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Bringing a cat from Taiwan to Japan

Yes — but do not be misled by the short flight. Japan treats Taiwan as a non-designated region: MAFF's current designated (rabies-free) list has only six entries — Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and Guam — and Taiwan is not one of them. A cat from Taiwan therefore follows the full non-designated procedure: microchip, two rabies vaccinations, a titer test at a designated laboratory, a 180-day wait, and a 40-day advance notification. Start about 7 months before you travel; arriving early means your cat waits out the remaining days in a quarantine facility.
~7 months
Start preparing
180-day titer wait + two vaccinations
180 days
Titer wait
Counted from the blood sampling date
≤12 hours
Quarantine if compliant
Up to 180 days if you arrive early
10 days
Health cert window
Pre-export inspection before boarding

Step-by-step checklist

Requirements — Cat · Taiwan → Japan
StepWhat to doWhen
MicrochipImplant an ISO 11784/11785 (15-digit) microchip. It must be in place before the first rabies vaccination — the same day is allowed. If the chip is not ISO, you must travel with your own reader. APHIA's export rules likewise require the chip to be implanted before the vaccination the paperwork relies on. Before anything else
Rabies vaccination #1First rabies vaccination after the microchip, at 91 days of age or older. Inactivated or recombinant vaccine only — live and RNA vaccines are not accepted by Japan. Day 0 of the clock
Rabies vaccination #2Second vaccination at least 30 days after the first, while the first is still within its effective period. Vaccination cover must then stay continuously in date until arrival — a lapse restarts the sequence from vaccination #1. ≥30 days after #1
Rabies antibody (titer) testBlood test at a MAFF-designated laboratory — Taiwan has one on MAFF's list: the Veterinary Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, in New Taipei City. Result must be 0.5 IU/ml or higher. Sampling on or after the day of the second vaccination, and within the vaccine's effective period. The result is valid for 2 years from sampling. After vaccination #2
Wait 180 daysYour pet may not arrive in Japan until at least 180 days after the blood sampling date, and arrival must also fall inside both the vaccine's effective period and the titer result's 2-year validity. Arriving early means detention at an Animal Quarantine Service facility for the shortfall, up to 180 days. 180 days from sampling
Advance notificationFile the import notification with the Animal Quarantine Service office at your port of entry (online via NACCS, or by email). Notifications less than 40 days ahead are, in principle, not accepted. Dogs may enter only through Japan's designated airports and seaports. ≥40 days before arrival
Pre-export inspection + APHIA-endorsed certificateA clinical inspection within 10 days before boarding must confirm freedom from rabies. The government certificate (Form AC recommended) is completed by your vet and endorsed on the Taiwan side by APHIA — note APHIA's own export application window is within 7 days before departure, which is tighter than Japan's 10-day inspection window, so schedule the two together in the final week. Final 10 days (APHIA endorsement: final 7 days)

Your preparation timeline

  1. 1~7 months out — Microchip, then rabies vaccination #1
  2. 2~6 months out — Rabies vaccination #2 (≥30 days after #1), then titer blood draw at the designated laboratory
  3. 3Months 1–6 — The 180-day waiting period runs; file the 40-day advance notification inside it
  4. 4Final 10 days — Pre-export clinical inspection; Form AC endorsed by APHIA in the final 7 days
  5. 5Arrival — AQS inspection — usually cleared within 12 hours if everything is in order
The mistake that causes trouble on this route: Assuming Taiwan gets the simple rabies-free procedure because it is an island near Japan. It does not: older Japanese lists (the 2005 designation) did include Taiwan, but MAFF's current guide, last revised February 2025, designates only Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and Guam. Taiwan's own APHIA says the same thing from the other side — it describes Taiwan as a rabies-infected country. A pet that flies in on designated-region paperwork faces detention for up to 180 days or being shipped back.

Costs you can plan for

Japan publishes no government fee schedule for pet imports in its official guide: the costs MAFF does state are the importer's — if your pet is detained, you pay all caretaking, feeding, transport and veterinary-visit costs yourself, and detention can run to 180 days. Add the Taiwan-side costs (two vaccinations, the designated-laboratory titer test at the Veterinary Research Institute, and APHIA's export endorsement — APHIA's English pages do not publish its fee) and air cargo. As on the US route, the financial risk here is arriving unprepared, not the paperwork itself.

✈️ Government rules are only half the trip. Airlines set their own pet carriage rules (crate size, breed limits, seasonal embargoes). Re-confirm carriage with your airline after you meet the rules above.

Questions people ask about this route

Is Taiwan a designated (rabies-free) region for Japan?

No — not under the current rules. MAFF's designated-regions guide (final revision February 2025) lists only Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Hawaii and Guam, and states the designation can change with rabies prevalence. Taiwan appeared in Japan's 2005 designation, which is why older guides and some websites still describe a simple Taiwan procedure; that list no longer applies.

Can my cat skip quarantine in Japan?

If every step is complete — including the full 180-day wait after the titer test — the arrival inspection is normally finished within 12 hours and there is no further quarantine. Detention only applies when a requirement is missing or the wait is short, and it can run up to 180 days.

Where do I get the titer test done in Taiwan?

At a laboratory MAFF designates. MAFF's designated-laboratory list (updated 4 August 2026) names one facility in Taiwan: the Veterinary Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, No. 376 Zhongzheng Rd., Danshui District, New Taipei City. A report from any other laboratory is not accepted, and micro-RFFIT is not an accepted method.

Are any cat breeds banned in Japan?

Neither the MAFF non-designated-regions guide nor the designated-regions guide lists a breed ban for dogs or cats. Airlines may still refuse certain breeds — check carriage separately.

Related guides

✓ Last verified: 2026-11-12

Official sources for this page

We check each rule against the exporting country's official page and the destination country's official page. If the two disagree, we show the disagreement instead of guessing.

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