This is an odd questiuon so sorry in advance. Luggage, what type did people bring to Japan, how didi you pack, and is there any advice you current JET's wish you had known about it?
Yeah, I brought one ginormous suitcase (which I couldn't even fill because of the weight limits), one smaller suitcase (packed to the gills), one large backpack, and my laptop case. I also shipped over a box of books using the special m-bag (books only) rate, and I definitely recommend doing that if you're planning on bringing more than two books with you. It took about two months for the box to make it to my apartment in Japan, but I didn't really need it before that, and if you plan in advance you can send it off a month or so before you leave (rather than the day before, as I did). You might also consider sending winter clothes by post because you definitely won't need them right when you arrive and they take up a lot of suitcase space.
Things I brought that I regret bringing: -towels (My pred recommended that I bring my own towels because Japanese towels weren't fluffy enough for her taste, but I have had no trouble finding perfectly nice towels here.) -posters/decorative items (Plenty of room decor available here.) -my entire CD collection (In retrospect, I should have just ripped it all onto my computer.) -lots and lots of nylon stockings (I was worried I wouldn't be able to find my size in Japan, but at school I wear normal socks every day, so really there was no point.) -a six-month supply of my favorite moisturizer from the Body Shop (Imagine my surprise when I found out that there is a Body Shop a mere 20 minutes from my apartment...)
Things I'm really glad I brought: -dental floss (it's expensive and hard to find here) -sunscreen (super expensive here) -a few basic OTC medications such as painkillers -deodorant -American-sized measuring cups (Actually I had my mom send me these later... it turns out that one cup in Japan and one cup in the US are not the same thing.)
Just at the post office. They have a special rate for shipments that contain only books. Ask for an "m-bag". Of course, if you're sending from the US, it may be more expensive now than it was three years ago since they've gotten rid of sea mail. In fact, I'm looking at the USPS website now, and I'm starting to think m-bags may not be such a great option after all if you still have to send it by airmail. If you're not sending a huge volume of books, maybe you could try to fit them into one of the flat-rate boxes?
Things I brought that I regret bringing:
-towels (My pred recommended that I bring my own towels because Japanese towels weren't fluffy enough for her taste, but I have had no trouble finding perfectly nice towels here.)
-posters/decorative items (Plenty of room decor available here.)
-my entire CD collection (In retrospect, I should have just ripped it all onto my computer.)
-lots and lots of nylon stockings (I was worried I wouldn't be able to find my size in Japan, but at school I wear normal socks every day, so really there was no point.)
-a six-month supply of my favorite moisturizer from the Body Shop (Imagine my surprise when I found out that there is a Body Shop a mere 20 minutes from my apartment...)
Things I'm really glad I brought:
-dental floss (it's expensive and hard to find here)
-sunscreen (super expensive here)
-a few basic OTC medications such as painkillers
-deodorant
-American-sized measuring cups (Actually I had my mom send me these later... it turns out that one cup in Japan and one cup in the US are not the same thing.)
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Here's the page of information for shipping prices to Japan, by the way: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/il_010.htm#ep1628203
Also, my apologies if you're not an American, as most of that information is US-specific (although I'm pretty sure m-bags exist in most countries).
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