When each figure on this site was checked

The five services

Where the dates differ for one service, it is because a later check only covered part of its rules: for example, a new kind of item added to the prohibited-items check is checked against every service on the day it is added.

Postage and exchange rates

Postage is charged at Japan Post's published rates whichever service you use, so a change in those rates moves every service's total, not just one.

Import tax and duty, by country

What has changed

• 14 October 2026: Rechecked Japan Post's lists of destinations that accept lithium batteries. Surface mail now counts as open to the UK and Singapore, and closed to the US and France, as the lists say; before, this site had those four the wrong way round for surface mail.
• 6 October 2026: Added CDJapan, which sells CDs, Blu-ray and DVDs, books, games, figures and anime goods and ships abroad itself, to the shops suggested where buying direct is possible. Shops are now only suggested for the kind of item being priced.
• 6 October 2026: Rechecked Solaris Japan, the shop shown where buying direct is possible: it still ships only by Japan Post (Saver, Regular and Express) and sells new and pre-owned figures, video games and anime merchandise.
• 6 October 2026: Rechecked import tax rules for the United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong against official sources: no change in rates or limits. Taiwan's customs page now words its NT$2,000 exemption differently, and the quotation on this site has been updated to match.
• 6 October 2026: Rechecked Japan Post EMS rates: unchanged. The full rate table is now used, from 500 g to 30 kg in every band. Before, parcels between the bands this site held (for example 600 g) were priced at the next one up, which overstated postage.
• 6 October 2026: Rechecked the UK, German and French import tax rules against government sources. The rates were unchanged; the UK has brought forward the end of its £135 customs duty relief to October 2028 at the latest, and the EU's €3 duty is now described as it is officially worded, per declared item line.
• 6 October 2026: Rechecked the fees of FROM JAPAN, Buyee, ZenMarket and Neokyo against their own pages. Fees were unchanged, but ZenMarket only collects VAT or GST at checkout on parcels up to £135 to the UK, €150 to the EU, A$1,000 to Australia and S$400 per item to Singapore; above those, the tax is now shown as paid on arrival.
• 5 October 2026: Added a country-by-country guide to customs duty, with the UK's tariff rates for figures, cards, consoles and books, and the EU's new €3 flat duty.
• 5 October 2026: Added a guide to buying from Suruga-ya, Mandarake, Lashinbang, Toranoana and Melonbooks, including which of them ship abroad themselves.
• 5 October 2026: Added a guide to lost or damaged parcels: which services pay out themselves, which pass claims to Japan Post, and the deadlines for claiming.
• 5 October 2026: Added a guide to reading Mercari and Yahoo! Auctions listings, using the marketplaces' own definitions of condition grades and bidding.
• 5 October 2026: Added perfume, skincare and make-up, over-the-counter medicine, and plants and seeds to the items checked against each service's prohibited list.
• 5 October 2026: Read FROM JAPAN's full prohibited list. Its rules for replica guns, swords, lithium batteries and food, previously marked as not stated, are now taken from it.
• 5 October 2026: Added an estimate of US customs duty by type of item, following the 12.5% rate on goods made in Japan in force since 24 July 2026. It is shown next to the totals, not added to them.
• 5 October 2026: Added Doorzo as a fifth service, with its fees taken from its own user guide. Its payment fee is not published and is counted as ¥0, which is noted wherever it comes out cheapest.
• 2 October 2026: Totals now show an approximate figure in the destination's currency, at European Central Bank reference rates (Taiwan dollars at the US Federal Reserve's H.10 rate).
• 2 October 2026: Added a glossary and a page of frequently asked questions.
• 2 October 2026: Added Japan Post's airmail small packets, airmail parcels and surface parcels alongside EMS, with which services offer each.
• 2 October 2026: Turned each country's import tax page into a full guide to buying from Japan for that country, and added eight guides by kind of item.
• 2 October 2026: Redesigned the site and expanded every page with worked examples.
• 28 August 2026: Added shops in Japan that ship abroad themselves, shown where buying direct is possible.
• 27 August 2026: Merged pages that gave the same answer for every country into single pages.
• 10 August 2026: Added Taiwan and Hong Kong as destinations.
• 9 August 2026: Started checking each order against the services' prohibited-item rules and Japan Post's rules for each destination.
• 7 August 2026: First version: fees for FROM JAPAN, Buyee, ZenMarket and Neokyo checked against each company's own pages.

If something is out of date

Companies change their fees without notice, and the check dates above are the only promise this site makes about them. If you find a fee or a rule that no longer matches a company's own page, tell us and it will be checked and corrected, with the change listed here. How each total is worked out is set out in how we calculate.