Moving to Japan from Canada, Door to Door from Toronto

How a move from Toronto to Japan works

It starts with a survey — in person for a house, by video for a condo — so the quote is based on your actual volume and so we can talk honestly about what will fit in a Japanese apartment. On packing day our crew wraps and packs everything for ocean transit (export-grade cartons, paper, blankets and custom crates for art, mirrors and the TV) and builds the inventory that customs and your insurer will rely on. The shipment comes to our North York warehouse, where it is loaded into a dedicated 20′ or 40′ container, or consolidated with other Japan-bound shipments if you are moving a smaller volume.

The container is drayed to the CPKC Vaughan or CN Brampton terminal on our own truck, railed to Vancouver and sails across the Pacific. Our Japanese partner — an IAM member agent — clears the shipment with your stamped customs declaration, arranges the quarantine checks, collects the container and delivers to your new home with unpacking and debris removal included in the door-to-door service. Japanese buildings are particular about move-in appointments, elevator protection and parking; the agent books all of it.

1. Free survey (home or video) and fixed door-to-door quote
2. Packing, crating and inventory at your home in the GTA
3. Loading into a dedicated container or Japan groupage at our warehouse
4. Rail to Vancouver and ocean sailing across the Pacific
5. On arrival in Japan, submit the customs declaration at the airport and keep the stamped copy
6. Customs clearance and quarantine checks handled by our Japanese agent
7. Delivery to your door with unpacking and packing-material removal

The customs declaration you sign at the airport

Japan clears household goods against a form you complete when you enter the country: the Declaration of Personal Effects and Unaccompanied Articles (Customs Form C-5360). You submit two copies at immigration and customs on arrival; one is stamped and returned, and that stamped copy is what our agent presents when the container lands. Used personal and household effects declared this way are free of duty and consumption tax for people entering Japan to live for a year or more, provided the goods arrive within six months of your entry. New items, anything in commercial quantities, and goods that arrive after the six-month window are dutiable.

Alcohol and tobacco beyond small allowances pay duty; firearms and swords are prohibited without permits that almost no one obtains; medicines beyond personal quantities need an import certificate; and food, plants and animal products face quarantine. Cars can be imported but must pass Japanese conformity testing, which is impractical for almost every Canadian-market vehicle. We go through the list at the survey so the form and the inventory match the container.

What it costs to ship household goods to Japan

Cost is driven by volume, so the survey matters — and for Japan the survey is also where we help you decide what not to take. A one-bedroom apartment in the GTA is usually 12–20 cubic metres and ships as groupage (LCL) or a lightly loaded 20′ container. A three-bedroom house is 30–40 cubic metres and fills a 20′; larger homes ship in a 40′, though many families moving to Tokyo deliberately ship less than they own. The rail leg to Vancouver and the Pacific crossing make this a longer, costlier lane than Europe. Access at both ends, professional packing and crating, and storage at either end all move the price; Japanese apartment buildings often require protective wrapping of common areas, which the agent includes.

Our quotes are door to door and itemize what is included: packing and materials, loading, drayage and rail, ocean freight and port charges, Japanese customs clearance and standard quarantine checks, delivery, unpacking and debris removal. The only items outside the quote are duty and consumption tax on goods that do not qualify, inspection or treatment fees if customs or quarantine selects the container, and storage beyond the free period at destination.

Timelines from the GTA to Japan

Rail from Toronto to Vancouver takes about a week, and the Pacific crossing 12–18 days to Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka or Kobe. At destination, allow one to two weeks for customs clearance, quarantine checks, container collection and the building's move-in appointment. A dedicated container typically arrives at your Japanese door seven to ten weeks after packing day; groupage shipments wait for the consolidation to fill and add two to four weeks. Because the customs form is stamped on your arrival and the goods must land within six months of it, we time the sailing so the container arrives after you do, not before.

What to leave behind, and what to think twice about

Japan runs on 100 volts at 50 or 60 hertz depending on the region, so most Canadian electronics work but heating appliances — kettles, dryers, hair dryers — run weak, and motors can behave oddly on the wrong frequency. The bigger issue is space: a king bed, a sectional and a Canadian dining table will not fit a typical Tokyo apartment, and doorways and elevators are smaller. Cars are impractical to import. Firearms and swords are prohibited, food and plants face quarantine, and medicines beyond a personal supply need paperwork. Our advice is usually to ship the things that make a home yours — bedding, kitchen, books, art, children's things — and buy the big furniture in Japan.

• Prohibited or restricted: firearms, swords and many knives, most food, plants and animal products, medicines beyond personal quantities
• Restricted: alcohol and tobacco beyond small allowances (duty payable)
• Usually not worth it: king beds, sectionals, large tables, heating appliances, bulky low-value furniture
• Vehicles: conformity testing required — not practical for Canadian-market cars

Why families moving to Japan choose Metropolitan Logistics

We are an IAM Core Member with IAMTrusted status and the Receivable Protection Program behind our agent relationships — which means the partner unpacking your home in Tokyo is vetted and financially accountable. The shipment is loaded in our Toronto warehouse by our own crews, not handed to a consolidator you never meet, and you can see it there before it sails. Because we run container logistics commercially every day, the drayage, rail and ocean legs are the same lanes and carriers we book for exporters — which keeps the cost honest on a long route.