Taking your cat to Japan from the U.S.: no shortcut, but a clear order

The rules cats share with dogs

Japan's Animal Quarantine Service (AQS) publishes one set of conditions for dogs and cats from non-designated regions, and the U.S. mainland is one. The sequence is fixed:

1. An ISO 11784/11785 microchip, implanted first.
2. A first rabies vaccination at 91 days of age or older, after the chip. Inactivated or recombinant vaccines only.
3. A second rabies vaccination at least 30 days after the first, while the first is still valid.
4. A blood draw for the rabies antibody test, sent to a lab on Japan's list. The result must be 0.5 IU/ml or higher and stays valid for two years from the draw.
5. At least 180 days between the draw and arrival, with the rabies vaccination still valid on the day the cat lands.
6. Advance notification to the AQS office at the arrival airport at least 40 days before arrival.
7. A clinical exam within 10 days before boarding and the health certificate on Form AC, endorsed by USDA APHIS.

A cat that lives in Hawaii or Guam follows Japan's designated-region process instead: chip, Form AB, 40-day notice and an exam, with no titer and no wait, provided it has lived there since birth or for the last 180 days. Everything above is on the USA to Japan route page; this guide is about the cat-specific parts.

Four places where a cat is different

The port

Dogs must arrive through one of Japan's 19 designated ports. Cats may arrive elsewhere after prior contact with AQS. On a transpacific flight that usually makes no practical difference, since Narita, Haneda, Kansai, Chubu and Fukuoka are all designated anyway, but it matters if your cat connects onward to a smaller airport.

The exam

The pre-departure clinical exam checks a dog for signs of rabies and leptospirosis. For a cat it checks for rabies only. The exam still has to happen within 10 days before boarding.

After arrival

A dog must be registered with the municipality within 30 days and vaccinated against rabies every year in Japan. Neither obligation applies to cats.

The flight

A cat's size opens the cabin option on carriers that allow it, and on routes where it is not allowed, a cat's crate is small enough to make checked baggage or cargo simpler to book. That is the subject of the next section.

How a cat flies to Japan

Cabin travel on a transpacific flight depends on the airline, the aircraft and the cabin booked, and on the cat fitting the airline's carrier limits. Delta's pet page, read on October 29, 2026, charges $200 each way for an international cabin pet, allows none in Delta One or Premium cabins, and does not list Japan among the countries closed to cabin pets. Whether your carrier allows it on your flight is something we confirm before booking rather than assume.

When the cabin is not an option, a cat flies as checked baggage in the hold on carriers that offer it, or as manifest cargo. Japan's rules are identical whichever way the cat arrives; what changes is where you collect the cat and how the crate must be built. Our guide to cabin, checked baggage or cargo walks through the choice, and choosing an IATA travel crate covers a crate a cat can stand and turn in.

Flat-faced breeds such as Persians and Exotic Shorthairs face extra airline limits in the hold and in cargo, sometimes by season. See snub-nosed dogs and cats.

What the calendar looks like

For an adult cat with no compliant history, the shortest realistic sequence:

• Day 0: microchip and first rabies shot.
• Day 30: second shot and blood draw, sent to Kansas State.
• Day 210: earliest arrival in Japan.
• Day 170 at the latest: advance notice filed.
• Within 10 days of the flight: exam, Form AC, APHIS endorsement.

A kitten cannot receive a valid first shot before 91 days of age, so the earliest it can land in Japan from the mainland is roughly ten months old. A cat that already has two post-chip shots only needs the draw and the 180 days.

What restarts the clock

• A rabies shot given before the microchip. AQS does not count it, and the sequence starts again after the chip.
• A titer sent to a lab not on Japan's list. Labs that Taiwan or Hawaii accept are not all on it.
• A booking before day 180. A cat that arrives early is detained at AQS for the missing days, at the owner's cost, or returned.
• A rabies vaccination that lapses between the draw and arrival.
• A notice filed late, or an arrival date moved earlier after filing.