I had to mail in tax stuff for my state taxes as well, and as long as it’s as a letter and not a package things are fine. The post office staff kept emphasizing to me 荷物は今だめです because I’m know in my small town for being the one international package sender so they had to make sure I was aware, but after a short discussion (and talking to my 英会話 ladies) I confirmed 手紙は大丈夫 and could send in my tax forms pt 1. I would give it a try at your local post office - the worst they can do is say no, right? But I’m pretty sure it would be fine. Best of luck!
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I am heading there again today so maybe I will try this.
They kept telling me that there are no flights heading out, so I wouldn’t be able to send it.
They wouldn’t even let me post it there for when the flights started up again.
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It depends on how much you value your time. If you think that an extra week of waiting and inhibited Japanese-learning productivity is worth $10 to you then order from here in Japan.
I’ve never even been given the option to order from Amazon Japan to the U.S. with anything other than DHL.
I’ve also never seen a third party seller allow shipping to the U.S. period. Granted, I only buy books/manga from Amazon Japan, so maybe other items from third party sellers can ship to the U.S.
I’ve never bought stuff on Amazon Japan, so that’s fair. Usually it’s through CDJapan or Kinokuniya.
Interesting topic. I’ve wondered about the process to buy from Amazon JP. I created an account a month ago but haven’t tried buying anything. I read somewhere American credit cards are not accepted, but they can be used to get gift cards that can be used to buy things. (True?)
It just seems crazy how high the markup is on the US site for the books I’ve looked up. Only thing I bought from Japan was a couple small craft books on Etsy. Shipped from Nigata and arrived (US East coast) in about a week. This was back in September before the virus stuff.
Would be nice to get some things cheaper from the source than dealing with the higher US prices.
Forget who shipped my stuff, but yeah, I’ve only ever had one choice. Would be nice to have a cheaper, but slower option. Hell, Amazon Japan gets me my stuff faster than Amazon US.
American credit cards work just fine. But, some banks charge a foreign transaction fee, so check that first.
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I’m not OP but thanks for this update. I was just browsing the other day.
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For those in the USA, there are actually a few local options that sell the Genki book so you don’t have to import…
The most notable and reputable one that brings over books straight from Japan into their local stateside warehouse probably being the Kinokuniya Online Bookstore here.
Japanese Language Learning Textbooks & Workbooks — Kinokuniya USA
Walmart’s online store is also another option because they also sometimes sell from “Kinokuniya Bookstores of America” as the supplier. Just be sure to double check the “Sold & shipped by” tag on the page for them. This is where I got mine within 3 days with free shipping…
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Thanks, good to know cards should work fine.
Just looked up some info on my bank. Looks like they do a foreign transaction fee for ATM withdraws/debit payments of 1% of transaction. Also found on a different site that they don’t do transaction fees for credit cards so I may be good there.
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OK, I’m going to try and hit on a few different things mentioned throughout the thread.
I am in the US (California) and just placed an order with Amazon Japan yesterday. It is scheduled to be delivered July 14th. Before COVID, it would take about a week for me to receive my order in Southern California. Ironically I now receive my orders in about 4 days - also much faster than whatever Amazon has predicted. DHL texts me with the tracking information and I follow that.
If you are buying an item that is either directly sold by or fulfilled by Amazon.co.jp, the only shipping option is via DHL with their Global Priority Express and they are still delivering to the US. Other sellers may use different options and many don’t deliver to the US at all.
Yes, you have to make a separate Amazon.co.jp account, but you don’t need a Japanese address and you can use an American credit card. Make sure you switch the Amazon JP web interface to English (at the top of the screen) and then you will see the option to choose the non-Japanese address input form when you create your account.
Honestly, I buy nearly all my Japanese study materials (and manga) from Amazon.co.jp because they arrive in pristine condition - packed flat on a thick cardboard backing and that’s sealed with plastic heat-shrinking so that nothing is tossed around during transit! I like to keep things neat, and I don’t abuse my textbooks so the extra shipping cost is acceptable to me. Every time I have ordered paperback books from Amazon.com (US), they have been sent in a bubble mailer (automatically chosen for its size) and the books arrive completely damaged. It even happened last month with The Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. It was very overpriced compared to Amazon.co.jp. It was $66 on Amazon.com, but sold at its list price of 2806円 on Amazon Japan…so it was still cheaper to buy the one book + shipping than to purchase it from the US.
I check each item on a case by case basis and then make my decision. It’s also a better value to order a couple books at time since the difference in shipping is rather negligible (usually $2-4).
Whew, anyway, hope that helps some of you out and please ask if you’ve got any questions! 
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Great info, thanks!
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