Domestic Mail Rates, Size and Weight Limits
Rates for Letter-Post Items Rates
Domestic mail rates include consumption tax.
As of September 1,2005
| Classification | Weight | Rates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First- class (Letters) |
Standard-sized items (Note 1) | Up to 25 g | 80 yen | |||
| Up to 50 g | 90 yen | |||||
| Nonstandard-sized items | Up to 50 g | 120 yen | ||||
| Up to 100 g | 140 yen | |||||
| Up to 150 g | 200 yen | |||||
| Up to 250 g | 240 yen | |||||
| Up to 500 g | 390 yen | |||||
| Up to 1 kg | 580 yen | |||||
| Up to 2 kg | 850 yen | |||||
| Up to 4 kg | 1,150 yen | |||||
| Mini-letters (letter-cards) | -- | 60 yen | ||||
| Special local mail (Note 2) |
Basic rates | Standard- sized |
Up to 25 g | 65 yen | ||
| Up to 50 g | 75 yen | |||||
| Non- standard- sized |
Up to 50 g | 100 yen | ||||
| Up tp 100 g | 115 yen | |||||
| Up to 150 g | 160 yen | |||||
| Up to 250 g | 195 yen | |||||
| Special rates | Bar-coded (Note 3) |
Standard- sized |
Up to 25 g | 62 yen (50 yen) | ||
| Up to 50 g | 72 yen (55 yen) | |||||
| Sorted posting (Note 4) |
Standard- sized |
Up to 25 g | 50 yen (49 yen) | |||
| Up to 50 g | 55 yen (54 yen) | |||||
| Non- standard- sized |
Up to 50 g | 75 yen (74 yen) | ||||
| Up to 100 g | 85 yen (84 yen) | |||||
| Up to 150 g | 120 yen (119 yen) | |||||
| Up to 250 g | 145 yen (144 yen) | |||||
| Second- class (Postcards) |
Postcards | -- | 50 yen | |||
| Reply-paid postcards | -- | 100 yen | ||||
| Third- class (approved peri- odicals, unsealed) (Note 5) |
Third-class mail other than below. | Up to 50 g For each additional 50 g over 50 g up to 1kg |
60 yen +8 yen |
|||
A single copy of or a number of copies equivalent to one-day's mailed newspaper issue published at least three times a month and mailed by the publisher or distributor. |
Up to 50 g For each additional 50 g over 50 g up to 1kg |
40 yen +6 yen |
||||
| Periodicals published and posted by organizations for the physically/mentally disadvantaged. | Newspapers issued at least 3 times a month | Up to 50 g For each additional 50 g over 50 g up to 1kg |
8 yen +3 yen |
|||
| Other periodicals | Up to 50 g For each additional 50 g over 50 g up to 1kg |
15 yen +5 yen |
||||
| Fourth- class (unsealed) |
Correspondence course materials (educational)(Note 6) |
Up to 100 g | 15 yen | |||
| For each additional 100 g up to 1 kg(3 kg) |
+10yen | |||||
| Braille for the blind, recordings for the blind,braille paper for the blind (Note 7) |
Up to 3 kg | Free | ||||
| Seeds and saplings | Up to 50 g | 70 yen | ||||
| Up to 75 g | 110 yen | |||||
| Up to 100 g | 130 yen | |||||
| Up to 150 g | 170 yen | |||||
| Up to 200 g | 200 yen | |||||
| Up to 300 g | 230 yen | |||||
| Up to 400 g | 270 yen | |||||
| For each additional 100 g over 400 g up to 1 kg | +50 yen | |||||
| Academic publications (Designated by the Designated by the Director-General of the Postal Services Agency,) |
Up to 100 g | 35 yen | ||||
| For each additional 100 g up to 1 kg | +25 yen | |||||
Note 1
Standard-sized mail refers to first-class mail that fulfills the following requirements (Not qualifying for these requirements will make the mail non-standard-sized.):
- Rectangular items 14 to 23.5 cm in length, 9 to 12 cm in width, and up to 1 cm in thickness.
- Items that weigh up to 50 g.
- The envelope portion where the address is written (standard minimum size 8 cm long by 4.5 cm wide) must not have anything besides the address and terms generally written on the front side of a letter (CONFIDENTIAL, URGENT, etc.).
- The character size when writing all or part of the address in katakana must be 2.4 mm in length*1.54 mm in width or larger. In addition, the address and the name must be made legible by writing them separately.
Note 2
Special Local Mail refers to standard-sized mail or nonstandard-sized mail that fulfills the following requirements:
- Items that have an address within the delivery area of the post office to which the item is being posted.
- Items that are up to 34 cm in length and up to 25 cm in width.
- Items that weigh up to 250 g.
- Items in the same service category, that have the same shape and weight, and that are posted at the same time by the same sender in quantities of 100 or more.
- Items that are posted with the special local mail indication determined in advance by the post office handling such mail
- Item for which postage is paid in any one of the following manners: payment of postage without affixed postage stamps, payment of postage by the use of a franking machine, and post-payment of postage
Note 3
Special rates for Bar-coded Special Local Mail apply to standard-sized items which conform to certain requirements. Referred to as "Bar-code-qualified Local Mail" in Note 4, these items must be 6 mm or less in thickness, carry a specified barcode on envelopes of a uniform material, and be deposited in quantities of 100 or more items at post offices that are authorized to handle special rates for bar-coded special local mail.
The figures in parentheses are rates for mail that meets, in addition to the above, requirements that 1,000 or more items be posted at one time and that at least three days be allowed for delivery. Please note, however, that these bar-coded mail rates do not apply to special mail service items.
Note 4
Special rates for Sorted Posting Mail apply to special local mail items that are deposited in one time quantities of 1,000 or more at delivery post offices, are classified according to areas specified by the postmaster, and are allowed at least three days for delivery. While these rates do not apply to bar qualified local mail in principle, they do so if it is within three years since the deposit post office was designated to handle special rates for bar-coded special local mail.
The figures in parentheses are rates for mail that meets, in addition to the above, requirements such as the number of mailed items (must be 1,000 or more) which is more than 50% of the total number of delivery addresses serviced by the deposit post office. To qualify for these rates, you must also notify the post office in advance and arrange the mail items in the order of delivery as instructed by the postmaster of the deposit post office.
Note that, however, these sorted posting mail rates do not apply to special mail service items.
Note 5
Discounted rates are given for third-class mail when the minimum required volume of mail has been sorted in advance and posted in pallets or other designated containers.
1. Conditions for service use
* Sorting-by-user mail
(1) Basic discounts and other discounts applied when an additional 3 days or so or 1 week plus are allowed for delivery.
| Sender | Same sender | |
| Dimensions, weight, rate, etc. | Limited to items having the same dimensions and weight and handled with the same delivery service | |
| Number of items to be posted | 2,000 or more items at one time | |
| Payment methods | Limited to non-affixed postage stamps, payment by use of a franking machine, or post-payment | |
| Presorting | 1 | Sort by the first three or five digits indicating the delivery post office of recipient's address. |
| 2 | Have the first three or five digits indicating the delivery post office marked in the application form supplied by the postmaster, have either "  " (basic rate: normal delivery), "  "(special rate: additional 3 days or so), or "  "(superspecial rate: additional 1 week plus) indicated in red according to the number of additional days allowable for delivery, then bundle the items properly. The indication in red may be affixed to the mail container. |
|
| Special handling | If the sender agrees to allow an additional 3 days or 1 week or so for delivery, special handling is not available. | |
| Others | Attach a posting form for third-class mail when 3,000 or more mail items are posted at post offices other than those to which samples (periodicals) are submitted. | |
(2) Discounts applied when mail items are posted in designated containers.
[Conditions in (1) above should be observed.]
| Number of items to be posted | 200,000 or more items at one time |
| Post offices | Strategic-post offices only; inquire at any post office for further information. |
| Containers | Place mail items in designated containers (pallets, etc.) after they have been sorted by the first three or five digits indicating the delivery post office of recipient's address, as directed by the postmaster. |
| Notice of intent | A notice stating the number of mail items to be posted should be submitted to the postmaster 10 or more days prior to the posting day. |
| Time of posting | Mail items should be taken to the post office at or before the time designated by the postmaster. |
| Special handling | Special handling is not available. |
* Discounts applied when mail items are posted at strategic-post offices.
| Sender | Same sender |
| Dimensions, weight, rate, etc. | Limited to items having the same dimensions and weight and handled with the same delivery service |
| Number of items to be posted | 5,000 or more items at one time |
| Payment methods | Limited to non-affixed postage stamps, payment by use of a franking machine, or post-payment |
| Post offices | Strategic-post offices only |
| Presorting | Sort by the first three or five digits indicating the delivery post office of recipient's address, as directed by the postmaster. |
| Others | Attach a posting form of third-class mail when mail items are posted at post offices other than those to which samples (periodicals) are submitted |
2. Discount rates
| 2,000-4,999 | 5,000- 9,999 | 10,000- 49,999 | 50,000- 99,999 | 100,000- 199,999 | 200,000 or more | |||
| Sorting-by-user mail | Basic discount (A) | 3% | 5% | 6% | 7% | |||
| Discount applied when an additional 3 days or so is allowed for delivery (B) | 7% | 9% | 10% | 11% | ||||
| Discount applied when an additional 1 week plus is allowed for delivery (C) | 9% | 11% | 12% | 13% | ||||
| Discount applied when mail items are posted in designated containers (D) | - | - | - | - | - | 6% | ||
| Discount applied when mail items are posted at strategic-post offices (Note) (E)- | 4% | |||||||
| Discount rates applied | A+E | - | 7% | 9% | 10% | 11% | ||
| B+E | - | 11% | 13% | 14% | 15% | |||
| C+E | - | 13% | 15% | 16% | 17% | |||
| A+D+E | - | - | - | - | - | 17% | ||
| B+D+E | - | - | - | - | - | 21% | ||
| C+D+E | - | - | - | - | - | 23% | ||
Note: Ask any post office for information regarding strategic-post offices.
Note 6
Fourth-class mail for the blind or education-by-correspondence is limited to that sent and received between students and schools or corporations after obtaining the approval of the supervisory agency in accordance with the law. Figures in parentheses refer to the upper limit of weight for sending textbooks.
Note 7
To qualify for fourth-class mail, recordings for the blind or braille paper for the blind must be that mailed by or to facilities designated by Japan Post.
