Hoverboards and gyroboards
Named outright on the listing, alongside ammunition, firearms and their components and accessories, weapons, infectious substances, radioactive materials, and narcotic and psychotropic substances.
Japan-bound
Shipping a package to Japan
A parcel that clears into Japan often arrives with a second piece of paper stuck to the outside of it: an assessment of duties and taxes, and a payment slip, handed over at the door by Japan Post. Whether that slip exists at all is decided by the value written on the customs form before the box ever leaves. The country listing and the Japanese customs rules below were read on 2026-08-07.
Country listing, datedCeilings per productDomestic leg priced live
Declared value does the work
The size limits decide whether the box can go. What the sender writes on the form decides what the person receiving it pays.
The box Japan will take
Japan sits at the generous end of the postal size range. Both Priority Mail products run to 60 inches of length and 108 inches of length plus girth, a foot and a half more length than the 42-inch cap that appears on a number of other country listings, so the practical ceiling here is usually the 66 lb weight limit rather than the tape measure.
| Product | Weight ceiling | Longest side | Length plus girth | Customs form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Mail Express International | 66 lb | 60 in | 108 in | PS Form 2976-B inside PS Form 2976-E |
| Priority Mail International | 66 lb | 60 in | 108 in | PS Form 2976-A inside PS Form 2976-E |
| First-Class Package International Service | 4 lb | Size limits per the international manual | PS Form 2976 | |
| First-Class Mail International | 3.5 oz letters, 15.994 oz large envelopes | Size limits per the international manual | None, unless otherwise required | |
| Airmail M-bags | Not available | — | — | — |
The last row is the one that quietly costs money. Airmail M-bags are the bulk sack that makes a carton of books or catalogs affordable to many countries, and the Japan listing marks the product unavailable. A lot of printed matter therefore has to travel as an ordinary parcel at parcel weight, which changes the arithmetic on used-book and zine orders more than any other line in the table.
Areas served reads all of Japan, Okinawa included, so there is no separate carve-out to check the way there is for a few island territories elsewhere.
What Japan will not let in
The prohibition list is short compared with some destinations, and two entries on it are the ones that actually catch American senders.
Anything infringing rights
The listing refuses items that infringe patent rights, utility model rights, design rights, trademark rights, copyrights, neighboring rights or layout design rights. That wording is broad enough to reach replica goods and unlicensed reproductions.
Valuables need the right product
Banknotes, coins, precious metals and jewelry may travel only as First-Class Package International Service with Registered Mail service, or as an insured Priority Mail International parcel. On any other product they are simply not admissible.
Two categories move only with a certificate rather than not at all. Meat products need an inspection certificate issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, and plants need a phytosanitary certificate from the country of origin and may be sent only as parcels or small packets. Many other goods need an import license held by the person receiving them, which is a question to settle with the addressee before the box is packed rather than after it lands.
The 10,000 yen line, and who settles it
Japan Customs sets the exemption by the total customs value of everything inside one package. Goods at a total customs value of 10,000 yen or less are exempted from customs duty and consumption tax, and the wording is per package, so splitting one order across two boxes and splitting one box into two declarations are very different acts.
The exemption has a carve-out list that reads like a shopping bag. Leather bags, handbags and gloves, knitted apparel such as T-shirts and sweaters, ski boots, leather shoes and footwear with leather soles are all designated ineligible, so a low-value pair of leather sneakers can be assessed where a higher-value plastic item would not be. Domestic excises other than consumption tax remain payable, liquor tax and tobacco tax among them.
When something is owed, nobody sends an email. Tokyo Customs describes issuing a Notice of Assessment of Duties and Taxes Postal Matters together with a payment slip, both affixed to the outside of the parcel and delivered by Japan Post. The person at the door pays before the box is handed over, and the figure is worked out from the customs declaration and any invoice attached to the package. That is the single strongest argument for declaring accurately and attaching a readable invoice: the assessment is built from what the sender wrote, and the recipient is the one holding the bill.
Above a certain size the paperwork stops being optional. The country listing requires a sales invoice for every article valued at more than 1,600 U.S. dollars.
Label details Japan Post asks for by name
Few country listings get specific about typography. This one does, and the requests are cheap to honor.
- Labels made from non-thermal paper, with a font size of 10 points recommended for both the destination and the sender addresses. Thermal labels fade in a hot trailer, and a faded address in a foreign script is a return waiting to happen.
- The correct postal code on the address label and, where applicable, on the customs form as well. Japanese sorting leans on the code far more heavily than street naming does.
- Human ashes are accepted only when presented for mailing by a licensed crematory or licensed mortuary, packed in a sealed metal container inside a substantial outer container.
Where this site fits on a Japan lane
SMKlog prices United States domestic parcels. If the carton is going to a freight forwarder, a consolidator or a family member who will re-ship it, that first hop is an ordinary domestic shipment and the calculator will price it from two ZIP codes in about a minute. The export leg is a different animal, and no automated quote on this site produces it.
For the leg that actually crosses the Pacific, send the details through freight review and a person prices it, including pallets and anything past parcel size. That is a human reading the shipment and coming back with a number, not a button.
Where these rules come from
- USPS, Individual Country Listing for Japan — products, weight and size ceilings, customs forms, prohibitions, restrictions and the label observations. Read 2026-08-07.
- Japan Customs, Duty exemption for goods at a total customs value of 10,000 yen or less — the exemption and the goods excluded from it. Read 2026-08-07.
- Tokyo Customs, postal question and answer page — the assessment notice and payment slip affixed to the parcel and delivered by Japan Post. Read 2026-08-07.
Country listings are revised without notice and the Japan entry has been amended more than once in recent years. Read the listing yourself on the day you ship rather than trusting a copy of it, including this one.
Common questions
Can USPS still send a parcel to Japan?
Yes. The country listing read on 2026-08-07 shows Priority Mail Express International, Priority Mail International, First-Class Mail International and First-Class Package International Service all running, and the areas served line covers all of Japan, Okinawa included.
How big can a box to Japan be?
Both Priority Mail products stop at 66 lb, 60 inches of length and 108 inches of length plus girth. First-Class Package International Service stops at 4 lb.
When does the person in Japan pay customs charges?
Japan Customs exempts goods at a total customs value of 10,000 yen or less from customs duty and consumption tax. Leather goods, knitted apparel, ski boots and leather footwear are named as exceptions to that exemption.
Are Airmail M-bags available to Japan?
No. The country listing marks the product unavailable, so a bulk lot of books or catalogs has to travel as an ordinary parcel and be paid for by weight.
What does Japan prohibit that catches senders out?
Hoverboards and gyroboards are named outright. So is anything infringing patent, utility model, design, trademark, copyright, neighboring or layout design rights, which is enforced on incoming mail at the border.