I offer you a picture of this promotional box of tissues given away by the makers of Bufferin because I'm not wealthy enough to buy the actual medicine.
Over the counter medicine, and things like aspirin or other self-administered painkillers, are very expensive in Japan. The last time I bought a box of Bufferin in Japan, I paid 500 yen ($6) for 16 tablets lovingly packaged individually in a blister pack. I will grant you that it's been awhile since I've bought any aspirin in Japan, though it's not because I haven't been getting headaches or pain. It's cheaper for family to ship us bottles of analgesics from back home than to buy them here. In fact, it's cheaper to ship them by air. First class. With a personal assistant to look after the bottle and give it tender massages.
I won't miss the fact that it's cheaper to go to the doctor for aspirin tablets than to buy a box yourself in a drug store.
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