Japan Shipping Information

Restricted & prohibited items

Japanese postal and courier services restrict certain categories from international export, and some categories are separately restricted by the destination country. If an item you've requested falls into a grey area, you'll be told before any purchase is made — never after.

• Lithium batteries — standalone batteries are heavily restricted by air; batteries installed inside a device are usually fine, but rules vary by carrier and destination
• Aerosols, flammables, and pressurized containers
• Certain cosmetics, supplements, and over-the-counter medications with regulated ingredients
• Blades and bladed items — restricted or requiring extra documentation for some countries
• Ivory, certain furs, and other CITES-protected materials
• Perishable food and some plant-based products

Japanese consumption tax

Retail prices in Japan already include Japan's consumption tax (10% on most goods). The tax-free shopping tourists get in Japan requires the buyer to be physically present with a passport at time of purchase — as a proxy buyer, I'm not eligible for that exemption on your behalf, so quoted prices reflect standard tax-inclusive retail. This is worth knowing upfront so the number doesn't come as a surprise later.

Import duty at your end

Once your package lands in your country, it may be subject to import duty, VAT, or a customs handling fee — set and collected by your own country, not by me. Whether anything is charged depends on your country's rules and the declared value of the shipment.

• Many countries have a de minimis threshold below which small personal shipments clear duty-free
• Rates above that threshold vary widely by product category and destination
• Any duty owed is your responsibility as the importer of record — it isn't included in the total I quote

Declared value

Customs forms are filled out with the accurate purchase price of your items. I don't under-declare value to reduce duty — it's against export regulations, it can get a package held or seized, and it isn't a service I offer, regardless of how it's asked for.

Buying outside Tokyo

Not everything is in Tokyo. In-store purchases, pop-up events, and regional exclusives sometimes require buying from a store elsewhere in Japan and shipping it back domestically first, which can add a few days before your order ships internationally. That's factored into the timeline I give you, not hidden in it.

Coverage area

In-person shopping — store lines, pop-ups, and same-day pickups — is free of charge in Nakano, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Ginza, and Yokohama. Online sourcing (Mercari, Rakuten, and most Japanese retail sites) isn't limited by geography, so it's not affected by this.

This only applies when I have to physically go somewhere for you — a store line, a pop-up, an in-person pickup. Nakano, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Ginza, and Yokohama are covered at no extra cost; anywhere else that requires me to travel in person adds a travel fee, quoted before you approve the request. Online purchases and shipping are unaffected no matter where in Japan the item ships from.

Requests further out — elsewhere in the wider Kanto region or beyond — are handled case by case and typically carry the in-store travel expense noted above rather than being ruled out entirely.