Moving in Japan could be difficult especially for foreign nationals because of the language barrier and various strict rules about moving from place to place. In this article, we will focus on the moving services provided by Japanese moving companies and English speaking services.
Table of Contents
- Why use a moving company in Japan?
- Services provided by the moving company
- The Estimated Cost of Hiring Movers in Japan
- 3 Popular English speaking moving companies in Japan
- In Conclusion
Why use a moving company in Japan?
Moving to a new place can bring tremendous amounts of stress and chaos. While packing and moving everything by yourself may save you some money, it takes a lot of work to do yourself and you might end up with damaged items or accidentally end up damaging the walls either at your current place or your new one. Also, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the many things you have to do when moving to Japan - all the paperwork at the city hall, cancelling services like electricity, having people come to pick up unneeded furniture, etc.
To the rescue comes moving companies that help to handle door-to-door moves at reasonable prices. Asking a moving company to handle your relocation will save you a good amount of time and effort, since items are handled by the best of the professionals, from packing items from your home to unpacking items at the destination home. All in all, you can have peace of mind and concentrate on all the other tasks moving will entail.
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Services provided by the moving company
A moving company not just provides the service of luggage pick-up and drop but it also comes with many useful add-ons, especially in Japan. Of course, this depends on how much you’re willing to pay as well.
The very basics, of course, involve picking up the items in your home that you packed yourself, putting them in a truck, moving them to your new home, and placing them where you ask. They make sure that none of the items are damaged during the transaction process. They will place mats on the floor and on the walls to make sure they don’t damage anything in the process, including the home itself.
Another level up is providing you with the boxes and packing materials. This may or may not include extra costs. However, they will take the used boxes and packing materials away with them, leaving you with less to throw out.
And if you really don’t have the time or ability to pack and unpack yourself, they will do it for you! They come with appropriate boxes and tapes to pack your items after having surveyed your current place and items. They may even clean the belongings before packing and after unpacking the items if necessary.
The Estimated Cost of Hiring Movers in Japan
The cost of moving depends on the volume of items - the higher the volume, the higher the cost. In many cases, box size also matters. Sometimes the company will give you a cost package which includes a certain number of boxes as well.
Cost also varies depending on the time of day, the time it takes to move, the distance and the season.
Generally, around February to May is considered the peak season for movers in Japan - as the new academic and work year starts in April - so the cost also increases due to high demand.
Also as the moving cost is quite high in Japan, make sure to ask several companies for estimates. While haggling is not customary in Japan in most cases, haggling with moving companies is actually very acceptable as they will quote a high price in the beginning. By having several companies offering you services, you may get a huge discount as well as some freebies if you are able to negotiate well.
Tip
Once you put a request for a moving company on the web or from their company website, usually you are going to receive a lot of phone calls. However, if you are not fluent in Japanese, it is always a good idea to communicate via email.
3 Popular English speaking moving companies in Japan
It could be difficult to communicate with the moving company if you are not fluent in Japanese. Here we have listed a few companies that have a full-fledged English speaking team for the service.
Yamato Transport is one of the oldest shipping companies in Japan. You might recognize the black cat in their logo. They provide services within Japan as well as for those relocating to Japan and for businesses. They are headquartered in Tokyo. Their moving service provides for singles, families and for those just moving furniture and appliances. They will even stagger which items get transported first if you’d like so you can stay the night at your new place before moving in the rest of your items.
This is a Japanese shipping company with an international reputation, known as Nittsu in Japan. They provide shipping services to both international and within Japan. They are also headquartered in Tokyo. Their moving service isn’t very detailed on the English site, but the Japanese site gives a range of services for moving within the country. They have services for singles, families, moving overseas and businesses. Plans are separated by packing yourself and having them pack for you.
Another famous shipping company in Japan, they provide various moving services including international and domestic moving. They are based in Tokyo. Their website has lots of details about why they’d be a great choice for those looking to move domestically. You can actually show them your items via video to get a quote.
A few other moving companies in Japan that you could also look into are:
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Tokyo Happy Move (English-speaking service)
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Tokyo Move (English-speaking service)
Again, you will get a very professional service from moving companies in Japan, especially from the bigger companies with great reputations. Some apartments or residences expect you to use the big name companies because of their guaranteed reputation and service so make sure you look into that when moving. However, the large companies also tend to charge more, so like mentioned above, make sure to get several quotes to haggle down the price. It can make a difference between paying 50,000 yen and 120,000 yen or more at times. With cheaper companies, you can get it for even less depending on the season and range of services required.
In Conclusion
It is a good idea to hire a moving company to do your shifting for it brings in your peace of mind and you can travel tension free. There are hundreds of moving companies in Japan to choose from, we have listed a few of the best ones. We hope you could find the above information useful for your next move.
