Japan Post tracking: EMS numbers and statuses explained

Japan Post tracking number: what it looks like

An international item from Japan has 13 characters: two letters, nine digits and JP. The last of the nine digits is a check digit. With invented digits:

Japan Post's tracker takes only this shape for international mail, not numbers such as CNG or LP plus 14 digits. A barcode starting with U on a small packet or its customs form (CN22) isn't a tracking number either: that item goes without tracking. A number ending in other letters, such as US, is from another country's post. No number? See how to find a tracking number.

Japan Post tracking statuses explained

Japan Post's English tracker lists the oldest scan first, with the date, time, office and prefecture or country. The wordings Peek knows, roughly in order:

Mail coming into Japan has three more lines. Transported in bond means it is moving, still under customs control, to the office of exchange that clears mail for your address; Arrived in bond means it got there. Clearance is under way until Dispatched from Exchange Office appears. More in what tracking statuses mean.

Japan Post parcels abroad: who delivers and customs

After Dispatch from outward office of exchange, your country's post takes over. For EMS, Japan Post points you to that post's own site, where it says tracking is faster, such as USPS, Parcelforce in the UK, An Post, Canada Post, Australia Post and NZ Post. Use the same JP number. Delivery attempts and pickup then follow your post's rules: see missed a delivery.

Shown as delivered. An International Air Packet goes into your mailbox without a signature, unless tax is due on it, and shows as delivered. EMS to the UK or France that missed you may also show as delivered while it waits at the nearest post office, Japan Post warns. EMS to Germany may show as returned or delivered while a customs agent or another delivery company has it. Your own post made the delivery, so ask it first: see delivered but not received.

United States. Since 15 October 2026, Japan Post again accepts mail for the US at virtually all post offices. Goods worth up to USD 2,500 must first be registered with Zonos or SafePackage, the providers Japan Post recommends, with any duties and taxes prepaid; the label then carries DDP and a 13-digit declaration number. Until 19 January 2027, gifts between private individuals up to USD 100 can skip this. Above USD 2,500, the importer pays in the US.

EU customs. Japan is outside the EU, so a parcel goes through customs in your country. Since 1 July 2026, goods bought online from outside the EU in orders up to €150 carry a €3 EU customs duty per item. Since 1 November 2026, a €2 Union handling fee per item applies as well, whatever the value. An item is the goods in a parcel that share a tariff classification, description and, where required, origin. Elsewhere, your own country's rules apply: see parcels held at customs.

Receiving a Japan Post parcel in Japan

Customs. Mail from abroad clears customs at one of six offices of exchange in Japan. When duty is due, you pay it on delivery, or at the post office with the assessment notice Japan Post delivers. Items worth more than ¥200,000 need an import declaration.

Missed delivery. A parcel from abroad waits at the delivery post office for 15 days, or one month if duty is due: collect it there or book redelivery. Japan Post's English form takes the 6-digit or 11- to 13-digit number on the delivery notice and redelivers to your home only; for another place, call 0570-046-111. See uncollected parcels.

Japan Post tracking not updating, lost or returned

Quiet after it left Japan. Scans then come from your country's post. Japan Post warns that information from abroad can be partly missing or late, and that lines can appear out of order because of time differences. Check your post's tracking with the same number: see why tracking stops updating.

No tracking at all. Small Packets have none, and since 31 December 2025 Japan Post no longer takes small packets of goods as registered mail. A small packet with tracking travels as an International Air Packet. Surface mail is tracked only as an international parcel.

Lost or damaged. The sender asks for a search on a form at the post office where they posted it, not by phone: within 6 months for registered mail, insured mail and international parcels; for EMS, the destination sets the period. Compensation covers registered and insured letters, international parcels and EMS (free up to ¥20,000, insurable up to ¥2 million); International Air Packet has none. For an online order, ask the shop: see lost parcels. If it arrives damaged or short, keep everything and report it to your local post office: see damaged parcels.

Returned. A wrong return entry abroad can leave Returned to sender showing after delivery, Japan Post warns; the line then names the delivery country, not a prefecture. Japan Post also asks senders not to post IOSS shop orders under €150 to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg or Portugal, as those countries' customs or posts may send them back. See returned to sender.

Japan Post customer service and contact number

Japan Post's lines, as read on 31 October 2026. They can't be called from abroad:

• Customer Service Center: 0120-5931-55 (free), or 0570-046-666 from a mobile (charged).
• In English: 0570-046-111 (charged), also for redelivery.
• Hours: daily, 8:00 to 21:00 Japan time.

From outside Japan, ask the sender or the shop, who can file a search at the post office where they posted it. Japan Post says it can't answer tracking questions beyond what its website shows.

Track a Japan Post parcel with Peek

Peek recognises two letters, nine digits and JP as Japan Post when the check digit is right, and shows "Detected carrier"; "Change" picks another. With a wrong check digit, it says "This number’s check digit doesn’t add up.": check your shipping message, or choose "Track it as typed". Links to Japan Post's tracker work too. A number starting with U isn't recognised as Japan Post's, and Peek doesn't look it up there: Japan Post doesn't track U numbers.

A 12-digit domestic number isn't Japan Post's by shape alone. Paste it all the same: Peek follows more than 3,500 carriers. It asks those that use the shape, Japan Post first when you're in Japan, and shows "Japan Post has this parcel." when Japan Post knows it. When you paste an 11-digit number, Peek doesn't ask Japan Post: pick it with "Change". Filed under Japan Post, a parcel shows "Waiting for the carrier" until its first scan.

Peek shows each scan in Japan Post's English wording, with the office and place, and files the wordings in the table above under its own stages, such as "In transit" or "At customs". It leaves out Japan Post's Details column, which can give a reason such as an unknown address. Peek reads each scan on the local clock of the place it names, or of the scans around it. For a domestic item with a delivery day the sender chose, Peek shows that day and time slot as the expected delivery until it's delivered or the day has passed.

From many countries, Peek also asks your national post with the same JP number: USPS from the US, Royal Mail from the UK (Parcelforce, which Japan Post names for EMS, for a number starting with E), An Post from Ireland, Canada Post, Australia Post, NZ Post, DHL from Germany, La Poste from France and every other EU country's post. It switches to that post once it has fresh scans and keeps Japan Post's history. From Korea, China, Hong Kong or Singapore it asks no other post. The other way round, when another post's tracking names Japan as the destination, or names none and you track from Japan, Peek asks Japan Post with that post's number, unless it starts with U.

Peek checks every 10 minutes, every 2 minutes once out for delivery, and hourly after two days without news. Alerts: "Every scan", "Important steps" or "Delivery only". Peek can't contact Japan Post, your post or the shop for you.

Questions about Japan Post tracking

What is EMS from Japan Post?

Japan Post's fastest international service, for documents and goods up to 30 kg to over 120 countries and territories, with tracking. Its numbers end in JP.

Why is my Japan Post tracking not updating?

If the last line is Dispatch from outward office of exchange, the parcel has left Japan: check your own post's tracking with the same number, and allow time for the flight and customs.

Can I track a Japan Post small packet?

Only if it went as an International Air Packet. A Small Packet has no tracking, and a barcode starting with U on it isn't a tracking number. Ask the sender which service they used.

How long does Japan Post take to deliver?

About 5 to 21 days for an International Air Packet, Japan Post says. EMS is its fastest service; the rates and delivery days tool on post.japanpost.jp gives the time for each destination.