Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Confident of victory over Ukraine, Russia exhibits Western war trophies

Two women are seeking Mexico’s presidency. But the race is about a man.

Hamas in Cairo for hostage talks as Israel briefs aid agencies on Rafah

The Post endorses April McClain Delaney and Tom Royals for Maryland’s 6th District

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

The new cure-all for vacation excess: the IV drip 

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

Adaptive equipment is making national parks more inclusive

Ask Amy: My boyfriend just confessed he’s almost $20,000 in debt

Miss Manners: Is it inappropriate to reach out to old girlfriends?

Carolyn Hax: Longtime friend won’t forgive being last-minute canceled for a guy

Trump Media auditor charged by SEC with ‘massive fraud’

Google’s empire is massive. A judge will soon rule if it’s a monopoly.

Five tech products we actually like

Biden confronts campus protests; Trump hedges on accepting election results

Kristi Noem just won’t stop talking about killing her dog

Noem’s dog-killing isn’t popular, though Trump supporters are divided

In photos: At least 39 dead as historic flooding hits southern Brazil

Sea level rise brings new era of dangerous flooding

Michael Cohen keeps broadcasting despite being a witness

In a pinch, the Nationals finally find some offense

Is Pastis as good as our food critic thought? He sent spies to find out.

The Capitals, a team in transition, know what they want this offseason

Strangers help Sesame Street puppeteer after heirloom necklace was stolen

Teen grabs wheel when driver passes out and school bus veers into traffic

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

The New York Times, alone in its outrage over access to Biden

The ‘Access Hollywood’ video cemented Trump’s air of invincibility

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

Michelle Lee

TOKYO — So you’re about to move to Tokyo and want to bring your cat. Where do you begin?

Japan is a nation of cat lovers: Cat cafes are everywhere;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/world/asia/japan-cat-billboard.html" target=_blank> 3D cats live on billboards</a>; lucky cat charms wave in storefronts. This is the country that gave rise to Hello Kitty.

But bringing a cat here is tricky. Like most island nations, Japan is hyper-cautious about the spread of rabies.

Fret not, however: It is possible, with enough planning and a well-padded savings account.

The Washington Post has compiled this guide after extensive field research. Our process took 13 months to complete, but it is feasible within eight. Here are 28 easy steps to import your neko-chan from the United States to Japan.

1. Find an experienced, U.S.-based vet to guide you. Preferably one who gives you a mix of forewarning and optimism, like our vet, who said: “This will be complicated, but we can make it happen.” (If you’re<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/02/01/pandemic-marriage-separation-japan/" target=_blank> moving to Japan first without your pet</a>, have a partner and/or friends who can take your pet to appointments for you. This step may take longer than eight months.)

2. Fall into a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/" target=_blank>subreddit </a>rabbit hole researching tips from others who navigated <a href="https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/import-other.html" target=_blank>the process</a>.

3. Get overwhelmed, then request a quote from a pet moving service. Receive a quote for $5,400 to move both of your cats. Shake your fist at capitalism, and decide to figure it out on your own instead.

4. Schedule your cat for a rabies shot, rabies booster and rabies antibody titer, which measures whether your cat will produce an immune response against rabies. Check with your vet to make sure their lab is on the approved list from the Japanese government. Your cat’s rabies antibody level must be equal to or greater than 0.5 IU/ml. Look up “IU/ml” on Google.

Japan honors Tama the cat, stationmaster with four paws, at lavish funeral

5. Ask your Tokyo housing agent to help you find an apartment that allows pets. This will greatly limit your housing search because there aren’t many options for foreigners with pets.

6. If you have multiple cats, decide which one will travel first (airlines usually allow one cat per passenger). The choice becomes easier when it’s between Liddy, a super chill cat, and Penny, who has severe anxiety and reacts to major life changes by peeing and pooping outside of her litterbox, and who repeatedly poops in your husband’s bed after you moved to Tokyo without her. (Penny’s note: I can’t help it.)

7. Pro tip: When your cat has a bad bout of anxiety and soils your husband’s bed seven times in one weekend, order him a funny “World’s Best Cat Dad” item online. It’s not ha-ha funny, but it will add some levity.

8. Make sure your cat has an ISO-compliant registered microchip.

9. Wait 180 days for your cat to be cleared for travel to avoid quarantine upon arrival.

10. Cope with your loneliness by fostering cats through organizations such as <a href="https://www.arkbark.net/en/getinvolved/foster/" target=_blank>Animal Refuge Kansai</a>, which serves foreigners waiting for their pets or who want to take care of animals while working short-term in Japan. (Meanwhile, foster two kittens: <a href="https://twitter.com/myhlee/status/1450812801409171456" target=_blank>Mimosa and Piña</a>, who are from a litter named after alcoholic drinks and rescued from Tokushima, in southern Japan. Take Piña to the vet because she has an eye infection. Struggle to give her eye medication, and then find out that Mimosa caught it from Piña. Take both cats to the vet. Internalize the shame from the vet’s disappointed look. Successfully help them overcome their eye infections, and get them adopted into a loving home. Then replace your curtains, which the kittens climbed on and tore apart on their way down.)

I live in Tokyo. He lives in D.C. Omicron forced us to marry if we ever wanted to see each other.

11. After your cat is cleared for travel, call your airline to find out their international pet travel policy.

12. After a 30-minute hold with United Airlines on an international call, find out that you need to call ANA because it is an ANA-operated United flight.

13. After another 30-minute hold with ANA, add your cat to your reservation, and find out that pets traveling internationally must fly in the cargo hold.

14. Search Google for safety risks of international cargo travel for older cats. Have a minor panic attack upon finding out that Penny, 12, has a nonzero chance of dying.

15. Frantically buy items online to help your cat feel as comfortable as possible, including but not limited to: calming spray, calming collar, pee pad, water dispenser and an ANA-approved crate.

16. Japan requires a <a href="https://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/english/animal/dog/pdf/notifi-cat20210721.pdf" target=_blank>notification </a>to the Animal Quarantine Service at least 40 days before arrival, with documentation of the highflying feline’s rabies antibodies. Load the online portal, but find out it’s not working. Glance at the fax number on the website, and briefly consider it. Instead, ask your Japanese-speaking colleague to call Narita International Airport to ask for an email address for their Animal Quarantine Service. Email them.

17. Receive a response from the Animal Quarantine Service agent notifying you that you made multiple errors on your form, including writing “cargo” to indicate your cat will be in the cargo area. You were supposed to write “hand luggage.” Don’t ask why, just modify the form and resend it.

18. Take your cat to the vet for the International Health Certificate, which must be issued within 10 days of departure. Due to a delay at the U.S. Agriculture Department, schedule your appointment as close to the 10-day mark as possible.

19. Purchase a UPS overnight form to increase the chances of USDA mailing it to you on time.

Physics test suggests cats understand gravity, Japanese researchers say

20. Take your cat to her pre-departure check for intestinal parasites within four days of departure. Ask the vet for anxiety medication.

21. Test the anxiety medication before travel to make sure she responds well.

22. It’s departure day. Arrive at the airport an extra hour earlier to check in your cat. Ignore the smell when you realize she peed in her crate because she’s anxious. (Penny’s note: Again, I can’t help it.)

23. Show your cat how to use the water dispenser inside her crate by putting her nose on the dispenser and saying: “Look, this is how hamsters drink water. If they can do it, you can do it, too. It’s there if you get thirsty.”

24. Take your cat to the Transportation Security Administration check for cargo items. Feel helpless watching the agent zip-tie a green net around the crate. Wish her the best on her first trans-Pacific trip.

25. Pick up your cat at Narita Airport’s animal pickup desk at baggage claim. Hold her close during the import inspection.

26. Take your cat home in her first Japanese cab ride. Realize she pooped on your white carpet as soon as she left her crate because she’s anxious. (Penny’s note: I told you, I can’t help it.)

27. Clean it up and pet her. At last: She’s home.

(28. If applicable: Repeat this process for your second cat. Your turn, Liddy.)

Congratulations, you have survived your first brush with Japanese bureaucracy, and it will not be your last.

Don’t forget to celebrate Japan’s National Cat Day on Feb. 22, known as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/02/22/japan-is-celebrating-its-27th-annual-cat-day-today-also-known-as-nyan-nyan-nyan-day/" target="_blank">Nyan Nyan Nyan Day </a>(“nyan” is “meow” in Japanese), when the country’s heartwarming display of love for cats will make you almost forget what it took to bring your feline pal here.

Emory University, BA in international studies and English

Michelle Ye Hee Lee is The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief, covering Japan and the Korean peninsula. 

washpost

Here’s how to import your pet cat into Japan

the-washington-post

The Washington Post

staff

How to import a cat into Japan in 28 easy steps

War In Ukraine

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Middle East

World

iptc-media/human_interest/animal

iptc-media/lifestyle_and_leisure

iptc-media/health

iptc-media/health/health_treatment

iptc-media/lifestyle_and_leisure/leisure

iptc-media/human_interest

iptc-media/science_and_technology

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance

iptc-media/health/health_treatment/medicine

iptc-media/lifestyle_and_leisure/leisure/travel

iptc-media/economy_business_and_finance/economic_sector/transport

client-blocklists/Client List: Becton Dickinson KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: Nomura KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Tito's KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Johnson & Johnson KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Bed Bath & Beyond KWs - INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Exxon Mobil  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: USAA KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Google PG KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/T. Rowe Price KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Microsoft KWs 2 - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Affluent_legacyaux_eqw

client-blocklists/P+ The Offer KW List - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Agriculture/Food Production_legacyaux_PI3

advertising/B2_Airlines_legacyaux_rhc

advertising/B2_Asian Content_legacyaux_8xg

advertising/B2_Asian Lifestyle Content_legacyaux_im0

client-blocklists/HBO KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Ford/Lincoln KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Kyndryl KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Discover Card KWs – INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Capital One (One Tech) KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs 2 - EXCLUDES ALL - 12.23.20

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Louis Vuitton KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Diageo - Johnnie Walker KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ Client List: Mercedes EQS KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Flu, Sickness & Virus Content

client-blocklists/United Airlines KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/ExxonMobil 03312021 KWs - INCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/FlexForm KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Apple Marcom KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Boeing KWs 2021- INCLUDE ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Morgan Stanley KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Organon KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Verizon KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Facebook KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Optum KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Hulu KW List - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CLIENT LIST: GOLDMAN SACHS SEC KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/WaPo: Combined Disaster Keyword List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/P+ Halo KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Mastercard KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Synchrony Financial KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Amazon KWs - EXCLUDE ALL 

client-blocklists/Client List: Ukraine-Russia (Apple News) KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Showtime KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Apple TV+ KW – INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client Neg KW List: Omega KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Ronald McDonald House KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/PMI KWs 2021 - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Marcus Goldman Sachs Neg KW List - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/GEICO KWs - INCLUDES ANY_4.26.21

client-blocklists/Client List: Eli Lily KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: IBM KWs ALTERNATE Watson - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Citibank KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Citibank KWs 2021 - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: IBM KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Purina KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Fidelity Investments KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/SAP KW List - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Fortune 500 Content

client-blocklists/Client List: Turbo Tax KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/CME KW List 2022 - EXCLUDES ALL 

client-blocklists/Bank of America KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/Client Keywords: On Running

advertising/Siemens Continuum - 9.28.2021

client-blocklists/BP KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/National Instruments KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Intel KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Lifestyle_legacyaux_stu

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T Digital Divide  - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Samsung 2021 KWs - INCLUDE ANY

advertising/B2_Pets_legacyaux_3hv

advertising/B2_Positive News_legacyaux_hlt

client-blocklists/Google PG Competitor KWs - INCLUDES ANY

advertising/B2_Shopping_legacyaux_sa6

advertising/B2_Travel Bundle_legacyaux_3vz

advertising/B2_Travel_legacyaux_nfe

client-blocklists/Client List: GEICO KWs

client-blocklists/Client List: KPMG KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Navy Federal Credit Union NFCU KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Novo Nordisk KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Siemens KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: Cisco KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/Client List: Capital Concerts KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Client List: AT&T ALT KWs - EXCLUDES ALL

client-blocklists/Mercedes KWs - INCLUDES ANY

client-blocklists/FX Excludes All Disney

prism://prism.query/site,/world/asia-pacific&limit=20

The Washington Post provides the latest information and analysis of breaking Asia news stories. Includes news coverage on China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Cambodia.

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/world/&limit=20

The Washington Post World section provides information and analysis of breaking world news stories. In addition to our world news and video, Post World News offers discussions and blogs on major international news and economic issues.

prism://prism.query/ap-articles-by-site-id,/world