[Update, April 3]: This announcement seems to have caused a lot of confusion, both inside and outside the Time Out Tokyo office. A phone call with Japan Post confirmed that Japan Post has temporarily stopped sending mail to 153 countries. However, Japan Post will still receive and deliver any mail sent from those countries to Japan.
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It seems the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is starting to affect Japan's national postal service.
Japan Post has announced that it will temporarily stop accepting international mail destined for 153 countries. For 126 of those countries, the suspension is limited to EMS and air mail, while other types of mail can still be sent. However, Japan Post is suspending sending all types of mail to the other 27 countries – a list which includes India, Iraq and New Zealand. You can see the full list of regions included in the suspension here. Any mail sent from these countries to Japan will still be accepted by Japan Post and delivered as normal.
Countries such as the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom are unaffected by the suspension. EMS, parcels and letters which have already been accepted but can now no longer be delivered to their destinations will be returned to their senders over the next few weeks.
Of course, this suspension only affects mail sent through the postal service – there is no word yet on whether any courier companies are following suit.
Get live updates on the Covid-19 coronavirus situation in Tokyo and Japan here.
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