I’ve been looking in to how to actually move my stuff to Japan. There are multiple ways to do it, depending on various needs you have (what are you moving, length of stay, etc). The last piece of the puzzle was exploring taking baggage on an airline. I didn’t find good answers here (e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/tlk253/baggage_luggage/), so I made a phone call to ANA today.
So, four options I’ve discovered so far:
1. Take everything as baggage on the plane! I called ANA today to ask about this. They said you can bring practically unlimited extra bags, paying $200 each after the first 2! They ask that if you will bring more than 5 that you give them advance notice so that they can be sure the plane will have adequate cargo room. Obviously, the weight limit per bag still applies or else you pay overage.
2. Via UPS or FedEx. Holy cow is this expensive! A 24″ cubic box would cost about $500 to ship, with any appreciable weight in it! The bonuses are that it won’t take too long, and it is point to point.
3. Shipping service by sea. This is an economical option for taking lots of stuff, but the two companies I talked to couldn’t guarantee a delivery window and said it would be 3+ months. Options were a shipping container (50 feet long or so) or an half container, and the price started at about $2500 and ranges up to 4x that, depending on some factors. The interesting bit is that they will pack everything for you because they are the importer of record and want to be sure what is in each box. They do offer for to door service, though.
4. Shipping service by air. The same company as #3, but your stuff gets there way faster but at about 4x the cost as sea.
For my situation, not moving a car or furniture (other than a sentimental kotatsu and a couple specialized monitors), and staying for multiple years, I’ll be taking everything on the plane with me then using a courier service when I land. I’m willing to spend up to $2k for 10 extra pieces of luggage if need be. My expectation is that I’ll take 6 extra.
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2k for 10 50 pound luggage is expensive and a lot to move on your own, even using a service once in Japan.
It’s in the 3 month range for shipping but Yamato Transport has international shipping that we used and was really good. Basically 20 boxes for about $1000 USD. You pack them, fill out some paperwork and they will pick up at your residence and deliver to your door in Japan. You don’t even need an address for delivery when you ship, they will contact you when everything clears customs and is ready to schedule delivery.
We used a combination of Yamato for stuff we could wait a little bit of time to get(seasonal clothing, specialized kitchen equipment, sentimental stuff, ect..) and checking a couple boxes(we had 3 people so lots of baggage allowance)