Looking for Pepto Bismol in Japan

[Frankie]

Any suggestions for finding Pepto Bismol in Japan

[CL]

Post by Frankie
Any suggestions for finding Pepto Bismol in Japan

Many years ago I looked for Pepto Bismol and was told by someone at the
old American Pharmacy in Yurakucho that it contained something on the
host nationals' "banned substances" list.

You can bring it back in your luggage, or find someone at a US military
base to buy it for you from the PX or Commissary, but don't expect to
see it on local store shelves. If you have Japanese National Health
Insurance, and are close to a major city with a REAL hospital, there are
a bunch of things a doctor can prescribe that are effective and legal.

CL

[Frankie]

I guess it will be easier to find a substitute.
Surely there is something here which does the same thing.
Thanks for the reply.

[Band Beyond You]

Post by Frankie
I guess it will be easier to find a substitute.
Surely there is something here which does the same thing.
Thanks for the reply.

Did you ever find it? When we lived in Japan, sometimes Foreign Buyers Club
was a good source for imported products, but non-Japanese over-the-counter
drug products are tightly controlled, so you’d never see OTC imports. Or
just have someone carry it back for you from a U.S. visit.

I’m guessing coronavirus probably has a lot of people on edge in Japan, and
a couple of gulps of Pepto-Bismol would be just what the doctor ordered
(well, not literally)...

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/484942-japan-confirms-first-case-of-person-reinfected

From what I’ve read, for all its expertise, Japan would to well to emulate
South Korea’s comprehensive approach to battling the virus, but
nationalistic emotions in Tokyo probably are getting in the way of rational
action that gets things done on a par, scale and efficiency of the South
Koreans:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/06/coronavirus-quarantine-plans-ignite-row-between-south-korea-and-japan

How South Korea put the brakes on coronavirus without lockdown
https://inks.tn/75w3

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/487465-how-south-korea-is-handling-the-coronavirus

Good luck to Japan and posters to this newsgroup. Have a great pandemic
day!

[Frankie]

Never found it.
I have come to the realization that things are just different in Japan.

It is hard for me to accept that I cannot find grits, cheese, sheetrock.
I admit it has been hard for me to change.
But...
This place is different.
I feel it is set in its ways.
Who am I to pop in from a slack ass couch potatoe overrun country and start demanding they start stocking Pepto Bismol for me.
I wonder how things will shake down over this 19 Corona virus.
The stock ride has been wild.

[John W.]

Post by Frankie
Any suggestions for finding Pepto Bismol in Japan

Not entirely related, but many (many) moons ago I was teaching in Korea, and had a really bad "sour stomach" problem. My boss knew a pharmacy, so I went and they mixed up this weird concoction into what can only be described as the result of a dung beetle's work. I choked it down, drank some strange elixir, and then they had me jump up and down.

I still think I was on a "stupid gaijin tricks" show, but my stomach did stop hurting.

Maybe you could try that. :)

John W.