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Information on sending a shipment to Japan

Prohibited commodities
Standard DHL prohibitions plus: Due to Japan Customs regulations, Animal/Insect or Plant quarantine related items are prohibited. If these items arrive, they will be returned to Origin. Prohibited commodities: Fresh, cut or dried flowers, Potpourri, Malt, Straws, Bones and horns, Antibodies, Serum, Any blood of animals, Bacteria/viruses. DOX/WPX from/to/made in North Korea can not be imported into JP. Certain technical items must not be exported to Iran and Iraq without authorization of METI.
    Asbestos
    Cotton seed
    Firearms, parts of
    Furs
    Grain samples
    Ivory
    Military equipment
    Perishables
    Plants
    Pornography
    Seeds
    Soil samples
    Toy guns

Certain commodities need to be accompanied by an invoice and, in some cases, additional customs documentation. Other commodities are considered as 'Documents' and only require a DHL Airwaybill to be completed. The following list explains what you need to do in order to ship various commodities.
Document Commodities
(Require a DHL Airwaybill)
Commodities where you should contact your local customer service Department to clarify shipping requirements.

Airline tickets, blank stock (NI)
Airline tickets, issued/validated
Alcoholic beverages
Animal products
Animal skins
Annual reports
Biological Substance Cat B, UN3373
Blank forms
Blueprints
Calendars
Cash letters (NI)
Charts/graphs
Chemicals, non-hazardous
Cheques, cashier (NI)
Coal & firewood
Coffee
Coffee samples
Cologne and perfume
Compact disc
Computer printouts
Cosmetics
Credit card blanks (NI)
Credit cards (NI)
Deeds
Diaries
Diplomatic mail
Diskettes
Documents, general business
Drawings, technical/architect/eng.
Drugs: non-prescription
Drugs: prescription
Eye glasses and contacts
Fabrics & fabric samples
Films: 8mm, 16mm & 35mm
Films: entertainment
Films: promotional, training
Fire extinguishers
Foodstuffs
Glass products
Invoices, not blank
Isopropanol
Laser disc
Leather goods
Liquids, non-hazardous
Magazines, periodicals, journals
Manuals, technical
Manuscripts
Maps
Medical/dental supplies & equipment
Negatives, including x-rays, films
Newspapers
Passports
Personal effects
Personal mail
Photographs
Photos as part of business reports
Plans/drawings-arch/indust/eng. pur
Price lists
Ship manifest-computer generated
Ship spares
Shipping schedules
Shoes
Subs. cont'g sodium/calc. cyclamate
Swatches
Tapes: video cassettes
Tea
Textile articles
Tobacco
Toys
Visa applications

All other commodities should be shipped via DHL Parcel Express and should be accompanied by an Airwaybill and Invoice.
Restrictions

If your shipment exceeds any of the following limits, it may require special handling, please contact your local country customer service department.

Size : Length 120 cm (47 ins), Width 100 cm (39 ins), Height 160 cm (63 ins)
Weight : Max. weight per shipment : 1,999.0 kg (4,407.0 lbs),
Max. weight per piece : 250.0 kg (551.0 lbs)