33

When traveling to Japan, upon arriving, passengers are requested to fill out a custom declaration form. Question number 1.6 asks whether the passanger is bringing "any items [they] have been requested from someone else to bring into Japan".

If I'm bringing a gift that was requested by my host, but purchased by me abroad, does this count as an "item requested from someone else"?

jornane
  • 533
  • 4
  • 7
  • 1
    There is no Japanese language version of it? How odd. – Acccumulation Apr 01 '20 at 03:50
  • 1
    @Acccumulation There is one but it is not indexed on the English version of the website. Here is the C-5360 form in Japanese: https://www.customs.go.jp/kaisei/youshiki/form_C/C5360.pdf – Ronan Boiteau Apr 01 '20 at 08:34
  • 10
    Millions of people take ‘items requested by someone else’ with them as a gift when they travel, from local chocolate to perfume to clothes etc. You only answer ‘Yes’ if you didn’t buy and pack the item yourself. You should of course be certain that what you’re taking with you is permitted under Japanese customs regulations – Traveller Apr 01 '20 at 08:42
  • 5
    I've always considered this question to be legalese for "do you have anything with you that you've been asked to transport for someone else, like that shady guy on the corner asking people to transport suitcases filled with coke". If you packed it, you know what it is, you take responsibility for it. That's what it's about. – Mast Apr 02 '20 at 12:25
  • @Mast: Pretty much. It's about someone asking you specifically to transport a thing for them, ostensibly when you don't know for sure what it is you're transporting. – V2Blast Apr 03 '20 at 08:20

2 Answers2

62

No, it does not count as an "item requested from someone else"

The question is not really clear in English. But if you take a look at the same form in French, question 1.6 is translated as such:

Articles qui vous ont été confiés par un tiers.

...which means, unmistakably this time:

Items that someone else gave you/entrusted you with

This question is designed to find out if someone asked you to take something through customs. If you are just bringing a gift for someone you can check "No", even if they asked you for that gift.

Basically, you should check "No" as long as you know what you are carrying. If you bought the gift yourself and packed it yourself, you're fine. However, if a stranger gave you "a package" to deliver to Japan, then you don't know what you are carrying, that is an issue, and in this case you should check "Yes".

The original C5360 form in Japanese seems clearer than the English version too. It says the following:

他人から預かったもの

...which I would translate to:

Something a stranger gave me.

However I'm not a native speaker so I can't translate the meaning of this sentence with the same certainty as the French sentence above.

Ronan Boiteau
  • 1,169
  • 11
  • 16
  • 38
    Wow that's a horrible English translation. Just as well the form isn't important or anything...wait... – T.J. Crowder Apr 01 '20 at 09:08
  • 3
    Well, at least it's not telling you to tootle at "passengers of foot". – Sebastian Lenartowicz Apr 01 '20 at 10:50
  • 3
    The Japanese sentence translation seems correct i.e Something someone gave to me – Nubcake Apr 01 '20 at 16:16
  • " if a stranger gave you "a package" to deliver to Japan, then you don't know what you are carrying, that is an issue, and in this case you should check "Yes"." Or maybe you should never check "Yes" because you would never carry packages from strangers. – Quora Feans Apr 01 '20 at 22:11
  • 11
    This seems to be the standard "Did someone trick you into becoming a smuggler?" customs question. – bobsburner Apr 02 '20 at 11:17
17

No, that question is intended to find out if someone has asked you to take something through customs that does not belong to you (and you might not know what it contains).

You are bringing a gift, and so the question that applies (from the English version) is

  1. Goods (personal, souvenirs, gifts) exceeding duty-free allowance.

which is elsewhere qualified as

¥200,000 (total of overseas market value).

So if the value is less than the duty-free allowance, there should be no need to declare it.

It makes no difference if someone has asked "I would like some ..."

Weather Vane
  • 12,289
  • 3
  • 43
  • 60