questions at the medicine counter
These come in the same order almost every time, and the answers are short. Nothing here requires you to name a drug.
| You’ll hear | It means | Say |
|---|---|---|
| どんな症状ですか？Donna shōjō desu ka? | What are your symptoms? | のどが痛いですNodo ga itai desu — my throat hurts |
| 熱はありますか？Netsu wa arimasu ka? | Do you have a fever? | ありませんArimasen — no |
| 何日分ですか？Nannichi-bun desu ka? | How many days' worth? | 三日分Mikka-bun — three days |
| アレルギーはありますか？Arerugī wa arimasu ka? | Do you have any allergies? | ありませんArimasen — none |
The counter
Why the same shop can sell it at 2pm and not at 9pm
Over-the-counter medicine in Japan is sorted into legal classes, and the class decides who is allowed to hand it to you. The lower classes can be sold by a registered seller — the ordinary staff member in the blue coat — and sit on open shelves you can pick from without speaking to anyone. The strongest class can only be sold by a licensed pharmacist (薬剤師, yakuzaishi), and it sits behind or beside the counter where you cannot reach it.
The consequence catches people out constantly: a big-chain drugstore may be open until 10pm or later while its pharmacist works a shorter shift. The shop is the same, the box is on the same shelf, and after the pharmacist has gone home it legally cannot be sold. There is often a small sign giving the pharmacist's hours. Yakuzaishi wa imasu ka? — is there a pharmacist here? — settles it in one question.
A dispensing pharmacy attached to a clinic works differently again. You go to the clinic, get a prescription (shohōsen), walk it next door, hand it over with your passport or insurance card, and wait ten to twenty minutes. Without a prescription there is usually nothing for you there, which is why the drugstore chain is the right first stop for a cold.
Don't assume the medicine you take at home is legal to bring in — some ordinary cold and allergy products containing pseudoephedrine, and anything containing codeine, are restricted or prohibited on entry to Japan, and that is decided at the border, not at the pharmacy.
Money and limits
What it costs, and where this page stops
Money goes in the small tray, not into the hand. This is the single most common thing visitors get wrong, and it happens at almost every register in the country.
Prices are low and fixed by the shop rather than negotiable: a small box of basic painkillers is roughly ¥600–¥1,200, a course of cold powder or tablets ¥1,000–¥2,000, throat lozenges and plasters a few hundred yen, and a box of masks under ¥500. Drugstores are also one of the biggest tax-free categories for visitors — the consumables rules and the paperwork are on the tax-free page. Convenience stores are not a substitute; only a minority of branches are licensed to sell any medicine at all, which is one of the few things the konbini cannot do for you.
This page is about the shop, not about your health: nothing here is medical advice. For anything beyond a cold, a blister or a hangover — a fever that will not come down, chest pain, a suspected fracture, an allergic reaction — the right answer is a clinic, and the emergency number is 119 for an ambulance. A drugstore counter is not staffed to make that call for you.
Questions
The things people ask on the way to the drugstore
What is the difference between a drugstore and a pharmacy?
A doraggu sutoa (ドラッグストア) is a retail chain — Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Sundrug, Welcia — selling cosmetics, snacks and basic medicine, usually open 9am to 10pm. A yakkyoku (薬局) beside a clinic dispenses prescriptions and often little else. For a cold, go to the chain; for a prescription, you need the clinic first.
Why would they refuse to sell me something in the evening?
Because the strongest over-the-counter class legally requires a licensed pharmacist to hand it over, and the pharmacist's shift is often shorter than the shop's opening hours. The same shop can sell you the same box at 2pm and not at 9pm. Ask yakuzaishi wa imasu ka? (薬剤師はいますか？) — is there a pharmacist here?
What should I expect to pay?
Roughly ¥600–¥1,200 for a small box of painkillers, ¥1,000–¥2,000 for a cold remedy in powder or tablet form, a few hundred yen for lozenges, plasters or eye drops, and under ¥500 for a box of masks. Big chains take cards and Suica; smaller shops may be cash only.
Can I bring my own medication into Japan?
Check before you fly rather than at the airport. Products containing pseudoephedrine — which covers several ordinary decongestants sold freely elsewhere — and anything containing codeine are restricted or prohibited, and larger quantities of prescription medicine need an import certificate (yakkan shōmei) applied for in advance. The Japanese health ministry and customs pages are the authority; a website is not.
Nobody at the counter speaks English. Now what?
Point, and let them use a translation app — most drugstore staff reach for one within about ten seconds. Show the card at the top of this page or say the symptom: nodo ga itai desu (throat), atama ga itai desu (head), netsu ga arimasu (I have a fever). Naming a brand from home is the one approach that reliably fails.
Can I buy antibiotics or my usual prescription over the counter?
No. Antibiotics and prescription-only medicines require a Japanese doctor's prescription, which means a clinic visit. As a non-insured visitor, a first consultation commonly runs ¥5,000–¥10,000 before the medicine itself, and travel insurance is what that is for. Bring enough of your own regular medication for the trip.
Can I get tax-free at a drugstore?
Usually yes — drugstores are one of the heaviest tax-free categories for visitors, medicine and cosmetics count as consumables, and you need your passport in your hand rather than in the hotel safe. The threshold has been ¥5,000 in consumables in one shop on one day, but the scheme is under revision; read the sign at the desk and see tax-free shopping.
Does anything at the counter depend on my allergies?
Yes, and it is the one question worth answering carefully. Arerugī wa arimasu ka? means do you have any allergies, and it is asked about medicine as well as food. If you have a drug allergy, carry it written in Japanese rather than trying to pronounce it — the same logic as on the allergy page.