Mail-Forwarding at Move and Departure
Mail forwarding Japan starts with one Japan Post filing that redirects items from an old address to a new one for a year.1 The catch is scope: the service covers domestic addresses only, runs from the submission date, and never updates the ward-office record or any sender's address book on its own.123
Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at Japan Post.
Overview
This guide covers the Japan Post relocation filing from start to expiry: what it forwards, the three filing channels, the activation lag, and the departure path for residents leaving Japan.14 It applies to any resident with a Japan address who moves within the country, plus a separate strategy section for residents leaving the country.12
Filing with the post office and filing with the ward office are parallel tasks. The post office moves the mail, while the municipal office moves the legal residence record, and neither filing completes the other.3
What filing does and does not do
A submitted 転居届 (tenkyo todoke, "relocation form") tells Japan Post to redirect postal items sent to the former address to the new address.1 The redirection target must be another address within Japan, since both the paper form and the online path accept domestic relocations only.2
What the filing does not do matters just as much. It does not update the residence record at the ward or city office, and it does not tell banks, insurers, or government senders to change the address they hold.31 Those updates happen through separate municipal and sender-by-sender steps.
How the service works
The service is a national one with a single form, a single term, and the same channels everywhere in Japan. Readers can follow the steps below as written and still file the municipal address step separately at the local ward or city office.
What gets forwarded and for how long
Postal items sent to the former address are redirected to the new address free of charge.1 The effective period is one year from the date the form is submitted, not from any requested start date written on the form.14
Registration takes 3 to 7 business days after submission (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post), so mail posted in the gap days may still arrive at the old address.4 The online FAQ gives the same rough 3 to 7 business day window after successful acceptance and notes that the figure may vary (as of 2026-09-06).5
| Item | Amount | As of | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forwarding service, all channels | Free | n/a | No fee schedule; single national term1 |
| Renewal filing | Free | n/a | Refile the same form; no automatic extension1 |
After the year expires, items addressed to the old address are returned to the sender.14 Renewal means submitting the relocation form again before or after expiry, since forwarding never extends itself.1
Japan Post may confirm the move after acceptance through a staff visit, through a cohabitant when the mover is absent, or by mailing a confirmation form to the former address.1 The mailed confirmation is skipped when the submitter's ID and the former-address details were both confirmed at the counter.1
The diagram above shows the full lifecycle in one pass, which is why the submission date matters more than the moving date itself.
What is excluded
Japan Post states plainly that it is unable to forward mail overseas.6 A resident leaving Japan therefore needs a Japan-side receiving point or direct sender updates, covered in the departure section below.27
Mail marked 転送不要 (tensō fuyō, "do not forward") is also outside the service. Secondary guides describe such items as returned to the sender even with an active filing, with banks, card issuers, telecoms, and government senders as the common senders that use the marking.8 Treat that sender list as practitioner guidance rather than a Japan Post commitment.
Parcel handling can vary by outlet. The Japanese service page warns that some outlets do not handle Yu-Pack, so a parcel-heavy mover should confirm with the local office and update shippers directly rather than assuming every parcel follows the letter flow.4
Do-not-forward items return to the sender even when forwarding is active. Notify banks, card issuers, and telecoms of the new address directly instead of relying on redirection.8
How to file
Three channels file the same form: a post-office counter, a mailbox drop of the paper form, or the online e-transfer path.4 All three are free, and all three start the same one-year clock from the submission date.1
The diagram above maps the shared shape across channels, so readers pick by convenience rather than by outcome.
File at a post office counter
Submit the relocation form at the counter of a nearby post office; any post office counter accepts it, so there is no need to visit the office tied to either address.1 Bring the filing well before the moving date, since counter staff advise completing the procedure with time to spare.1
The counter checks the submitter's ID. For an individual move, a driver's license, health insurance card, or similar document works; for a company or group move, the person at the counter shows a document tying them to the organization, such as an employee card, and completes the notifier field with name and seal.1
The counter also confirms the former address with a government-issued document showing it. Accepted examples include a driver's license, passport, Individual Number card, Basic Resident Register card, or residence certificate.1 Where the submitter and the mover are different people, a copy of one mover's ID is acceptable alongside the submitter's own check.4
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 転居届 (tenkyo todoke, "relocation form") | The paper or online form that starts forwarding1 |
| 本人確認 (hon'nin kakunin, "identity verification") | The ID check on the submitter and one mover4 |
| 旧住所 (kyū jūsho, "former address") | The address mail is redirected away from1 |
File by mailbox drop
When a counter visit is not possible, fill in the paper form available at post offices, confirm its contents, and drop it in any post box without a stamp using the attached dedicated envelope.14 The no-stamp rule is part of the form's design, not a favor at the counter.
A mailed filing must include a copy of the submitter's ID. Accepted copies include a driver's license, health-insurance eligibility confirmation, driving-history certificate, 在留カード (zairyū kādo, "residence card"), My Number card, or special permanent resident certificate.4
Double-check the old and new addresses in Japanese, including apartment numbers, before sealing the envelope. An incomplete or unclear address slows the one part of the process the mover fully controls.
File online via e-transfer
The online path is e転居 (e-tenkyo, "online change-of-address filing"), reached through the e-Tenkyo website or the Japan Post Official App (Japanese version only).49 Login requires a ゆうID (Yu ID, "Japan Post common ID") that has already completed identity verification; unverified accounts complete that check inside the flow.49
The steps run in order: open e-Tenkyo and start a new request, accept the terms, log in to Yu ID, confirm the requester's registered details, complete online identity verification when prompted, enter the old address, new address, and mover details, then confirm and submit.9 The requester and the mover may be different people, which covers family or helper filings.9
Keep the completion notice or a screenshot until forwarding visibly starts. Online filing still passes through the same registration queue as paper filings.
Timing and activation lag
File at least a week before the move when possible. Registration takes 3 to 7 business days after submission or acceptance, described as a rough figure that may vary (as of 2026-09-06; confirm current figures with Japan Post).45
Because the year runs from submission rather than from a requested start date, timing the filing is timing the expiry too.14 A filing submitted a month before moving expires a month earlier the following year, which is the trade-off for closing the gap.
Leaving Japan: mail strategy
Leaving Japan changes the task from redirection to replacement. Japan Post cannot send domestic mail to an overseas address, so the mover needs a Japan-side receiver plus direct updates everywhere that matters.26
The diagram above keeps the two tracks separate on purpose, since forwarding alone never finishes the job for a departure.
Forward to a Japan address first
File the relocation form toward a Japan address that stays valid after departure: a trusted friend's address for the transition year, or a private Japanese mailbox service that receives items and then scans, translates, or reships them internationally.710 Filing toward the friend or provider address uses the same free one-year mechanism as any domestic move.1
Practitioner sources describe the mailbox-service setup as filing the tenkyo todoke toward the provider's Japan address and then managing items through an online dashboard.10 Treat provider names, prices, and feature lists as shopping decisions outside this guide; the category itself is the point here.
A friend-based setup works the same way for the first year and then ends unless renewed, which is awkward to arrange from abroad.17 Agree in advance what the friend should do with tax slips, bank letters, and anything time-sensitive, including scan-and-email handling and when to discard.
For short absences under 30 days, a different tool fits better. Filing an absence notice at the local post office with ID puts mail on hold and resumes delivery afterward, with no forwarding involved.6
Cancel subscriptions and update senders directly
Forwarding never updates sender records, and Japan Post states that filing information is not shared with third parties such as agencies or companies.1 Every consequential sender therefore needs a direct address change or a cancellation before departure.8
Work through banks, card issuers, insurers, mobile carriers, schools, and any government office that writes to you. Cancel what ends and update what continues, since forwarding misses marked mail.8
Japan Post may still send its own service information or consented address-change guidance to the new address after a move.1 That is Japan Post writing for itself, not Japan Post notifying senders on the mover's behalf.
Good to know
The two forms share one name
Japan Post's 転居届 and the municipal office's same-named change-of-address notice are different forms filed at different counters.3 The postal form moves mail, while the municipal notice moves the legal residence record, and most within-Japan movers need both plus any inter-city moving-out notice.3 Confusing the two leaves either the mail or the record unmoved.
Do-not-forward mail still goes back to sender
Even a correctly filed and active forwarding setup does not redirect 転送不要 items.8 Banks and card issuers use the marking for identity protection, which is exactly why those accounts sit at the top of the direct-update list.8 When in doubt about a sender, assume its mail is marked and update it directly.
Moving twice inside the forwarding year
A second move during the active year needs a fresh relocation form showing the newest address, chaining the target forward.83 Practitioner guides describe this as a normal refile rather than a special procedure, though Japan Post's primary pages spell out renewal by refiling without detailing mid-year chaining.1 A second full year is the same action again: refile rather than wait for an extension that never comes automatically.1
See also
- Move-Out Procedures: Closing Utility Accounts
- Hanko and Signature for Delivery Receipts
- Japan Post (Yu-Pack): Letters and Parcels
- Takkyubin: The Parcel-Delivery Network
- Mail Forwarding, Pet Repatriation, Cargo Shipping
- Redelivery (Saihaitatsu) and Locker Pickup in Japan