Using Mail Services in Japan

Air mail takes at least five days to reach Japan from North America. Surface freight (sea mail) takes about a month.

If you want to give your friends an address before you go, have mail sent to American Express, Tokyo’s International Post Office, or Tokyo’s Central Post Office. All of these places will hold mail for thirty days before returning it to the sender:

Tokyo

American Express, Tokyo
Yurakucho Denki Building, 1F
1-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100, Japan
(03) 3214-3456

General Delivery
Central Post Office
2-7-2 Mainnouchi Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100, Japan
(03) 3284-9527

International P.O.
2-3-3 Otemachi Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo, Japan
(03) 3241-4891

Osaka

American Express, Osaka
Ushu Honmachi Building
3-1-6 Honmachi, Chuo-ku
Osaka 541, Japan
(06) 264-6300

The Japan Times publishes weekly lists of those who have mail waiting for them at the post office.

Mail and Answering Service

A number of companies will take your telephone messages and accept all your mail. Simply call in to retrieve your phone messages. This is a great service until you get situated and have your own phone. The best one we know of is the Kimi Information Center – see website for fees.