September 17, 2021 Implementation of Service Review at Japan Post

With consideration of the enactment of the Act for Partial Revision of the Postal Act and the Act on Correspondence Delivery by Private Business Operators (Act No. 70 of 2020, hereafter referred to as the “Revised Act”) and other factors, Japan Post Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as “Japan Post,” headed by KINUGAWA Kazuhide, President) will sequentially implement a review of its services from October 2021 regarding delivery date and the number of days for postal delivery.
Therefore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) hereby announces the details of the service review at Japan Post based on the Revised Act, etc.

1. Background

The Revised Act was enacted at the extraordinary Diet session in the autumn of 2020 (November 27, 2020) and promulgated (December 4, 2020). In response to the Revised Act, the Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Regulations for Enforcement of Postal Act (Ordinance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications No. 29 of 2021) was enacted and promulgated (March 31, 2021). Changes to the Domestic Postal Contract and Postal Service Management Regulations were approved (April 15, 2021). In light of the above, Japan Post will sequentially review its services regarding delivery date and the number of days for delivery from October 2021.

2. Outline of service review at Japan Post and implementation date

1. Suspension of Saturday delivery (from Saturday, October 2, 2021).

The Saturday delivery of regular mail and Yu-Mail* will be suspended.
The mail includes acceptance-recorded mail.

2. Delivery date postponement (implemented in stages from October 2021)

The number of days required to deliver regular mail and Yu-mail* will increase by about one day.

3. Reduction of express mail rate (applicable to mail accepted on and after Friday, October 1, 2021)

The postage rate of express mail will be reduced by about 10%.

4. Changes in postal rate category of delivery date-specified mail (applicable to mail accepted on and after Friday, October 1, 2021)

The postal rate category of delivery date-specified mail will be changed.

5. Changes to the conditions for sending special mail within the same postal district

Special postal items within the same postal district that must be sent to a post office that handles mail delivery are subject to change so that they can be also sent to a regional office that handles post offices within the region.

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  Regular mail and Yu-mail are types without optional services (special handling), such as registered mail and express mail.
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  For more information, refer to Japan Post’s website.