Drugs!

Buying medication in Japan can be a daunting task when you are faced with hundreds and hundreds of boxes covered in a language that you don’t speak. You don’t want to treat a headache with laxatives. Sometimes a cute little drawing of an intestine will stop you from making that mistake, but not always.

Japan has very strict guidelines on medications. You cannot buy over-the-counter medications at a convenience store or supermarket. They must be purchased in a pharmacy. The word for pharmacy in Japanese is　薬屋　(Kusuriya). The kusuriya will sell various drugs. The following are some brand names to look for.

EVE- ibuprofen

Bufferin- aspirin

Contac- cold medication

Gaster-10- indigestion

ドリエル- insomnia

Drugs such as ibuprofen don’t have a Japanese translation and are just represented in katakana – i.e. “aiburupurofein” …so if you can read katakana, look at the back of the boxes to check ingredients/dosages. If all else fails, brush up on your mime-skills and go and act out what’s wrong with you to the pharmacist. Also, ask other ALTs what they've bought and have found to be effective/useless. 

Most Japanese medicines are a much lower dosage than we are used to in the west. Also, Japanese medication is often not the kind we expect in the west. For allergies, toothaches or other such ailments Japan does not have a good over-the-counter medication. They don’t do specialized medication very often. For example, a toothache, backache, muscle problem, and headache would all receive the same medication. Additionally, most over the counter allergy medicine is not made of the kinds of medication we are used to, but more natural medicines. He recommended going to the hospital and receiving good prescription medicine. He said the prices were very cheap, and the medication is more likely to be successful.

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