Domestic Mail
Standard Mail Services
Summary
- Domestic mail can roughly be classified into two types: letter-type post and parcel post.
- Letter‐type postal items can be sent in four classes from first- to fourth‐class depending on the shape and purpose of the mail. Please use first-class mail to send letters and business documents and second-class mail to send postcards. Third-class mail is designated for periodicals such as newspapers and magazines, while fourth‐class mail is used to send educational as well as correspondence course materials, and mail for the blind. Lower rates are offered for third- and fourth-class mail since they are regarded as contributing to the promotion of public welfare and social or cultural advancement.
- Parcel post includes booklet parcel post, in addition to ordinary parcel post known by its nickname “Yu-Pack.” You may send items weighing up to 30 kg by ordinary parcel post and up to 3 kg each by booklet parcel post. Parcel post allows you to enclose a brief message or invoice along with the commodity being sent.
First-class Mail (“Daiisshu yubin”)
Letters and business documents are sent by standard‐sized or nonstandard‐sized mail. Non‐standard‐sized mail is accepted up to a weight of 4 kg. You can purchase a “Mini‐Letter” (letter paper with envelope including printed stamp) at the post office for 62 yen. Thin articles that weigh less than 25 g can be enclosed.
Second-class Mail (“Dainishu yubin”)
Privately issued postcards require a 52 yen stamp. If you purchase a post office‐printed postcard available at the post office, you need not affix a stamp. In addition, postcards with printed advertisements on them (Echo postcards, “Eko hagaki”) can be purchased for 5 yen less, while reply‐paid postcards (“Ofuku hagaki”), which come in a set and include a return postcard, can be bought at the post office for 104 yen.
Third-class Mail (“Daisanshu yubin”)
Periodical publications that are issued at least four times a year and approved by the Director-General of the Postal Services Agency as having social or cultural value can be sent at reduced rates as third‐class mail.
Fourth-class Mail (“Daiyonshu yubin”)
Educational and correspondence course material, mail for the blind, mail containing seeds or saplings, and mail containing academic publications all for the promotion of public welfare can be sent at reduced rates as fourth‐class mail.