Todd Jay Leonard, Blog
For the past few weeks, I have been commenting on things that I especially like about Japan. Coming in at No. 4 on "Todd's Top Ten List of Things Japanese" is the amazing postal and parcel service that delivers just about anything to anywhere - all over Japan.
Since Japan is geographically smaller in comparison to the United States, it is much simpler to have an incredibly efficient and effective postal service and delivery system. In recent years, the already superb Japanese postal service has had to step up to the plate, however, in order to keep up with the private companies that can offer better services for less money. In general, though, the Japanese postal service does a very good job in getting mail delivered in a timely fashion and without any damage.
Post offices are found everywhere in Japan, making it easy to mail packages and to purchase stamps, postcards and so on. Within a two-minute walk from my home is a neighborhood post office which I use several times a week. Another 15-minute walk is yet another postal substation.
These neighborhood branches are small in size but plentiful, making the postal service quite user-friendly.
Mailboxes are located in many places - even in convenience stores - making mailing letters easy and convenient.
Post offices in Japan also have a banking section for savings accounts. In addition to regular banking, I maintain a postal account as well.
I appreciate the postal cash machine dispensers, because they offer English instructions.
When friends visit from home, it is easy for them to get money from their U.S. bank accounts or debit cards using these cash machines. Sometimes regular Japanese banks can be fussy about foreign cash cards, recognizing some systems and not others.
Hassle-free package delivery
Today, the postal service strives to offer a variety of services geared toward making the postal experience easy and more enjoyable for its customers. This wasn't always the case.
When I first came to Japan to live, parcels addressed to foreign destinations could be mailed only from the main post office. Today, all of the postal substations (numbering in the thousands nationwide) can weigh and stamp any parcel going anywhere in the world, making it much more convenient to mail overseas packages.
Several private companies deliver packages anywhere in Japan, usually overnight. For instance, frozen or refrigerated goods purchased in Tokyo one day are delivered the next day in a refrigerated truck. Often Japanese will give food as gifts, choosing local delicacies to send to friends and family in other parts of Japan.
Since freshness is all important with these types of items, the parcel services do everything in their power to ensure that the items are delivered quickly and in the same condition they were sent.
In Tokyo, there is an American Costco I like to visit when I have a chance; I usually stock up on a number of things that I normally can't get so easily where I live. Costco will pack all of the goods I purchase in boxes and mail them to my home via one of these companies - and all for a very reasonable amount of money.
The reason it is so inexpensive to mail boxes around Japan probably has to do with the sheer volume of parcels that are sent each and every day. Also, competition between companies is very keen, as it is a very lucrative industry. The best way to stay ahead of a rival company is to be more efficient, inexpensive and careful with the entrusted cargo.
I especially appreciate the private delivery companies' attention to detail. They handle each package with extreme care. Never in all the years of utilizing such services have I ever had anything broken, lost or misdirected. I can't say this about the U.S. Postal Service.
In Japan, they have created a nearly foolproof system that tracks each package individually. When mailed, the package is given a regional code, then a more specific code that takes it to the street where it will be delivered.
The delivery services regularly pick up packages from a variety of places - convenience stores, department stores, supermarkets, liquor stores, dry cleaners and even from one's home.
Leave the lugging to us
One service they provide that I particularly like is a suitcase delivery system. Before leaving on an international trip, I can mail my suitcases from my home to the airport I am leaving from for about $10 to $15 each. This really makes traveling hassle-free, because getting the luggage to Tokyo using public transportation can be the most difficult part of a trip and the most frustrating. By having the suitcases arrive before, all that needs to be done is pick them up and check in.
Returning to Japan is the same. Located outside of customs at all international airports are several counters for people to send their luggage back to their homes. Nearly all people who live outside of the Tokyo metropolitan area utilize this service. Trying to lug heavy suitcases up and down stairs, through busy train stations and onto buses is too much for even the heartiest of travelers. The Japanese system of mailing luggage to and from the airport makes it all that much easier.
This system of parcel delivery has spoiled me over the years. I had a severe case of sticker shock when I tried to mail a small suitcase from Minnesota to Indiana once using an American parcel service. There are few bargains in Japan, but mailing boxes and parcels around the country happens to be one of them.
By TODD JAY LEONARD
Columnist
'Posting it' notes
Japanese efficiency will get whatever you have to wherever you need it
Monday, May 21 , 2007
