Here’s one last vocabulary list I want to cover before I release you into the wild to tackle the Tsuruha or Welcia nearest to you (still hashtag not spon). 医薬部外品（いやくぶがいひん)— quasi drug, medicated product 薬用（やくよう)— for medicinal use 補修（ほしゅう)— repair, mending 敏感肌（びんかんはだ)— sensitive skin パラベンフリー — paraben free 無添加（むてんか)— additive free 防腐剤無添加（ぼうふざいむてんか)— no added preservatives ラウリル硫酸ナトリウム（らうりるりゅうさんなとりうむ)— Sodium Lauryl Sulfate アルコールフリー — alcohol free 着色料（ちゃくしょくりょう)— dye 香料 （こうりょう)— perfumes 品質安定剤 （ひんしつあんていざい)— stabalizing preservative First, 医薬部外品 and 薬用 mean relatively the same thing. These products contain chemicals that have been recognized by the Japanese ministry of health to have medicinal qualities, however the percentage of the overall product is small. These products should not be used to medicate or treat a condition, but can have preventative or supplemental qualities if used regularly. Next, if you have sensitive skin, looking for the kanji for 敏感肌（びんか んはだ）would be a good place to start, though I will say that it is hard to find products that are marketed specifically for sensitive skin. Additive free, paraben free,
or preservative free products are also pretty hard to find in the cheap section. I did find one brand called ‘Cow’ advertised for delicate skin, with no dyes, perfumes, or preservatives added though I have never used it myself. Sometimes you’re trapped inside of your local drug store searching for just one thing in a sea of things you don’t need written in a language most of us barely understand anyway. Let me let you in on a little secret: even some Japanese people don’t understand Japanese terms as well as it seems like they do. In
my incredibly thorough interview of one entire Japanese coworker, it became clear that even he didn’t understand the difference between うるおい and しっとり and that, in the end, searching for products that are right for you should be approached through trial and error. Hygiene shouldn’t be stressful, but taking care of yourself on top of living in a foreign country is. With the help of these lists, I hope you can escape the clutches of confusion by going in with more information to work from than whatever cryptic English they decided to put on the bottle. Happy hunting!
Lauren Porter is a mountain hermit slash English teacher living in Yamanashi Prefecture. She was granted her N1 qualification in a trial by combat last June, and enjoys hiking, onsen, and hyperbole.
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