Importing a Puppy from Japan to the UK

Astor Williams - December 2023

I had always thought that importing from Japan would be much harder than it ended up being. The UK doesn’t make importing dogs particularly easy anyway, with things only getting harder following Brexit and the loss of the Pet Travel Scheme on our side of things. It’s not impossible, with the introduction of the Animal Health Certificate making things not too difficult, albeit much more expensive. However, for somewhere like Japan which isn’t in Europe, the very idea of doing it sounded scary and expensive, and the information available online for this was certainly lacking.

Taihei Shokirou Go Yoridokoro Ichiha Sou... or 'Shoki'!

So when I fell in love with a little puppy from an amazing breeder, I figured I was about to get in over my head...
However, the whole process was actually straightforward, and no more difficult than importing from Europe, there’s just a few extra steps that need to be done.

First Things First

The first thing to note is that flying into the UK with dogs is extremely difficult, time consuming and expensive. Many UK airlines do not allow dogs to fly at all, and they can only fly into Heathrow, which if you live anywhere other than London, will give you an extra journey anyway. On top of this, there is a LOT of paperwork and processing to bring a dog into the UK by flight. This paperwork needs to be signed by a broker in Japan. It can also take up to 10 additional hours of processing once the dog has arrived, and god forbid there is something not right with the paperwork. I personally know of people who have flown a dog into the UK in the afternoon and not been able to collect the dog until the early hours of the next morning. On top of this, VAT is chargeable on the customs broker fees as well as the cost of the dog.
So, it was decided I would fly into France with Shoki and drive over to the UK via the Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle. With the correct paperwork, this is unbelievably easy, and the extra hours of driving would make up for what would’ve been an even longer wait for processing and even more costs.

The first thing I did was book my flight. I booked one way from Manchester to Charles De Gaulle (CDG) in Paris, and then booked a return flight of CDG to Haneda, Tokyo. I chose to fly to Haneda instead of Narita as it was closer to the city, and I highly recommend doing the same if you plan to import a dog from Japan as the whole process was very straightforward and the airport staff were excellent. Once I had booked the flight, I called up Japan Airlines and asked to book two dogs (yes, two! Only one came to the UK though) onto the flight. I gave the flight details and details about the dogs. They warned me about any risks to the dogs and previous incidents they’d had. Once I confirmed I was happy, they applied for the dogs to be added to my booking. The next day I received a phone call back to let me know that they had accepted the request and the dogs were booked on the flight!

Paperwork and Preparations

Prior to my trip, some paperwork needed to be filled in. First, an Animal Quarantine application form must be prepared by the breeder, which will go to the Animal Quarantine Service (AQS) section of the airport. This form is essentially a request to the AQS to examine the dog prior to travel. With this form, as well as the rabies vaccination certificate and certificate of deworming for Echinococcosis multilocularis, will be used by the AQS’s vet to put together a export certificate. My breeder, Kinoshita-san, put together this document and sent it to the AQS office prior to me heading to Japan.

The Animal Quarantine application form

I also contacted DEFRA to ask for the specifics of what would be needed to bring the puppy into the UK, as the information online was not clear about the exact forms needed. Thankfully, DEFRA were swift and clear in their response and guided me to the GB Pet Health Certificate. This form is compliant with EU Regulation No 576/2013, so it could be used to fly into France as well as drive into the UK. This was a concern for me, since Europe uses the Annex III form, and on the night before flying home I sent myself into a worry that they would not accept my GB form, though a quick look proved that these forms are almost identical and both comply with the same regulation, so there would be no issue! The form did confuse the airport staff who had never seen one before though!
Kinoshita-san also filled this in and sent it to the AQS office prior to my trip! I was very lucky to have his guidance and support with the paperwork, however if you are in the situation of needing to fill it in and send it yourself, it is quite straightforward to fill in. The contact information for the various branches of AQS can be found here. The documents need to be submitted at least 7 days (or 10 days in case of Narita or Haneda airport) prior to export inspection date. Make sure to take the original copies of the documents to the export inspection as these must be submitted then.

Rou Katsu Bi Shin Go Yoridokoro Ichiha Sou, or 'Mori'!

Since I was already flying out to retrieve a puppy, I offered to collect another for a friend and fellow breeder in Sweden. I won't focus too heavily on this, but the requirements to enter Sweden were much the same as the requirements for the UK, except for using the Annex III certificate instead of the GB Pet Health Certificate. Mori's owner and our breeder did most of the work on this side of things, I just escorted him, but the process was identical for both puppies other than the form.

In Japan

So I flew out to Japan and had a fantastic adventure in Tokyo. This was my first time flying in 12 years and my first time ever leaving the country alone, or flying alone (which hopefully will vouch for how easy the whole process was!)
I even got to visit Kaikuro Go, the Kai Ken who is preserved in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno. After spending a lot of money and travelling as much as I could with the short time I had in Japan, it came to preparing to get these puppies to Europe.

The AQS is only open from 08:30 to 17:00, and my flight was at 08:25, which means we had to do our quarantine exam the day before. My breeder called up the AQS and booked us in for the exam, though if you need to do this yourself, the numbers are in the contact information I listed above.
Kinoshita-san kindly collected me from my hotel with the puppies and his dog Zozey with him, adding to my list of Kai I've had the honour to meet! We arrived at the airport and travelled to the AQS area, which is at Terminal 3.

Checklist for the AQS Appointment!

Puppies! Healthy, microchipped, vaccinated and dewormed!
An airline safe crate, I recommend the ATC-670 for Kai Ken puppies.
The original copy of the Animal Quarantine export application
The GB Pet Health Certificate/Annex III, filled in and stamped by the vet.
The health certificate must have the Echinococcus multilocularis deworming stamped/signed by the vet.
Proof of Microchip stamped/signed by a vet
Proof of Vaccination stamped/signed by a vet- Rabies and the usual puppy vaccines (Distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, adenovirus and leptospirosis)

This is what the final export certificate should look like, which is then stapled to the front of the GB Pet Health Certificate which has been marked, stamped and signed by the AQS vet.

First, we built up the crates that the dogs would be travelling in so they could be checked by the vet.
We went to the desk and booked in for our appointment, and took a seat until we were called into a back room which was essentially a small vet’s office. We gave the vet the original copies of all the paperwork we had, including the original export request document, the Annex III/GB Pet Health Form, and the vaccine/worming certificates. We sat at the desk while the vet looked through the paperwork. She confirmed the details, making sure the flight information and my name and address was correct.
She checked the puppy’s microchips, and we returned to the waiting room while she prepared the documents.
It took about half an hour for her to put everything together into an export certificate, and she came out to us to give us the documents (including the original copies we gave her) and we were free to leave for the day with everything ready for the next morning. The puppies were officially ready to fly.

I enjoyed my last night in Japan with good friends and good food, with the puppies getting lots of love from Kinoshita-san's friends. The three puppies, one of which was staying in Japan but was with us for the journey, nicknamed Igirisu (England), Suweden (Sweden) and Chisai (little) by our new friends, were happy and confident and were more than happy to befriend everyone!
We stayed long after closing time, chatting and playing with the puppies, and even though I could barely speak a word of Japanese with them, everyone made me feel completely at home and welcome.

Time to Fly

The next morning I got up bright and early and Kinoshita-san kindly picked me up from my hotel again, and we took my last journey to the airport. We arrived with good time so the puppies could be booked in and head off for the flight.

At the JAL counter, Kinoshita-san and I brought the two crated puppies and my suitcases and I gave all of the paperwork to the counter and nervously waited while a few members of staff went amongst themselves and seemed to be discussing the forms. They made copies and eventually spoke to me and asked where the health document was for my puppy. We looked through the documents and I showed them that the GB Health Document was this document! They had not seen it before so they were a little confused, but once they were shown, it was all fine. The puppies' crates were sealed with zip ties, and I attached two AirTags to them (and to my cases) so I could keep an eye on their location (I highly recommend doing this!)
They were also wrapped in heavy green netting, which looked a little scary at first, but it added extra protection.

Shoki and Mori waiting to be checked in.

After my bags were checked and the puppies handed to the staff, I had to go to another counter to pay a fee to transport the puppies since I had checked baggage already. I expected this, so I was well prepared. It cost 40,000 yen per puppy, or about £221. I was blessed by an excellent exchange rate while over there, so it was a very small price to pay compared to what I expected! I was also told here that I would have to collect the puppies from a different area to my bags (this ended up being pretty untrue..!)

With that paid, I said goodbye to my amazing breeder, and I went through security and customs as usual, everything going smoothly, and boarded my flight. I spent much of it (when not asleep) worrying and checking the AirTags to make sure they had boarded with me. We arrived in France and I built myself up mentally in case something had gone very wrong and I would need to be prepared.

Kinoshita-san and I with one well protected puppy!

Easy Ends

I left the plane and headed through customs and then to the baggage collection which was pretty much right where I got off. I had wanted to get the dogs first, but by checking the AirTags I saw that my cases were already off, so I collected them first and found an airport staff member to guide me to where the dogs would arrive - which happened to be a small side area right next to where I had collected my cases! A very nice man helped me remove the netting from the crates and we found that both puppies were happy and healthy, though very smelly, so make sure you have puppy pads and wipes (14 hours is a long flight!). I secured the puppies onto a trolley and pushed my bags, awkwardly looking for an Animal Quarantine section, only to quickly learn that I did not need to do ANYTHING else with the puppies! We were greeted by my family and Nana, the owner of Mori, and were able to leave the airport. I had spent much of the flight worrying that our paperwork would be scrutinised at CDG and we would end up in trouble of some variety, but it was not even checked!

The puppies were cleaned and everything brought into the car, we headed off on the next step of the journey which was the drive from CDG to Le Shuttle in Calais. Mori would embark on the next part of his journey with his owner to Sweden!
The drive was average and we reached the tunnel and headed to the pet reception. I had previously had an awful experience there when travelling home from breeding my girl back in summer 2022, so I was going in with expectations that something would be wrong.

One last play between brothers Shoki and Mori before Mori headed to Sweden!

The gentleman at the counter was absolutely lovely, he checked our paperwork and fussed our puppy, asking about his breed and being delighted to meet a rare breed.
He handed us the hanger for our car and we were ready to board.
We headed to customs, got ourselves booked in and boarded the shuttle, and 35 minutes later there was another Kai Ken in the UK!

Overall, it was a very easy and stress free process and if you’re able, I highly recommend going via France to import into the UK. Having an informed and supportive breeder made the whole process even easier, but even for a new owner/importer, it was very doable and that allows us the opportunity to bring more Kai from Japan into the UK.

A Special Thanks

I cannot thank my breeder, Kinoshita-san enough for his support through this adventure, between driving his puppies all the way to Tokyo, and collecting me from my hotel, to welcoming me to his friends with open arms.
I would also like to thank Shigeru Kato of Japan Dog Export. Kato-san is an experienced export master who supported us with advice through the entire process.
I thank Nana of Koyutuk Kennel for trusting me to bring Mori to Europe for her, and for being an excellent friend and asset to the Kai breed in Europe.
I also had amazing support from Kisaki Naka of Taiga Kennels and Michaella Dunhill-Hall of Vormund Kennel, both of whom are experienced dog-fliers and I could not have done this without them!
Thank you all for helping this breed grow in the UK!

Fukutoku Shrine, from my trip.

Links

All links that have been included in this article are below for easy access.

Famous Akita Inu Chuken Hachiko's statue in Shibuya, seen during my trip.

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