For the United States, import duty is included in the price and paid by us before the parcel leaves Tokyo, so nothing is collected on delivery. Everywhere else, duties are not included and are paid by the recipient on delivery if the country charges them.
We ship from Japan, worldwide. To the United States, shipping is charged by parcel weight: $22 up to 500 g, $26 up to 800 g, $31 up to 1.2 kg, $44 up to 2 kg by standard airmail, or $35, $41, $50 and $66 by Express (EMS). Over 2 kg, every parcel goes by EMS: $82 up to 3 kg, $117 up to 5 kg and $205 up to 10 kg. There is no free-shipping threshold for the United States. To every other country, orders of US$199 or more ship free; below that, shipping is charged by weight at checkout, so you see the exact figure before you pay. At checkout you choose Standard (airmail, tracked, usually 1–2 weeks) or Express (EMS, tracked and insured, usually 3–6 days); parcels over 2 kg always go by EMS. Ceramics are double-boxed and cushioned by hand.
If something arrives broken
Write to hello@shoptomari.com within 7 days of delivery, with your order number and three photographs: the broken piece, the inside of the box, and the outside of the box with the shipping label showing. For orders over US$50, a short video of the parcel and what was inside helps us resolve it faster, if you are able to take one.
Please keep the box, the packing and the broken pieces for 30 days. If your parcel went by Express (EMS), Japan Post’s insurance requires the parcel to be kept as it arrived and reported to your local post office, and we will guide you through it.
Every piece is photographed before it is packed, and we check your photographs against ours. Once the damage is confirmed, we send a replacement or a refund, whichever you prefer, at no cost to you. You do not need to post anything back unless we ask.
For the United States, import duty is included — we pay it before your parcel leaves Tokyo. Since the de minimis exemption ended, every parcel into the United States is dutiable at any value, and Japan Post requires the sender to prepay that duty. So there is nothing for you to pay on delivery. Everywhere else, duty is not included. Your carrier or postal service may collect it before delivery; we declare every parcel accurately, but we cannot predict or control what your country charges.
At a glance
Delivery windows are what we actually see, not a best case. Customs inspection can add a week and is outside anyone's control.
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| Ships from |
Tokyo, Japan |
| Delivers to |
The United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Norway and Israel. Shipping to the European Union and the United Kingdom is paused |
| Shipping cost |
United States: by weight, $22 up to 500 g, $26 up to 800 g, $31 up to 1.2 kg, $44 up to 2 kg by standard airmail; $35, $41, $50 and $66 by Express (EMS); over 2 kg by EMS, $82 to $205. No free-shipping threshold. Every other country: free on orders of US$199 or more, otherwise by weight at checkout |
| Typical delivery |
Standard (airmail): usually 1–2 weeks. Express (EMS): usually 3–6 days |
| Ceramics |
Double-boxed and cushioned by hand |
| Damaged on arrival |
Write to hello@shoptomari.com within 7 days of delivery with three photographs. Keep the box and the pieces for 30 days. We send a replacement or a refund at no cost; nothing to post back unless we ask |
| Import duties |
United States: included in the price and paid by us before dispatch; nothing to pay on delivery. Every other country: you pay them on delivery, if your country charges them |
| Customs declaration |
Accurate, every time. We do not under-declare |
How duty works on a US parcel
A great many shops write “duties included” because it converts better. We wrote it too, until we checked what it would take to keep the promise, and then we took it down.
Every parcel we send to the United States travels on a delivery-duty-paid label. We declare the contents and the real price, pay the duty here in Tokyo before the parcel is handed over, and the confirmation travels with it. Nothing is collected at your door, and nothing is added at checkout beyond the shipping you can see.
This is not generosity — since April 2026 Japan Post has required it of anyone sending sold goods to the United States. But the effect is the one that matters to you: what you pay us is what you pay. Outside the United States nothing has changed: we declare every parcel accurately, and your country may charge you on delivery.
A note for customers in the United States
The $800 de minimis exemption ended in August 2025, and the temporary postal arrangement that followed it ended in February 2026. Small parcels into the United States are now dutiable regardless of value. This is a change in US law rather than a change in our pricing, and it applies to every overseas shop you buy from.
Why prices outside the United States are lower
Prices in the United States include the US import duty, which we pay before the parcel leaves Tokyo. Customers anywhere else do not owe that duty, so outside the United States our tea tools and incense are priced without it: the bamboo whisk is $89 in the United States and $79 everywhere else. Matcha, and the boxes that contain it, cost the same everywhere, because the United States charges no duty on tea. Any tax or duty your own country charges is paid on delivery.
The European Union and the United Kingdom
Shipping to the European Union and the United Kingdom is paused. Both now expect a shop outside them to register for VAT and collect it at checkout, and since July 2026 the EU also charges customs duty on parcels of any value. We would rather set that up properly than send you a parcel that arrives with a bill attached, or one that cannot be posted at all.
If you live in the EU or the UK and would like to order, write to hello@shoptomari.com and tell us your country. We will write back when shipping opens, and the number of people who ask decides which country opens first.
