Can you bring a charging cable on a plane?

The rule for charging cables comes from the Civil Aviation Bureau's list of restricted items and is the same on domestic and international flights.

A cable with a built-in battery for charging other devices is a power bank under Japan's rules: it goes in the cabin and cannot be checked.

The lists that mention cords and cable chargers accept them in both bags; the rules begin where a battery is built in.

ANA accepts USB-type phone chargers in both bags

ANA's domestic FAQ has a line for smartphone chargers of the wall-socket, dry-battery and USB types. ANA marks that line as accepted in the cabin and at check-in. Power banks with a built-in lithium-ion battery sit on a separate line of the same table, which sends readers to ANA's battery answer.

South Korea's row leaves power banks out by name

South Korea's list has a row for cable chargers and writes the exception into the name of the row itself: auxiliary batteries are excluded. The row carries a circle for the cabin and a circle for checked baggage, and no special condition.

Charger can mean a power bank

The word charger covers different things. The TSA's Phone Chargers entry is about portable chargers or power banks containing a lithium ion battery, which must be packed in carry-on bags. Japan's leaflet defines a power bank as an item with a lithium-ion battery built in whose purpose is to charge other electronic devices.

The TSA on cords

The TSA has no entry for charging cables. Its nearest entry, Extension Cord, is marked yes for carry-on and yes for checked bags. The text asks travellers to pack electronics carefully and to make sure all cords are wrapped.

The carry-on answer for charging cables is the same in the other place we checked.

Each row comes from that authority's own page. Airlines can be stricter, and the screening officer has the final say.