Reduce Your Japanese Junk Mail: 3 Methods To Use

Ever since I moved here, I received way more Japanese junk mail than I would like. I am not the only one. 

All the residents in my current apartment always have their inboxes packed full of advertisement flyers. And it became a habit where we throw out all the unnecessary papers in the trashcan nearby.

But did you know you filter them out?

Why do I receive so much junk mail in Japan?

When I lived in a Japanese student dormitory, all the mailboxes were behind a restricted-access door, meaning only residents and other authorized visitors were allowed in. 

This type of layout does not allow random flyers in my mailbox, as only Japan Post workers and other delivery personnel, such as Amazon or Sagawa, were allowed in.

But now my new apartment's mailboxes are right before the restricted-access door. So anyone can place advertisements and flyers. 

While getting the local newspaper is great, it can get pretty annoying with the other flyers.

How to get rid of Japanese junk mail

While it is impossible to get rid of all your junk mail, you will get your most important mail with these methods.

1. Use MailMate to stop your Japanese junk mail.

MailMate is an amazing option for expats in Japan that will digitize your postal mail. They will receive your mail and scan it into your dashboard. With a click of a button, you can open the mail, archive it, tag it, forward it to yourself, shred it, and pay your bills.

Their bilingual staff will always give you a summary of the mail, and you can even request a full translation, so you don't have to deal with technical Japanese. 

The best part? If you need to leave Japan temporarily, they will still receive your mail and notify you when they arrive.

After their onboarding process, you can manage your Japanese mail from anywhere!

2. Use a “no junk mail” sticker on your mailbox.

If you did not know, you can buy a チラシ投函お断り sticker and place it in your mailbox.

There’s no evidence of how effective the sticker is, as advertisers can ignore it and still place their flyers in your mailbox.

However, it can reduce the number of these advertisements in your mailbox.

3. Write “refused to receive” and re-mail it.

Calling to unsubscribe from an advertisement flyer can be intimidating. Instead, you can write 受取拒絶 on a piece of paper, paste it on the mail, and drop it off at a mailbox.

受取拒絶 means refused to receive, and it will tell the advisors that you want to stop receiving their news.

This method has a few caveats to know:

• Only unopened mail will be processed.

• Does not work with advertisement flyers as there is no return address.

In closing

Managing your mail in Japan doesn't have to be a struggle. 

While manual methods such as using a no junk mail sticker can be helpful, you can try using services like MailMate to filter out your most important mail and even view them when you're not home.