Is 7-Hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) legal in Japan?

Legal status

7-hydroxymitragynine is listed in Japan as a 指定薬物, a designated substance, under the pharmaceuticals Act, which allows it only for the 医療等の用途 that the ordinance lists. The entry is 「（Ｅ）―メチル＝二―［（二Ｓ・三Ｓ・七ａＳ・十二ｂＳ）―三―エチル―七ａ―ヒドロキシ―八―メトキシ―一・二・三・四・六・七・七ａ・十二ｂ―オクタヒドロインドロ［二・三―ａ］キノリジン―二―イル］―三―メトキシアクリラート及びその塩類」 at 省令第一条第二百九十号 of 平成十九年厚生労働省令第十四号, which is (E)-methyl 2-[(2S,3S,7aS,12bS)-3-ethyl-7a-hydroxy-8-methoxy-1,2,3,4,6,7,7a,12b-octahydroindolo[2,3-a]quinolizin-2-yl]-3-methoxyacrylate and its salts. Its parent alkaloid mitragynine is the next entry, 第二百九十一号, and the kratom leaf that contains both is reached through the proviso to 第三百六十六号. This is the position on the designated substances list status 6 September 2026, with the narcotics tables status 6 September 2026 and the psychotropics tables status 3 October 2025 read for the other lanes, and the e-Gov text of the ordinance as at 2 October 2026. The pharmaceuticals Act's 第二条第十五項 keeps narcotics, psychotropics, stimulants and opium out of the designated substances list, so the three MHLW lists do not overlap.

Consequences if caught

Capital exposure: none. No Japanese drug statute provides a death sentence: 死刑 appears in the main provisions of none of the 麻薬及び向精神薬取締法 (the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act), the 覚醒剤取締法 (the Stimulants Control Act), the あへん法 (the Opium Act), the 大麻草の栽培の規制に関する法律 (the Cannabis Plant Cultivation Act), the pharmaceuticals Act (the PMD Act) or the 麻薬特例法 (the Narcotics Special Provisions Act), each read on e-Gov on 2 October 2026. Japan has not abolished capital punishment: 刑法第九条 lists it among the principal punishments, 「死刑、拘禁刑、罰金、拘留及び科料を主刑とし、没収を付加刑とする。」, and 第百九十九条 provides it for murder. Every penalty below reads 拘禁刑, the single form of imprisonment that replaced 懲役 and 禁錮 on the day described in the ministerial ordinance's own words as 「刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行の日（令和七年六月一日）」, 1 June 2025; under 刑法第十二条第一項 「有期拘禁刑は、一月以上二十年以下とする。」, so an open ended fixed term such as one year or more runs to twenty years, and 第十四条第二項 allows an aggravated fixed term to rise to thirty. The drug statutes took the new term from 令和四年法律第六十八号. Life imprisonment appears in the drug statutes in three places only: 麻薬及び向精神薬取締法第六十四条第二項 (heroin imported, exported or made for profit), 覚醒剤取締法第四十一条第二項 (stimulants imported, exported or made for profit) and 麻薬特例法第五条 (dealing in any 規制薬物 as a business). The designated substances regime sits in the pharmaceuticals Act, 昭和三十五年法律第百四十五号, not in the narcotics statutes, and its prohibition is 第七十六条の四: 「指定薬物は、疾病の診断、治療又は予防の用途及び人の身体に対する危害の発生を伴うおそれがない用途として厚生労働省令で定めるもの（以下この条及び次条において「医療等の用途」という。）以外の用途に供するために製造し、輸入し、販売し、授与し、所持し、購入し、若しくは譲り受け、又は医療等の用途以外の用途に使用してはならない。」 Doing any of the commercial acts as a business is 第八十三条の九, 「第七十六条の四の規定に違反して、業として、指定薬物を製造し、輸入し、販売し、若しくは授与したとき又は指定薬物を所持したとき（販売又は授与の目的で貯蔵し、又は陳列したときに限る。）は、当該違反行為をした者は、五年以下の拘禁刑若しくは五百万円以下の罰金に処し、又はこれを併科する。」, up to five years or a fine of up to five million yen or both. Everything else, simple possession, purchase and use included, is 第八十四条第二十八号, 「第七十六条の四の規定に違反したとき（前条に該当するときを除く。）。」, under which 第八十四条 provides 「次の各号のいずれかに該当する場合には、その違反行為をした者は、三年以下の拘禁刑若しくは三百万円以下の罰金に処し、又はこれを併科する。」, up to three years or a fine of up to three million yen or both. A 指定薬物 is not a 規制薬物 under 麻薬特例法第二条第一項, so the life term in that Act's 第五条 does not reach 7-hydroxymitragynine.

If prescribed or medical

There is no prescription route. 第七十六条の四 allows a 指定薬物 only for the 医療等の用途 that 平成十九年厚生労働省令第十四号 第二条 lists: academic research or testing by named public bodies, the tests and inspections under 法第六十九条第四項 and 第六項, 法第七十六条の六第一項 and 法第七十六条の八第一項, criminal forensics, the substance specific uses in its table, and 「前各号に掲げる用途のほか、厚生労働大臣が人の身体に対する危害の発生を伴うおそれがないと認めた用途」. The ordinance's table assigns no substance specific use to this entry. A foreign prescription for 7-hydroxymitragynine is not among those uses and the pharmaceuticals Act has no traveller permission for a 指定薬物 of the kind the narcotics and stimulant raw material lanes have.

Documentation

A foreign prescription does not make 7-hydroxymitragynine importable, and an individual traveller cannot bring it into Japan for personal use at all: 第七十六条の四 forbids importing a 指定薬物 for any purpose outside the 医療等の用途, and personal use is not one of them. No permission is issued and no document helps. The MHLW personal import guidance says the same of every controlled item, «Regardless of the description above, you cannot bring prohibited drugs and controlled drugs into Japan.» The ordinance opens 「医薬品、医療機器等の品質、有効性及び安全性の確保等に関する法律（昭和三十五年法律第百四十五号。以下「法」という。）第二条第十五項の規定に基づき、次に掲げる物を指定薬物に指定する。」 and 省令第一条第三百六十六号 extends the list to anything containing a designated substance, 「前各号に掲げる物のいずれかを含有する物。ただし、サルビア　ディビノラム（直ちに人の身体に使用可能な形状のものに限る。）及びミトラガイナ　スペシオーサ（ミトラガイナ属に属する他の種との交雑種を含み、直ちに人の身体に使用可能な形状のものに限る。）以外の植物を除く。」 Placement relied on: the MHLW designated substances list status 6 September 2026 (the English list headed as of September 6, 2026, 2,484 substances; the Japanese index dates its own copy 令和８年８月27日現在 and gives the same total).

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Japan’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.