Travelling or Relocating with Your Pet to Japan

The following is a summary of requirements for importing pets to Japan:

You must contact the Animal Quarantine Service with jurisdiction over your intended arrival point at least 40 days prior to arriving in Japan (fill out a notification form).

Summary of Required Documentation:

• Microchip (ISO compliant – 11784 and 11785, or you must bring your own chip reader)
• Must be immunized at least twice for Rabies AFTER the microchip is implanted. Second vaccine must be conducted over 31 days after the previous, but still within the effective period. Must also be at least 91 days old at the time of Rabies vaccination.
• Rabies titre – blood sampling must be done on and after the first date of the second vaccination. The results shall be equal to or greater than 0.5 IU/ml.
• After the titre testing, dogs and cats must wait at least 180 days between the blood sampling and the arrival in Japan.
• Certificate of the exporting country no more than 2 days before departure confirming that they are not suspected of having rabies (or lepto as well for dogs). If it includes microchip number, date of rabies vaccinations and titre testing, and states that the pet has spent at least 180 days post-titre-testing in Canada, quarantine will be complete in 12 hours. Otherwise, quarantine will be 180 days.

For more specific information regarding importing pets to Japan, and to print the required forms, please visit this website.