u/throwaway334account

I wanted to share what happened to me because I ended up canceling my entire Japan trip over the Narcotics Import Certificate process. I'm hoping by sharing my story it can help someone avoid being in this situation.

There’s a post in this subreddit by u/Clarity_Elise about traveling to Japan with narcolepsy medication in April 2025 that helped me so much with preparing everything. I can’t comment on it anymore but I wanted to thank them for writing it. I followed the process exactly and unfortunately had a very different experience.

If you didn't know, sodium oxybate meditation like Xywav/Xyrem/Lumryz requires approval from Japan’s Narcotics Control Department. They want you to send in a bunch of documents at least 14 days before your trip. I gathered everything they needed (and trust me, it's a lot) and sent it via email exactly 14 days prior to my trip. I was sure to send it to the correct email address, triple checked I had everything they needed and that I got the format/attachment sizes right and thought, now I wait.

After not hearing anything for ten days, I sent my first follow up email four days before my trip by replying to my original email. Two days pass, still no response. I sent a third urgent email on the last business day before my trip and even got in touch with the Japanese consulate, who recommended I call because I hadn't received a response.

I had to buy international minutes on my phone plan, but called around 11am Japan time on the last business day before I was supposed to leave. On the phone, they claimed they never received my original application and said the first email they had from me was my first follow up message, which was past their 14 day deadline. I was like, can’t you see I sent my first email directly below that? I replied to myself every time I sent them an email so they were very clearly able to see I made their deadline and followed up twice. But they just kept insisting they hadn’t received my first email. My husband thinks he heard them mention the attachments being too large, but I had checked them and they were within the size requirements. I honestly don’t know what happened.

At that point they told me I couldn’t get the permit in time, so I canceled my entire trip. I’m devastated. I thought I’d done what I needed to do and all the while, I guess they didn’t even have my application.

Here's my advice: submit at least three weeks out, maybe even earlier. Their guidance says at least 14 days, but that doesn’t leave much time if something goes wrong. Then, send a separate email the day after you submit without attachments asking them to confirm receipt. If you haven’t gotten confirmation nearing the 14 day deadline, I would call them a few business days before that hits. Not to rush approval, just to make sure they have it. Even if they give you a hard time about calling early, I’d make sure to check in again on deadline day if you still don’t have confirmation. I wish I had.

I’m not saying everyone will have this experience... but please don’t assume no response means they’re working on it. That was my mistake and it cost me the trip.

EDIT: If you have IH and take these drugs you know, while sodium oxybate isn't necessarily a "life saving" medication.. it can definitely be a quality-of-life-saving medication. I didn't know how I was going to be without it, and my husband didn't want any potential grogginess looming over our trip. To me, no amount of energy drinks in the world can make up for an unmediated night.