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Charged 6000 yen for a parcel sent to me from family in US, why?
6000 yen is steep but not unusual. UPS charges a customs clearance fee on top of the actual duty and tax. For a backpack and outdoor gear, you're looking at the standard 8% consumption tax on the declared value plus shipping, and possibly a 5-10% duty on the backpack itself depending on whether customs classified it as luggage or sporting goods. The supplements and salt probably didn't help either.
Your best bet for next time is having them use USPS Priority Mail International. It goes through Japan Post on this end, and the handling fee is usually just 200 yen. I've had similar-sized packages from the US come through with only the consumption tax, no extra brokerage nonsense.
No refund unless there was an error in the declared value or the customs classification. Once you pay and accept delivery, that's it. If you want to push back, you'd need to appeal through customs directly, but for 6000 yen it's probably not worth the paperwork.
yeah 6000 yen is annoying but sadly sounds about right tbh. UPS loves slapping on brokerage fees on top of whatever customs decides, and Yamato just collects the total when they deliver. You're paying the 8% consumption tax on declared value + shipping, plus import duties on the backpack (probably 5-10% depending on material), and then there's the handling fee which is usually 200-3000 yen depending on the courier. no way to get it refunded once paid unless the value was declared wrong or the item was a gift under 10k yen, which it clearly wasn't.
next time tell your fam to use USPS/EMS instead of UPS. EMS usually gets through with just the tax and no extra handling fee, so it'd be like half that. also supplements and salt can get weird with customs if the total value is high, they might flag it as commercial. just a heads up for next time.
just pay and move on, that's how it works here. no refunds unless you want to deal with customs forms in japanese for weeks over 6000 yen
Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.
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