Pakistani man arrested on suspicion of smuggling 270kg of stimulants into Japan

Yes. Meth was OTC in Japan through the 1950s, and then sold in a grey market situation until the 1980s (yakuza controlled corporations). Corporations made a lot of money off it. Also contributed heavily to WWII. They had a major heroin problem by the 1920s. Part of their reason for invading Manchuria was “natural resources” — the part left out of the history books is that the main natural resource they needed was heroin poppies. Not only was the heroin also corporate sponsored, the actual military *invasion* was likewise directly corporate/yakuza sponsored — the emperor’s government couldn’t afford to pay for it, but the Japanese heroin companies could. I only mention the heroin because not only did the Japanese have the same kind of opioid crisis as the US currently has (although they’d wisely skipped the earlier opium crisis), it directly led to their meth problem. Their cure for heroin addiction was meth and remained their primary cure for opiate addiction for years afterwards. Chinese heroin addicts got meth and forced labor in the poppy fields; Japanese heroin addicts got meth and jobs in the military. It’s the reason that San Diego and the Southwest were ground zero for a nationwide meth explosion (I’m looking at you, Victorville). Marines returning from occupied Japan in the 1950s brought meth with them, which made housewive’s diet pills look like decaf coffee by comparison. Also by comparison, look at Wal-Green’s. They had five locations when Prohibition was passed in the 1920s. They started selling medicinal alcohol. They had 1500 locations by the time Prohibition was ended a decade later. Basically, if there’s a way to make money off of something, corporations will do it, consequences to individuals and societies be damned.

What relevance does that have, this guy was smuggling drugs.

This is true if you're on ritalin, which is sometimes prescribed for narcolepsy in Japan. If you're on adderall, they have no exceptions and you will be in legal trouble if caught with it.

Just to note, you will almost certainly need a japanese friend (or fluent japanese speaker) to actually get those forms filled out correctly/filed correctly. They are intentionally setup so non-native Japanese simply will not be able to file them properly in 99% of cases, and they're not shy about just saying "lol, lmao, f*** you" if you're a foreigner. Good luck refilling that prescription when you're actually in Japan too tl:dr if you're on ADHD meds and you want to holiday in Japan, just accept that you're no longer on ADHD meds for the duration of your stay, it's easier.

I used to work for a freight forwarder in Japan, so I know firsthand that Japanese customs don't. They do inspections at the least convenient time. However, for this shipment, I am almost certain that the importer realised too late that using cosmetics as cover was a big mistake. Because importing cosmetics requires preparing licenses and proper documentation, And no sane customs broker in Japan would have agreed to touch this.

No. Not at all. The Japanese criminal justice system is incredibly unpleasant even if you’re just accused and haven’t been convicted of a crime yet.

Dunno. I don't ever plan on finding out! :D

https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-02-04/prisons-as-retirement-homes-for-low-income-seniors-in-japan.html

While some of that is false convictions, isnt most of it because they just dont go after hard cases?

Yeh, I know the process is a nightmare. It’s really stupid because these medications can literally transform a persons life. I was basically a failure at a lot of things that required me to pay attention for more than 30s including school until I was put on ADHD medication. I went from literally failing almost every subject to a straight A student overnight. I cannot stress how much these medications can help people.

That makes sense, but I do hate how the media does this. It gives all drugs a bad name when regardless of what they are, are labeled narcotics.

One of the best genres of comedy on the internet is when some local cops "seize" a few ounces of weed and a handgun and parade the photos around like they just captured El Chapo

True, but I said said amphetamine e based stimulants are allowed. So long as the medication is not the actual amphetamine salts some of them are allowed. Also things like Methylphenidate are allowed and you only need to have a copy of your prescription with you. Kinds insane considering how powerful of a stimulant it is. I mean it’s kinda crazy and a little stupid because as soon as something like lisdexamfetamine is ingested it turns into amphetamine in your system.

Methylphenidate is also a stimulant

You can bring Vyvanse which is basically slow release Adderall. Like everywhere you can't just assume you can bring anything. But regardless you probably wouldn't go to jail, unless you brought I don't know hundreds of kilos of it.

Probably for the best considering the culture there. 

During WW2, the entire Japanese war machine- military and civilian -ran on meth. Estimates suggest that around 1.5 million people were using or addicted to meth in the years immediately following the war. Maybe they know something we don't.....

It's just an example for easier understanding. FFS