My friend Steven posted this pic and caption on his Flickr stream:
my buddy in osaka sent a package to my hotel in tokyo this week. it was supposed to arrive sat a.m., but by 145pm we checked in at the front desk and no package. they apologized, called the post office and told me 'please wait 10 minutes. we're very sorry.' 9 minutes later this postal worker hand-delivered the package. he was out of breath from hustling. just amazing.
I personally have never had this kind of experience, but it's true, the postal system in Japan is amazing. Everything takes one or two days and costs just a couple hundred yen to ship--no extra expedited shipping costs that leave you wondering if you should order it at all. And it's safe, and they accept cash on delivery, and it's always on time, and they never lose your mail.
It is pretty awesome. I receive packages from the girlfriend in just a few days. I have also used the various shipping services to send my luggage from place to place as I move around Japan, or even to the airport, so I don't have to deal with it if I'm taking a train/bus/taxi.
As he noted, it's usually on time, not lost and very affordable. It was like $25 to ship two large and heavy luggage bags from Kyoto to Tokyo and you tell them when to deliver and they do! That probably would have cost me $200 in the U.S.
That is a very noticeable difference with Japan. Pride in workmanship. From the courtesy to customer service after the fact. Even if a guy has a job sweeping. His uniform is neat and he's not goofing off.
Courtesy, Pride, Attentiveness. Those qualities are easy to find in Japan because it's the culture. (Well, that's what I think.)
Posted by: vagrant | February 13, 2009 at 05:09 PM
i agree with how efficient the system is, but honestly, japan is really small ._.
compare distances packages have to go in japan compared to packages that are being delivered in the u.s. ._.
thats a lotta land to cover. but yes, the u.s. postal service really IS terrible XD
Posted by: SHiNiCHi | February 16, 2009 at 06:40 PM