Amazon Japan's international shipping options

Amazon Japan can ship some of its items to more than sixty countries in the world. Unfortunately, all sellers are not using that feature. That’s especially true with second-hand resellers or small companies. They don’t always know how to ship products to the USA or Europe. For this reason, the product you want may be ineligible for international shipping. No problem! We've created a proxy-buying service that allows you to buy on Amazon Japan. You will have access to all its products as if you were living in Japan. Indeed, Japan Rabbit can help you shop at thousands of Japanese online stores.

How to buy from Amazon Japan: a step-by-step guide

Now, we will explain how to use Japan Rabbit to get your products from Amazon Japan. Even if your shipping address is in a foreign country.

Step 1: Go to Amazon.co.jp

First, go to amazon.co.jp. Amazon Japan's design is the same as Amazon.com. Except that, at first, everything should be written in Japanese. Thankfully, you can switch the language to English or Chinese by clicking on the globe icon on the main menu. This will auto-translate the website into your selected language. Since it’s auto-translation, some texts will be wrong. That's why we recommend only using that feature if you don't understand Japanese at all.

Step 2: Search for items

You can directly search items using the search bar on top of the web page. Otherwise, you can simply select the section where you want to browse by clicking on the main menu. If you don't want to use a proxy-buying service, select the “Amazon Global Eligible” filter option in the sidebar of your search page. This option is displayed in a section called “International Shipping”. Sadly, you will not be able to see all the products available in Japan by selecting this option. That’s why we recommend browsing and seeing if an item you want to buy cannot be shipped to your foreign address by Amazon. If that happens, you can go to the third step to find the solution.

Step 3: Copy and paste the links of your items on Japan Rabbit

If one of your products cannot be shipped to your place, you’ll have to copy all the URLs of the product pages. To get a product link URL, open the product page in a new browser tab. Place your mouse cursor into the browser address bar. Press Ctrl+A to select the entire address, then Ctrl+C to copy it. Now, go to the Japan Rabbit app and put your mouse cursor into the product link field. Press Ctrl+V to paste the product URL in this field. Click on “Next”. You’ll have to repeat that action for each product you want to buy.

Step 4: Consolidation, repacking, and shipping method

We will send you an email when we will receive your package. If you have another package in your mailbox, you will be able to consolidate both parcels. With consolidation, you'll save on your international shipping costs. We can also repack your if your Amazon parcel appears to be flimsy. The very last step is to select your international shipping method. Japan Rabbit provides a wide selection of shipping methods. It includes EMS, International ePacket, FedEx, Airmail, SAL, and Seamail. When you are done with this, you will only have to wait for your parcel to be delivered to your place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I see this error message: “Sorry, this item cannot be shipped to your selected address”?

This warning message pops up when you try to check out with an item that cannot be shipped abroad in your cart. Indeed, you cannot use international shipping for most second-hand or licensed products on Amazon Japan.

How can I browse Amazon Japan in English?

All Amazon Japan content is normally displayed in Japanese. But you can change that by using one of the two methods we are going to show you.

Amazon Language Switcher

There’s a language switcher on Amazon Japan. You’ll find it below a globe icon accompanied by “JP” in the main menu of the website. Here you can choose between Japanese, English, and Chinese. By selecting English you will be able to search for your products in the Latin alphabet. Most of the product titles will be auto-translated into English. But the translation is not exhaustive, so you could miss a few products that are not translated correctly while browsing in English. So it is recommended to search for your products in Japanese if you don’t want to miss any entries. You also need to keep in mind that some elements are not translated at all. So sometimes, you can find descriptions or titles in their original version.

Translate the website with a Chrome extension

You can use the Google Translate Chrome extension to completely translate Amazon Japan in the language of your choice. Even if that tool is powerful, some translations will be wrong.

Does Amazon Japan ship to my country?

60 countries are included in the international delivery program of Amazon Japan. This means that some goods can be sent to any mailbox in these countries without using any proxy-buying or forwarding service. However, many items sold on Amazon Japan cannot be sent abroad at all. In that case, it is better to use Japan Rabbit or Blackship to get your Japanese goods in your country.

USA & Canada

Amazon Japan can ship some of its products to North America. That includes the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, but not other unincorporated territories of the US.

UK

The United Kingdom is part of the AmazonGlobal program. That means you can ship some products from Amazon Japan to the UK.

Australia & New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand are eligible destinations of the Amazon Global program. Unfortunately, all the states and territories in association with one of those two countries cannot receive parcels from Amazon Japan.

Singapore & Hong Kong

Amazon Japan can ship Amazon Global-eligible products to the city-states of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Philippines

The Philippines are part of the 65 countries covered by the Amazon Global program.

Other countries

• Africa: Egypt and South Africa
• Asia-Pacific: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
• Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.
• Latin America: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
• Middle East and South Asia: Bahrain, Israel, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

If your country is not listed above, it will be mandatory for you to use a proxy-buying service. Japan Rabbit can help you buy any kind of goods from Amazon Japan.

How to buy MP3 from Amazon Japan?

Amazon Japan has an interesting catalog of MP3 for J-Pop fans. Sadly, it can be really difficult to buy digital media on this platform when you are not living in the Land of the Rising Sun. To get region-locked digital content you’ll have to hide the fact you are not living in Japan. Moreover, to checkout, you’ll have to create an Amazon account with a Japanese address and payment method. Your IP should also be located in Japan. In other words, you will not be able to download any digital track by yourself if you are not connected to a VPN and using the personal data of a Japanese resident. The easiest way to get your digital products is to use a proxy-buying service like Japan Rabbit. We can use our own address in Tokyo and we’ll pay on your behalf with one of our Japanese credit cards. Learn more about our service.

How to buy books on Amazon Japan?

Physical Books

You can buy physical books the same way as other physical items. Just follow the step-by-step tutorial above.

Japanese eBooks for Kindle

You will have to gather four things to buy Japanese ebooks for your Kindle:

• A Kindle or any device where you can download the Kindle app.
• A credit card. It does not need to be linked to a Japanese bank account.
• A Japanese mailing address. You can use Blackship, our package forwarding service, to get one.
• A Japanese VPN that will allow you to virtually browse on Amazon with a Japanese IP.

When you'll have all those elements you'll be able to register your account on Amazon Japan. After creating your Japanese account, you will have to log in with that new account on your Kindle device or app. If you already registered your Kindle with an account coming from another country, you'll have to open "Manage Your Content and Devices", then click on "Settings" and change your country of residence to "Japan". From there, you will have access to the Japanese ebooks catalog of Amazon. We recommend you test your device by downloading a free ebook. If that works, you can start buying your ebooks as if you were in Japan.

Special Tip: You can create an Amazon account in another region and gift yourself books from your Japanese account.

Can I use my Amazon account in Japan?

You cannot use your American or British account on the Japanese version of Amazon. If you want to try to buy Japanese items by yourself, you’ll have to create a new account. Besides, if your idea is to use your American account on the American version of Amazon while you are in Japan, you can do it. But, you will face the same import restrictions as described above about Amazon Japan.