Sending presents to Japan
 

Hello everyone

My son, daughter-in-law and grandson live in Tokyo. My wife and I are back here in UK. Every birthday and Christmas, we face the problem of what to send them. The postage rates are pretty high - so buying stuff here and sending it can be quite expensive - often the postage is as much as the present itself. I've tried to get round this by using Amazon.jp - the Japanese Amazon. This is fine - I get to pay only the postage in Japan, so nothing like as expensive as sending things from UK. But the choice is limited - I'm getting fed up with always having to send books, CDs or DVDs, and I susopect they are a bit fed up with receiving them!! Also the website is not brilliantly UK user friendly. It says it'll translate into English, but not everything is translated, and the confirmation emails are in Japanese only. (Oh dear, this sounds like a whinge!)

Are there other options - are there UK shops with branches in Tokyo. Has anyone any ideas??

Re: Sending presents to Japan
 

Shops that are the same in the UK and Japan are Gap, Next, CostCo, HMV, The Disney Store and Ikea. I don't know that if you buy vouchers here and send them there whether they can be used in different countries.

There is a Mitsukoshi Department Store in London. It might be worth phoning them and seeing if you can buy vouchers there that can be used in Mitsukoshi Japan.

You might also want to google "online shopping malls Japan" and see if there are any in English that might help.

edited to add - as an ex-expat I can honestly say that all parcels from the folks back homje are gratefully received by the recipients!

Re: Sending presents to Japan
 

Muji is a Japanese chain with branches in the UK and further afield. Maybe you can buy gift cards online.

I send gifts periodically to Japan from the US. I always look for gifts that are durable, non-perishable and lightweight. What about clothes? Biscuits? Sweets/chocolate (not in the summer months)? Do your son and DIL miss British language media? What about posting them a selection of British periodicals? I think the UK still offers a "printed matter" rate for such items.

Re: Sending presents to Japan
 

http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/japanforum/

You may get helpful advice here. Good luck