If you’ve read our previous articles on How to Receive Your Mail at a Post Office in Japan and A List of 24hr Post Offices in Japan, you might have come across a term called ゆうゆう窓口 (YuYu Madoguchi or YuYu Window). Even if you look it up literally or copy it into a dictionary, you might not find an appropriate Chinese translation. Many people, even those not new to Japan, may be unclear about what this window is and what it’s used for.

What is ゆうゆう窓口/Yu-Yu Window?

Definition

Since regular Japan Post office windows have relatively short business hours (usually 9:00-19:00, and closed on weekends and holidays), or some post offices are exclusively for postal transactions without regular windows, an additional window may be set up. Its business hours might be from 7:00-21:00, including weekends and holidays. Before 1999, it was even called “Time Out Window.” In essence, it’s a window that provides various services outside the regular business hours of Japan Post offices, offering a convenient service.

Business Hours

The opening hours of  Yu-Yu Window may vary depending on the post office. It is often from 7:00-21:00, but there are also windows with shorter hours, like 8:00-20:00, and 24-hour windows. How can you determine the opening hours of the window you are about to visit? Or how do you find a 24-hour window?

How to Find Yu-Yu Windows with Extended Hours

About 24-hour post offices (in fact, post offices with YuYu Windows), we’ve already compiled a list, which you can check in this article: 24-hour post offices in Japan. If you already have the name or address of the post office and want to check the business hours of both the regular window and the YuYu Window, you can directly check on the official Japan Post website: >>Search for contact information related to YuYu Window, centralized mail reception, etc. Here are three ways to search:

• 郵便局の名称からさがす → Search by post office name. You can also enter hiragana here.
• 郵便番号からさがす → Search by postal code. Enter the half-width numbers without hyphens.
• 全国地図から検索する → Search from the national map. Clicking on the respective area will display all post offices with Yu-Yu Windows.

Clicking on the name will show you the map and specific opening hours.

What Can You Do at Yu-Yu Windows?

Sending Mail

As a window at the post office, Yu-Yu Window has, at the very least, the basic functions of a post office: sending and receiving mail. Whether it’s letters, postcards, or parcels, you can send and receive them here. And because Yu-Yu Window has longer business hours than regular post office windows, it’s more suitable for people who are usually busy with work and can’t go to the post office, or for foreign tourists arriving in Japan late when the post office is closed. At Yu-Yu Window , you can also buy postage stamps and postcards. You can even use the cash-on-delivery service, which is suitable for exchanging tickets or merchandise between fans.

Storage Waiting for Pickup

In simple terms, it means putting items in the post office, and the post office will keep them for the recipient for 10 days. You can pick them up during this period. We’ve introduced the specific procedures for picking up items in a previous article: How to receive packages using Japan Post addresses. If you want to store items for pickup, you can write the recipient’s address in this format on the envelope or package:

〒XXX-XXXX (Postal code) XX prefecture, XX city, XXX X-X-X (Post office address) ○○郵便局留め (This sentence must be written! Otherwise, the post office will consider it as an address error and return it.) Mr./Ms. ○○○○ (Recipient’s name)

After writing the address, drop it in the mailbox or hand it to the counter at the post office. But the recipient’s name must be correct; it should match the name on the recipient’s identification card, or the post office will not deliver the package.

Non-Delivery Notification

If you live in Japan, there may be situations where a package arrives but you are not at home to receive it. In addition to applying for redelivery online, you can also take the non-delivery notification from your mailbox and directly pick up the package at the corresponding post office’s Yu-Yu Window . The premise is that your package is indeed delivered by the post office and the post office responsible for delivery has Yu-Yu Window .

Procedures Related to the Post Office

Moreover, if you move and need to submit some documents to the post office, you can also handle them at Yu-Yu Window.

Guide to YuYu Window Storage Waiting for Pickup

About how to pick up items at Yu-Yu Window , it might be a bit troublesome if you don’t know Japanese. Here, we provide a foolproof method. Just follow these steps, and you should have no problem. Prepare the tracking number of the package in advance and check it on this website: https://trackings.post.japanpost.jp/services/srv/search/input If you can speak a little Japanese, you can say this to the counter staff:

XXX (Recipient’s name) 宛ての荷物を受け取りたいのですが。 (I would like to pick up the package addressed to XXX.)

Then show the results of your search to the staff. If you don’t speak Japanese, you can directly show the above sentence and the search results to the staff, and they should understand.

Conclusion

Yu-Yu Window is used just like a regular post office window, but because it has longer business hours, it’s more convenient than regular windows. Think of Yu-Yu Window as a convenience store, and regular post office windows as supermarkets. Supermarkets have closing times, but ゆうゆう窓口, some of which are even open 24 hours, offer extra convenience. Take advantage of the super convenient ゆうゆう窓口 ( Yu-Yu Window ) as much as you can!

Top image from Wiki, Author: Ninosan, CC0, Link

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