If you are not feeling well but do not need to go to clinic and just want to buy medicine, you can buy them at pharmacies, drugstores, and online.
In Japan, non-prescription drugs are classified under three categories: Schedule I to III. Collectively they are known as OTC (over-the-counter) medicine. Patients are free to seek the advice of a pharmacist before purchasing OTC medicine. OTC medicine can be purchased without a doctor’s prescription.
Categories of Medicine
Prescription pharmaceuticals（処方箋医薬品）:You need prescription from doctors to purchase this category medicine.
Pharmaceuticals requiring guidance（要指導医薬品）:They are not freely accessible and can only be purchased after receiving information from the pharmacist. At the time of purchase, the pharmacist must explain the particulars of the medication to the patient. They are quite strong compared to other non-prescription drugs and can potentially have side effects. These medicines cannot be purchased online.
Schedule I pharmaceuticals（第一類医薬品）: They are not freely accessible and can only be purchased after receiving information from the pharmacist. At the time of purchase, the pharmacist must explain the particulars of the medication to the patient. They are quite strong compared to other non-prescription drugs and can potentially have side effects. Can be purchased online.
Schedule II pharmaceuticals（第二類医薬品）: These drugs usually include cold medicine and medicine for headaches. Medicinal products that may cause side effects or other health problems at a level that interferes with daily life so should be purchased with information provided by a pharmacist or registered pharmacist. Can be purchased online.
Under the Schedule II pharmaceuticals, there is designated schedule II pharmaceuticals（指定第二類医薬品）; schedule II medicinal products containing ingredients requiring special attention. Can be purchased online.
Schedule III pharmaceuticals（第三類医薬品）: This category mainly includes vitamins, probiotics, and other drugs that are readily available at any drugstore. Though not officially required, pharmacists will be happy to answer your questions. Can be purchased without information provided by a pharmacist or registered seller. Can be purchased online.
Quasi-drug
There are also quasi-drug or quasi-pharmaceutical products that are not categorized under medicine. Quasi-drug can be purchased other than drug store or pharmacy and conbinis.
Quasi-drug includes: mouth fresheners, deodorant, tenkafunds, hair growth (nourishing), hair removers, repellents, insecticides, rat poison, sanitary cotton, hair dye, permanent wave agents, medicated cosmetics, medicated toothpaste, bath salts, soft contact lens disinfectants, external skin disinfectants, wound disinfection protectants and agents for chapped and cracked skin, Throat fresheners, stomach fresheners, vitamins, etc.
Where can you buy OTC medicine?
You can buy medicine in pharmacy or drug stores. However, for Pharmaceuticals requiring guidance and Schedule I pharmaceuticals can only be purchased when pharmacist is in the store. In many cases, pharmacist is in the store until certain time, so if you need to buy medicine, you should be there early. The time depends on each store. In case of my neighborhood pharmacy, they are open until 18:00 or 18:30.
Can you buy medicine in Conbini?
Some conbini (not all) sell medicine. Unless the conbini is in drug stores, they don’t sell all categories but generally Schedule II and Schedule III pharmaceuticals. If you can ask someone who understand Japanese, you can google which conbini has medicine. (It was only Japanese website as of Oct. 2024.) Lawson has more stores with medicine than Family Mart or Seven Eleven. Some large supermarket also sell medicine as well but again, when pharmacist is not in, they cannot sell Pharmaceuticals requiring guidance and Schedule I pharmaceuticals. Even if the supermarket itself is open until 23:00, pharmacy inside may close around 19:00.
Your prescription from home
Foreign prescriptions are not honored in Japan, so if you need ongoing prescription medicine you should arrive with a sufficient supply for your stay in Japan or enough until you are able to see a local care provider. Certain medications are not widely available in Japan. Japanese Pharmacies can only accept a prescription written out by a doctor who has medical license in Japan. It’s the regulation in Japan. In order to get them, you need to consult with Japanese clinic.
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