Kazuyuki Sasada has been using the Internet for years to buy medicine because it is difficult for him to go around to different stores to get the drugs he needs.
"There are also many kinds of medicine that pharmacies don't normally sell," including traditional medicines and herbal drugs, says Sasada, a 60-year-old resident of Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture.
He spends about ¥80,000 to ¥100,000 a year online for his medicine, and another ¥40,000 to ¥50,000 at conventional pharmacies and drug stores.