Basic Difference

FedEx is a private company. They use their own airplanes and manage the shipping from Japan to the destination country. In some countries, local subcontractors deliver the package.

EMS is operated by national postal services. It uses regular passenger airplanes, not dedicated flights. In Japan, Japan Post handles it. In the destination country, the local post office delivers it.

Shipping Speed

• FedEx: Usually faster. For Asia or North America, delivery takes around 2–4 days.
• EMS: Delivery can take longer, around 5–10 days, depending on the country and season.

Shipping Cost

• FedEx: Price depends on box size, weight, and destination. Remote area fees may apply (2,000–4,000 yen extra).
• Long or large items (like fishing rods, landing nets, or big containers) can be very expensive to ship with FedEx.
• For the USA, FedEx is often cheaper than EMS.
• EMS: Charges depend only on weight and distance. Size is not important. EMS is more stable in pricing and usually cheaper for large items.

Tracking Information

• FedEx: Real-time tracking with frequent updates.
• EMS: Basic tracking is available. In some countries, tracking may stop for 10 days after leaving Japan. This means the package is already in the destination country but waiting for processing.

Delivery Handling

• FedEx: If the receiver is not home, redelivery is easy to arrange.
• EMS: A missed delivery notice will be left, and the customer needs to contact the post office for redelivery.

Holiday Schedule

• FedEx: Closed on weekends and Japanese holidays. About 120 holidays per year in Japan. Delivery may be delayed during national holidays.
• EMS: Operates every day, including weekends and holidays.

Remote Area Fee (FedEx)

Some addresses are considered "Remote Area" by FedEx. An extra fee will be charged (about 2,000–4,000 yen). You can check on the FedEx website using your postal code.

Our Shipping Rules

• USA: EMS is expensive. We use FedEx.
• South Korea: No discount contract with FedEx. We use EMS.
• Australia: FedEx is very expensive. We use EMS.
• Countries where EMS is unavailable (listed below): We use FedEx.
  Israel / Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan / Georgia / Serbia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Moldova

For other countries:

• If the customer selects "FedEx only" or "EMS only" on checkout, we follow that.
• If the customer selects "FedEx or EMS":
  • If the shipping day is a FedEx business day, we use FedEx.
  • If the shipping day is a weekend or FedEx holiday, we use EMS.

Comparison Table