The number of visitors staying at Airbnb and other vacation rentals in Japan has increased dramatically in recent years. This post will show you how to receive mail at an Airbnb address easily.
Many Airbnb rooms available in cities like Tokyo and Osaka are apartments used just for Airbnb and the host doesn't actually live there.
In Japan, to receive any mail by Japan Post, residents need to report their address and resident name(s) to Japan Post. However, because many of the Airbnb hosts don't actually live in the acccommodation, some of them don't register the address and names.
When the address and the resident name(s) are not reported to Japan Post, it is considered a vacant property, therefore they will not deliver any mail. Instead of leaving the mail in the mailbox, Japan Post will leave a registration card in the mailbox, which you can fill in and post back. If there was the registration card, you can talk to your host about it and ask him/her to register the address as soon as possible. At the same time, you can ask the host to contact the post office to re-delivery your mail.
If the host does not allow any guests to have any mail sent to the Airbnb address, consider sending them to a nearby post office. Please check the following post on how to receive mail at a post office: Locations of 24hr Post Offices in Japan
If the host said it's ok for you to use the address to receive mail, ask them to give you a complete and correct postal address. The most common reason for nondelivery or late delivery is because of the incompletet or incorrect address.
Please ask your host to give you a complete and correct postal address. A complete address means it has a correct postal code (zip code), and if it is an apartment, it should include the apartment name and the room number.
Many forget to include the apartment name and the room number. Without them, mail will be returned to the sender.
You must include the host's name (not a nickname!) in the address like "C/O Host's name", or simply send the mail to the host's name.
When the deliveryperson sees an unfamiliar name on the package, they usually ring the bell and ask residents to make sure the package is delivered to the correct place. When no one is home, they will bring it back and leave a delivery notice in the mailbox or return it to the sender.
The package will be delivered in the mailbox as long teh above steps are done correctly. For standard mail, the deliveryperson will not bring parcels to the door. Usually, mailboxes are located on the ground floor of an apartment building.
If the package is not in the mailbox, there should be a delivery notice from the post office. Please call the number on the notice to arrange re-delivery.
In order to avoid any trouble receiving your mail at an Airbnb address, communicating with your host is very important. Receive the correct full address, so that you can receive mail without any delay.
