Where to Buy Supplements in Japan?

So where is the best place to buy your protein and other supplements in Japan?

Trick question... the answer is online from across the ocean.

Supplements in Japan are outrageously expensive similar to gym prices in Japan. You can buy supplements at your gym, drug stores, or sporting good stores but unless you need it right then and there you will never want to pay their prices. One store that does have a good price for protein powder is Costco. Of course, that means you do need a Costco membership which costs 3,850 yen, and for me, it is about a two-hour drive to get there. So depending on where you live in might not be that practical.

Most of my Japanese friends who take supplements also buy them from the same place. That place is iHerb.com. You will want to change your location and currency to Japan and yen. There are several languages you can choose from. Then you can start browsing. 

PRODUCT SELECTION

It has almost everything you would want from a supplement store with most of the popular brands, health foods, vitamins, and much more for the best prices that I have seen in Japan. 

Are there brands you might want to try but can't because they are not sold on iHerb?

Yes, there are probably a lot these days. Social media has allowed a lot of smaller brands to rise up with there viral marketing and influencers. These smaller brands are probably only available online. The brands on iHerb tend to be the bigger name brands that are stocked on store shelves of stores and sold online. That being said, you can probably find a similar product on iHerb even if a brand you want you to buy from isn't available. 

SHIPPING

So is it expensive to ship from the US? Surprisingly no. They have $4 international shipping on orders over $20 (used to be free for orders $40 *sigh). That is about 440 yen shipping if you spend 2200 yen assuming 1 dollar equals 110 yen. It's cheap and also surprisingly fast. Orders tend to come within 4-5 days. Not bad from coming across the world.

For more information about shipping products and restrictions to Japan from iHerb check out the link below.
https://jp.iherb.com/shipping

PAYMENT

As for paying for your order, you can choose from a few online payment services, pay at a conbini, or pay using a cash/credit card.

CAUTION

Some things you have to watch out for is the weight and price of your order. Your order needs to be less than 15,500 yen or you will be charged for Customs duty and taxes. Some weight restrictions apply too depending on the delivery company. Both of these should never be a problem though. Always make sure you order less then 15,500 yen and then even if you buy a big bag of protein and a couple of other things the weight should never be over the limit. I've ordered a variety of things from iHerb and have never had a problem.

Where do you buy supplements in Japan? Have you used iHerb before? Leave a comment below!