Japan
Nicotine liquid is an unapproved drug and cannot be sold. Heated tobacco is legal and dominant.
- Nicotine limit
- Nicotine e-liquid may not be sold at all
- Flavours
- Non-nicotine liquid is legal and unrestricted in flavour
- Online sales
- Non-nicotine liquid can be sold online; nicotine liquid cannot
- Tax
- Heated tobacco is taxed as tobacco; devices are not
- Personal import
- Nicotine liquid only with a personal import certificate (yakkan shoumei)
- Status
- Restricted
Japan is often misunderstood because two different products get called “vape”.
Heated tobacco is the market
Devices that heat a tobacco stick — IQOS, glo, Ploom and similar — are legal tobacco products here, heavily marketed, and sold everywhere. They are regulated and taxed as tobacco, and the rules are well established.
Nicotine e-liquid is not
Liquid containing nicotine falls under the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act. No nicotine e-liquid has been approved, so it cannot be manufactured, imported for sale, or sold. Vape shops in Japan sell devices and zero-nicotine liquid — that is the legal market, and it is a real one.
The traveller rule
Bringing nicotine liquid in personally requires a yakkan shoumei — a certificate from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, typically via the personal import application. Without it, the liquid can be seized. Devices themselves are not restricted.
What it means for readers
If you are writing or reading about “vaping in Japan”, be precise about which product you mean. The zero-nicotine market is legal, active, and full of flavour innovation; nicotine vapes are a customs problem, not a shopping choice.