Japan Post suspends shipping to the US

Japan Post from Nov 17th will stop shipping items weighing over 16oz to the US; the only exemptions will be parcels sent surface (obviously not a viable option) and those sent by companies and individuals with contracts with Japan Post. This is obviously going to affect a lot of people and will, at least temporarily, put a stop on a lot of Japanese items (including, of course, jackets) being sent to America.

This has apparently been caused by increased security measures in the US (yes, it's the old terrorist threat again), but if no other country's postal systems have been similarly affected it must presumably be down to Japan Post refusing to accept some conditions that US customs have demanded?

Time to restock the BRs!! This is huge.

Couchy

NO GREAT LOSS.

Glad I got my Japan repro Lee and Wrangler jeans last month.

Glad my Buzz roughouts are (supposedly) enroute to HPA.

chitchat said:

NO GREAT LOSS.

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To you, perhaps, but to others such as myself it IS (to borrow your caps) a GREAT LOSS.

chitchat said:

NO GREAT LOSS.

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Have you had a bad experience with Buzz jackets chitchat? I thought they were very highly regarded, be interested to hear your take.

If I may,
japanese products, buzz ricksons and the few, are massively self indulgent and jaw droppingly overpriced. add to that the apparently pure ethnocentrism that seems to sap them of any desire to ship their already overpriced wares anywhere else in the world.
maybe that is why the sentiment that it is no big deal is banded around.

Conversely, the stuff is such appealingly high quality and free from compromise. I made a buzz rickson purchase today because it is gold standard. It is addictively fine quality.

If only a chinese manufacturer could show such aptitude. their attitude to exporting is poles apart from the prohibitive practices of the Japanese and if their attention to detail was cranked up to the Jap level they would blow them out of the water at a very very reasonable cost, and frankly they are 75% there.

Tim P said:

If I may, japanese products, buzz ricksons and the few, are massively self indulgent and jaw droppingly overpriced.

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The Few is actually a New Zealand company.

asiamiles said:

Tim P said:

If I may, japanese products, buzz ricksons and the few, are massively self indulgent and jaw droppingly overpriced.

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The Few is actually a New Zealand company.

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I meant rmj?

Tim P said:

If I may,
japanese products, buzz ricksons and the few, are massively self indulgent and jaw droppingly overpriced. add to that the apparently pure ethnocentrism that seems to sap them of any desire to ship their already overpriced wares anywhere else in the world.
maybe that is why the sentiment that it is no big deal is banded around.

Conversely, the stuff is such appealingly high quality and free from compromise. I made a buzz rickson purchase today because it is gold standard. It is addictively fine quality.

If only a chinese manufacturer could show such aptitude. their attitude to exporting is poles apart from the prohibitive practices of the Japanese and if their attention to detail was cranked up to the Jap level they would blow them out of the water at a very very reasonable cost, and frankly they are 75% there.

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I agree to a certain extent, but there are exceptions. The Japanese A-2s are way overpriced considering what you can get from Good Wear or Eastman. But I have purchased a Buzz Rickson's chambray shirt from Japan, which cost just about the same as an equivalent shirt from RRL or J. Crew (maybe a touch cheaper, even with the strong yen). Suffice it to say I think the Buzz product is better than the Chinese-made equivalent I can get from the U.S. retailers. (And buying it from Japan was, believe it or not, cheaper than going through HPA or Self Edge.)

I've also purchased an LVC Type II denim jacket from Japan because the equivalent is just not available here, not even from Cultizm. Then there are the vintage repro jeans -- Wrangler and Lee, both dated to 1952 -- that I bought through Rakuten, again because there was no other outlet available for this type of clothing. Buying from Japan ain't always cheap or easy, but if you know what you want, are careful about it, and pay attention to what you're getting for the money, it can be a terrific option. I'll be bummed if that's no longer the case because of post restrictions.

there is no denying that once a jap item has fallen into your posession you will soon forget what it cost to buy and import and the memory of the hoops you had to jump through.
I am a fan of the high end japanese stuff, I just dont see why they have the monopoly on some of the more exotic pieces..it all should be do-able.
The market is vibrant enough for them to even crank out stitch perfect ww2 repros of obscure items in black...if I won the lottery I would william gibson my tush off.

It seems the restriction was lifted as long ago as Dec 1st, though since Japan Post made no announcement in English (as they didn't about the original suspension), who knew?!