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Be careful about import duties! I ordered a pair of suede shoes for $30 from LLBean and had to pay $45 for the leather tax when the shoes arrived! And then they didn't fit, but I couldn't get the tax money back when I returned the shoes (my husband even called and yelled at the shipping company to no avail).

I have had a similar experience with mail order goods that I later returned but I was able to get a refund on the duties I paid.

My parcel was delivered by the post office and I paid the duties to the post office person who brought the parcel to the door. Later, I called the Postal Service Information Line for advice (in English). I was told to take the receipt for the duties paid, along with the goods I planned to return to a special section at the International PO near Tokyo Station I think it was. There were a number of forms that had to be filled out and the parcel needs to be sent (i.e. returned) from that particular post office so that they have proof that the goods were indeed returned. There was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between the import duties section and the actual post office downstairs but it didn't take all that long to arrange. The money is not refunded in cash, you have to give bank account information and it took about a month to be deposited. In terms of train fares and time taken, I probably didn't save very much but, in certain cases at least, it is doable. The number of the Postal Service Information Line in Tokyo is 03-5472-5851. Sorry I don't have information about other parts of Japan.

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