Tokyo: Hours of Operation

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Hours of Operation

General business hours are weekdays 9-5. Many offices also open at least half of the day on Saturday but are generally closed on Sunday.

Banks are open weekdays from 9 to at least 3, with some now staying open until 4 or 5. As with shops, there's a trend toward longer and later opening hours.

Museums generally close on Monday and the day following national holidays. They are also closed the day following special exhibits and during the weeklong New Year celebrations.

There are generally no binding laws about when it is too late to serve alcohol so it's up to the establishments. Last call is not really an applicable concept in Japan.

Department stores are usually open 10-7 but close one day a week, which varies from store to store. Other stores are open from 10 or 11 to 7 or 8. Tokyo has 24-hour convenience stores, many of which now have ATM facilities.

Holidays

Below is a list of national holidays. Note that when a holiday falls on a Sunday, it's usually observed the following Monday.

January 1 (Ganjitsu, New Year's Day); the second Monday in January (Senjin-no-hi, Coming of Age Day); February 11 (Kenkoku Kinen-no-bi, National Foundation Day); March 20 or 21 (Shumbun-no-hi, Vernal Equinox); April 29 (Midori-no-hi, Greenery Day); May 3 (Kempo Kinen-bi, Constitution Day); May 5 (Kodomo-no-hi, Children's Day); the third Monday in July (Umi-no-hi, Marine Day); the third Monday in September (Keiro-no-hi, Respect for the Aged Day); September 23 or 24 (Shubun-no-hi, Autumnal Equinox); the second Monday in October (Taiiku-no-hi, Sports Day); November 3 (Bunka-no-hi, Culture Day); November 23 (Kinro Kansha-no-hi, Labor Thanksgiving Day); December 23 (Tenno Tanjobi, Emperor's Birthday).

Mail

The Japanese postal service is very efficient. Airmail between Japan and the United States takes between five and eight days. Surface mail can take anywhere from four to eight weeks. Express service is also available through post offices.

Most hotels have stamps and will mail your letters and postcards; they will also give you directions to the nearest post office, or Yubinkyoku. Post offices are open weekdays 9-5 and Saturday 9-noon. Some of the central post offices have longer hours, such as the one in Tokyo, located near Tokyo Eki (train station), which is open 24 hours year-round. The main International Post Office is on the Imperial Palace side of JR Tokyo station. Some of the smaller post offices are not equipped to send packages. You can also buy stamps at convenience stores.

The Japanese postal service has implemented use of three-numeral-plus-four postal codes, but its policy is similar to that in the United States regarding ZIP-plus-fours; that is, mail addressed with the three-numeral code will still arrive at its destination, albeit perhaps one or two days later.

It costs ¥110 (98¢) to send a letter by air to North America and Europe. An airmail postcard costs ¥70 (63¢). Aerograms cost ¥90 (81¢).

To get mail, have parcels and letters sent "poste restante" to the central post office in major cities; unclaimed mail is returned after 30 days.

Main Branch

International Post Office (2-3-3 Ote-machi, Chiyoda-ku. 03/3241-4891. Subway: Tokyo station).

Shipping Packages

The Japanese Post Office is very efficient and domestic mail rarely goes astray. To ship a 5 kg/11 lb parcel to the U.S. costs ¥10,150 ($91) if sent by airmail, ¥7,300 ($65) by SAL (economy airmail) and ¥4,000 ($36) by sea. Allow a week for airmail, 2 to 3 weeks for SAL, and up to 6 weeks for packages sent by sea. Large shops usually ship domestically, but not overseas.

FedEx has drop-off locations at branches of Kinko's all over Tokyo. A 1 kg/2.2 lb package from central Tokyo to Washington D.C. would cost about ¥7,200 ($64) and take two days to be delivered.

Express Services

FedEx (0120/00-320 toll-free; 043/298-1919. www.fedex.com/jp).