Prescription refill in Japan: how to keep taking your medicine after you move here

The short version

• A Japanese pharmacy can't refill a prescription written in another country. To keep taking a prescription medicine, you see a doctor in Japan, who decides whether to prescribe it.
• Japan has no automatic refills. Each prescription is usually filled once, and you go back to the doctor for the next supply.
• Bring the active ingredient name, your current packs, a letter from your doctor at home, and recent test results.
• Start at a local clinic, not a large hospital. Large hospitals charge an extra fee of at least ¥7,000 if you come without a referral letter.
• The medicine you take at home may not exist in Japan, or may come in a different strength. Your doctor here will tell you what is available.
• A Japanese prescription is valid for 4 days, counting the day it is issued. Weekends count.
• Book the clinic 2 to 4 weeks before your supply runs out.
• Everything below is as of October 2026.

Why a Japanese pharmacy can't refill your prescription

When you moved here, you were allowed to bring a limited supply of your own medicine for personal use. The rules for that are in Bringing your medication to Japan. That supply is meant to last until you can see a doctor here.

A dispensing pharmacy in Japan can only prepare a prescription medicine from a prescription written by a doctor licensed in Japan. A bottle from home, a printed prescription from abroad, or a refill authorization from your pharmacy back home can't be used here. Pharmacists in Japan have no way to transfer a prescription from another country.

No automatic refills

In many countries a prescription comes with refills, and the pharmacy hands out the next supply when you ask. Japan works differently. A prescription is normally filled once. When it runs out, you see the doctor again.

Since April 2022 there is a "refill prescription" (リフィル処方箋) that can be used up to three times. It is only for patients whose condition is stable, it can't be used for every medicine, and the doctor decides whether to issue one. It is not something you can request at the pharmacy.

How much you get at a time

For a long-term medicine, doctors in Japan often prescribe 30 days at a time, and sometimes 60 or 90 days once you are settled. Some medicines are limited to shorter periods by law, for example many newly approved medicines in their first year (14 days at a time) and some sleeping and anxiety medicines. Ask your doctor how long each prescription will last so you know when to book the next visit.

What to bring to the clinic

A doctor in Japan can't see your medical records from home. What you bring is what they have to go on.

1. The active ingredient name. Brand names are often different in Japan, and a Japanese doctor may not recognize the one you know. Write down the generic name (the international nonproprietary name) and the strength, for example "sertraline 50 mg, once a day". 2. Your current packs. Bottles, blister packs, inhaler boxes, with the pharmacy label if you have it. The label shows the strength and how you take it. 3. A letter from your doctor at home. The diagnosis, how long you have taken the medicine, the current dose, and why it should continue. English is fine. Many doctors in Japan read English more comfortably than they speak it. 4. Recent test results or records. For blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid or cholesterol medicines, bring recent blood tests or your home blood pressure log. 5. Your health insurance card or My Number card, if you are enrolled in Japanese health insurance. If you are not, bring your passport and enough cash in yen. Many small clinics don't take cards.

If you have a medication notebook from a Japanese pharmacy (お薬手帳, okusuri techō), bring that too. If you don't have one yet, the pharmacy will give you one at your first visit.

Not sure how to explain your medicine at reception? Tell me what you take, and I write a Japanese patient summary you can hand over, with the ingredient names the doctor and pharmacist will look for. How a consultation works →

Which clinic to go to

In Japan you choose the type of clinic yourself. There is no family doctor who has to refer you first, and most ongoing care happens at small neighborhood clinics.

Some clinics take walk-ins during opening hours, and some only take appointments. Mental health clinics in particular often need an appointment, and the first one can be weeks away. Phone or check the clinic's website before you go.

If you don't speak Japanese, ask when you book whether the doctor can see you in English, or bring someone who can interpret.

What happens at the appointment

The doctor in Japan doesn't simply copy your doctor's prescription. By law, a doctor here has to examine you before prescribing, so they will ask about your history and symptoms, take your blood pressure, and sometimes order their own tests. Even for a medicine you have taken for years, the decision is theirs.

When your medicine is different here

Three things come up often.

1. It isn't approved in Japan. Some medicines sold abroad have never been approved here, so no doctor can prescribe them. A few are illegal to possess at all. Amphetamine products such as Adderall are one example. See Can I bring Adderall to Japan? and Concerta in Japan. If your medicine isn't available, your doctor will talk with you about what is. 2. The strength is different. Approved doses in Japan are sometimes lower than in other countries, and a tablet strength you are used to may not be made here. Your doctor may change the dose or the number of tablets. 3. The form is different. The same ingredient may come as a different brand, a generic made in Japan, or a regular tablet instead of an extended-release one. Ask the pharmacist to show you the active ingredient on the label so you can check it matches.

If the dose or the form changes, ask the doctor how to switch over, and don't take your old supply and the new one together unless they tell you to.

Getting the medicine at a pharmacy

After the visit, the clinic gives you a paper prescription (処方せん, shohōsen). In most cases you take it to a dispensing pharmacy yourself. There is usually one next to the clinic. Any dispensing pharmacy in Japan can fill it, not only the one next door.

The prescription is valid for 4 days, counting the day it was issued. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays count. After that the pharmacy can't fill it, and you have to see the doctor again for a new one. The doctor can write a longer period for a special reason, but don't count on it. The simplest habit is to go to the pharmacy the same day.

At the pharmacy, hand over the prescription and your insurance card. At your first visit you fill in a short form about allergies, other medicines and supplements, and pregnancy or breastfeeding. The pharmacist checks the prescription against what you already take, prepares the medicine, and gives you a printed sheet that explains each medicine. You pay the pharmacy separately from the clinic.

For how pharmacies and drugstores differ, see Pharmacy in Japan.

What it costs

If you live in Japan for more than three months, you are generally required to join public health insurance, either through your employer or through National Health Insurance at your city or ward office.

With insurance, most adults under 70 pay 30% of the cost, at both the clinic and the pharmacy. Children before primary school pay 20%, and many cities and wards cover more for children.

Without Japanese insurance, you pay 100%. If you have private or travel insurance from home, ask the clinic and the pharmacy for an itemized receipt (領収書 and 明細書) so you can claim it later.

Plan ahead

The most common problem I see is waiting until there are two or three tablets left. Finding a clinic, getting an appointment, and, if your medicine isn't stocked, waiting for the pharmacy to order it can easily take a week or more. For a mental health clinic it can take longer.

Book your first visit 2 to 4 weeks before your supply from home runs out. Once you have a doctor here and your dose is settled, later visits are usually short.

Phrases for the clinic and pharmacy

When not to wait

If you have run out of a medicine that is dangerous to stop suddenly, such as some medicines for epilepsy, heart conditions, blood pressure, depression or anxiety, or insulin, don't wait for a routine appointment. Phone a clinic and say you have run out. For chest pain, trouble breathing, a seizure, or someone who can't be woken, call 119.

Official sources

• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: importing medicines for personal use (Japanese)
• PMDA: about English translations of package inserts — the Japanese leaflet is the official one, and translations may lag behind

Moving here with medicines you need to keep taking?

If you aren't sure which clinic to start with, or what to say about the medicine you take, you can write to me in English. I tell you which type of clinic fits, prepare a Japanese patient summary for reception, and explain what changes when your prescription is filled here.

How a consultation works →