Letters from US <-> Japan

[StorDuff]

I'd like to send a few fan letters to Japan. Do I write the address in romaji and kana, how many stamps should I put on it? (Post office is closed and hopefully posting here will get me quicker results ). Also, how do I include a SASE? Will American postage work in Japan, how can I get Japanese postage? How does Japanese postage work? I'm completely lost.

 

[jeisan]

umm i would write at least "japan" in english so the USPS knows where its going. if its just a regular envelope standard airmail is 80ﾂ｢ so 3 regular stamps with "airmail" written underneath. the airmail bit is very important otherwise it goes by slow boat and actually costs more!? thats all the info i can offer, gonna let someone with more experience finish it off.

 

[Keiichi]

You can write the address in English (roman alphabets), so don't worry about that.
Don't know about American stamps in Japan though, but I think it costs more to send a letter to the US from Japan than the other way around.

 

[StorDuff]

Guess I could check in the post office tomorrow, but where can I obtain Japanese postage??

 

[Jarm]

Opening of mail

Do Japan Post open all international mail? Or is there privacy law that restricts that previlage?

 

[Eito]

Like it has been said before, just write the adress in English. Don't worry about Japanese postage either. Just take them to the post office and they'll take care of it all.

 

[Mandylion]

Any nation opens all the international mail they want. This is due to customs regulations and security. However, due to the volume, they cannot open all packages. Normal letters are usually safe, but suspicious packages or ones pulled at random will be opened and inspected.

 

[djl_ottawa]

Wife and I just sent wedding invitations to Japan and if you use regular english characters its fine. If your going to use Japanese characters, at the end of your last line alone put JAPAN. thats it.

 

[jeisan]

yuh or if you send a package without a customs claims form it will be opened.
letters are fine though.

 

[Mandylion]

Sometimes they will open stuff even with a customs claims form It has happened to me many a time. If you send a package without a customs form attached, your local post office is not doing their job.

 

[jeisan]

lol that's what happened to me the first time, they said nothing about it. not having that form is a surefire way to get your package opened. for me that was the only one coming either way that's been opened, though i dont send or receive things very often.

 

[playaa]

Interesting thread, answered a question I had also. Thanks

 

[StorDuff]

What about including a self addressed stamped envelope for a reply? I can't slap American stamps on it, can I?

 

[Kaleikuiha]

Ok, this is what you can do about the stamps on the SASE. 1) add a buck or two for the postage as in the form of a International Moneyorder payed in the form of Yen, 2) ask the postal clerk at the post office for some internatal stamps.. ie Japanese stamps, 3)send it anyway without the stamps on the SASA. Oh and you can't use American stamps on it (they don't like that, but you can try it anyhow)