How to Receive Your Mail at an Airbnb Apartment Address

The number of visitors staying at Airbnb and other vacation rentals in Japan increased dramatically in the past few years. This post is about how to receive mail at an Airbnb address without any hassles.

1. Ask your host if it’s possible to receive any mail at the Airbnb address.

Many Airbnb rooms available in cities like Tokyo and Osaka are apartments used solely for Airbnb, and the host doesn’t actually reside there.

In Japan, for residents to receive any mail via Japan Post, they need to report their address and the name(s) to Japan Post. However, because many of the Airbnb hosts don’t actually live at the locations they provide, some of them neglect to register the address and names.

Japan Post considers a property vacant when its address and the resident’s name(s) are not reported to them. As a result, they will not deliver any mail. Instead of leaving the mail in the mailbox, Japan Post will leave a registration card in the mailbox, which you can complete and send back. If there is a registration card, you can discuss this matter with your host and ask them to register the address as soon as possible. Simultaneously, you can request the host to contact the post office for mail redelivery.

Additionally, the recipient of your parcels cannot be yourself but must be the owner registered with the post office at this address. Otherwise, the post office will still refrain from making the delivery.

If the host does not allow any guests to have any mail sent to the Airbnb address, consider sending them to a nearby post office. Please check the following post about how to receive mail at a post office: Locations of 24hr Post Offices in Japan

2. Get the full address from your host. Don’t forget to include the room number.

If the host says it’s ok for you to use the address to receive mail, ask them to give you a complete and correct postal address. The most common reason for nondelivery or late delivery is because of the insufficient or incorrect address.

Please ask your host to give you a complete and correct postal address. A complete address means it has a correct postal code (zip code), and if it is an apartment, it should include the apartment name and the room number.

Many forget to include the apartment name and the room number. Without them, it will be returned to the sender.

3. Indicate the host’s name in the address.

You must include the host’s name (not a nickname!) in the address like “C/O Host’s name”, or simply send the mail to the host’s name.

When the mailman sees an unfamiliar name on the package, they usually ring the bell and ask the residents to make sure the package is delivered to the correct place. When no one is at home, they will bring it back and leave a delivery notice in the mailbox or send it back to the sender.

4. Get the key or the key number of the mailbox from your host (if there’s any). Check the mailbox once you get to the Airbnb.

The package will be delivered in the mailbox as long as all above is done correctly. For the standard mail, the mailman will not bring them to the door. Usually, mailboxes are located on the ground floor of an apartment building.

If the package is not in the mailbox, there should be a delivery notice from the post office. Please call the number on the notice to arrange re-delivery.

In order to avoid any trouble receiving your mail at an Airbnb address, we think communicating with your host is very important. Then get the correct full address, so that you can receive the mail without any delay.