Updated on 27th June 2017.
In this post “How to Order from Amazon Japan – A detailed buying Guide”, I took the reader through a concise, step by step guide on how to purchase an item from Amazon Japan, from creating a new account, adding items to your cart, checking out and finally submitting your order.
While the post explained the technical aspects of ordering, new customers shopping for the first time with Amazon Japan might still want some additional information before they’re comfortable enough to order. To that end, I have prepared a list of some frequently asked questions for first time customers.
Q : Do I have to pay any fees when I sign up for an Amazon Japan account ?
Nope. Creating an account is free.
Q : Why should I purchase books/dvds/toys from Amazon Japan ? What are the merits ?
A : There’s a couple of good reasons to shop with Amazon Japan. To begin with, Amazon is an internationally trusted name in online shopping, with many years of experience behind them and have an excellent track record. Amazon offers very reliable service, speedy delivery of your goods, and also excellent customer support.
Inventory wise, Amazon Japan probably has the biggest collection of Japanese art book titles out there. If you know the Japanese title/name of the book you are looking for, you can almost always find it on Amazon. There are a couple of other decent online Japanese bookstores, but they mostly cater for the local market and do not ship outside of Japan.
Amazon Japan also offers the best prices for Japanese art books, because you do not need to pay for any tax. ( When you look at the back cover of a Japanese art book, the printed price is before the addition of the 8% goods and services tax. ) Shipping cost notwithstanding, you’re actually getting the book at a cheaper price than if you were to walk into a bookstore in Tokyo and buy one, which will cost you 8% more.
For movie dvds and blu-rays, prices are often discounted 10-30% off the retail price, especially if you pre-order the item before it is released.
Q : What shipping service will be used to deliver my items ? How long will it take, and how much will it cost me ?
A : For overseas orders Amazon Japan ships only with International Express ( AmazonGlobal Priority shipping, usually by DHL or Fedex ), and it delivers in an amazingly quick 3-4 days. ( excluding some select countries and the regions. )
For books, shipping cost is calculated by :
A flat per shipment fee ( cost differs on location ) + per item fee ( cost differs on location ).
For example, if I live in the United States and purchase a book from Amazon Japan, shipping will cost :
Per shipment fee of 600 yen ( to United States ) + per item fee 350 yen = 950 yen. ( about 8.5 USD )
Therefore, to save on shipping, its a very good idea to purchase multiple items so as to leverage the per shipment fee cost.
For example, if I were to buy 10 books shipping to the United States, shipping will cost :
Per shipment fee of 600 yen ( to United States ) + per item fee 3500 yen ( 350 x 10 items ) = 4100 yen.
By comparison, the cost for shipping per book will only be 410 yen instead of 950 yen.
A detailed list of the shipping costs can be found here.
Q : Where are my items ? How can I track my items ?
A : Once your item ships, a tracking number is assigned which you can then use to track via your Amazon Japan account page. To see how to create a new account, go here.
Q : What happens if my items get lost / my items don’t arrive ?
A : This very seldom happens, but in the rare occasion that it does you can contact Amazon Japan customer support ( they have a customer support page in English ) and inform them that your item did not arrive. In my experience Amazon Japan will get back to you very quickly, first checking where the item is with their freight/shipping service. Once they ascertain that the item is indeed lost, you will be given the option of either a replacement order or a full refund.
Q : Why doesn’t Amazon Japan accept my credit card ?
A : While the exact reasons why some credit cards are not accepted by Amazon’s checkout system is unknown to me, I have had folks write in to me and say that they were unable to complete the purchase because the card was rejected.
In most cases, the reason why the card was not accepted was because a wrong card number have been entered. Amazon Japan does not require one to enter the card’s 3 digit verification code.
To best ascertain if the issue lies with the card or with Amazon’s checkout, try adding a different card. ( you do not need to complete your order and you will not be charged yet )
Also, write in to customer support and ask why your card has been rejected – in my experience their reply will usually give you an idea as to why the card cannot be used.
A : What about custom regulations ? Will my items be subjected to checks ?
Custom regulation differs from country to country, so it’s best to do some homework on your part to find out how customs screen packages in your country. Bear in mind that custom checks might delay an item that is otherwise scheduled to deliver by the stipulated date. Should such a delay occur, it will be reflected in the tracking information.
Q : The item I want is out of stock, but there are sellers on Amazon Marketplace ( third party sellers ) who carry the item . How do I go about buying it ?
You can add the item you want to your cart and the checkout process is the same, but as most sellers on Amazon Marketplace do not ship outside of Japan, you will need to use a shipping redirect service like tenso.com, which provides you with a temporarily Japanese address where the item gets ship to. tenso.com will pick up the item and then ship it to you. For details, please visit their website.
Amazon Japan also has a helpful page on ordering items from third party sellers.
Q : How do I purchase an item that Amazon Japan won’t ship outside of Japan ?
You will need to engage a shipping redirect service like tenso.com, which provides you with a temporarily Japanese address where the item gets ship to. Please visit their website for more details.
Q : Can I use my existing Amazon.com/Amazon.fr/Amazon.de/Amazon.co.uk/Amazon.ca account to purchase items from Amazon Japan ?
No, you will need to sign up for a new Amazon Japan account. You can do so easily by following the steps listed here.
Q : I have an Amazon gift card from Amazon.com. Can I use it on Amazon Japan ?
At the time of writing ( 23rd April 2013 ), Amazon gift cards purchased on Amazon.com cannot be used for purchases on Amazon.co.jp. ( if you try to apply the gift card code on an Amazon.co.jp account, it will not be recognized as a valid coupon. ) Only Amazon Gift cards purchased from Amazon Japan can be used.
Q : How do I / where can I buy an Amazon Japan gift card ?
You can buy a gift card here. The purchase links are very similar to Amazon.com ( see image below for reference ).
Q : Help ! I didn’t find the answer to my question in this post !
No problem, simply write your question in the comments section for this post and I will try to get back to you the first chance I have.
Q : Ok, I’m good now. Where can I start shopping ?
A : If you know what you’re looking for you can start right off from Amazon Japan’s main page. If you’re looking for a Japanese art book, you can try looking through my book reviews page.
6
How to Order from Amazon Japan – A detailed buying Guide
How To Order From Amazon Japan – A Detailed Guide ( Deprecated – circa 2014 )
Amazon Now Ships Free To Singapore/India For Orders Above $125
Where To Buy Anime And Japanese Art Books Online
Japan & US Edition Blu-ray Cover Art Smackdown
April 3rd, 2011 at 9:24 pm
I was wondering how long does it take to receive the confirmation email. I just placed my order not to long ago and I never received a confirmation email and it doesn’t show up in my order history and the price for the order never got take from my bank account. please help me
April 4th, 2011 at 12:42 am
Hey there Aaron, the confirmation email usually arrives immediately after you have placed an order. From what you described it doesn’t seem as if the order has been picked up Amazon, because it should always be reflected in your order history. Perhaps you might want to try ordering the item again. Hope that helps !
May 31st, 2011 at 1:33 am
The site says that it can’t deliver to my address. What do I do now?
May 31st, 2011 at 11:45 am
Sarah – If Amazon Japan doesn’t ship the item to your country, you will have to engage a shipping re-direct service like tenso.com. Do check out their website for more details.
July 15th, 2011 at 3:44 am
Hello.
I stumbled upon your site when I was looking for guides on how to buy from Amazon Japan.
I have a question about combined shipping and Amazon Prime.
How does one qualify for combined shipping? I was told that you had to buy from the same seller and they would ship your items together for a discounted shipment price. I don’t want to buy multiple items from a seller unless I know that they can do combined shipping (since shipment costs are very expensive to the US).
Also, can one sign up for Amazon Prime on the Japanese Amazon website if he or she lives in the United States? I saw a link for “Free Expedited Shipping for Amazon Prime users” and wanted to know if I registered for it that I could use it to get free shipping on the items I want to buy.
Thank you so much in advance! Your guides have been very helpful! =)
July 15th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Hey there Tikikata, i’m glad my guides have been of some help.
I can’t be sure about the combined shipping, but what if you tried adding 2 or more items from a same seller ( i’m assuming you’re talking about marketplace sellers here ) and see if it combines shipping ?
For free expedited shipping for Amazon Prime, I’m fairly sure that’s just for domestic, ( ie within Japan ) but I’ll have to double check to be 100% sure.
Thanks for visiting !
July 26th, 2011 at 2:10 am
Hello! I contacted customer support on Amazon.co.jp for a problem that I am having with my order and I wanted to know that when (or if) they respond where would I see that they did?
The entire site is in Japanese, even when I choose “In English” only some of it is in English and I don’t see a obvious place where it would show that my message has been replied to.
Thanks for your time!
July 26th, 2011 at 2:24 am
Winston – Amazon Japan has a dedicated team of support staff that respond to emails from English customers, they will be contacting you via the email address used for your Amazon account.
Just to be sure, did you contact them via the “help in english” page ? If not, you should do so :
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1039576
Hope that help !
July 26th, 2011 at 2:37 am
Yeah, I chose the “Help in English” page before I sent them the message. Thanks for your speedy reply!
October 10th, 2011 at 4:30 am
Hello,
I really love your site and have been following it for a while. My wishlist from amazon.co.jp has become pretty long and I’d like to order some books but we here in the EU have a lot of problems with customs. Only when your order is under 25euros they let it pass and if higher you’re automatically charged 21% VAT and some extra custom fees since FEDex and DHL used by Amazon give the official invoice of your order to customs. I’ve been looking at tenso.com, have you had any experience with them or are there other alternatives.
October 11th, 2011 at 1:29 am
fluppeco – Hey there and thanks for visiting my site. I am surprised that the purchase limit is only up to 25 euros ! That’s really quite a small amount.
I’ve unfortunately not used tenso’s service before and cannot vouch for the quality of their service, but it does seem like a viable option for you. Do check out all the details of the shipping process if you do intend to use it. I’m sorry I cannot be of more help !
April 18th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
hi..can you tell me another website. because tenso.com can ship to my country (indonesia)
thank
April 26th, 2012 at 1:11 am
Hi… I was wondering, can I enter an american amazon gift card into amazon.co.jp? In other words, will the $15 giftcard automatically convert into yen?
May 17th, 2012 at 5:40 am
if i purchase amazon prime japan will i get free shipping to the USA?
May 17th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Raul – I’m terribly sorry for the late reply. I cannot be sure as I have not tried convertin it before, but I think its likely that it will be converted into yen.
Gary – Unfortunately, free shipping is limited to areas within Japan.
November 30th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
Have Japanese friend in Tokyo willing to have my Amazon Marketplace purchase shipped to him, but the address page is not accepting his address, which I know is correct. Tried alternate friend and had same problem. Wrote in postal code, put down Tokyo-to for prefecture and then on Address Line 1 put city, ward (ku), chome, and x-xx-x. Have you any idea what I’m doing wrong?
December 12th, 2012 at 5:09 am
Hello there. I has a question concerning MP3 music downloads from the Japanese Amazon website. I followed the steps in your guide to order the music, but when I went to pay I was given this error message: “I was unable to process the order. Sales of MP3 downloads are only available to current customers of JP. We refer to the Terms and Conditions of MP3 store, must determine the geographical restrictions. Sorry for the inconvenience.” Is there anyway around this?
December 13th, 2012 at 1:22 am
DJ – Unfortunately I’ve not had experience purchasing MP3 music from Amazon – did you enter a Japanese address or a foreign address ? I know this isn’t really relevant since it is a download but the system might only allow domestic addresses.
I think it is unlikely the issue lies with your credit card because Amazon Japan accepts credit cards not issued in Japan itself.
This might not necessarily work and I cannot vouch for it, but can try purchasing Amazon Japan gift cards and using it to purchase the downloads.
December 20th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Hello, I wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for creating the site. With your help I was able to per-order the blue ray box set of the anime series, Another. Although I do have a few questions.
Will they automatically convert my US money on the card to Yen when it’s ready to be shipped(March 29th,2013)? And is there anyway they wouldn’t be able to make transaction even though I got through the whole per order process,can see the purchases in the open order section and my credit card info in the payment section?
March 3rd, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Hi there. I just found your site while browsing Google. I understood your tutorial just fine, created an amazon.jp account, and now I am ready to order–except the item I want is not available from amazon, but there are a group of sellers who have it used. The problem I am having is that I can’t read the Japanese feedback and condition ratings. Do you know of a guide or translator I can use?
Thanks for your time. 🙂
March 3rd, 2013 at 4:26 pm
voxthevoice – Hello there, perhaps you can try google translate ? :]
March 3rd, 2013 at 4:31 pm
Try Tenso. Once you sign up and enter your current shipping info they will give you a address for their warehouse in Tokyo. Amazon Japan will ship it to them then for a small processing fee (depending on the weight of the item.) They will ship it to your residence. Hope this helps.
March 7th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
Hi there,
I was just visiting Amazon Japan, to look for some dvd’s.
I noticed that the prices differ a lot from prices in Europe for exemple. I mean, a dvd for, lets say 3500 Yen is pretty expensive if you ask me.
Can you explain to me why that is?
Kind Regards,
Roel Frank, The Netherlands
April 20th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
I ordered a CD off of Amazon.JP. I think it was from an independent bookstore, it was a used item.
I’m not sure when the item will arrive, I ordered it 20 days ago, have received several emails which say it has shipped, I’m pretty sure the item was in stock, how much longer can I expect to wait?
April 21st, 2013 at 3:50 am
Brett – Did the email mention anything about the estimated arrival date ? I assume there was no tracking number attached ?
You will probably want to contact Amazon/your seller to ask about the item if it still doesn’t arrive in a few days. 20 days does seem a little long if it was by airmail.
April 21st, 2013 at 6:09 am
My account on Amazon.jp says estimated delivery was April 13-April 19.
It says it has shipped. I did email the seller, but only having Babelfish at my disposal, it was a nearly incomprehensible reply. I received this on the 18th just past, here is the hackneyed translation from my MSN-
Thank you for your help. I was allowed to mail delivery confirmation of the order. If you do not have that you check with the customer in particular, your reply is not required. It should be noted, is your order, shipment in today, we ship completed by SAL flights mail. Delivery required number of days, three weeks, from about two weeks will be. I kept you waiting, but thank you kindly.
Not really sure what to do, there’s also something in an electronic message I got about a destination Nameplate, and how it might not be able to be delivered if our name is not displayed or something. Very confusing stuff!
November 23rd, 2013 at 8:38 am
if I buy a manga of Amazon.JP. will the manga be written in japanese or english?
November 23rd, 2013 at 10:33 pm
new girl – It will be in Japanese.
November 24th, 2013 at 12:03 am
Thank you for answering my stupid question.
Do you know where I can buy mangas not released in germany written in englisch.
I want to buy ANIMAL X: GENSHI SAIRAI, but I can’t translate japanese. So could you help me out please.
December 10th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
If I ordered a Blu-Ray of Millennium Actress (Japanese version) and the English version blu-ray won’t be released until February 21st, will they ship me the Japanese version I ordered quickly, or will they wait until the English version is released to ship their version because they don’t want it released to the U.S. yet? I’m just asking because they say delivery estimate is Feb 24th, a few days after the English release.
December 10th, 2013 at 5:03 pm
erin – To the best of my knowledge the shipping schedule for the Japanese blu-ray isn’t affected by the US release date. Also, I am unaware of any English version of the Millenium Actress blu-ray. Can you kindly point me to the item page for this English blu-ray ?
December 12th, 2013 at 3:56 am
oh, sorry, I was just reading under the small sections of websites’ content that pop up when you do a google search…I just assumed it was the American release date. oh well. it’s weird, though, that the others are released here on blu-ray, like Paprika, but others aren’t. different studios maybe?
December 15th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
Japanese Amazon site won’t accept our address in San Diego, CA. We’ve tried a few different ways and different address but it keeps saying “Item can’t be shipped to your selected destination.” Does this mean its a no go?
December 15th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Some items carried by Amazon Japan (like toys and figures) cannot be shipped outside of Japan. If it is possible to leave the product link to the page I can help you verify this. You will have to use a reshipping service ie like tenso.com to get it shipped to your address in the states.
January 6th, 2014 at 8:07 am
How do you know if the item on amazon japan can be shipped internationally?
January 7th, 2014 at 1:11 am
Shiro – Unfortunately this is not always obvious. There used to be a note on the product page indicating that the item will not ship outside of Japan, but it doesn’t seem to be there any more for some of the items I checked.
The only way to be sure is add the items to cart and try to checkout, and if the item cannot be shipped outside of Japan you will be prompted to change your address.
January 18th, 2014 at 11:18 am
I just bought like a 2 series of mangas all in one they said that the international shipping rate was 800 yen per shipping and 400 yen per item. When i say the shipping it was double the amount that it was suppose to be. I’m pretty sure i didn’t do my math wrong or it could have been me. But i’m pretty sure my shipping was suppose to be about 1600 yen not about 3200 yen.
January 19th, 2014 at 7:33 pm
shiro – As stated on Amazon Japan’s shipping page here :
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1039606
The per shipment fee starts at 1900 yen for books, and handling fees of 300yen per item.
For international shipping, Amazon Japan offers only “International Express Shipping”, and I am not aware of any other mode of shipping that starts at 800 yen as you mentioned. Was your purchase done through Amazon Marketplace ?
March 9th, 2014 at 2:56 pm
Does debit card allow to use Amazon.co.jp? I’m confused between Credit Card and Debit Card.
March 9th, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Catherine – Debit cards can be used. :]
April 5th, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Dear Vong
Thanks for your wonderful information on buying off Amazon Japan. I am in Australia and tempted to get that new art book by Rockin’ Jelly Bean. Just a quick question (pervious commenter Shiro mentioned this as well).
Regarding global shipping according to this page the rates are:
Per shipment = 800yen/Per item = 300yen
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_201118730_shiptiau?nodeId=201213450
But on this page the rates are much higher:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1039606
I think you mentioned that Amazon Japan only does express shipping so do we ignore the 800/300yen figure?
Thanks
June 18th, 2014 at 3:00 am
Hi! I am trying to figure out the best way to mail some things to my boyfriend who lives in Japan. I live in the United States… Do you think I can order through Amazon.jp? Do you know how much Amazon prime costs for Japan?
Thanks so much!
June 18th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
Hello Caroline, yes you can order through Amazon Japan. You just need to sign up for an Amazon Japan account. You can use this step by step article that I’ve written to do it :
http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/books/how-to-order-from-amazon-japan-a-detailed-buying-guide/
For Amazon Prime in Japan, it costs 3900 yen/month. ( about 39 USD per month. ) You can try it for free for the first month, and if you do not wish to upgrade, you may cancel anytime by visiting “Your Account” and adjusting your membership settings.
That said, the standard shipping method for overseas by Amazon Japan uses FedEx/DHL, which ships in a lighting 2-5 days, so you might not need Amazon Prime at all if you are not in a big rush. Prime is useful for delivery if you live in Japan, where they deliver only the same day/the day after.
cheers !
July 21st, 2014 at 8:18 am
Are amazon coupons able to be used on the Amazon Japan?
July 21st, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Jake – By Amazon coupons do you mean gift cards ? Gift cards can be used, but only the ones that are purchased from Amazon Japan ( and not amazon.com, for example )
You can follow this link to purchase gift cards from Amazon Japan –
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/gc/?ie=UTF8&camp=247&creative=7399&linkCode=ur2&tag=jpboxsets-22
August 6th, 2014 at 12:05 am
Thank you for making this blog. I was wondering, I have a kindle; can I purchase books for it, or will an U.S. kindle be incompatible?
August 7th, 2014 at 1:10 am
P Jo – Hello and thank you for visiting. Unfortunately after some checking it seems Kindle books available on Amazon Japan can only be used with a Kindle purchased on Amazon Japan. Sorry !
August 12th, 2014 at 11:14 pm
hi, first of all this is a great website with alot of usefull information on the amazon jp subject.
How do i know before ordering if a seller ships products outside Japan?Is there a way to check?If the shipping is done by Amazon or Fullfiled by Amazon then it’s certain they do not ship outside Japan, correct?
Hope to hear from you
bye
August 14th, 2014 at 12:05 am
mit – In the case of Amazon Japan ( and not a marketplace seller ), if the item doesn’t ship outside of Japan it will usually be indicated on the item page.
As for Marketplace sellers, they will indicate ( usually in English ) if they are able to ship the item overseas.
Whether or not shipping is done or fulfilled by Amazon does not affect if the item can or cannot be shipped outside of Japan, it really depends on the item itself. Hope that helps !
August 26th, 2014 at 8:03 pm
Hey,
I just tried to buy the ‘Complete the entire recording Evangelion: 2.0’ books and it keeps coming up with “it won’t let me ship this item to my address”, even though it says it ships international? :S
I ordered the new Ghost in the Shell book last week buy following your instructions and had no problems a tall :/
Am I doing something wrong?
Kind Regards
August 26th, 2014 at 10:05 pm
Darren – Are you purchasing the book from a Marketplace seller ? If you can paste the specific purchase link here, I can check for you.
September 12th, 2014 at 5:18 am
I ordered a book from a marketplace seller, everything went fine but apparently it was sent via boat instead of plane and I’ve been waiting for a month. Is there any way to track my package or know who will deliver my package in the states (post office, Fed Ex, etc.)?
September 13th, 2014 at 5:02 pm
Power Bomb – Delivery by sea takes about a month, plus maybe any customs clearance in your home country. Once it transits to surface mail, it really depends on the arrangement you made with the seller. If no special arrangements were made, I’m guessing standard mail would be used ? USPS probably ?
September 14th, 2014 at 4:41 am
Thanks for the reply, yonghow!
October 27th, 2014 at 2:06 am
If I bought a manga set(lets say I wanted to buy a set of manga books from volumes 1-15) would they still charge me 500 JPY per book or not? I live in the US.
October 27th, 2014 at 10:53 pm
Amy – If the comics are sold as a set, it will count as only one item, and you only pay 500 yen for the entire set for per item fee.
October 27th, 2014 at 11:42 pm
Thanks!! Not a bad offer. Will order from amazon jp then 🙂
November 11th, 2014 at 4:12 pm
Hi, so I am in Japan for the time being and there’s a cd I want to buy from Amazon, of course, but it’s on pre-order. I was wondering if it would be sent to me the same day it’s scheduled to be released (and I would use my address that I am currently staying at in Japan) or would I have to select the extra fee option for it to be sent on the released day? Also, I could actually buy it on the date it’s going to be released since I’m already in Japan but the pre-order online would be a better deal, right?
November 11th, 2014 at 11:16 pm
Jane – To the best of my knowledge, most items are shipped out on the day of the release. Regarding the pricing of pre-orders ( whether it is discounted ), I know for sure that books and dvds/blu-rays are priced the same whether it is a pre-ordered item or not. I’m not 100% sure this is the case for CDs, but likely so. In other words, pre-order prices are the same as after they are released. Hope that help !
November 12th, 2014 at 10:05 am
Thanks so much! I guess I rather go get it in person since I can!
November 28th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
Hi,i live in the UK,can i download MP3’s from Amazon Japan
kind regards
Michael
February 6th, 2015 at 4:27 am
I’ve located 2 books that I’d like to purchase. Both are listed as “Ships from and sold by Amazon.co.jp” but one is temporarily out of stock. The site says “Order now and we’ll deliver when available. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.”
I’m wondering if this will increase my shipping cost. Is there an option at checkout to “Group my items into as few shipments as possible.” to avoid an additional per shipment fee? Would it be better to check back with the site and place my order when both items are available?
THANK YOU all the information you’ve put together. I’m hoping to buy a couple of ukulele books which should be understandable to anybody who reads tablature.
Fingers crossed!
Alison
February 7th, 2015 at 9:33 pm
Alison – During checkout, unless you specifically tick the checkbox for “Ship my items as they become available”, which would incur an additional shipping surcharge, purchasing the books at the same time even though one is out of stock at that moment will not incur you additional charges. In other words, the “Group my items into as few shipments as possible.” option is selected by default.
I hope that helps you to decide ! Thanks for visiting ! :]
February 8th, 2015 at 1:55 am
Perfect, thank you!
June 13th, 2015 at 5:32 pm
Hi there! Thank you so much for the help! I just want to confirm one thing. I need to have the item I want to buy on amazon.co.jp within 2 weeks.
When you say “it delivers in 2-4 days” do you mean it’s going to be at my door in 2-4 days or it’s going to get shipped out in 2-4 days?
July 10th, 2015 at 7:23 pm
i am trying to order something for a friend in japan from their wish list on amazon japan and i live in america. but i cant seem to get it to work. not sure what the problem is. any help would be nice, thank you 🙂
July 13th, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Tyler – Can you describe what problem you are facing when ordering ?
July 13th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
I was able to send one that was marked for amazon prime japan but any that wasn’t, it said it couldn’t be sent to their address. And thanks for the help, I like the work you are doing
July 14th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
Tyler – Thanks for the kind words. Some items on Amazon Japan are meant for the domestic Japanese market and won’t ship outside of Japan, so it can simply be a case of that, and not anything that you’re doing wrong when ordering. If you have the item page, I can verify it for it if you want.
July 14th, 2015 at 1:48 pm
Sure, I can. You want me to email. No biggie. I won’t be sending them stuff often.
September 19th, 2015 at 3:50 pm
This is a stupid question, but does the pre-order on amazon.jp work the same as amazon.com (US)? Where your card doesn’t get charged until the item ships?
September 21st, 2015 at 7:37 am
Em – Yes, it works the same way. :] Only charged after item ships.
September 24th, 2015 at 12:03 pm
hello! your guide and FAQ were really helpful 🙂 may I ask if there’s any way to set delivery time? my books are scheduled to arrive tomorrow (by DHL) but I won’t be home the whole day so I was thinking if I could negotiate a good time with them so that they don’t have to deliver twice if I happen to not be at home :3
September 24th, 2015 at 11:51 pm
maru – Hi ! You should be able to contact DHL in your country and request for a re-delivery schedule using the tracking number provided on Amazon.
October 5th, 2015 at 6:43 am
Hi,
I was wondering if ordering from Amazon Japan only applys to Books and Dvds. If an item is able to be shipped internationaly, does it matter what the item is?
Thanks!
October 5th, 2015 at 7:31 am
Acezees – Nope, it does not matter. The ordering method/process is the same for most items available on Amazon.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:12 am
Hello, I just happened to come across your blog. I am in Japan and some of the items interested say “shipping to Kanto + 350yen” but I’m in the Chubu area. So does it still ship to my address? When I check out, it still costs 350yen shipping fee, why is that?
December 7th, 2015 at 8:14 am
Hello I was curious how do i get a lighter from japan to texas i havent had any luck at all including talking directly to the seller please help
December 30th, 2015 at 3:29 am
hello
So everything listed on amazon japan is in yen ?
I see the item I’m interested in is 23,000 with a letter Y at the beginning and 2 lines thru it ( is that yen ? ) I can go to google for the conversion .
Thanks
Todd
January 6th, 2016 at 4:58 pm
I’ve been looking at buying electric drums off amazon.jp. From what I know is that they will ship to New Zealand but I don’t know what the shipping cost is to NZ as they only show the international shipping cost of books, music, videos etc.
With this aside I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks.
January 7th, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Munro – It is possible to checkout your item without committing to the purchase, that will allow you to check the shipping charges to NZ. Or you can paste the link to the item page and I can check it for you.
February 16th, 2016 at 9:16 am
Hi, I was thinking of buying something on Amazon Japan but the thing that is still not clear to me is where do I get the yen to pay for it? I don’t think I made any sense in the question, what I mean was that if I have money in my bank account how does it turn into yen? … I don’t know if that made it clearer…
February 17th, 2016 at 2:52 pm
Hello! Thanks for this awesome article!
My question is if I pay an order, can the credit card (like Visa) convert the currency to yen? Since there is no PayPal support in Japan. Or will I have to buy a gift certificate from sites like Play-Asia?
…or can either work?
Thanks! Sorry, if it sounds a really silly question! ^^’
February 17th, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Neil – Hi ! Your credit card will be billed in the currency of the country it is issued in, using the yen exchange rate at the time of purchase. You can make a direct payment using credit card/debit card. Hope that helps !
February 19th, 2016 at 7:52 am
Hello, recently amazon.co.jp has been giving me trouble downloading music. i have a amazon japan gift card but it keep asking for my credit card info. when i enter it, it tell me you need a japanese credit to process your order.This is very frustrating because i did it before no problem, now i unable to get my music plz help
February 20th, 2016 at 1:30 am
We have many friends in Japan and shipping gifts from the States gets quite expensive. Can we order from Amazon Japan and have the item(s) shipped to parties within Japan? Seems like it would save quite a bit of money.
February 20th, 2016 at 4:05 pm
Jim – Yes, if you have the mailing address of your friends in Japan Amazon will certainly ship within the country.
April 30th, 2016 at 4:40 am
hi,
so i’ve been trying to rent a film, but my card is being declined. it seems fine when i purchase something that’s not on amazon video. so i bought a gift card, but i can’t seem to get the gift card to be applied to the rental. the same message i get denying my credit card payment keeps coming up.
August 4th, 2016 at 2:13 pm
Lauren – You will only be charged once for the “per shipment” fee. Packages are usually shipped in one order ( even if they are in different categories ), unless you specifically request for the items to be shipped separately. In that case, you still won’t be charged twice for the “per shipment” fee, there is however an additional shipping charge for 2 separate shipments. Hope that helps, and thanks for visiting !
August 27th, 2016 at 7:18 pm
Hi YongHow,
Although Amazon.co.jp can convert yen to local currency during payment, will Visa, MasterCard, and Amex credit cards still charge a foreign transaction fee? I assume they will because the transaction will be processed in a Japanese bank. Will debit cards incur this fee as well? Please share your experiences. Many thanks for all your help!
August 27th, 2016 at 11:04 pm
CC – I do not believe there are any foreign transaction fees, be it a debit or credit card. ( if I’m wrong however, please someone correct me. )
September 9th, 2016 at 12:23 pm
I pre ordered from Amazon Japan two items on the same order (same release day)but one became unavailable because the release date got delayed so I changed the shipping preference to “ship when available” so will I get charged for two items when they ship the first one? Or will they charge it separately? Or should I just cancel the order for the one that became unavailable? Thank you ( by the way it’s ordered from australia so shipping international)
September 9th, 2016 at 2:47 pm
Jinny – There should not be an additional charge when the 2nd item is shipped out.
December 7th, 2016 at 9:52 pm
Hello,
I wanted to order from the japanese amazon. Registered an account, but I forced to use half-width characters however my adress and name use non half-width characters (hungarian characters). I solved and used just half-width characters, but I’m not sure if they will ship/delivery for me the ordered things, because the difference in my name and adress.
Can you help me?