ePacket Shipping Changes

Nothing ever seems to get easier (or cheaper). We've been informed recently that on October 1st, 2023 Japan Post will eliminate ePacket service and switch to "Air Small Packets". That is for those who are eligible which includes most of the world outside of North America. While ePacket had tracking, air small packets does not include tracking. Thus, unfortunately, there will be a mandatory fee of ¥410 on top of the normal small packets shipping fee for each parcel to add tracking. The parcel must be signed for upon delivery. The price to ship using Air Small Packets will go up considerably on October 1st, 2023. Regarding North America - yes, even though COVID-19 pandemic is long over and there are a zillion flights back and forth to between Japan and North America, Japan Post has still not resumed deliveries of anything outside of EMS to the United States or Canada. They won't tell us the reason for this. The price of shipping to North America by EMS is nearly the same cost of FedEx and FedEx is way faster. The only time it makes sense to use EMS over FedEx is when you live in a remote area and FedEx tacks on a "Out of Delivery Area" surcharge. Know that we always seek out the cheapest and reliable solutions to ship to our customers but a lot of it is out of our control.