GETTING YOUR STUFF HOME

This section contains useful information about the various ways you can send your posessions home. In addition to postal rates, information about shipping companies and other services, there is a general advice section on planning and packing.

In this section:

• General Advice
• Shipping Companies
• The Postal Service
• Postal Rates
• Phrasebook

CAUTION: Neither AJET nor the PA Service accept responsibilty for the quality/ standard of service provided by shipping companies or other organisations listed on this site. They are simply listed here because they have been used by JETs in the past. We do not specifically recommend any companies.

GENERAL ADVICE

You should begin the process of sending things home as soon as possible. Start with things that you won't need in the spring or summer, such as winter clothes, ski equipment, kotatsu sets, etc. Sending things home is expensive - start budgeting for this inevitable expense now.

• Some shipping companies will provide boxes for you to use, in other cases you will have to buy your own. Most DIY stores sell heavy-duty cardboard boxes which are suitable for international shipping.
• Pack fragile items separately from heavy, bulky items. Wrap anything important in bubble wrap and old, crumpled newspaper.
• Don't overload boxes, as this increases the risk of damage to the contents.
• Label boxes containing breakables clearly, on all sides. "Fragile" in English, and "Kowaremono" in Japanese.
• Make a list of the contents of each box. Make two copies, put one inside the box and keep the other in a safe place. It is likely that your boxes will be searched by customs, and a manifest will help speed the process.
• Remember that you may have to pay customs or excise duties on things you import into your home country. Please check with your embassy for more information.
• Don't ship or post personal computers unless absolutely necessary. If you do, remember to back up your data, protect your hard drive and hope for the best.
• Two or three years worth of posessions are worth a lot of money. Consider purchasing insurance (with some shipping companies this is mandatory).
• As a general rule, posting parcels is more expensive than shipping. However, the cost of freight (shipping) is usually measured by volume, unlike post which is measured by weight. It might be cheaper to post lighter, bulkier items, and to ship smaller, heavier things.

SHIPPING

If you have accumulated a lot of heavy or unwieldy items, you won't be able to use the postal service. Shipping companies usually offer both air and sea freight services, with air obviously being faster and more expensive.

Prices vary according to departure and destination points, volume, extras for door-door services, and special insurance. Weight is rarely a factor with shipping.

If you intend to use a shipping company, it is important to remember that they require from 1-3 months notice to ship your belongings. Most companies will collect from your home, at additional cost.

Shipping companies often provide boxes which you must use to pack your things in. They may charge extra for items which do not fit standard dimensions, or tailor make a crate for oddly-shaped items.

The following is a list of shipping companies, all with English speaking staff:

CAUTION: Neither AJET nor the PA Service accept responsibilty for the quality/ standard of service provided by shipping companies or other organisations listed on this site. They are simply listed here because they have been used by JETs in the past. We do not specifically recommend any companies.

GO POSTAL...

If there's one bastion of Japanese bureaucracy that you've come to depend on since you arrived here, it's the post office (recently renamed Japan Post). Much of you life in Japan will have involved dashing in and out of these grey buildings, frustrations at the counter, and you may have built up some kind of affection for this organisation. If this is the case, what could be more fitting than to call on their services one last time, and ask them to send your stuff home? If you have a lot of things, then consider shipping as a potentially more economical option.

• When sending things by post, it's best to leave your boxes unsealed when you go to the post office, as they will probably want to see the contents.
• You will need to fill out an 'international parcel label' which serves as your invoice, customs declaration and delivery address label.
• Japan Post offers 4 different international parcel services, they are:
  • Surface Mail (slowest and cheapest)
  • SAL Economy Air Mail (slightly slower and cheaper than Air Mail)
  • Air Mail (fast and expensive)
  • EMS Express Air Mail (a bit faster but much more expensive)
• Surface Mail is by far the cheapest option, at a third of the cost of air mail.
• There is a special reduced rate for parcels containing only printed matter. Printed matter parcels are inspected at the post office, and may not include letters, gifts, handwritten documents or greetings cards. This is the cheapest way to send books home. To use this service, label your parcel "PRINTED MATTER RATE", and explain clearly to the post office clerk. Don't seal your parcel before you get to the post office, as they will check the contents.
• Air, Surface and SAL mail parcels can all be insured at the post office upon request. The first 20,000yen of parcel value costs 400 yen to insure, with each additional 20,000yen of value costing 50 yen. Proof of value is not necessary to purchase the insurance, but making a claim without it will be impossible (you will need photos, receipts, etc).

MAXIMUM WEIGHT AND DIMENSIONS

The maximum weight per parcel that Japan Post will accept is 30kg. However, some countries will reject parcels weighing over 20kg, so be sure to check the details for your country.

The longest dimension of your parcel must not exceed 150cm (105cm for some countries). The longest dimension, when added to the sum of the other two dimensions, divided by 2, should not exceed 3m (2m for some places)

X + (Y + Z)/2 <3m is the formula given by the post office. chotto confusing ne.

Beware - although all Post Offices should, some smaller or rural brances may refuse to handle international parcels. In this case, you will have to take your parcels to a larger branch in a nearby city.

POSTAL RATES

All rates in JPY, exclusive of insurance, correct as of 19/3/2004:

PHRASEBOOK

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