Japan Post provides an extremely reliable and comprehensive service. For full information on postal services in English, phone 0570-046-111, or see http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/index.html. Mailing a normal letter within Japan costs 80 yen for up to 25g, and 90 yen for up to 50g. Sending a postcard costs 50 yen. You can buy stamps from post offices and any convenience store that displays the Post Office symbol.

Special delivery services within Japan

There are many other special services for sending documents and parcels within Japan. For express mail (sokutatsu), draw a red line along the right end of the envelope. This costs an extra 270 yen.

With Morning 10, the post office guarantees to deliver the letter by 10 am the next day, if you post it by a specified time. Yu-Pack is a delivery service for parcels up to 30kg with maximum total dimensions 170cm. The prices start at 600 yen and depend on weight and size.

You can even send frozen or refrigerated items by Chilled Yu-Pack.

Expack and Pos-Packet enable you to send items anywhere in Japan at set rates. With Expack, you can send items small enough to fit in the special Expack envelope for 500 yen. Items up to 1kg in weight and within the size limits can be sent by Pos-Packet for 350 yen. These both have tracking systems so the sender can check whether their package has arrived.

Printed matter, CDs, and DVDs can be sent as printed matter (yu-mail). Prices start at 180 yen and the maximum weight is 3kg.

There are several types of registered mail. With most of these, you can receive compensation if the item is lost or damaged. Normal registered mail is called kakitome, and simplified registered mail kan-i kakitome. You can safely send cash with the genkin kakitome service—for this you should use the special envelope.