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Questions re: shipping household goods to Japan

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Esme V

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My partner and I am shipping household goods to Japan from the USA in a few months. The goods consist of clothes, books, kitchen utensils, dinnerware. They are all used goods. We will be entering Japan as tourists and staying in Japan only sporadically (spring and fall). We will not be working or studying.
(1) What's the procedure for collecting household goods in Japan? Do we need to provide some kind of work/study visa to pick up our goods?
(2) Any recommendations for a shipping company? Note: I don't have an entire container, just a few boxes of household stuff.
(3) What are the typical costs of shipping?
(4) Can we have someone pick up our goods from the shipping company's office in Japan (I might not be in Japan when they arrive)?
Any other recommendations are welcome.
 
Who is paying for it? If you are paying yourself, I think it would be better just to maximize your air allowances rather than paying for a shipping company. Depending where you are going there's an active market for used goods as people move in and out of the country. So you can buy many items there.

In order to look into shipping costs and get those questions answered, I suggest contacting Nippon Express. Nippon Express -Global Logistics Company-
They are a large shipping company that many corporations use to move expats back and forth. However I believe they will also handle small jobs such as yours. If not they may be able to point you on the right direction.
 
I don't think I've ever heard of people coming on tourist waivers and needing to ship household goods before. What sort of things are you going to be shipping? Are you figuring on setting up housekeeping here?
 
kitchen utensils, dinnerware
We will be entering Japan as tourists and staying in Japan only sporadically (spring and fall). We will not be working or studying.
Click to expand...
I think customs or immigration would find this highly suspicious. It looks like you are setting up a temporary accommodation that is not for sightseeing. When you are not in Japan, where do you plan to keep this stuff? The explanation to immigration could make them think you are setting up a place to live where you can come and go on illegal business.

You can get cheap goods here at any secondhand shop or 100-yen shop. Why on earth send that stuff when it's already available?

As for your questions, talk to the post office for prices. It's going to be the standard answer of size and weight of package, plus mode of shipping. Where do you propose to enter Japan -- Haneda, Narita, Osaka, Nagoya, etc.? Check their airports for places that have receiving facilities for such goods.
 
Thanks @Glenski. I overlooked that.

I agree completely. It would be cheaper to buy that stuff here and then just throw it in the trash when you leave than to pay international shipping just to bring your own familiar stuff with you. If it is a matter of some kind of OCD connection to some particular pattern of silverware or dishes then just pack some up in a box and mail it to yourself vis the post office or send it FedEx. Tourists coming in with so much household junk they have to arrange for customs clearance at the docks and having it trucked to their lodgings are going to raise some real questions from the authorities. Tourists generally manage to live out of their suitcases or backpacks. The days of traveling with steamer trunks full of stuff disappeared with the advent of jet engines.
 
It also occurs to me that American things don't always fit in Japanese spaces. I've known quite a few people who bought American dinnerware and ended up having to just put it away since it wouldn't fit in their cupboards.

Space is used differently here.

I think the 100 yen store throwaway idea is the wisest.
 
WonkoTheSane said:
I think the 100 yen store throwaway idea is the wisest.
Click to expand...

And it should be said that the most widespread 100 yen chain, Daiso, actually stocks some very presentable tableware.
 
I am paying for the shipping costs myself. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
Thank you to everyone who posted answers to my questions. The goods consist of personal items - clothes, books, things we will use when we are in Japan. We have another house outside Japan so we will come to Japan from time to time, definitely not staying for long periods. This is a 2nd home, not the primary residence. I don't think this is so weird. If you have a second home in say, Thailand, and fill it with your clothes, books, favorite utensils, it doesn't mean you are setting up permanent residence in Thailand.
 

You're purchasing a home here?
 
Esme V said:
I don't think this is so weird. If you have a second home in say, Thailand, and fill it with your clothes, books, favorite utensils, it doesn't mean you are setting up permanent residence in Thailand.
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The main thing you didn't specify is your legal status. (Is your partner Japanese?)
Unlike Thailand and many countries, it's not a simple matter for foreigners to get legal permission to stay in Japan, especially on a part-time basis. Assuming you have no legal issues than it's basically just a matter of investigating your shipping options and costs.

One quick note that may save you some hassle -- if you are entering Japan and, say, shipping some items separately, when you enter the country make sure to say on the customs form that you have unaccompanied items coming. Otherwise you may have to pay duties/taxes on the stuff when it comes in later. I got caught by that little subtlety once via the postal service. I think if I hadn't insured my international shipment it probably wouldn't have been flagged. Of course that whole scenario was predicated on being a legal resident in Japan in the first place.
 
If you have a second home in say, Thailand, and fill it with your clothes, books, favorite utensils, it doesn't mean you are setting up permanent residence in Thailand.
Click to expand...
This isn't Thailand.

If I were an immigration or customs official, I would be suspicious of any tourist shipping kitchen utensils and dinnerware. Do you have an apartment or house already bought in Japan? (It doesn't matter whether you call it a second home. Just answer the question.)

If you have something already established here, but you are a tourists, so how did you manage that? And, do you pay taxes & rent/mortgage on it?
 
I have a second home in Japan. Foreigners can buy apartments, houses, and land in Japan. As a non-resident I can't open a bank account in Japan. So to pay the property tax, I have a local agent and I wire over the money to him, and he pays the tax (and other stuff like water, electricity, broadband, gardening, landscaping, whatever). I am NOT the first person doing this! Believe me, real estate companies in Japan provide this service to foreigners. There are hundreds of foreigners who own property, mostly apartments in Tokyo, and they come to visit on a tourist visa and stay in their Tokyo apartments which are stocked with their clothes, art work, silverware, personal effects. Of course, they never overstay their tourist visas and they have other homes outside Japan where they spend most of the time. Right now, a lot of Chinese are buying up Tokyo apartments and they take suitcases of cash to pay for them. Japan taxes people based on residency, unlike America which taxes people based on residency or citizenship. The criteria for being deemed a resident in Japan are the usual: spending more than 180 days in the country or having the primary locus of one's life in the country (this usually means your business, family, job, are in Japan). None of these apply to me. I don't work in Japan, have no desire to work there, have no family in Japan, can't even speak Japanese (although I'll probably take language lessons).

I will contact the various moving companies that the people on this forum have recommended and pose these questions. I could also just send my boxes to the agent (probably the simplest way to get this done).
 
You are quite correct about American appliances not fitting Japanese houses. All my appliances are from Japan.

Did you know that Japan is divided into two regions which have different frequencies for electricity? Eastern Japan (including Tokyo, Kawasaki, Sapporo, Yokohama, and Sendai) runs at 50 Hz; Western Japan (including Okinawa, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya, Hiroshima) runs at 60 Hz. This originates from the first purchases of generators from AEG (Germany) for Tokyo in 1895 and from General Electric (US) for Osaka in 1896. Therefore, if you move to Kyoto from Tokyo, you can't bring your appliances (and vice-versa). Almost all appliance makers produce 2 kinds of appliances with different frequencies.

 
Thanks for the clarification. It makes sense. I guess we just haven't run across too many people doing this. If you care to share, I'd be curious why you're doing this and where your second home is. If you don't want to elaborate, I understand.

Regarding appliances, while it's true there are different standards in use due to historical differences, I don't believe it's true these days that you need to buy different appliances per region. Every appliance I've ever purchased in Japan clearly show on the power label that it can handle both 50 & 60 kHz power sources.
 
I like Japan. I don't think this is so weird. Why not a holiday home in Japan? Japan is a developed country without serious crime issues (unlike the south of France or Italy where many northern Europeans have second homes that they use 3 weeks a year and that get broken into regularly). Japan has a fascinating culture. I like hiking and hanging out in onsens. I like Japanese craftsmanship (brushes, woodwork, paper, etc.).

And no, I'm not at the level of people like Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle Corp.) who owns a villa in Kyoto that is purportedly worth 8 billion yen, which he is now converting into a museum for Japanese art. The Larry Ellison villa used to be part of the Nanzen-ji temple complex. My abode is very small and modest.
 
I never said it was weird. If you have the means and, more importantly, the time then I think it's great. Still, you have to admit it's a rarity. Maybe not for the Chinese but certainly for people from the U.S.

If you could be so kind to report back on what you ended up doing in regards to shipping we'd appreciate it. For next person who comes along in search of such information.
 
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