Japan redelivery: read the slip and book again in English

Sora— research-based comparisons

Published: October 30, 2026

Source: Japan Post – English redelivery form; Japan Post – English questions and answers; Yamato – notice guide; Sagawa – security-incident notice, Japanese; Sagawa – redelivery instructions, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

What is the slip in my mailbox, and which company left it?

A fuzai hyo, or missed-delivery notice, is the paper a carrier leaves to explain an unsuccessful handover and the next action. Use the printed company name to choose the booking route, rather than assuming every notice uses the same website.

Japan Post’s English form names the document:

“Undeliverable Item Notice”

Source: Japan Post – English redelivery form (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Yamato’s English guide identifies its yellow slip as:

“Attempted Delivery Notice”

Source: Yamato – notice guide (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Use this carrier-by-carrier comparison to find the right starting point. Sagawa’s English website display is machine translation of its Japanese pages, not a separate English service guide.

Source: Japan Post – number entry; Yamato – notice guide; Sagawa – redelivery instructions, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Keep receiving and sending separate. For dispatching a suitcase to a hotel or airport, use the guide to luggage forwarding in Japan, rather than a redelivery request. If you are furnishing a Japanese apartment, keep each order beside its own notice so that a booking for one parcel does not become your plan for all the others.

Where is the number I need for redelivery?

Look for the notice or waybill reference, not the telephone number. Japan Post accepts either its shorter notice identifier or its longer tracking reference; Yamato uses the waybill digits, while Sagawa may ask for both the branch code and the waybill number.

Source: Japan Post – number entry; Yamato – notice guide; Sagawa – required references, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Read the reason for the slip before booking another visit. Yamato’s English field-by-field guide gives a useful reading order:

• B: why the driver left it. A failed delivery or an item too large for the mailbox calls for redelivery. A notice about a collection instead calls for contact with the driver or customer service.
• B: whether delivery already happened. If the item went into a parcel locker, use the waybill reference to retrieve it rather than requesting another visit.
• B: a name or address problem. Give the corrected recipient details when arranging redelivery.
• C: the parcel category. Identify a temperature-controlled item before choosing a date; its storage limit is shorter.
• D: the attempted visit. This date anchors Yamato’s stated holding period.
• F and G: whom to call. F is the driver’s direct number; G provides the foreign-language automated route. The driver’s number is not the route to rely on for English assistance.

Source: Yamato – notice fields B, C, D, F and G (confirmed 20 October 2026).

This reading order separates a parcel awaiting another visit from one awaiting collection, retrieval, or corrected details. Do that before choosing a time you will stay home.

How do I book Japan Post redelivery in English?

Use Japan Post’s English form for another delivery to the address printed on the notice. For a different receiving place or counter collection after a missed visit, contact its call center instead.

Source: Japan Post – English redelivery form and destination restriction (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Work through the request with the paper beside you:

• Open the official English redelivery form.
• Enter either the 6-digit notice reference or the 11–13-digit tracking reference.
• Choose from the dates and time windows offered when you apply.
• Keep the address on the notice as the destination for this online route.

Source: Japan Post – English number entry and home-redelivery restriction (confirmed 20 October 2026).

As of October 2026, the English form lists 0570-046-111, with daily telephone hours of 8:00–21:00. It describes a charged call; certain IP phones and PHS cannot use that number. The Japanese version lists 0570-046-666 for the same hours; keep each number attached to the page that publishes it rather than treating them as interchangeable language instructions.

Source: Japan Post – English form, call-center details; Japanese form, call-center details (confirmed 20 October 2026).

The English form is the direct option when you want to read the booking process in English. Japan Post’s Japanese-language LINE guide also describes redelivery through its postal account’s menu, using the tracking or notice identifier; that is a separate channel, not an English-interface recommendation.

Source: Japan Post – English redelivery form; Japan Post – postal LINE account instructions, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

How do I book Yamato redelivery in English, and what are the same-day cutoffs?

Use Yamato’s voice-guided booking line for English instructions, then choose a slot whose booking deadline has not passed. As of October 2026, 0120-17-9625 accepts bookings 24 hours daily, 365 days annually; Yamato lists 0783-30-4348 as the English alternative when connecting to the toll-free number is difficult.

Source: Yamato – automated redelivery phone service; Yamato – notice guide and alternative English number (confirmed 20 October 2026).

The automated service and a person answering customer-service calls have different schedules. As of October 2026, operators take redelivery bookings between 9:00 and 18:00 daily, year-round. Do not use those operator hours as the availability limit for the automated line.

Source: Yamato – receiving options and customer-service hours; Yamato – automated phone availability (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Have the waybill reference and a contact phone number ready. The automated sequence is:

1. Enter the waybill digits.
2. Select redelivery with 1.
3. Choose today or enter another date as MMDD.
4. Select the receiving window and provide your contact number.
5. Listen for the acceptance message before ending the call:

“Your request has been accepted.”

Source: Yamato – automated phone sequence (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For a Japanese contact number for carrier SMS and callbacks, use the separate guide to resident voice SIMs and Japanese phone numbers.

Yamato publishes these same-day booking deadlines as of October 2026:

Source: Yamato – redelivery windows and same-day deadlines (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Choose a receiving window that fits your schedule, then read its booking deadline in the other column. The time you want the parcel and the time by which you must request it are different appointments.

The parcel category still matters. Yamato’s notice guide schedules Kuroneko DM-Bin redelivery no earlier than the next day and links Nekopos receiving windows to the booking time. Read field C before applying the general timetable to an item in either category; keep the parcel type beside your preferred date when making the request.

Source: Yamato – notice field C, product-specific redelivery timing (confirmed 20 October 2026).

What about Sagawa, and what changed in October 2026?

As of October 20, 2026, Sagawa had suspended several web services after unauthorized access detected on September 30, 2026; collections and deliveries continued normally. For a missed parcel, use the phone number printed on the paper notice to arrange the receiving date and time.

Source: Sagawa – security-incident questions and answers, Japanese; Sagawa – telephone redelivery instructions, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

The suspended services included online tracking, some web collection bookings and receiving-location changes, including changes after an unsuccessful delivery. Sagawa’s notice gave no resumption date. Check Sagawa’s notice before relying on the web form. A visible booking button is not a reason to treat every online function as available during the disruption.

Source: Sagawa – suspended services, Q5-2, Japanese; Sagawa – redelivery page and suspension notice, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Prepare the parcel’s waybill reference and the branch code from the slip, then explain whether you want another home visit or branch collection. Sagawa’s telephone instructions support choosing a receiving date and time; its machine-translated website should not be read as a promise that a telephone conversation will be in English.

Source: Sagawa – redelivery methods and required references, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For tracking during the disruption, Sagawa’s incident notice directs customers to the status button in LINE, with detailed inquiries going to the local branch. Keep that limited tracking route separate from booking a new receiving place.

Source: Sagawa – tracking during the suspension, Q5-3, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

How long will they hold my parcel?

Use the carrier’s period for the specific receiving arrangement, not a universal week-long countdown. As of October 2026, Japan Post states seven days for an item brought back after a missed delivery; Yamato’s ordinary and temperature-controlled parcels have different limits.

Source: Japan Post – English storage answer; Yamato – holding periods (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Source: Japan Post – English storage answer; Yamato – notice-date and Cool TA-Q-BIN rules (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Japan Post returns an item to its sender if its stated period ends without delivery. Yamato describes return as a possibility when attempts to contact the recipient remain unsuccessful for a long time, not an automatic event on a specific day.

Source: Japan Post – English storage answer; Yamato – notice guide, return warning (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Sagawa’s branch-pickup service terms allow eight days, counting the first delivery day as day one, without extension; those terms give four days for cool parcels. Separately, its receiving-location-change terms give eight days including the delivery date when the selected destination is a branch facility. These are rules for named receiving services, not a general storage period for every Sagawa missed-delivery slip.

Source: Sagawa – branch-pickup service terms, Japanese; Sagawa – receiving-location-change terms, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

A planned absence is a separate issue. Japan Post’s advance absence notification is not an extension of the ordinary missed-delivery period; the travel-related answer below covers that arrangement.

Source: Japan Post – planned absence, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Can I pick it up at a post office, convenience store or depot instead?

Yes, but choose the carrier’s eligible collection route before traveling to a counter. Changing where you receive a parcel and requesting another home visit are different requests.

What should Japan Post recipients do?

After a missed visit, call the center for counter collection instead of using the home-only English form. Japan Post’s Japanese-language guidance also describes selecting post-office or convenience-store pickup while shopping, or changing the receiving place through a delivery notification; those routes are distinct from the missed-delivery form.

Source: Japan Post – English form’s destination restriction; Japan Post – post-office and convenience-store collection, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For post-office collection, prepare identification showing your name and address. Collection follows the selected location’s opening hours; a post office lacking refrigeration cannot accept a chilled pickup arrangement. Settle the location and parcel type before planning the errand.

Source: Japan Post – counter identification, opening hours and refrigeration, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Which Yamato route works without membership?

Use branch collection rather than members-only convenience-store pickup. Yamato’s Japanese-language location-change page allows non-members to enter the waybill reference in its tracking system and change collection to a nearby branch only.

Source: Yamato – non-member location changes, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Bring identification and paperwork bearing the tracking reference to the branch. Yamato explicitly includes a residence card among its identification examples. For parcels designated for branch collection, its English guidance warns of possible return if collection has not happened within a week of arrival, as of October 2026.

Source: Yamato – branch collection and identification (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Convenience-store and handling-store pickup requires Kuroneko Members. As of October 2026, Yamato’s Japanese-language page gives three days counted from the available-for-pickup date, without extension. Decide whether that collection window fits before redirecting the parcel.

Source: Yamato – membership and store holding period, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

What should Sagawa recipients bring to a branch?

Call before visiting, then take the missed-delivery slip and government-issued identification. Use that prior conversation to arrange branch collection during the web disruption, rather than assuming an online receiving-location change has succeeded.

Source: Sagawa – branch collection and identification, Japanese; Sagawa – receiving-location-change suspension, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Can I have parcels left at the door next time?

Leave-at-door delivery, or okihai, means arranging a specified unattended receiving place in advance; it is not permission for every parcel to be abandoned outside. Separate a building’s parcel box from a request to leave something at an exposed front door.

Source: Japan Post – unattended delivery and parcel-box rules, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For Japan Post, its Japanese-language guidance says eligible Yu-Pack and similar items generally need no application for delivery to a parcel box or locked front-door container. Its notification-based designated-location route instead requires Yu ID registration, residence verification and delivery notifications; the completion notice arrives by simplified registered mail. Registering an account alone does not complete that route.

Source: Japan Post – parcel boxes, Japanese; Japan Post – notification-based designated delivery, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Japan Post’s location conditions require a place within the recipient’s building or grounds and protection against rain-related soiling. Front-door and meter-box placement is generally unavailable in auto-lock buildings. Chilled or fresh items, certain identity-sensitive mail and items requiring payment are among the exclusions; the ordinary box rule does not erase them.

Japan Post also provides a written-request route for setting a household delivery location in advance. Choose that arrangement or the notification-based process according to what you need to set up, rather than assuming an instruction for a parcel creates a standing arrangement for the home.

Source: Japan Post – eligible locations and excluded items, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For Yamato, EAZY unattended delivery applies to purchases from participating online shops, not every shipment carried by Yamato. Its Japanese-language EAZY page describes selecting an unattended location, including a LINE route using the waybill reference.

Source: Yamato – EAZY eligibility and placement, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For redelivery to your building’s parcel locker, Yamato’s English instructions instead tell you to put this wording in the form’s Notes field:

“Please deliver to delivery locker”

Source: Yamato – locker redelivery instructions (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Cold-chain parcels, payment-on-delivery items, food, valuables and parcel size can require handover instead. A locker request is therefore a receiving preference, not an override of parcel eligibility.

Source: Yamato – locker-delivery exclusions (confirmed 20 October 2026).

For Sagawa, the Japanese-language rules tie unattended delivery to Smart Club and the sender having selected that option. Recipient preference alone does not qualify a parcel; chilled items, e-collect, valuables and freight-payable items require handover. Its location-selection rule permits the initial choice only, with no subsequent change, so settle the location before submitting it. The incident notice still described Smart Club availability as under examination on 20 October 2026, so do not plan around immediate web activation.

Source: Sagawa – unattended delivery conditions, Japanese; Sagawa – Smart Club status, Q5-5, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

When choosing and renting an apartment in Japan, include parcel-box availability and access through a locked entrance in your viewing notes.

Is that “missed delivery” text message real?

Do not use a suspicious message’s link to settle the question. Open the carrier’s official website independently or use the contact details on the paper slip, keeping the parcel reference beside you.

Source: Japan Post – suspicious messages and imitation websites, Japanese; Sagawa – suspicious communications warning, Q4-1, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Japan Post’s Japanese-language warning tells recipients to avoid links in suspicious emails or SMS and delete the messages. It also identifies a genuine missed-delivery SMS exception involving the group’s merchandise-sales company, so the format alone does not establish that a message is fraudulent.

Source: Japan Post – message warning and stated SMS exception, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Sagawa’s incident guidance warns against suspicious emails, texts and calls impersonating the company, and against entering personal information through them. If there is no paper notice, start from the official website rather than letting the message choose your route. If there is a slip, use its number and parcel details to verify the contact.

Source: Sagawa – impersonation warning, Q4-1, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

FAQ

What if I’ll be away for weeks?

As of October 2026, Japan Post allows an advance absence notification for up to 30 days, and anything that arrives while it is in force is brought to you once the period is over. File it at a post office with identification, such as a My Number Card or driver’s license. This postal arrangement does not stop Yamato or Sagawa deliveries. Plan it alongside your temporary-departure and re-entry paperwork, not as an extension for an already-missed parcel.

Source: Japan Post – absence notification and identification, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Can the absence notification pause only my mail?

No: Japan Post’s Japanese-language instructions apply the hold to all mail addressed to the home, rather than selected family members or selected mail categories. A confirmation notice is sent to the home after the application is accepted.

Source: Japan Post – household scope and confirmation notice, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

Can a Yamato parcel requiring payment go to a different address?

Yamato’s notice guide disallows a destination change for its cash-on-delivery/credit-card category. Keep that restriction attached to the parcel type when deciding how to receive it, rather than treating it as an ordinary redirectable shipment.

Source: Yamato – notice field C, payment category (confirmed 20 October 2026).

How do I collect a Yamato parcel at Seven-Eleven or FamilyMart?

Show the dedicated pickup barcode from the arrival notification at the register. Yamato’s Japanese-language store-pickup page specifies that method for these stores, so keep the notification accessible when collecting the parcel.

Source: Yamato – store-pickup barcode instructions, Japanese (confirmed 20 October 2026).

What to remember

Match the slip to its carrier, read the reason for the visit, and use that carrier’s reference and booking route.
Keep booking cutoffs, parcel storage and alternative-pickup conditions separate; call Sagawa while its web disruption affects your request.
Arrange unattended delivery or a postal absence hold through the relevant service, and verify suspicious messages independently.