Yakkan Shoumei

I have finally received my Yakkan Shoumei. All-in-all, it took around 2 weeks. I mailed it out on Monday, the 13th. They sent an e-mail saying they had processed it and dropped it off at the post office on Monday, the 20th. So I guess it was a little short of 2 weeks.

I had no problems at all, but I stayed in touch with the Pharmaceutical Office throughout the entire process. They respond very quickly to e-mails and we sometimes sent two or three e-mail responses each in a day. If you have any questions about importing a medication, I highly suggest you get it touch with them.

VERY important notes about the Yakkan Shoumei:

1. You need international stamps and that the USPS does NOT sell them. Or at least my post office didn't sell them. It also specifically says you can't use FedEx. 
2. Make sure you have enough time - I was cutting it close sending it out 3 weeks before I left, because it can take as long as 10 business days to arrive (both ways.
3. Make sure you read the entire Yakkan Shoumei. You need more than just to form filled out and it's a real time-consuming hassle to have to send a bunch of extra documents that you didn't know about. 
4. If you're arriving at Narita, send your forms to the address for Kanto address. If you're arriving in Osaka, send it to the Kinki address. Both are included in the form linked at the bottom of the page.
5. Always consult the Q/A before sending it out, but in general, you will need:
1. The Import Report of Medication (titled Import Report of Medication) and TWO copies (3 pieces of paper total). It must be filled out as accurately as possible and SIGNED. Please use the sample form as a guide. It always asks for your signature, but I printed my name and then signed just above it to make sure they could read it. If you don't have a copier (like me), you can hand copy it as well.
2. The Declaration form (titled Declaration) filled out to the best of your ability and signed. Again, use the sample form as a guide. I signed it the same way as the Import Report.
3. The Explanation of Products (titled Explanation of Products) filled out to the best of your ability. Use the sample as a guide.
4. A copy of the prescription written by your doctor. Don't freak out about "ILLEGAL" hidden in the prescription - it's the special paper doctors use to make sure you can't fill a prescription with a copy. Also, e-mail them if you're bringing a little more than the prescription says. I did and I'll have no problems bringing an additional packet. They're really just using it to make sure you're not lying about having a prescription.
5. A copy of your plane itinerary OR ticket, indicating the arrival time and airport. This is to ensure you're sending your forms to the right airport and to make sure the airport knows to double check your bags.
6. Finally, a return envelope with your address that has either Japanese postal stamps on it OR international stamps. I had a problem where my post office didn't offer international stamps, but he used US stamps instead. This didn't technically work, but the Pharmaceutical office just put equivalent Japanese postal stamps on it instead. Please note that the mail address for the Pharmaceutical office is VERY LONG (7 lines), but you need to include all of it. The return envelope needs to be within a certain height-width, but a 6" by 9" worked fine for me. 

If you have an questions, please comment!

For more information on how to obtain a Yakkan Shoumei for your medicines:

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-medimport.html

For the form itself and a Q/A, please visit:

http://kouseikyoku.mhlw.go.jp/kantoshinetsu/gyomu/bu_ka/shido_kansa/documents/medicines.doc