I'm looking to ship some stuff home which will be the cheapest way.  You can send large items surface mail from the Post Office which takes between 1 and 3 months to make it home.  This would be ok if you dont need the stuff right away, winter clothes etc.  The max weight is 30kg and the price is about 13,700 yen.  They also offer a free pick up so you dont have to cart your big box down to the post office.  http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/index_en.html

I'm not sure if this works out the cheapest but it seems to be pretty staright forward and easy to use.

Keep posting other ideas though.

A shipping company called Shipmates had a booth at the returners conference.  They have a discount for JETs, but you have to email them at Jet@shipmates.jp for the information.  The email I got from them said if you don't have a lot of stuff to ship home (I think it was less than a cubic meter), it is more economical to bring it on the plane and pay the airline's price.

Be careful when getting boxes from Heiwado or the like.  Some countries won't allow boxes that previously held produce or anything remotely fresh.  I think it's an insect thing.

 Kahma sells nice new boxes--they're kinda over near the wood and carpentry side of the store.  For shipping to the U.S, you'll want size 9.  Size ten is just four cm too big, if you want to risk it.

I've been told you can also buy appropriately-sized boxes at the post office.

Ditto on this question...does anyone have experience with this???

I'm looking to ship some stuff home which will be the cheapest way.  You can send large items surface mail from the Post Office which takes between 1 and 3 months to make it home.  This would be ok if you dont need the stuff right away, winter clothes etc.  The max weight is 30kg and the price is about 13,700 yen.  They also offer a free pick up so you dont have to cart your big box down to the post office.  http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/index_en.html

I'm not sure if this works out the cheapest but it seems to be pretty staright forward and easy to use.

Keep posting other ideas though.

船便　FUNA-BIN (surface/sea mail) from the post office is the cheapest rates I have seen.  The limitation are they don't allow big boxes. They calculate the size based (Longest side of box) + (Circumference around the other 4 sides) must be less than 200cm (for USA) (so that is a 40cm cube)

We have been looking at shipping our kotatsu home, it wont fit in any of the post office shipping rates,  we did find this cheap looking company located in Nagoya that ships to the USA.  Doesn't look like they ship anywhere else though. sorry

I have no experience with this company so I am not endorsing them but we might try them out for the big things:

http://www.takwatch.co.jp/ship/index.html

I've heard of people using a giant shipping crate.  I don't know the details, but it's a good option if you have LOTS of stuff to send home.  You get maybe a cubic meter or so, and you pack it up yourself, and then they come pick it up.

The Funa bin to Ireland is 30KG. 

The post office guy said that they are very strict and the longest length is 1.5m plus the circumference of the other sides (as above) must not be over 300cm (to Ireland).  However, sometimes if you have a lot of stuff in the box the measurements might slightly increase and they won't take it. 

For a sample 20KG box you can get insurance for items up to 100,000 yen and it only costs 600 yen extra. 

Went to Kahma and bought a few sample boxes to see what type of stuff i can fit in.  Also, got the vacum bags for all my clothes etc.  Kahma have a huge sale on Japanese items such as wooden chopsticks, cups, soup bowls, bento boxes (not many left) etc. 

Not looking forward to this.

The seamail boxes to the US take 2-3 months, if that affects your planning or your shipping dates.  When I came to Japan I had two boxes sent to me here.  They were sent at the same time, but one took one month and the other took three.

There's also a special, cheaper rate for printed materials - books and such. Just say its only "insatsu mono"

kuroneko (that black cat shipping service) has offices in the US I know for sure, havent looked at other places. but i think they work with UPS so if you live far form say LA or New York i think they send it ground mail to you via the Big Brown Van.

http://yamatoamerica.com/e/network/global.html

A shipping company called Shipmates had a booth at the returners conference.  They have a discount for JETs, but you have to email them at Jet@shipmates.jp for the information.  The email I got from them said if you don't have a lot of stuff to ship home (I think it was less than a cubic meter), it is more economical to bring it on the plane and pay the airline's price.

From what I can glean on Kuroneko's site, they only seem to do airmail.  It's convenient and fast, but is up to $275 a box.  Yikes!  Sea mail takes way longer, but it's about half the price.  If anyone finds pricing or availability for kuroneko super slow mail, please post!

Kuroneko does have really convenient airport delivery for luggage, though.  You can take it to any convenience store with the kuroneko sign a few days before your flight, and it'll be waiting for you at the airport.

Yamato Kuroneko sea mail

http://218.40.1.168/kokusai/k_seamail.html

Does the Japan post office still do sea mail?? I thought  I heard somewhere they don't anymore.  Or am I getting it mixed up, can you not send sea mail to Japan  from America anymore? I tried when I was at home in December and they said I couldn't...

Anyway I just looked up shipping to the US on the Japan post website and when I calculated the cost, it said they don't do sea mail to Hawaii.  I could only go express.  Maybe it's just my state??

Could just be Hawaii.  I just shipped some stuff via FUNA-BIN to America the other day.  So sea mail Japan to America is still working.

Its been discussed on a couple threads. Here is the post office 10% off one.

http://shigajet.eslwell.com/discussion/shipping-stuff-home

So if I get my box ready and I'm pretty sure it's under the weight limit and size limit, what do I do next? Do I call the post office and they come over and weigh it and I pay them right there? Or so I have to have it weighed and measured beforehand? Because that's a pain. I don't have a scale or measuring tape and I have no way of getting the box to the post office myself (I drive a scooter). Anyone have any advice on what exactly happens when you call them to come get the box?

Also, does anyone know where we can buy large boxes? I was hoping to use the plastic crates I mailed stuff over here with, but they're 11cm over size and knowing Japan, they won't be okay with that. So any ideas were one can get/purchase large boxes? (The size used to send a decent amount of clothing...)

Erin:

"Do I call the post office and they come over and weight it and I pay them right there?"   yes, then they go on their merry way with your boxes

Shannon:

just ask your local supermarket when they get new deliveries, and when/where you can get the cardboard boxes ( ダンボールバコ)

They are usually happy to help and if you ask in advance they sometimes set boxex apart for you (i.e. if you want big boxes they don't have right there)

Be careful when getting boxes from Heiwado or the like.  Some countries won't allow boxes that previously held produce or anything remotely fresh.  I think it's an insect thing.

 Kahma sells nice new boxes--they're kinda over near the wood and carpentry side of the store.  For shipping to the U.S, you'll want size 9.  Size ten is just four cm too big, if you want to risk it.

I've been told you can also buy appropriately-sized boxes at the post office.

Best place for boxes is Ayahadio/ komeri/kahma etc.  Just ask for ダンボールバコ.  They come in loads of different sizes. 

THe post office ones i found were too small.  

So I have been having lots of trouble with the post office and funabin. A guy from the post office just came over and checked some of my boxes, measured them, and said they were fine, but when I measured them myself and plugged the numbers into the equation I found on this site: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/int/service/i_parcel_en.html (U.S. uses B-type) they are all too big! He knows it has to add up to less than 2m and I already had two boxes which were too big returned to me. One of my boxes adds up to be around 240cm! And the other boxes are around the same size.

So here's the "B" equation for U.S. boxes: A = length, B= width, C= height 
A + (B+C) x 2= must be less than 2 meters
48 (32+40) x2 = 240

Am I doing something wrong? Now I'm paranoid that I've just been misinformed by the post office and I will have to re-pack all my stuff AGAIN into even smaller boxes! This is getting ridiculous.  Oh and I very well could be getting the equation wrong as I am mathematically challenged.

48 + 32 + 32 + 40 + 40 = 192?  desho?

One thing the Post offce guy told me to be careful of is if the boxes expand / bulge.  He said they are very strict about the boxes and the overall size. 

He also said not to seal the boxes until they approve the size.  THen he said most boxes to the US have to be repacked cos of the restrictions and being oversize.

can the post office ship suitcases? i'm shipping a small carry-on and it fits in a kahma #10 box, which is 4cm too big, but it's the right size on its own. thoughts?
also, has anyone had any luck with other shipping options for bigger items - mark, you posted one i think - or kuroneko?

Yeah I know that Kuroneko Yamato, ships all over the world, as well as UPS FedEX and DHL, and all of those companies can come direct to your door. I dont know prices off the top of my head but just do a little googling and you should be sweet.

I'm fairly certain the equation is (B + C) x 2 + A , so you only ahve to count A once!

If anyone has any info or price quotes for alternate shipping companies that would be great! I need to find a way to get my desktop computer back to the U.S. and it's not going to fit in one of those little 2m boxes that the Post Office requires for sea mail. It doesn't have to get back fast, just in one piece and hopefully for cheap.

Anyway let me know!

And thanks for the help with that equation--I was so confused but to my credit I think it was written wrong and Shannon's version is more correct. Or it could have been A + 2 x (B+C)= >2m

Brian up in kinomoto shipped his computer home last year via kuroneko, got a good deal and it was also insured, which was good becuse they dropped it or kicked it or drop-kicked it something really bad to it, (they swear it is not the norm) but becuse of it they paid a pretty good amount of money for him to build a new computer and he was happy with that.

Wow that's scary! I will send him a PM on facebook or something and get more info about that. And I'll be extra careful about backing up all my files first!

Just received this:

"A friend in Hokkaido has been getting quotes back from different places (have a list of about 10 companies if anyone wants em) and they range from up to 20man!! Shipmates seems to be the cheapest by far, however, but ONLY if you notify them as a JET participant (they have a deal as an AJET corp partner).

If you're moving soon and need the space, here is the contact:

JET Program shipping service Personnel
C/o Export Operations Division
Shipmates Worldwide Moving Co., Ltd
Tokyo, Japan
Email: jet@shipmates.jp"

 I'm so honored that the Tool Guy would post on our forum!!