About this site and editorial policy
About
Kanzei Square (関税スクエア; “kanzei” is the Japanese word for customs duty) is an independent site that explains the customs duty and consumption tax on overseas orders and personal imports to Japan, checking everything against official documents. Online explainers on this subject often contradict each other, so we read the documents of Japan Customs, the Ministry of Finance and the National Tax Agency directly and write only what we could confirm.
Our rules
- We publish figures and dates only when we could confirm them in documents from public agencies.
- Every article carries its sources and the date we checked them.
- Where official documents are silent, we say so (for example, how shipping is treated).
- When the rules change, we update the article and record it in the update log.
- We sometimes use generative AI for drafts, and for translation between Japanese and English. Numbers and dates are checked against the official documents before publication.
Disclaimer
The content of this site is general information. It is not a judgment on any particular customs clearance or tax advice. For the actual amount of tax or how your parcel is treated, please ask Customs, your carrier or a tax accountant.
Contact
If you notice a mistake in an article, please tell us on the contact page.