Home › From the United States › Bird to Japan

Bringing a bird from the United States to Japan

Yes — conditionally, and through a completely different door from dogs and cats. Pet birds (parrots, parakeets, Java sparrows and similar non-poultry birds) enter Japan under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) notification system created by the Infectious Diseases Control Law — not the MAFF Animal Quarantine Service procedure used for dogs and cats. You need a US government health certificate and you file the import notification at the MHLW quarantine station for your arrival port. The catch is avian influenza: the bird must have spent its last 21 days in mosquito-proof holding inside an MHLW 'designated region', and when this page was checked on 12 November 2026 the United States was a designated region with bird imports suspended from 19 individual states — a bird kept in one of those states cannot enter until the suspension is lifted.

Bird rules move fast. Avian influenza (HPAI) restriction lists change week to week, and a listing can close a route with little notice. Seven days before you travel, re-check that your origin is still clear — the checklist below includes that step.

21 days

Mosquito-proof holding

In a designated region, immediately before shipment

19 states

Suspended for avian flu

MHLW list updated 11 Nov 2026 — check your state

On arrival

Notification timing

Filed at the port quarantine station — no 40-day rule

Wet ink + seal

Certificate endorsement

APHIS paper original must travel with the bird

Sources disagree: MHLW's English and Japanese designated-regions pages disagree on the US suspension list. The English page checked on 12 November 2026 lists 17 US states with suspension dates and stops there; the Japanese page, updated 11 November 2026 (Reiwa 8), additionally flags Oregon (outbreak reported 6 November 2026, details under confirmation) and Kentucky (outbreak reported 15 October 2026, details under confirmation). This page follows the Japanese list — 19 states — because it is the newer, authoritative version; recheck both before shipping.

Sources disagree: Pigeons sit in two systems at once. MHLW and Japan Customs list pigeons among the birds requiring notification, but USDA APHIS does not count pigeons (or doves) as 'pet' birds for its pet-travel programme — it regulates them as poultry because of disease risk to the US poultry industry. A pigeon move therefore cannot simply follow the APHIS pet-bird guidance on the US side; confirm the export channel with APHIS before planning one.

Until officials align, follow the stricter reading and confirm with the destination authority.

Step-by-step checklist

Requirements — Bird · the United States → Japan
Step	What to do	When
Confirm your bird is in this system at all	The MHLW notification system covers live birds other than poultry — parrots, parakeets, pigeons and Java sparrows are the examples MHLW and Japan Customs give. Poultry (chickens, ducks, geese, quail, turkeys and other birds handled as poultry under the Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control Law) are excluded and go through MAFF's Animal Quarantine Service instead, as do dogs and cats. If your bird is poultry, this page is the wrong procedure.	Before anything else
Check your state against the MHLW designated-regions list	Your bird may only come from a region the MHLW Minister has designated as free of highly and low pathogenic avian influenza, and not from a state whose imports are currently suspended. On the MHLW list as updated 11 November 2026, the United States is designated but suspended state-by-state: Arkansas, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin carry dated suspensions, and Oregon and Kentucky are flagged as outbreaks under confirmation. Hawaii is listed separately as a designated region and is not on the suspension table. This list changes with outbreaks — recheck it for your state immediately before you ship.	Before booking — and again before shipping
21 days in mosquito-proof 'embarkation quarantine'	For the 21 days before shipment (or since hatching), the bird must be kept in a storage or quarantine facility with measures to prevent mosquitoes entering, inside the designated region. APHIS's guidance for this route accepts, as examples, a home where unscreened windows are kept closed and doors are opened only for entry and exit, or an outdoor cage area with sealing doors and mosquito-proof screening. Birds not raised since hatching must, under MHLW's wording, be in a quarantine facility (isolated, under the exporting government's supervision) rather than ordinary storage.	Final 21 days before shipment
Government health certificate — the three bird statements	A health certificate issued by the government authority of the exporting country (in the US: issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by APHIS — see next step) must certify for birds: (1) no clinical signs of West Nile fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) at the time of shipment; and (2) the 21-day mosquito-proof holding in a designated region described above. MHLW requires the certificate to be in English, bearing the issuing authority's stamp or embossing and the official's signature.	At shipment
APHIS endorsement — original paper, wet ink and embossed seal	Pet birds are one of the categories for which APHIS requires more than a digital endorsement: the certificate may be submitted through VEHCS, but the APHIS Veterinary Medical Officer's ink (wet) signature and the APHIS embossed seal must appear on it, and the endorsed paper original must accompany the bird. Build in mailing time — a digitally endorsed printout is not enough for this route.	Before departure
Get the destination quarantine station to pre-check your documents	MHLW's guidance walks importers through a prior-confirmation step: contact the MHLW quarantine station that covers your arrival airport or seaport (for example Narita, Haneda, Chubu Centrair, Kansai or Fukuoka), give them the species, where the bird has been kept and the expected arrival date, and have them review your notification form and health certificate in advance by fax or email. The notification form itself (2 copies), the health certificate and your identity document (passport or similar) are what you present on arrival.	Before you fly
Arrival: notification, acceptance certificate, then Customs	The notification is filed with the quarantine station for the port of arrival without delay after the animal arrives in Japan — this system has no 40-day advance-notification rule like the dog and cat procedure. The station reviews the notification form, health certificate and your ID; if everything complies it issues a certificate of acceptance, and you then clear Customs (other laws, including CITES and the Invasive Alien Species Act, may also apply — parrots in particular may need separate CITES paperwork). If the documents do not comply, MHLW is explicit: the animal is reshipped to the country of dispatch or culled, at the importer's expense.	Arrival day

Your preparation timeline

1Planning stage — Confirm the bird is a non-poultry notification species, and check your state on MHLW's designated-regions / suspension list
2Final 21 days — Bird held in mosquito-proof storage or quarantine inside the designated region
3Before departure — USDA-accredited vet issues the health certificate; APHIS endorses it with wet ink and embossed seal; send copies to the arrival-port MHLW quarantine station for prior confirmation
4Arrival day — File the notification (2 copies) + health certificate + ID at the port quarantine station; receive the acceptance certificate; clear Customs
5If anything is wrong — No detention-to-fix option is offered in MHLW's guidance: a non-compliant bird is reshipped or culled at the importer's cost

The mistake that causes trouble on this route: Preparing for the dog-and-cat procedure instead. Owners routinely start the MAFF AQS track — microchip, rabies vaccinations, titer test, 180-day wait, 40-day advance notification — none of which applies to a pet bird. The bird system is MHLW's, its clock is the 21-day mosquito-proof holding, its filing happens on arrival, and its real gate is the avian-influenza map: a perfectly certified bird that spent those 21 days in a suspended state still cannot enter.

Costs you can plan for

Neither MHLW nor Japan Customs publishes a fee for the bird notification itself on the pages checked, and APHIS's Japan pet-travel page does not state its endorsement fee — so treat any total quoted by a shipper as commercial, not official. Your real costs are the USDA-accredited vet's certificate work, APHIS endorsement handling, any pet-shipper and air-cargo charges, and CITES paperwork if your species is listed. The financial risk MHLW does publish is the failure case: if the notification or certificate does not comply, reshipment or culling is at the person bringing the animal in — their costs, in MHLW's words, are borne by that person.

✈️ 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 this the same procedure as bringing a dog or cat to Japan?

No. Dogs and cats go through MAFF's Animal Quarantine Service under the Rabies Prevention Law — microchip, two rabies vaccinations, antibody test, 180-day wait, 40-day advance notification. Pet birds are expressly outside that system: MHLW's notification system under the Infectious Diseases Control Law (Article 56-2) is their route, and MHLW's own materials state that dogs, cats and poultry are not subject to the notification system.

My bird lives in California — can it fly to Japan?

Not while the current suspension stands. California is on MHLW's suspension table with effect from 8 October 2026 (list updated 11 November 2026). The bird would have to be kept for the full 21-day pre-shipment period in a designated region that is not suspended — and meet every certificate condition from there — or wait until MHLW lifts California's suspension.

How far ahead do I have to notify Japan?

There is no advance-filing deadline in this system: MHLW's detailed guidance says the notification is submitted to the port quarantine station without delay after the animal arrives. What MHLW does recommend is the prior-confirmation step — having the destination station review your form and certificate copies before you travel, so an incomplete file is caught while it can still be fixed.

Does my bird need a microchip, rabies vaccination or blood test?

None of those appear in the bird rules: they are dog-and-cat requirements. For birds, the certificate must cover freedom from clinical signs of West Nile fever and HPAI/LPAI at shipment, plus the 21 days of mosquito-proof holding in a designated region. Identification details (species, number, sex, age, distinguishing marks) are recorded on the notification form and certificate instead.

What happens if my paperwork is rejected on arrival?

MHLW's leaflet and main page are blunt: an animal whose notification, including the health certificate, does not comply must be reshipped to the dispatching country or culled, and the costs are borne by the person who brought it in. Unlike the dog and cat system there is no 'wait it out in quarantine' fallback described for birds.

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.

Want a professional to run this route for you?

Licensed pet relocation companies handle permits, vet paperwork and flights daily. We are adding vetted partners for this route — check back soon.