Have not had any luck searching online for a source to ship “by sea” to Japan from California. I would appreciate if anyone has any information or can recommend regarding this. Thank you in advance.
Though I can’t speak on shipping to Japan, it’s very easy to send by sea from Japan to the US at any Japan Post. Takes a few months but is extremely cost effective. Sorry I can’t be any more help!
Look into Kuroneko Yamato transport (they’re like Japans version of FedEx). They have relocation services, with offices across North America.
I sent a parcel from Tokyo to Alberta on May 29th and it arrived this past week on July 3rd. I used Japan Post with their ground/sea option. Goodluck!
A while back I use Nittsu (NipponExpress) to ship my stuff from Canada by sea.
Happy customer.
I would just go into your local post office and ask about it. They will have that information for sure.
Doable, but be aware that you’ll need to do much more prep work than if you were sending a regular package. You’ll want to reinforce the entire box with tape. Consider even double boxing. You’ll then want to put all your belongings in waterproof plastic bags. Inside each bag, put a card with your name and contact info.
Basically, it’s not uncommon for boxes to burst open mid journey. The sailors don’t know whose stuff is whose so they just kind of haphazardly throw things back into boxes. There are plenty of stories of people’s stuff disappearing or ending up with other people’s stuff in their box. Other people are lucky and their stuff is completely fine. But there’s chance things could go sideways.
Personally I don’t use sea mail myself because my thinking is “if I’m ok with the possibility of this being damaged or lost in transit, then this is something I probably don’t really need. I’ll just donate it instead.”
Edit: the horror stories I’ve heard are all from Japan, but I’d assume you’d want to take similar precautions when sending to Japan as well
I remember when I looked it up a couple years ago, there was no USPS Sea shipping to Japan for non-commercial usage, and from what I can tell, there still isn’t. I know I was planning to use Kuroneko, as mentioned by someone else.
I can’t offer a suggestion for shipping services, but I will add a reminder to check the box “unattended packages sent separately” (or something similar) on the customs form or face a strongly worded letter.
I sent back 7 boxes through the post office. They took 2-4 months, but it was relatively cheap. None of my items went missing but one box showed up as shredded cardboard, tape, and a prayer. Absolutely follow the advice to send everything in waterproof plastic with an address card inside.
I would not recommend, because I have had a box of items either fall out or get stolen (the box looked like it had been torn open, not like a weak packing tape job). And someone else I know has experienced this a couple times too. Probably not worth the risk.
My son was an ALT. He returned to the US recently. During his stay in Japan, I tried a few shipping companies including USPS to send him things. The best deal was through:
I saved a lot of money and he received his packages in less than a week. You pick your carrier. Through this company, I have sent packages via UPS (Kuroneko Yamato), FEDEX, DHL, and USPS. UPS delivery via Kuroneko Yamato was the most convenient for delivery to my son. I was able to send him large bottles of Health supplements from Amazon & COSTCO without a problem. I hope this was helpful.
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Though I can’t speak on shipping to Japan, it’s very easy to send by sea from Japan to the US at any Japan Post. Takes a few months but is extremely cost effective. Sorry I can’t be any more help!
Look into Kuroneko Yamato transport (they’re like Japans version of FedEx). They have relocation services, with offices across North America.
I sent a parcel from Tokyo to Alberta on May 29th and it arrived this past week on July 3rd. I used Japan Post with their ground/sea option. Goodluck!
A while back I use Nittsu (NipponExpress) to ship my stuff from Canada by sea.
Happy customer.
I would just go into your local post office and ask about it. They will have that information for sure.
Doable, but be aware that you’ll need to do much more prep work than if you were sending a regular package. You’ll want to reinforce the entire box with tape. Consider even double boxing. You’ll then want to put all your belongings in waterproof plastic bags. Inside each bag, put a card with your name and contact info.
Basically, it’s not uncommon for boxes to burst open mid journey. The sailors don’t know whose stuff is whose so they just kind of haphazardly throw things back into boxes. There are plenty of stories of people’s stuff disappearing or ending up with other people’s stuff in their box. Other people are lucky and their stuff is completely fine. But there’s chance things could go sideways.
Personally I don’t use sea mail myself because my thinking is “if I’m ok with the possibility of this being damaged or lost in transit, then this is something I probably don’t really need. I’ll just donate it instead.”
Edit: the horror stories I’ve heard are all from Japan, but I’d assume you’d want to take similar precautions when sending to Japan as well
I remember when I looked it up a couple years ago, there was no USPS Sea shipping to Japan for non-commercial usage, and from what I can tell, there still isn’t. I know I was planning to use Kuroneko, as mentioned by someone else.
I can’t offer a suggestion for shipping services, but I will add a reminder to check the box “unattended packages sent separately” (or something similar) on the customs form or face a strongly worded letter.
I sent back 7 boxes through the post office. They took 2-4 months, but it was relatively cheap. None of my items went missing but one box showed up as shredded cardboard, tape, and a prayer. Absolutely follow the advice to send everything in waterproof plastic with an address card inside.
I would not recommend, because I have had a box of items either fall out or get stolen (the box looked like it had been torn open, not like a weak packing tape job). And someone else I know has experienced this a couple times too. Probably not worth the risk.
My son was an ALT. He returned to the US recently. During his stay in Japan, I tried a few shipping companies including USPS to send him things. The best deal was through:
https://www.easyship.com/?utm_campaign=56411&utm_term=10435&utm_content=672612&utm_medium=affiliate&irclickid=TX4QGt2v0xyPR2lwlZU8twkpUkFwVYUcESF0UY0&irgwc=1&utm_source=Semantic%20Labs
I saved a lot of money and he received his packages in less than a week. You pick your carrier. Through this company, I have sent packages via UPS (Kuroneko
Yamato), FEDEX, DHL, and USPS. UPS delivery via Kuroneko Yamato was the most convenient for delivery to my son. I was able to send him large bottles of Health supplements from Amazon & COSTCO without a problem. I hope this was helpful.