Can you take sunscreen on a plane?

Sunscreen on flights in and from Japan

On a domestic flight only the quantity limits apply. On an international flight the liquid rule comes on top.

Domestic flights in Japan

The 100ml liquid limit does not apply.

International flights from Japan

Each container 100ml or less, all of them inside one transparent re-sealable bag of 1 litre or less, one bag per person.

The 2 litre total is one shared allowance for toiletries, medicines and aerosols together, not 2 litres of each.

Sunscreen in a tube: how the lists class it, and tax-free buys

For sunscreen in a tube, the fine print is about how the lists class it and where it was bought.

Named in Japanese, missing in English

Japan's main list of restricted items names sunscreen among skincare products, in its table for cosmetics. The Japanese-language liquids list gives sun lotion as an example in the row for creams and lotions. The English edition of that row stops at ointment, hand cream and skin lotion, so the word sunscreen never appears there, although the row is the same one.

A cosmetic at the checkpoint, not a medicine

Japan's liquids list lets medicines into the cabin above the usual container size when they are declared to the screener. Sunscreen does not get that treatment. The row that names sun lotion sits in the list's cosmetics block, which keeps the 100 ml container rule, not in the medicines block. The TSA entry for Sunscreen also carries the plain 3.4oz/100 ml limit, with no wording about medically necessary liquids.

Tubes bought tax-free in town

Liquids bought in the airport shops after departure procedures can be carried on. A tube bought tax-free at a drugstore in town cannot use that exception: Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau says tax-free cosmetics purchased in local shopping areas are subject to the 100ml liquids rule and must be put in checked baggage. Japan Customs adds that tax-free goods are for export and are not to be consumed in Japan.

Spray sunscreen is filed with aerosols

Australia's travel security page names sunscreen spray in its list of aerosols, and it says all aerosol containers must have a fitted cap, or locking device. CASA's Pack Right keeps body gel, sunscreen and sun lotion in one entry, and its conditions ask for the release valve to be protected by a cap or other suitable means. The page for sunscreen spray covers the rest.

Sunscreen: the rule country by country

The carry-on answer for sunscreen is the same in all 8 other places we checked. The limits themselves are not identical, so read the row for the country you fly from.

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

If security in Japan will not let sunscreen through

What to do

Move sunscreen to the bag you check in before you reach security, within the checked-baggage limits above. Narita Airport states that anything given up at the checkpoint is discarded and cannot be returned.

Buying sunscreen in Japan

Where to buy

Drugstores. Japanese sunscreen is a common souvenir.

Related items

• Sunscreen spray
• Toner and lotion
• Make-up (foundation, lipstick)
• Face wash
• Perfume and cologne
• Nail polish and remover