Pharmacy in Japan: drugstore or pharmacy, what each can sell you, and how to ask

The short version

• Drugstore (ドラッグストア): over-the-counter medicines, no prescription needed. Long hours.
• Dispensing pharmacy (調剤薬局, or a sign reading 処方せん受付): fills prescriptions written by a doctor in Japan. Usually next to a clinic, usually closed evenings and Sundays.
• A prescription from another country can't be filled here. To get a prescription medicine you see a doctor in Japan first.
• Some over-the-counter medicines can only be sold while a pharmacist is on duty. If that counter is closed, the rest of the shop still sells everything else.
• Staff can find the right product much faster from an active ingredient than from a foreign brand name. Write it down before you go.
• Everything below is as of October 2026.

Two kinds of shop

Drugstores

Chains such as Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Welcia, Sugi and Sundrug are on most shopping streets and near most stations. They sell over-the-counter medicines alongside cosmetics, toiletries and food. Many stay open late, and some city branches are open 24 hours.

A drugstore is the place for a cold, a headache, an upset stomach, hay fever, or a blister. The people at the medicine counter are either pharmacists (薬剤師) or registered sellers (登録販売者), who are qualified to sell most over-the-counter medicines.

Dispensing pharmacies

A dispensing pharmacy prepares medicines from a doctor's prescription. Look for 薬局 on the sign together with 調剤 or 処方せん受付 ("prescriptions accepted"). They cluster around clinics and hospitals and keep similar hours.

Without a prescription from a doctor in Japan, a dispensing pharmacy can't give you a prescription-only medicine. That includes antibiotics, which no shop in Japan sells over the counter.

Many larger drugstores now have a dispensing counter inside, marked 調剤. That counter has its own, shorter hours.

Why some shelves close at night

Over-the-counter medicines carry one of three marks, and the mark decides who may sell the product.

Class 1 includes, for example, loxoprofen pain relievers (Loxonin S) and some stomach acid reducers. On the shelf you will often find an empty box or a card to take to the counter.

If you arrive late in the evening and the Class 1 counter is roped off, that is why. Come back when the pharmacist is in, or ask what is available in Class 2.

Medicines that need a pharmacist in person

A fourth group, 要指導医薬品 ("guidance-required medicines"), is sold only face to face by a pharmacist, with no online sales.

The emergency contraceptive pill is the one visitors ask about most. Since February 2, 2026, levonorgestrel (sold as Norlevo, ノルレボ) can be bought without a prescription at pharmacies and drugstores that meet set requirements. A pharmacist trained for this checks that it is suitable, and you take the tablet at the counter, in front of the pharmacist. It is for use within 72 hours. Not every shop is registered to sell it, so check the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's list or phone ahead.

Purchase limits on some cough and cold medicines

Some ingredients in cough and cold products, including codeine-type and ephedrine-type ingredients, are designated as open to misuse. Shops limit these to one pack per person, and staff may ask who the medicine is for, or ask younger buyers their age. It is routine and not aimed at you.

For what is inside those products, see Cold medicine in Japan. If only your throat hurts, see Sore throat medicine in Japan.

How a prescription works here

1. You see a doctor at a clinic. For most everyday illness that is an internal medicine clinic (内科, naika). 2. The clinic gives you a paper prescription (処方せん). Most clinics don't hand out the medicine themselves. 3. You take it to any dispensing pharmacy. The one next door is convenient, but you are free to choose. 4. A prescription is valid for four days, counting the day it was issued. Weekends and holidays count. Fill it the same day if you can. 5. You pay the pharmacy separately from the clinic.

If you live in Japan, bring your health insurance card or My Number card. If you are visiting, you pay the full amount; keep the receipts for your travel insurer. Smaller clinics and pharmacies often take cash only.

The pharmacist will ask what else you take and whether you have allergies. A note on your phone listing your regular medicines by ingredient makes this much easier.

Looking up a Japanese medicine in English

The official leaflet for every over-the-counter medicine is published in Japanese and can be searched on the PMDA site (linked in the sources below). If you can't read it, write to me and I explain it in English.

Search by ingredient: Tylenol, Advil and most familiar brand names either don't exist here or exist with a different formula.

At the counter

Write the ingredient, or show the box you brought from home. You can also show these on your phone. More are on the scripts page.

Would you rather know what to buy before you walk in? Tell me your symptoms and what you already take, and I suggest products to look for, with their Japanese names, and a note you can show the staff. How a consultation works →

Buying here is separate from bringing medicine in

The rules above are about buying medicine inside Japan. What you may carry into Japan from abroad is a different set of rules, with quantity limits and, for some ingredients, permits. That is covered in Bringing your medication to Japan.

When a pharmacy is not the right place

Go to a clinic, not a drugstore, if you have a sudden high fever with body aches, severe or unusual pain, symptoms that haven't improved after several days of an over-the-counter medicine, or if the patient is a small child or pregnant. For trouble breathing, chest pain, or someone who can't be woken, call 119.

If you aren't sure where to go, write to me: I tell you which type of clinic fits your symptoms and how to get seen.

Official sources

• PMDA: search for over-the-counter medicine leaflets (Japanese)

Not sure what to ask at the counter about your own medicines?

If you already take prescription medicines and aren't sure what to ask at the counter, you can write in English to a pharmacist licensed in Japan and get a written explanation of what the labels and leaflets say.

How a consultation works →