I am confused... We are currently stationed on Guam and we just gor orders to Japan for November. From what I am reading it states even though you are coming from another rabies free place your pets still have to stay the 180 days... Can someone please help me clarify this? Guam is rabies free so why would they have to stay the 180 days?
Thanks

Check out this site:

http://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/a...index.html


It looks like if you have the paperwork in order and give the right notification the quarantine is less than 12 hours:

"For a dog or cat from a designated region (rabies-free country or region), if you have a certificate for the animal issued by the responsible government agency of the country of export containing necessary information such as the microchip number for individual identification, the quarantine period will be completed within 12 hours."

Hope this helps!

Stephanie, we came from Hawaii a few months back (also rabies-free) and Humbrecht is correct, it was less than 12 hours (in fact, maybe 3?) And just to clarify, "quarantine" here is different than it was in Hawaii (and I'm assuming like Guam?) - the dogs aren't kept at an animal control facility but rather can complete quarantine just by staying on base... hopefully not a concern for you but it's not like doggy jail like in Hawaii! You do still need to do the 40 day notification to the Japanese officials prior to coming, however. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions and good luck!

Thanks so much! I appreciate yalls help!

Look in the other section, I don't remember the topic name but it is related to bringing pets to Japan, there are many posts there. Having just done the Hawaii to Japan process last year with NO issues I will tell you one key is to send the notification and give an e-mail so they can send an entry approval. Print that out and bring it with the pet, that paper tells them here that you have done everything, they will review all your paperwork and if you have brought everything you will be done in about 15 minutes like I was.
Our dog is small so I brought her as a carry-on, that worked out great, but there are restrictions, look up each airline to make sure they will even transport your pets to Japan, so will not, even in the cargo hold. Make sure you or the military travel office make reservations for your pets right away, most have limitations. Also, make sure your flight is not "operated by" a different carrier, we had that situation. For PCS you will likely be on an American flight, but ours turned out to be "operated by" JAL. They will not honor American regulations, such as the allowance for military and family member PCSing to have bags in excess of 50 lbs. Not sure of their pet rules, American did not allow pets on Japan-bound flights when we flew last year, I think JAL was different.