Moving from Japan to U.S.A.

1. Moving from Japan to the United States. Are you moving to America from Japan? If you have many boxes to ship, it will perhaps be a good idea to use the services of some international shipping company than using Japan Post. In fact, some companies offer shipping services for personal effects by both sea and air and for a relatively small shipments, shipping by air can be less expensive. If you are interested in the shipping rates, you can read more here. Whether you are shipping by boat by air to the USA, you need to make a packing list. Note that there are some commodities you cannot bring in to the USA from overseas. 1 Thank you for the message, I will resend a better copy of my passport and a shipper’s letter of instruction. I have 2 questions: 1) when filling out the shipper’s letter of instruction for the “Address in Japan including building name:” should I write down my personal address or the addresses of my 2 storage units? 2) I am sending approximately 100 boxes ( the boxes I ordered through your company 510x360x360), am I correct in assuming it is approximately 6.6 - 7 cubic meters? I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. **** Thank you for the message. I am including the requested documents. I am a bit concerned and I have a question, if you book 8.5 cubic meters and my packages only take up 7 cubic meters do I have to pay for the extra 1.5 cubic meters? I was aiming to send around 6 cubic meter back. I do have a budget and I have looked at other companies that will ship a full container . I will need to have a basic idea of how much the total will be. If your company turns out to be more I will have to use

2. another shipping company from who I received a shipping quote shich is competitive for a large shipment. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. **** Thank you for your email earlier today. I am sorry it was rather noisy at the place I called from. As per our dialogue on the phone, on the SLI please write your residential address in Japanas it will be used for customs clearance as well. We have forwarded the two pickup location to our pickup agent. After receiving your SLI, we will put the case mark on the waybill for the domestic transportation to the bonded warehouse and also making a reservation of the space of the container. As you have also ready told me that you will be shipping about 100 packages and round 7 cubic meter, this will be fine. As I explained earlier, they often stack the packages and take the volume and the volume may be different but hopefully it will be okay and there will be space available if we book for 8 to 8.5 cubic meters at the most. ****** Thank you for the explanation, I understand now. Yes, reserving 8.5 cubic meters might be the safest idea. I would like to go forward with using your company, what is the next step that needs to be taken? Best Regards, ***** Thank you for your email. You will be charged by the actual volume of the shipment which is assessed by the third party (at the bonded warehouse) not by the volume for which it has been booked or the volume estimated by others such as our company. For example, if we make a booking of space of 3 cubic meter because a customer says that he thinks it is about 2 cubic meter and his shipment turns out to be

3. only 1.5 cubic meter, he will be charged for 1.5 cubic meter and if it is 2.4 cubic meter he will be charged for 2.4 cubic meter, not 3 cubic meter. On the other hand, if it is 4 cubic meter he will be charged for 4 cubic meter. In many cases, the estimated volumes are not accurate. In a case of a small shipment it would not matter too much such as the situation where we book for one cubic meter and it turns out to be 2 cubic meter but for a large shipment like yours, if we book for only 6 cubic meter and the shipment turns out to be 8 cubic meter, then they may not have enough space and the shipment may miss the scheduled ship because of availability of space. And due to the large volume, the consolidator must be prepared for having enough space. That is why it is better to be on the safe side in the case of a large shipment. In the case such as where one book for 4 cubic meter and the shipment turns out to be 7 cubic meter, it may happen that the consolidator tells that there is no more space available and the shipment miss the scheduled vessel. ******* Thank you for the prompt reply. I have put a case mark on three sides of the majority of the boxes (top, side, and front) and carefully checked both the contents and made sure I didn’t duplicate any numbers. I will send a copy of my residence card , a copy of my visa page from my passport and a copy of my old resume if that would be helpful for customs. I have been working at a private elementary school/kindergarten for the past 19 years and before that I was a teacher at the Kyoto Prefectural Police Academy. I have also been working as an entertainer, it is the reason I have so many kimonos and costumes in many of my boxes. If there are any other documents that you need immediately please let me know. I found out my mother has cardiac disease this summer so it is the reason for my return to the US and I chose the end of March as that is when the school year ends so I can fulfill my work contract, I am not sure customs needs that information or not. I have one piece of furniture (tansu) that I was considering shipping back to my home in America, but I have not decided yet. Have you shipped furniture as well and if so what is the best way to pack it and does it need any special requirements? I am hoping that I will be able to have my things picked up on the 22nd (Friday) if that is impossible then the 23rd (Saturday) might be an option. Thank you.

4. ***** Thank you for your email and for your understanding. (I hope you read the other emails which I sent around 21:00 last night as well) Packing list can be sent later. ( I am sure it takes some times especially because you are shipping a large number of boxes) Kindly also send the some other documents which Osaka customs asks for such as copies of your residence card, visa page of your passport, and also your job history information. Please also start putting your case marks (shipping marks). I understand that you need to do this at the storage facilities. When doing the labeling (putting case marks), please especially be careful in numbering and counting the packages. In fact, it is quite natural to make mistakes and people sometimes make mistakes when they are shipping many packages such as ending up multiple boxes with the same number on or some number is not used. *********** Thank you for sending the packing list! The way you wrote is just fine. Perhaps, the quantity of kimono will draw the attention of the customs officer. We will have the custom broker that they are for your personal use and were used when you acted as a performer. ************* Hi! How are you? I think you might already be on vacation. I hope you are doing well. I received an email from Vanguard Logistics concerning my shipment. Is this shipment total of 121CTNS or 120? Packing list you have sent is showing 120 but what your shipper manifested is 121. I told them that I only packed 120 boxes, but I did notice that it was being listed as 121. I didn’t know the reason why, any ideas? Thank you.

5. *********** Thank you for your email. How are you? It is getting warm here in Japan too. I talked with my contacts at Vanguard Logistics in Japan and they told me that their Los Angeles office contacted them about the surrendered b/l and they reconfirmed it. Thank you. Maybe shipments can be custom-cleared in LA and can be transported to Buffalo after it clears if you use the services of Vanguard Logistics’ in-house customs broker. You may would like to check with them about this. Normally shipments are transported to the CFS’s of final destinations *under bond* and can be custom-cleared there (unless they can be cleared in LA.) When some clients ask us to arrange customs-clearance and delivery on the US side nowadays we use the services of this company: They handle customs clearance and delivery of inbound shipments to the USA. Our partner in Australia introduced them and some other international movers in Japan seem to use their services as well for door-to-door services. Alternatively, you can try and find some customs broker in Buffalo area who can arrange customs clearance and delivery. Many customs brokers in the USA and elsewhere do not want to handle personal effect shipments so I think it is important to find one who is willing to help. Packing list used for shipping internationally from Japan to the USA should look like below. Make a good list and impress the customs office at the time of customs clearance on the US side.

6. Description Description Quantity Quantity Amount Amount 1 Soft, padded guitar case 1 5000 2 Books 9 7000 Ornament 1 1000 Soft toy 1 500 Hair accessories 10 1000 Handbags 3 4000 Clothes 25 10 000 Hot water bottle 1 1000 Straw hat 1 1000 Paper fans 3 300 Clip board 1 100 Cap 1 800 3 Mattress pad 1 3000 Music stand 1 2000 Book 1 500 4 Books 5 3000 Clothes 6 5000 Electric blanket 1 2000 Ceramic bowl 1 1000 Ornament 1 500 Notebooks 5 300 Tin box 2 500 Coat 1 3000 5 Dresses 2 3000 Shirts 5 2000 Cardigans 3 1000 Pants 2 1000 Folders 2 200 Thermos 1 1000 Pencil case 1 200 Hats 2 1500 Headband 1 500 Dressing gown 1 500

7. Crochet purses 4 400 Scarf 1 500 Books 2 900 Pillow cases 2 800 Soft toy 1 800 Pillow 1 200 Cup 1 1000 6 Pairs of socks 10 1000 Hiking backpack 1 6000 Thermos 1 2500 Mug 2 1200 Books 4 2000 Scales 1 900 Pack of documents 3 1000 Wind chime 1 800 Basket 1 100 Douvet cover 1 2000 Fitted sheet 1 1500 7 Clothes 25 15 000 Scarves 4 2000 Books 5 3000 Feng Shui Clock 1 800 Pack of documents 1 350 Pair of boots 1 3000 8 Pair of boots 1 2000 Pair of shoes 1 1000 Cross stitch kit 1 800 Crochet hook set 1 600 Clothes 5 1500 Earring rack 1 1000 Handbags 3 2000 Backpack attachment for 1 3000 guitar case 9 Acoustic guitar 1 30 000 Hard guitar case 1 7500

8. Total number of packages: 9 Total: 158 750 Yen