Tokyo Central Post Office — Local services in Tokyo

If you're traveling in Japan and find yourself accumulating tons of merchandise and gifts (as we inevitably did), then the post office is your saving grace! We decided to ship all our purchases back home, and it not only lightened our travel load but also provided a hassle-free experience.

We opted for EMS (Express Mail Service) air, and the packages arrived promptly, with delivery times ranging between 2 days to 5 days, depending on the destination and post office location, we shipped to America. The efficiency was truly impressive.

The staff at the post office are incredibly helpful and courteous. They guided us through the process and made sure we were set up to send our packages home smoothly. A handy trick to list out all the items you're sending before heading to the post office; it makes the tablet entry process a breeze. Keep in mind that there are specific item name requirements, such as not being able to send battery items. For items like plushies, simply state "toy plushy, no battery" to comply with regulations.

Using the Japan Post Office for shipping was a game-changer for us, and we highly recommend it to fellow travelers. It's a stress-free way to ensure your cherished souvenirs and gifts make it safely back while lightening the load for you as you travel around...

I just realized on Saturday that the day I planned to send my package back home was a Sunday—I panicked because most post offices are closed on Sundays. Thankfully, this JP Central Post Office (Tokyo Station - marunouchi south exit )is open on Sundays!

If you want to send a package early in the morning, there's a nearby service point (right next to the post office) open from 7–9 AM. The main JP Post Office itself opens at 9 AM.

You can also buy boxes there—the largest one (from what I packed) can hold up to 12 kg and costs only 380 yen. They even provide tape for you to use. The staff are super polite and incredibly helpful.

One important thing to note: you need to go to the Japan Post website and create a shipping label yourself in advance. Just show them the QR code or email, and they’ll print the label and attach it to your package.

Highly recommend this place if you're in Tokyo and need to ship something, even...

My wife and I recently travelled to Japan from the UK. Our luggage was too heavy to take home without incurring extra fees, and we had a boxes of fragile gifts we needed to send home. We can’t speak highly enough of the care and attentiveness of the team at Tokyo Central Post office. They took time to explain what was required to send our items home with use of a translation tool, and were very patient. Our items just arrived home after 2.5 months (we had been told 2-3 months for overland postage). Given our poor Japanese skills, we were not confident of seeing our items again, but we are very grateful for the help of the post office team for ensuring our items(including the breakable gifts) arrived on time and in...