About Torii Post

Most English-language guides about buying from Japan are written by the companies selling you the service. Search "how to buy from Surugaya" or "best proxy service" and nearly every result is a proxy company's own blog, politely concluding that — surprise — you should use them.

Torii Post exists to be the other thing: an independent guide, written from inside Japan, by people who actually use these shops, marketplaces, and services with their own money.

What we cover

• Buying from Japan — proxy services, marketplaces like Mercari and Yahoo! Auctions, specialty shops for figures, music, fashion, and parts, and the real costs of getting a box across the ocean.
• Traveling in Japan — the practical, unglamorous questions that official tourism sites skip, answered with local knowledge.

How we work

We don't accept payment for coverage or rankings. Some links on this site are affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you — you can read exactly how that works in our affiliate disclosure. Recommendations are based on our own use and the documented experience of the communities we're part of. When something has a real downside, we say so in plain language.

If we get something wrong, we want to know. The fastest way to reach us is by email.