Can I bring Vyvanse to Japan?

By Natsuko Shibata, pharmacist licensed in Japan · Updated 2026-09-25

The short answer

Yes, with a permit. Lisdexamfetamine, the active ingredient in Vyvanse, is classed in Japan as a "stimulant raw material". You can bring it for your own treatment, but only after getting advance permission from the Narcotics Control Department (NCD).

There is no amount small enough to skip this. A single day's supply needs the same permit as a three-month supply.

This is different from Adderall, which can't come in at all, and from Concerta, which needs no permit. See Concerta in Japan. See Can I bring Adderall to Japan? and our main guide to bringing your medication to Japan.

Which products this covers

The rule follows the ingredient. Anything containing lisdexamfetamine is included, whatever the brand:

Vyvanse (capsules and chewable tablets)
Elvanse, Venvanse, Tyvense, Aduvanz
Generic lisdexamfetamine

The permit, step by step

1. Apply at least 14 days before you arrive

The NCD asks for applications at least 14 days before travel. The Tokyo office states that it can't accept last-minute applications for any reason, even if you phone or email. If your dates are close, don't count on an exception.

2. Send to the right office

Apply to the NCD office that covers the airport you arrive at. If you arrive and leave through different airports, apply to the office for your arrival airport. Applications go by email, fax or post. The NCD publishes a list of offices and email addresses on its English application page.

If you already live in Japan and are traveling abroad and back, apply to the office that covers your home address instead.

3. What to send

The import application form for stimulants' raw materials (the English form is on the NCD site).
The export application form as well, if you'll leave Japan with any medicine left over. If you won't, say so in your email.
A medical certificate from the doctor who prescribed it, issued within the last three months, showing your name, your current address, the specific reason you take the medicine, each medicine with its strength and dose, and the doctor's signature. "For personal use" or "for treatment" isn't accepted as a reason.
Photos of the packaging or documents showing the product name and strength. The NCD's email system can't open HEIC files, so send JPEG, PDF or Word.

A few details on the form cause delays. For the dates, write your actual entry and departure dates. For the reason for leaving Japan, write "To return home" or "To go to another country". The NCD notes that "For vacation" slows processing.

If a parent or guardian fills in the form for someone under 18, the patient's name goes in the name field, with a note in the margin that the parent or guardian wrote it on their behalf, and their signature.

4. Confirm they received it

The NCD says emails sometimes don't arrive because of security settings or file size, and that it can only check for a missing application if you send a follow-up. Send a short follow-up email without attachments asking them to confirm receipt. Split attachments over 10 MB across several emails.

5. At the airport

You receive an import certificate. Carry it with the medicine in your hand luggage and show it to customs.

You must carry it yourself. It can't be posted to you, and a family member can't carry it for you.
Arriving through Narita or Haneda, check the NCD's separate notice for those airports before you fly.

If you're staying longer than a month

The NCD permit is a separate system from the Import Confirmation (Yunyu Kakunin-sho) that covers general prescription medicines over one month's supply. The two are also applied for differently: the Import Confirmation goes through the Ministry's online system, while the NCD permit is still sent by email, fax or post. We haven't found a clear public statement on whether a long supply of lisdexamfetamine needs both. If you're bringing more than a month's supply, ask the NCD office when you apply.

Getting Vyvanse in Japan

Lisdexamfetamine is approved in Japan (as ビバンセ), but only for children. As far as the current approval goes, a doctor in Japan can't start an adult on it. It is also prescribed only through Japan's registration system for ADHD medicines, which covers both doctors and patients.

What this means in practice:

Adults moving to Japan should expect that their Vyvanse supply ends with what they bring. After that, treatment is whatever a doctor here decides, from the medicines approved for adults in Japan.
Adult medicines approved in Japan are methylphenidate (Concerta), atomoxetine (Strattera) and guanfacine (Intuniv). Whether any of these suits you is for a doctor to decide, not this page.
First appointments take time. We don't have reliable waiting-time figures for psychiatry in Japan. Plan for weeks, and talk about the transition with your current prescriber before you travel.

Before you travel

Check the date you arrive and count back 14 days. That is your deadline, not a target.
Ask your prescriber for the medical certificate early. It has to be issued within three months of your application and state a specific reason.
Photograph the packaging in JPEG, not HEIC.
Decide whether you'll take leftovers home, and include the export form if so.
Keep the certificate with the medicine in your hand luggage.

The Japan Medication Entry Check

If Vyvanse is one of several medicines you're bringing, the Japan Medication Entry Check is a written review of your whole list by a licensed pharmacist in Japan. We go through each item, tell you which category it falls into and what paperwork it needs, with links to the official pages, and, where something can't come in, explain how that category of medicine is generally handled here. You file the NCD application yourself; we don't file it for you. It isn't an official ruling, and it isn't a decision about your treatment. The price is US$200, with additional items at US$20 each.

See the Entry Check — US$200

Official sources

I am a pharmacist. I cannot diagnose you or tell you to stop a medicine your doctor has prescribed.