What does a dog or cat need to enter Japan?

Which rules apply: designated or non-designated region?

Japan's Animal Quarantine Service sets out two sets of rules, depending on where the dog or cat comes from.²¹

From a designated region, the animal must have lived there continuously since birth, or for at least 180 days immediately before export, or since being imported directly from Japan. Otherwise it is held in detention quarantine on arrival for the missing days: 180 days minus the days it spent in the designated region.²

The rest of this page follows the rules for non-designated regions.¹

What microchip does Japan accept?

The microchip should comply with ISO 11784 and 11785, with a 15-digit code made up only of numbers, and must be implanted before the first rabies vaccination.¹ If the microchip is not to ISO standards, contact the Animal Quarantine Service at your expected port of entry; you may need to bring a reader that can read it.¹

The service says microchip numbers starting with 900 202 are under investigation and, for the time being, are not accepted. It also warns that the same number has been found in different animals, which can mean re-implanting a chip and repeating the procedures.¹

How many rabies vaccinations, and when?

• First vaccination: when the animal is at least 91 days old (the date of birth counts as day 0), and after the microchip is implanted; the same day is allowed.¹
• Second vaccination: 30 days or more after the first (the date of the first counts as day 0), and within the effective period of the first.¹
• Accepted vaccines: inactivated (killed) virus vaccines, or recombinant or modified vaccines. Live virus vaccines and rabies RNA vaccines are not accepted.¹

Some countries allow a first rabies vaccination at 12 weeks (84 to 90 days old), but under Japan's rules a vaccination given before 91 days old is invalid.¹

If the vaccination's effective period would end before arrival in Japan, an additional vaccination must be given within that period. A vaccination given after the previous one has lapsed does not count as an additional one, and the procedures start again from the first vaccination.¹

What is the rabies antibody test?

The test must be done at one of the laboratories Japan designates, on a blood sample taken after the second rabies vaccination; the second vaccination and the blood sample can be on the same day.¹

The result must be 0.5 IU/ml or more, and it is valid for 2 years from the date of the blood sample. The sample must be taken within the vaccination's effective period. If the result is below 0.5 IU/ml, the animal must be retested.¹

What is the 180-day wait, and what if it is shorter?

The dog or cat must arrive in Japan after 180 days have passed from the date of the blood sample (which counts as day 0). The arrival date must also fall within the vaccination's effective period and the test's 2-year validity.¹

Animals whose wait is shorter than 180 days are held in detention quarantine at an Animal Quarantine Service facility for the missing period. The service strongly recommends completing the wait before arrival.¹

Animals that do not meet the import requirements, including deficiencies in the certificates, face detention quarantine for up to 180 days or are returned. The importer is responsible for care, feeding and all costs during quarantine.¹

If the antibody test result expires, the wait does not have to be repeated, provided the vaccinations have continued without a gap, the new blood sample is taken at least 180 days after the first one, and the new result is 0.5 IU/ml or more.¹

How much notice does Japan need?

You must notify the Animal Quarantine Service at the expected port of entry at least 40 days before arrival, online through NACCS or by e-mail. In principle, a notification made less than 40 days before arrival is not accepted.¹

Within 10 days before boarding, a vet must examine the animal for clinical signs of rabies (and, for dogs, leptospirosis). You also need certificates from the exporting country's government agency recording the microchip, vaccinations, antibody test and that examination.¹

Dogs can enter Japan only through designated airports and seaports.¹

• Airports: New Chitose, Narita, Haneda, Chubu, Kansai, Osaka Itami, Kobe, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Kagoshima and Naha.¹
• Seaports: Tomakomai, Keihin (Tokyo, Yokohama), Nagoya, Hanshin (Osaka, Hyogo), Kanmon, Hakata, Kagoshima and Naha.¹

For cats, or an assistance dog, arriving through another port, the service asks you to contact it in advance.¹

What happens after arrival?

If the import inspection finds no problems, the service issues an import quarantine certificate, which it cannot reissue; you need it if the animal later leaves Japan.¹

A dog's importer must take that certificate to the municipality where the dog is kept and register it within 30 days of import. Dogs must be vaccinated against rabies once a year under Japan's Rabies Prevention Law.¹

This is not legal advice. Check the current rules with the official authority before you travel.

What this page cannot tell you

• Dogs and cats only. The pages we used cover dogs and cats only; we do not cover other animals.
• Designated regions summarised briefly. They also have transport rules (direct travel, or a sealed cage or extra certificate when transiting elsewhere) that we only mention here.²
• Notices change. The service adds dated notices to its pages, for example about microchip numbers; re-check close to travel.
• Not veterinary advice. We describe the official requirements; your vet and the Animal Quarantine Service handle the procedures.

Related: What does a dog, cat or ferret need to enter the EU? · Can you bring your medicines into Japan? · How much can you bring into the EU and Japan duty-free?.