Information status: July 8, 2026. This article is compiled from publicly available materials of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and local governments. It is provided as pharmaceutical-affairs information for reference only and does not constitute legal opinion, medical advice, or medication advice.
Online sales of medicines in Japan are entering a more finely tiered stage. In the past, Chinese users most often understood Japanese medicines simply as “things you can buy at a drugstore” or as a question of “whether they can be bought online.” The real rules, however, manage sales in tiers according to risk classification, the degree of pharmacist involvement, the sales setting, and confirmation of the user.
As of May 1, 2026, one of the key changes in Japan’s medicine sales system is that some “medicines requiring guidance” (要指導医薬品), when the conditions are met, may be given online medication guidance by a pharmacist through means such as a video call, and then handled under specified-sale rules. This change does not mean that all medicines requiring guidance can be ordered like ordinary products, nor that prescription drugs may enter a regular shopping cart. At the same time, the system establishes distinctions such as “specified medicines requiring guidance,” and continues to keep offline-sales requirements for items that need face-to-face confirmation.
1. Why this matters for online pharmacies
The shared direction of international online pharmacies is “more convenience,” but what regulators truly care about is “who is judging the risk.” The core of Japan’s current adjustment is not to loosen medicine sales, but to build the pharmacist’s provision of information, confirmation of the user, sales records, and risk classification into the online workflow.
Purchase entry points are generally distinguished as follows: ordinary OTC or health products can go through the product page and shopping cart; Class-1 or high-risk OTC products should enter a pharmacist-confirmation process; and prescription drugs, medicines used by medical institutions, and products requiring clinical judgment should not be sold as ordinary online retail goods.
2. Designated abuse-prevention medicines will become a focus
MHLW materials further emphasize that, for medicines that may be abused, the sale requires confirming information such as the buyer’s age, the quantity purchased, purchases at other pharmacies, and the reason for purchase. For young buyers, or for large-volume or high-quantity purchases, the regulatory requirements become stricter.
This is also a reminder that choosing a medicine by symptom is not only about speed or convenience. Common OTC products such as cold medicines, cough medicines, and analgesics may also involve ingredient limits, duplicate medication, contraindicated groups, and abuse risk. It is important not to over-buy, mix medicines, or bypass pharmacist confirmation just to save trouble.
References
- MHLW: For the safe use of medicines
- Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Public Health: Explanation of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act amendment effective May 2026 (Reiwa 8)
- Toyama Prefecture: On the amendment of the medicine sales system
- MHLW: Reference materials on the 2025 (Reiwa 7) Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act amendment