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Japan Post (Yu-Pack): Letters and Parcels

Japan Post Yu-Pack letters and parcels cover almost every everyday send: a stamped letter in a post box, a sized parcel at the counter, or an EMS box abroad.123 Get the product class right first, because the wrong class means the wrong price or a rejected parcel.

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Japan Post site.

Overview​

Japan Post is the universal letter carrier plus a nationwide parcel network. Its four everyday product lines are standard mail (letters and postcards), Letter Pack flat-rate envelopes, ゆうパック (yū-pakku, "Yu-Pack domestic parcel service"), and outbound international mail.24

This guide covers all residents sending or receiving mail. Nothing here is gated by visa status or nationality, and rates are national, not set ward by ward.12

The network is dense by design. Yu-Pack parcels go at post offices throughout Japan and at affiliated convenience stores such as Lawson, Ministop, and Seicomart, and Japan Post also offers a free collection (pickup) service.24 All postages below are tax-inclusive prices.4

Domestic letters and postcards​

A standard-size letter up to 50 g costs 110 yen (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post).1 Nonstandard sizes step up by weight, so weigh the envelope before choosing stamps.

Standard and nonstandard sizes and current postage​

Nonstandard items within the specified size (length within 34 cm, width within 25 cm, thickness within 3 cm, weight within 1 kg) cost 140 yen to 50 g, 180 yen to 100 g, 270 yen to 150 g, 320 yen to 250 g, 510 yen to 500 g, and 750 yen to 1 kg (as of 2026-09-06).1 Over-size nonstandard items cost 260 yen to 50 g, 290 yen to 100 g, 390 yen to 150 g, 450 yen to 250 g, 660 yen to 500 g, 920 yen to 1 kg, 1,350 yen to 2 kg, and 1,750 yen to 4 kg (as of 2026-09-06).1

Older guides still quote 84 yen and 94 yen letters. Those figures ended on 2024-10-01, when the standard letter rose from 84 yen to 110 yen and the postcard from 63 yen to 85 yen in the first full-scale revision in about 30 years (as of 2024-10-01).51

Shape matters as well as weight. Irregular or square envelopes cannot travel as standard-size even when they fit the dimensions; they go as nonstandard-size (as of 2026-09-06).4

Stamps never expire, which softens the blow of old stock. Unused stamps and postcards are not refunded in cash, but undamaged ones can be exchanged for a prescribed fee.4

Postcards, mini-letters, and Letter Pack options​

A standard postcard costs 85 yen and a reply-paid card 170 yen (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post).1 A mini-letter postal envelope within 25 g costs 85 yen (as of 2026-09-06).1

ItemAmountAs ofNotes
Standard letter to 50 g110 yen2026-09-061Standard size only
Postcard85 yen2026-09-061Reply-paid card 170 yen
Mini-letter to 25 g85 yen2026-09-061Postal envelope
Letter Pack Light to 4 kg430 yen2026-09-066Mailbox delivery, tracking included
Letter Pack Plus to 4 kg600 yen2026-09-066Handed over face to face, tracking included

Letter Pack is the flat-rate A4 option up to 4 kg, including correspondence, sold as Light at 430 yen and Plus at 600 yen with tracking (as of 2026-09-06).6 Light goes to the mailbox; Plus is handed over face to face against a seal or signature, and a missed delivery waits at the post office with a notice left behind.64

Stretch old Letter Pack stock with addon stamps

Older 520 yen and 370 yen Letter Pack envelopes stay usable by adding 80 yen or 60 yen in stamps respectively.6 Check the printed value before buying new stock.

Letter Pack never leaves Japan and carries no compensation coverage. Cash, valuables, hazardous goods, and fragile or perishable items are excluded or discouraged.6

Yu-Pack domestic parcels​

Yu-Pack sizes run 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, and 170 by total centimetres of length plus width plus height, capped at 170 cm and 25 kg.2 Parcels over 25 kg up to 30 kg travel as Weighted Yu-Pack with a surcharge (as of 2026-09-06).7

Size classes, weight limits, and delivery options​

Every Yu-Pack parcel carries tracking by inquiry number and compensation for actual damage up to 300,000 yen as a general rule.24 Declared-value security service extends coverage up to 500,000 yen, and sending designated valuables that way adds a 420 yen charge (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post).4

Date designation (within 10 days) and a time window come standard. Choices run from morning through evening bands including around 12:00 to 14:00, 14:00 to 16:00, 16:00 to 18:00, and 18:00 to 20:00.24

Special cases have their own variants. Refrigerated (cool) Yu-Pack keeps food chilled door to door, while golf, ski, airport, same-day (limited areas), weighted, and discounted Braille or hearing-impaired Yu-Pack cover the rest.27

Sealed letters cannot ride inside Yu-Pack

Correspondence in the sealed-letter sense is barred from Yu-Pack parcels.2 An unsealed content memo, billing statement, or invoice may ride along, but anything that counts as correspondence needs a letter-class product instead.4

Small senders get a lighter option. ゆうパケット (yū-paketto, "Yu-Packet small tracked packet") takes items to 1 kg within 60 cm total, 34 cm longest side, and 3 cm thick at 250 yen to 1 cm, 310 yen to 2 cm, and 360 yen to 3 cm (as of 2026-09-06).7

Fee bands and discounts​

Yu-Pack list rates depend on origin prefecture and destination zone under one national formula. From Tokyo, pre-revision list examples include 820 yen (60 size) within Tokyo, 990 yen (60 size) to the Osaka area, 1,410 yen (60 size) to Hokkaido, and 1,450 yen (60 size) to Okinawa (as of 2026-09-06).8

Route example from Tokyo60 size80 size100 sizeAs of
Within Tokyo820 yen1,130 yen1,450 yen2026-09-068
To Osaka area990 yen1,310 yen1,620 yen2026-09-068
To Hokkaido1,410 yen1,710 yen2,020 yen2026-09-068
To Okinawa1,450 yen1,810 yen2,160 yen2026-09-068

Discounts stack on the list price. Carry-in earns 120 yen off per parcel, a same-address repeat within a year earns 60 yen off, and two or more parcels to one address at once earn 60 yen off, combining up to 180 yen (as of 2026-09-06).24 At convenience stores the 120 yen carry-in cut is already in the shown price (as of 2026-09-06).4

Practitioner sources describe a Yu-Pack basic-rate revision taking effect 2026-10-01 and averaging about 10 percent, with larger long-distance sizes rising most, but detail lines are inconsistently reported. Treat the table above as the pre-revision list and recheck the Japan Post calculator for sends on or after that date (as of 2026-09-06).9

International mail products​

EMS is Japan Post's fastest international service, taking documents and merchandise up to 30 kg to more than 120 countries and territories with tracking and compensation, with published rates starting from 1,450 yen (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post).3 Size and weight caps vary by destination country, so check the per-country list before packing.3

EMS and international parcel post​

International parcel post is the slower, cheaper EMS alternative for heavier boxes. It moves by air, economy SAL where available, or surface mail with per-country caps up to 30 kg.10

Japan Post publishes an international charge schedule (current edition marked June 2026) plus an online rate and delivery-day calculator by destination, item type, and weight (as of 2026-09-06).10 Price any send there rather than memorizing zone tables, since rates move by country and weight.

Small packets and International Air Packet under 2kg​

Small packets take articles to 2 kg (three sides to 90 cm, longest side to 60 cm) at lower rates than EMS or parcel post via airmail, SAL on some lanes, or surface mail (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post).11 They travel as ordinary mail like letters, so they are untracked; senders wanting a record should use International Air Packet instead.11 Registered handling of small packets ended 2025-12-31.11

Product names shifted recently. International ePacket Light became International Air Packet effective 2026-06-01 and now serves all countries and territories worldwide, while the older ePacket ended 2023-09-30.12

Mark the packet Small Packet (or Petit Paquet) in the upper-left corner of the address side. Build the customs declaration and electronic advance data in the International Mail My Page Service rather than handwriting goods labels.11

How to send: counters, boxes, and forms​

The sending flow branches once on what the item is. Letters and postcards take stamps and a post box; parcels take a label and a counter; international goods take an online label first.

Counter hours differ by office, and some counters stay open at night, so confirm with the specific office before a late run.4 郵便局 (yūbinkyoku, "post office") counters handle everything; affiliated stores take general Yu-Pack but not special handling such as security, cash on delivery, or refrigerated service.4

Counter drop-off, post boxes, and pickup services​

Letters and postcards travel with stamps, into a post box or across a counter. Yu-Pack needs its label, paid at the counter, an affiliated store, or through a collection request.24

Letter Pack envelopes at current denominations need no stamps and fit in most post boxes as well as counters, and Plus envelopes can also be collected.6 Yu-Pack postage itself can be paid with stamps combined with cash at post offices, though not at convenience stores.4

Collection (pickup) costs nothing extra. Same-day timing, dispatch cutoffs, and whether to ask the driver to bring boxes or labels all depend on the local office, so confirm when booking.4

Missed parcels wait 7 days at the delivering post office before returning to sender. Ordinary items held for an absent receiver follow the same 7-day hold.4

Customs forms and multilingual support​

Outbound goods labels, customs forms (CN22/CN23), and electronic advance data are built in the International Mail My Page Service.1110 Practitioner sources describe handwritten goods labels as rejected since 2024-03-01, but figures are inconsistently reported, so treat My Page as the safe channel either way.11

Guidance is multilingual. Japan Post publishes its international pages in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese.1112

Precision speeds everything. Name exact contents on Yu-Pack labels and customs forms instead of vague words like daily necessities or gift, since unclear descriptions keep parcels off aircraft and stall customs.411

Good to know​

Old stamp stock no longer covers a letter​

An 84 yen stamp plus habit no longer mails a standard letter. The 110 yen letter and 85 yen postcard are the numbers to remember, with addon stamps bridging old stock and exchange (for a fee) handling spoiled items.145

The clerk's tape measure decides your Yu-Pack size​

Yu-Pack size is the packed total of three sides, judged at acceptance. Bulging walls or extra padding can push a would-be 60 size into the 80 band, so measure after packing and keep the content description exact for air-loaded routes.24

Small-packet mistakes that stall international mail​

A missing Small Packet marking, a vague content line, or a handwritten goods label each invite delay. Create the My Page label and declaration first, mark the packet correctly, and bring the printout to the counter.11

Ordinary mail stops on Sundays and holidays​

Ordinary letters generally sit out Sundays and holidays, January 1 aside. Yu-Pack, Letter Pack Plus and Light, Yu-Packet, registered, 速達 (sokutatsu, "express mail option"), cash on delivery, and date or time specified items still move, so upgrade time-critical letters rather than trusting ordinary mail.46

See also​

References​

Footnotes​

  1. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Domestic delivery postage list (letters, postcards), English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/send/fee/kokunai/one_two_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  2. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Yu-Pack (parcel) service page, English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/you_pack/index_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  3. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Express Mail Service (EMS) page, English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/ems/index_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Japan Post Co., Ltd. FAQs and inquiries, English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/question/index_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22

  5. The Mainichi Shimbun. News Navigator: Why have Japan's postal rates been raised? 2024-10-01. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20241001/p2a/00m/0op/011000c ↩ ↩2

  6. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Letter Pack service page, English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/letterpack/index_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  7. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Domestic shipping fee list (parcels: Yu-Pack variants, Yu-Packet, Yu-Mail), English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/send/fee/kokunai/parcel_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Basic shipping fee table from Tokyo, Yu-Pack, English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/you_pack/charge/ichiran/13_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. Behind Everyday Japan (M. Kenzo W.). Why Japan Post Is Raising Parcel Prices, and Why It Won't Be Enough. 2026-07-07. https://mkenzow.substack.com/p/why-japan-post-is-raising-parcel ↩

  10. Japan Post Co., Ltd. International Mail top page, English (charge schedule, My Page entry). https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/send/oversea/index_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Japan Post Co., Ltd. Small Packets service page, English. https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/send/oversea/list/delivery/small_packing_en.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  12. Japan Post Co., Ltd. International ePacket Light notice page, English (rename notice). https://www.post.japanpost.jp/service/send/oversea/list/delivery/epacketlight_en.html ↩ ↩2